In Review: The Maestrosities Open Fly Cabaret 5.5

Resetting the New York vaudeville circuit to high voltage, the Maestrosities musical ensemble and comedy troupe inaugurated what is to be their monthly cabaret on May 5th at the Zipper Factory, whilst simultaneously celebrating their first birthday. In spite of the assorted and enchanting medley of offerings throughout the evening, most prominently displayed in this droll odditorium of objets de consommation visuelle were the identities of the individual Maestrosities themselves.

(A selection of) the players:
Deirdre (Jenny Lee Mitchell), a proper British finishing school primrose in cat eye spectacles, soon begins to crack in the fashion of three coats of lip varnish left applied overnight - her neuroses exposed in impromptu, angelically crooned aria. Princess Penny (Gina Samardge), a petite prima donna in pink crinolines, oscillates between an embrace of her pre-pubescent persona and an awkward attempt to twirl the tassels of pasties affixed to her accordion. The Maestro (David Gochfeld), attempts with varying degrees of success to “conduct” his Maestrosities in spite of his markedly milquetoast mannerisms.

The scene:
Eight ukuleles leap daringly from the hands of one Maestrosity into another in a dizzying delivery of pas de trois juggling. Mostly razor-sharp swords perform soaring summersaults in the air. Liquor bottles are coaxed from previously empty brown bags by an inebriate magician. The grand finale - which doubles as the most sensational piece of performance art I have personally witnessed since Anita Berber’s 1916 appearance at Bluethner Hall – subverts both gravity and dominant paradigms in one fell, sequined swoop. Conceptual burlesque spectacularist Julie Atlas Muz performs a striptease - not upon her own person, but upon that of the Maestro – at the conclusion of which he is left standing on the stage in neon red-light-district boxer shorts, ankle garters, and trouser socks. She then removes her own underthings and lowers herself down upon the Maestrosities’ birthday cake. Following her performance of an exceptionally masterful bump and grind atop it, she proceeds to wrap her fingertips around the Maestro’s cranium, pull him toward her pelvic bone, and permit him to consume the frosted, vanilla flavoured confection from betwixt her thighs.

Musical medleys seamlessly weave together Material Girl, operatic numbers, and early 20th century standards. Costuming is a mélange of intentionally ill-tailored1970s spring formal wear, neon nineteen eighties Madonna music video attire, and Cotton Club crooner chic. Colloquial jargon sways back and forth between jazz age speakeasy slang, sixties bebop terminology, and a 21st century abbreviated vernacular in the span of a single sentence. The Maestrosities are aptly named. Nowhere else is there available for viewing so exceptionally crafted and idiosyncratic a display of self-assembled animate anomalies under the roof of a single odditorium.