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COURIER LIFE, APRIL 8–14, 2022
Join a Gowanus scene
Super Secret Arts opens with a membership model
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
Super Secret Arts, a brandnew
theater in Gowanus is striving
to break the mold of conventional
live theater, with a
jam-packed calendar of theater,
comedy, and music — plus a new
way to fill their seats.
The theater, which opened on
Third Avenue late earlier this
year, isn’t focused on selling tickets
to individual shows. Instead,
patrons sign up as members, paying
$25 per month to gain access
to the theater’s whole line-up that
month, usually around 25 shows
per month.
“Streaming platforms have
democratized the television
and film industry by leveraging
monthly, recurring revenue
across a huge user base,” said
Toby Singer, Super Secret’s artistic
director, in a statement.“This
spreads the risk across millions
of subscribers and enables a diverse
array of projects to flourish
while reducing the individual
pressure to succeed. Super
Secret Arts is essentially taking
that model and superimposing it
on live theatrical arts.”
While New York City is best
known for Broadway, it’s also the
home of hundreds of smaller theaters,
often hosting up-and-coming
or experimental works — be
they plays, musicals, or comedy
shows — with less funding and
more risk for the artists and the
venue.
Lower ticket prices, fewer
seats to sell and no promise of a
large crowd makes launching or
hosting those new works precarious.
Super Secret Arts’ subscription
model, hopefully, makes it a
little less so.
The theater opened, with its
membership model in place,
last November. Its doors were
quickly forced closed by the rise
of the Omicron variant, and they
stayed closed until late February,
when it “officially” opened. Since
then, more than 300 people have
become members of the theater.
Members, with their $25 payments,
can reserve their place
at an unlimited number of that
month’s performances, if there’s
space. They can bring guests
along, too, who can purchase
one-time tickets for $15.
Soon, members will also be
able to peruse a selection of online
content, from digital-only installations
to exclusive audio and
video
Each show also has a limited
number of $30-39 tickets available
at the door for non-members.
This month, Super Secret is
hosting a weekly Monday night
Cabaret show, emceed by actor
Jake McKenna and accompanied
by pianist Julian Chin. Playwright
and actor Bonita Jackson
debuts her one-woman show
“This Soil, These Seeds…” for
a limited 13-performance run.
Artists Megan Sherrod and Kiki
Mikkelsen perform their fullyimprovised
musical, “Working
Title,” and comedian Gio Naardendorp
hosts a one-night comedy
variety show called “Night
Boy.”
Putting on a mix of theater,
musical and comedy performances
is one of Super Secret’s
hallmarks, and something they
intend to continue.
“Super Secret Arts is both
a place where audiences experience
thought-provoking art
across many genres and also a
place where they feel connected
to a community with a greater
Super Secret Arts opened officially in February, launching an all-new, all-access
membership model for $25 a month.
purpose,” Singer said. “We’re
creating an artistic environment
where adventurous art has
a chance to breathe, a place that
is safe for everyone to express
themselves in the way they wish,
and perhaps more than anything
else — a place that is kind.”
Upcoming shows include a
musical performance by Brooklyn
based band Brass Queens
alongside The Climactics and an
evening from experimental or inprogress
artwork of all kinds —
part of a series called “Kill ‘Em
With Kindness.”
Super Secret joins a thriving
arts community in Gowanus,
whose canal-side streets are
home to visual artists at Arts
Gowanus, comedians at Littlefield,
and all kinds of performing
artists at The Bell House.
“We like to say that we’re
making a theater company as
if theater was just invented,”
Singer said. “Part of that is creating
a place that centers the artist,
their well-being, and supports
their joy.”
BY XIMENA DEL CERRO
It’s back!
Smorgasburg, the seasonal
food market that captivates the
curiosity and relieves the appetite
of thousands through the
warmest weekends of the year,
made its triumphant return to
Prospect Park on April 3.
The 2022 iteration of the outdoor
food fest will bring new
vendors, tech improvements and
more deals than ever, according
to organizers, who say they’ll
continue to collaborate with sellers
to offer an array of unique
and nutritional pickings.
This year, more than 60 returning
vendors will hit the ‘Burg,
with about a dozen new names
also slated to join the lineup. New
faces will include Birria LES — a
pandemic-born eatery that serves
up Tijuana-style birria tacos,
broth for dipping and vegetarian
esquites. Bronx-based Black
Rican Vegan, also a pandemic
child, will offer Soul and Puerto
Rican comfort food. Their menu
includes mofongo, vegan chicharron,
oyster mushroom burgers,
guava and cheese empanadas.
Fan-favorite plates like the
Jamaican-inspired tacos by 2
Girls Cookshop, Thai-Vietnamese
bahn mi and pad thai from
the Bronx’s Mama’s Cupboard
and craft cocktails from Last
Call Mixology will all be on the
menu. Other returning Smorgasburg
veterans include Bona Bona
Ice Cream, Carlito’s, Mao’s Bao,
Destination Dumplings, and Vaquero
Elotes.
Smorgasburg is the largest
weekly open-air food market in
America, often referred to as the
“Woodstock of eating.” Since its
first opening in 2011, the grubfest
has been an opportunity for
local businesses to increase sales
and reach new clients.
The brand has since partnered
with Rethink Food, a New
York City-based nonprofit focused
on creating a sustainable
and equitable food system by providing
nutritious meals to underserved
communities and keep involved
restaurants in business.
New logistics will let attendees
skip lines by ordering
through the Uber Eats app by setting
“Smorgasburg” as their address.
A $5 dollar discount can
also be applied on any $14 dollars
by order using the code “SMORGASBURG.”
The Prospect Park pop-up will
open on Prospect Park’s Breeze
Hill, near the Lincoln Road entrance,
from 11 am to 6 pm every
Sunday and runs through Oct.
30. Smorgasburg’s Saturday popup
along the Williamsburg’s waterfront
is expected to restart in
June.
Smorgasburg returns to Brooklyn’s Backyard on Sunday, April 3.
File photo by John von Pamer
Smorgasburg returns to Prospect Park
BROOKLYN
Take a bite outta that