Staff Picks No. 124
AN EVENING WITH NIGGA CLAUS (WHITE SANTA IS DEAD) : Crackhead Barney
CPR
Friday November 21st 2025
I think we’ve recommended Crackhead Barney, or at the very least invoked them, more times on this forum than most other artists? And that’s because Crackhead Barney is a New York downtown icon of the peerless variety. In this SIX HOUR performance at CPR, we celebrate the death of white Santa. And maybe the elves will finally unionize. Apparently it's open seating for a come-and-go as you please experience, so please, go experience!
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Crackhead Barney is Santa! Go sit on her lap and get cussed out by her.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Atomic Fire Knife : Stephanie Beattie
The Living Gallery
Wednesday and Thursday November 19th and 20th 2025
Have you ever been in a Stephanie Beattie installation? If yes, you are already planning to go to this. If not, check out her website - https://www.lakeswholelakes.com/ and get a sense of the vibes she can create. And then plan to go to this.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Men are Trash and I'm a Raccoon : Felipe Luz, David H. Parker, Carlton V Bell II, Jason Driver, Mario Vega Jr, Elijah Kleinberg, Jay Villa, Tauheedah "Tate" Abdullah
The Tank
Friday and Saturday November 21st and 22nd 2025
A tale as old as time! Gay guy gets heart broken, seeks comfort in Grindr. Will we ever be free of this vicious cycle? Just a peek at the show's promotional material (Vogue Off-Broadway Five Questions, starring Luz in Little Edie getup) makes Felipe Luz's Del Rey-infused, break-hearts-before-yours-breaks-first charisma evident, and I want to know what that's all about. This promises to be a horny time, to which I say: thank you! More please!
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Pearla: Pearla - Nicole Rodriguez, Adelyn Strei, Claire Wellin
Francis Kite Club
Thursday November 20th 2025
Final night of Pearla’s month-long residency at the Francis Kite Club! Singer-songwriter Nicole Rodriguez makes gorgeous campfire music, forest songs, harmony-thick sweetnesses, poetry-rich wanders past the old junkyard. For this closing gig she’s playing as a trio with multi-instrumentalist Adelyn Strei and brilliant violinist Claire Wellin. Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas
Leah Plante-Wiener and Leigh Honigman Present: Pompom Pirate, Matthew Antoci, Noa Rui-Piin Weiss + Miranda Brown, Wonderful Cringe, Leah Plante-Wiener
Target Margin
Saturday November 22nd 2025
This is the kind of line-up for a one night only show that makes you know you are in for something uniquely special, potentially unrepeatable, likely messy in some way… and obviously unforgettable.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
something fierce : Caroline McManus, Eli Brown, Eva Tellier, Hannes Egger, Hey There Kapplow, Martha Steele, Mason Youngblood, Michael Abrams, Midheaven Or Nah, Sally Beauti Twin, Walker Tufts, Zack Handler, zavé martohardjono, Andrés Senra, Cherry Nin, Elsa Brès, Kris Grey in collaboration with Maya Ciarrocchi, Sandrine Deumier, Earthworks, Trasonia Abbott, Esther, The Bipedal Entity!, Ria Rajan, Noah Ortega, Lea Fulton, andrea haenggi & slice of elder tree with Muyassar Kurdi, Stacy Lynn Smith, Mike Clemow, Dirty Time Karaoke, Midheaven Or Nah
Flux Factory
Saturday and Sunday November 22nd 23rd 2025
Wow when zavé messaged me about this my first thought was - Holy fuck what an incredible group of artists. My second thought was - I wish I could be there. My third thought was - I will share with my friends.
If you are interested in queer art, environmental art, communities overlapping and interesting space(s), this is likely right up your alley. It is also great because it is allllll day, so if you are doing something at night or working during the day, don’t fret! You can certainly catch parts of the incredible 2 day affair.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Thursday Night : Clak, Friends with Heads, Eliya Smith + The Goat Exchange
Green Lung Studio
Thursday November 20th 2025
A night of music and performance, curated by Tree Palmedo. Live experimental tunes heavy on the improv are paired with a reading of Eliya Smith and The Goat Exchange's new play, Two Girls: A Conversation, a "homeric retelling in the oral tradition" riffing on early aughts web culture. Smith and The Goat Exchange's last work, Deadclass, Ohio, was a quietly stunning discombobulation of memory plays as we know them, and I'm glad they're working together again.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
The Dybbuks : Jerry Lieblich, Dan Schlosberg, Ash Tata
ART NY South Oxford Space
Tuesday December 2nd 2025
A queer chamber opera (!) based on S. An-Sky's Der Dybbuk (!) with libretto written by the brilliant playwright behind The Barbarians and Mahinerator, Jerry Lieblich (!!!)? Majorrrrr. This is a workshop presentation of excerpts of said opera, with music by Dan Schlosberg interspersed throughout. You're going to want to get in on the ground floor for this one.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Who’s Your Daddy : Gagarin, Reuven Glezer, Henry Mont, Emma Hasselbach, Leo Grierson, BT Hayes
Brick Aux
November 19th-22nd 2025
Magic, dance, puppetry, blood… ok cool. Should be a swell time. I hope the whole room is a splash zone!
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister