Tonight: Karen Finley At Rapture

Tonight at Rapture Cafe & Book's closing party: a rare opportunity to see legendary performance artist Karen Finley. 8PM, 200 Avenue A. Free admission!

Karen Finley performs a work-in-progress: Impulse To Suck. Rapture celebrates its final "transition" tonight beginning with a performance of a work-in-progress by the highly acclaimed and controversial performance artist Karen Finley. One of the legendary NEA Four, Finley's work has often been called "obscene" due to its graphic depiction of sexuality, abuse and disenfranchisement. Tonight's piece, is entitled IMPULSE to SUCK, and highlights the recent dramatic descent of our former governor, Elliot Spitzer. Please bear in mind that there is limited seating for this event, so please come early.

Karen Finley was in Albany, New York on March 10 in the Capital for a conference waiting to hear a speech from Governor Eliot Spitzer on Reproductive Health. Instead later that day, Spitzer performed an apology with his supportive, devastated wife standing next to him. Finley will speak about the performance of the apology, the erotic transference of the media’s fixation on Spitzer’s frown and the emotional starring role for Silda. Finley will perform her latest spoken word text which examines the confession, the apology, the imagining of the sexual encounter, the travel of the escort, the compulsion, the immigrant father’s plan for his son to succeed, and to the couples imagined therapy sessions. Looking at the psychodrama in the intimacy of our political leaders, Finley poses to see the agony of the son’s need for approval from the father and the ancient wrestling of the feminine archetypes of mother and whore.

More about Karen Finley. My 2005 Karen Finley story here.

Following Finley at 9PM will be Glenn Marla's Heavy. Free admission!

Each month, during the past year at Rapture, Transqueer performer, writer and artist, Glenn Marla, has been presenting what is, in our humble opinion, simply the best showcase of young, fresh and vibrantly talented performance artists to be found anywhere in this city. It's called "Heavy," and this edition is aptly titled, "Heavy Heart," since this will be Glenn's last appearance at Rapture, and indeed, our final closing night!

Expect stellar performances by: La John Joseph, Dan Fishback, Bryan Heyboer, Max Steele, Sequinette, & much more. We will be drinking up all the liquor in the house during the course of the night, so if you are a drinker, prepare to get toasted. After all, we can't take it with us! Groove to DJ baby K! Glenn Marla was Miss LES 2006, and IS NYC's hottest fat go-go dancer! Onstage Glenn explores, celebrates, and plays with gender, fat, and sex.

More about Glenn Marla.