Staff Picks No. 154
Mugs Without People : Sam Bell, Olivia Facini, Emma Callahan, Cheryle Chong, Leo Egger
TheaterLab
July 9th-12th 2026
In May of 2024, Sam Bell, Calla Selicious, Lauren Serafica, Dylan Meyerhoffer and I put up a quick, rough, and messy festival titled 3POP in the backyard of Sam's weird apartment that happened to have a makeshift stage made of ever-so-slightly rotting wood. Three shows went up, including an initial version of Mugs Without People. I recall, with great detail, standing drenched in sweat at the top of stairs, watching as the show began, seeing Leo Egger and Robin Virginie begin the hallucinatory trip of digressions that blurred the line between realist dialogue and expressionistic fantasy into a hilarious and haunting image of a reality formed out of half-dreams and half-fears. Sam has a talent for the psychosexual, the absurd, and the flaccid hilarity of a banal modernity. Getting to see this play reemerge in full form, with a cast of people I adore beyond belief (Emma Callahan, Milo Tucker-Meyer, Leo & Robin back in fucking action) in the hands of Olivia Facini fills me with so much excitement, you have no idea. Catch this goddamn show.
Staffer: kanishk pandey
This fits into the category of - FUCK I CANNOT MAKE IT TO ANY OF THESE SHOW TIMES BUT I REALLY WANT TO! - Which is a really real category. These are some fine artists working together, which is the biggest draw for me. I crave absurdity. I love to be transported. Transformed. Transfixed. Go to this show if you can!
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
A BIG KACHONK: Suz Murray
LifeWorld
Saturday July 11th 2026
I am hoping to get done with a film shoot in time to see this! Suz is a fascinating performer and doing their show at LifeWorld feels like a perfect fit.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
CATCH and CATCHBALL: Theresa Buchheister, Maggie Hoffman, Nicky Paraiso, Michael Oluokun, Paul Pinto, Saúl Ulerio, Martita Abril, Sugar Vendil, miriam elhajli, Cat Rodriguez, evan ray suzuki, (Amy) Rose Khoshbin, Cristina Moya-Palacios, Aditi Juneja / Democracy 2076 + special guest host Carmelita Tropicana
Governor’s Island
Sunday July 5th 2026
This is gonna be absolutely bananas. BIAS ALERT! I am commentating for the entirety of CATCHBALL. I will have special guest commentators and try to wear one of my finest human hair mustaches in this heat… Come out for the full day! There is nothing like it… before or maybe ever again.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Staff Picks Birthday Party : The Staff
LifeWorld
Wednesday July 8th 2026
Well duh. Our own birthday definitely needs to be a Pick. Come hang out at LifeWorld! Celebrate with us! Share ideas with us!
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
a cold evening with ethan and lee : Tiny Tim Machine (Emilia Harrison Daniel & Ethan Williams)
The Tank
Monday July 13th 2026
I was a big fan of the inaugural Tiny Tim Machine work about…heaven? Airports? THE SEAGULL?....and now they are BACK with a new work as part of the Tank’s DarkFest. Ethan live-plays a new text written by Lee composed of people’s secrets that he won’t know until an earpiece feeds him the goods. Guys. YOU GUYS. ONE NIGHT ONLY! These two are kooky banana pants brilliant, don’t miss.
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
WHAT A WORLD! WHAT A WORLD! : Eric Marlin, Ilana Khanin, Queen-Tiye Akamefula, Annie Hoeg, Luke Daniel White, Megan Rutherford Murray, Skye Mahaffie, Madelyn Barkocy, Shatisha Bryant, & Anna Bowman
The Tank
July 9th-August 2nd 2026
What relationship do you have to the queer cinema of old? Is that cult classic really a rallying cry for liberation? Is that poof on screen really an early drag queen? For fans of TCM, clocking gays in the post-SIlent era, and turning 30 and wondering "What, were they...." - this is for you!
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
SnatchGPT : Cherry Jaymes & Miss Woman the Woman
C’mon Everybody
Thursday July 2nd 2026
I had a true l-o-l at this Xeet the other day (https://x.com/willfulchaos/status/2070978114830668209?s=46). Oh how we have reached absolute txch mayhxm to deeply farcical (and embarrassing) levels. What better way to celebrxte the mudslide society’s been in for seemingly forever with two drag queens who can put the Snatch back into big tech? Cherry Jaymes is a nightlife fave, opening HOLE Pics @ Sugar Sugar with a stunning poetic Solange assemblage — and I can’t wait to see her & Miss Woman the Woman serve “artificial, digital pussy.”
Staffer: Matthew Antoci
Goodbye Horses: An Unauthorized Retelling of Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs : Michael Kinnan, Kate McGee, Tom DeTrinis, Rosana Cabán, Allison Hewitt
The Brick
July 9th-25th 2026
Over the years, I saw Michael do Never Let Go: The Unauthorized Retelling of James Cameron’s Titanic probably over 50 times. And I would go again today if Michael brought it back. He has this incredible ability to be simultaneously sincere, serious, campy and sexy. There is nobody like him. I am thrilled that Goodbye Horses (his newest venture) is finally coming to NYC. Get a ticket now, bebes. It will sell out in that final week and then people will be hanging from the grid trying to get in.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister