Sin city: Company XIV’s new burlesque show, “Seven Sins,” reimagines the story of Adam and Eve. Photo by Mark Shelby Perry
ORIGINAL SINS
By Rose Adams Let there be lust!
A Bushwick burlesque
company has launched a
new show that breathes life — and
lust — into the Bible’s creation
story. “Seven Sins,” running
through the end of October, tells the
story of Adam and Eve’s encounter
with the snake with the help of a
troupe of dancers, aerialists, and
opera singers — a company that
makes the show much more than a
typical striptease, said the founder
of Company XIV.
“Everybody’s super classically
trained,” said Austin McCormick,
who is also a choreographer. “It’s a
fusion of every style.”
The show follows Adam and
Eve as they leave the Garden
and encounter the Seven Deadly
Sins, scantily-clad figures who
incorporate circus routines, ballet,
modern dance, and opera songs
into their elaborate temptations.
Even the moments with less-thansexy
COURIER L 44 IFE, MARCH 6-12, 2020
sins feature sensual touches:
for Sloth, Adam and Eve lounge in
a bathtub as a trapeze artist soars
overhead, for Gluttony, a juggler
tosses food items through the air
while an opera singer performs
Katy Perry’s “Bon Appetit,”
McCormick explained.
Prospective audience members
may be tempted to splurge on
tickets to the “Serpent’s VIP
Table” which includes a menu
of dishes, gifts, and cocktails
delivered by cast members.
During the gluttony scene, those
high spenders will also receive
pig snout masks and access to a
trough of decadent creme puffs
and chocolate desserts. The table
of temptations is new for this
production, McCormick said.
“It’s a new immersive tier for
the company,” he said.
Any audience member
can indulge in a custom
cocktail, said McCormick,
each titled appropriately for
the sins showcased during the
performance.
“I create all the cocktails to
go with the show,” he said. “They
change every show.”
McCormick founded Company
XIV in 2006, hoping to combine
burlesque with elements of
cabaret, opera, and baroque dance
— an early form of ballet, he said.
“I wanted to create something
I didn’t see in New York,” he
said. “I fuse dance with the art
of burlesque, which has its root
in parodying classical stories and
myths,” he said.
“Seven Sins” at Theatre XIV
383 Troutman St. between Wyckoff
and Irving avenues in Bushwick,
(866) 811–4111, companyxiv.com.
Through Oct. 31; Thu, Fri, and
Sun at 8 pm; times vary on Sat and
Wed. $95 ($265 for VIP). Ages 21
and older.
LBy Bill Roundy et’s all go to the lobby to get
ourselves a game!
A Park Slope movie
theater gives visitors a chance to
slay monsters and gather treasure
while waiting for their films. On the
second Wednesday of each month,
the second-floor lobby and bar of
Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park
hosts “Runner Quests” — short, free
sessions of Dungeons & Dragons
played on a 10-foot-long map.
The games, run by staff from
Williamsburg game shop Twenty-
Sided Store, are a great way to
spread the word about the fantasy
role-playing game, said the
Bushwick Dungeon Master who
ran the February session.
“We love D&D, and the more
people who are playing, the better,”
said Johnni Medina.
The games at Nitehawk offer
a streamlined version of the
complicated game system, designed
to get players on board immediately.
“We have a lot of people for
whom this is their first brush with
D&D,” said Medina.
Each player chooses one of six
characters to play, such as a sneaky
cat-person or a mighty warrior,
each pictured and described on a
postcard. The roughly 30-minute
adventure takes the characters
from one end of the map to the
other, but the details of each run
vary based on what the players say
and do, said Medina.
“You’ll have a custom
experience,” she said. “But if
there’s more people, it’ll be faster
and more action packed.”
Those who enjoy this appetizer
of a game can sign up for a threehour
D&D session at the Twenty-
Sided Store, or might be inspired
to buy the rulebooks and play at
home, said Medina.
One experienced D&D player
said that the quick, free-flowing
dungeon delve was a welcome
change from his home game.
“Me and my friends tend to fall
into a rhythm, so it’s nice to try new
things, and to see different playing
styles,” said Tyler Terriault, from
Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Runner Quest at Nitehawk
Cinema Prospect Park (188
Prospect Park West at 14th Street in
Park Slope, nitehawkcinema.com/
prospectpark). Next game on March
11; 7–9 pm. Free.
By Ben Verde It’s the hottest show in town!
A queer comedy showcase
based in Kings County will
celebrate its second anniversary
with a stacked benefit show at
the Bell House on March 12.
“Open Flame,” from hosts Pete
Valenti, Sam Campbell, and
Simone Leitner, has created
a much-needed, tight-knit
community for Brooklyn’s queer
stand-ups, said its hosts.
“It’s been one of the most
fulfilling things I’ve ever done,”
said Leitner.
By highlighting queer
comics and providing them
with a mainly-queer audience,
the hosts said they have
created a space for comedians
to try material they would not
perform anywhere else, giving
a home to jokes about starting
testosterone injections, for
instance, which might fall flat
at straight comedy clubs.
“Making it a queer space
was really important,” said
Campbell. “Comics can get up
to a mic and tell a joke that
straight audiences might have
mixed reactions to.”
The show’s founders also say
they felt the need to create a
more positive space for comedy
in Brooklyn — one where
comics are more focused on
building each other up than
taking each other down, and
to make that space a queer one
made the most sense to them.
“It’s just not healthy to
be around that all the time,”
Campbell said. “When we
thought about spaces that we all
felt the most comfortable in, we
thought ‘What is the antithesis
to that?’ And a lot of those
spaces happened to be queer.”
The three started “Open
Flame” as an open-mic night at
the Bushwick nightclub Mood
Ring in 2018. After two years
of fortnightly performances, the
series has expanded to steadily
larger stages, and the organizers
have honed their open-mic
planning skills. For example,
they keep the regular lineup to
20 people, even when 50 sign
up, by prioritizing newcomers,
people of color, and transgender
comedians — people who might
have a hard time being heard
anywhere else.
“It sucks to tell people that
they can’t do it, but what makes
it easier is we set guidelines for
who we selected,” Campbell
said.
For their anniversary show
at the Bell House, the team
has put together a lineup of
17 comics, including Solange
Azor, Aarushi Agni, Kendall
Payne, and more than a dozen
others.
“We wanted to pay homage
to how we started with open
mics and just bring a s--- ton of
people,” Leitner said.
Open Flame anniversary
show at the Bell House (149
Seventh St. between Second and
Third Avenues in Gowanus, (718)
643–6510, www.thebellhouseny.
com). March 12 at 8 pm. $15.
Movies & monsters
Three’s company: Queer comedy hosts Peter Valenti, Simone Leitner, and
Sam Campbell will celebrate the two-year anniversary of “Open Flame” on
March 12. Photo by Mindy Tucker
Map quest: Johnni Medina will run quick
games of Dungeons & Dragons in the
lobby of Nitehawk Cinema in Park Slope
on March 11. Photo by Bill Roundy
Flame on!
Queer comedy series celebrates
its two-year anniversary
Biblical burlesque show drops into Bushwick
/nitehawkcinema.com
/companyxiv.com
/www.thebellhouseny
/www.thebellhouseny