Spring has sprung and the musicale has begun.
GrannyCart Giggle Hour hosted their latest variety show on Friday. The theme? The Spring Musicale.
Photo Courtesy: Noah Eberhart (@enemypixels)
The Upper West Side’s Triad Theater filled with excited patrons ready to kick off their weekend. The dark red painted theater was adorned with a disco ball hanging in the corner and fog machines creating ambiance. Sequined cat ears topped each table for guests to wear. A wink at what was to come this evening.
GrannyCart Giggle Hour is known for being interactive with their audience. The show’s whimsical mix of slap stick comedy, sensual strip teases and in this case, a mid show stand up comedy pallet cleanser, makes GrannyCart a true NYC artistic experience.
The show’s hosts and co-founders Alexandra Matsu and Megan Twamley, or as patrons know them, The Grannies, kicked off the night with house rules and hilarity. The two announced that we have all attended an open casting for the local high school’s spring musicale. The Grannies then proceeded to fight over which show to put on, Seussical or Cats, both involving felines. Twamley dressed in a black leotard and sheer dancing skirt, while Matsu rocked a blue puffy romper.
Both wore short grey wigs. Both fought for their musical to prevail, but eventually Twamley won the fight and the show began as a cast wide performance of “Jellicale Song For Jellicale Cats” began. This featured Twamley, Jenna Patch Keady, Magdalena Rose, Emma Harris and even Matsu joined the performance by the end of the number.
Photo Courtesy: Noah Eberhart (@enemypixels)
But Matsu wasn’t done yet. Despite jumping into the jellicale festivities, she still wanted to prove that her show would be better. What followed was a three minute performance of Matsu doing a strip tease stretch. No, that’s not a typo. In preparation for her performance the audience watched her stretch as her granny character, while giving moments of burlesque suggestiveness. The performance was much more comedy focused than sensual, but the audience loved it and it was unpredictable in the best way.
The first act came from Rue Batto, played by Rachel Lawhead, whose performance included an engaging lip sync of “Altos Lament”. Lawhead contained a natural charisma, with comedic touches while remaining sensual at the core. By the end of the performance her top had been confidently removed and she landed in a center split by the final note.
Next, Pirowet, played by Kat Gallo, who was sporting a striped button down shirt paired with a tutu, took stage from the audience, nervously settling into place. Once the number began, it became clear that the nervous expression was part of the performance. Gallo began with a series of leaps across the stage and ended full on voguing by the end. The high intensity song “Electric” accompanied Gallo’s hyper pop, audience interactive performance.
Speaking of interactive, The Grannies then pulled a random audience member up onstage. They had them perform a monologue from Goodbye Charles. Yes, it was Divorce Papers and yes, the crowd was loving it.
Photo Courtesy: Noah Eberhart (@enemypixels)
Then Blake Ung took the stage, a music video of himself playing behind him. He kicked off his stand up set with an original song about why very attractive asian women date average looking white men. It’s worth noting that Ung himself is asian. It’s also worth noting that the crowd was bursting out laughing over his declaration. Ung continued his stand up set with some prepared jokes. He also used voice recording buttons, interacting with the audience then ended his set with another original song about queer baiting. He did strip off his leather jacket, leaving him shirtless for a majority of his set, keeping in line with burlesque theme.
Sandrine Le Reve, played by Michaela Winter, gave a truly sensual performance from beginning to end. She started in the back of the theater dressed in black lingerie. Winter gracefully interacted with patrons as she danced her way through crowd up onto the stage. She also fully sang the entire song herself. Her crisp vocals only emphasizing her sensual movements. Her performance was full of tension, while still remaining playful. Similar to a romantic game of tug of war.
After that, Twamley performed a comical interlude style performance in front of the stage curtain. Her movements were light and funny, entertaining the crowd as the show progressed. Immediately following, Miss Eliza Jane played by Elize Jane, performed a rock and roll style number. She dressed in all white, with a large feather fan and horns atop her head. A cow bell sat across her neck which she flicked in time to the song, “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House”.
Photo Courtesy: Noah Eberhart (@enemypixels)
Finally The Grannies and select performers closed the show by dancing to the song “What I Did For Love.” This turned into a comedic brawl amongst the performers, but ended with an eight count of choreography from High School Musical’s “We’re All in This Together.” Various performers then left the stage to pass out fresh flowers to the audience, before the cast took their final bow.
