A fantastic review from theatermania.com of The Tiger Lillies 'Sinderella Songs' concert with Justin Vivian Bond. There are just three shows left at St Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY. You can book tickets
here.
The Tiger Lillies with Justin Vivian Bond: Sinderella Songs.
Dan Bacalzo.
No one conveys the feeling of "damaged goods" quite like Justin Vivian Bond, who is best known for portraying the washed-up, alcoholic lounge singer Kiki of Kiki and Herb fame. This makes the artist the perfect choice to play a crack whore version of a popular fairy tale heroine in the alt-cabaret band The Tiger Lillies' Sinderella Songs, at St. Ann's Warehouse for a very limited run.
This exhilarating theatrical concert contains a half dozen of the tunes that Tiger Lillies founder Martyn Jacques wrote for Sinderella: The Twisted Tale of a Christmas Crack Whore. It's just enough to whet the appetite for a full production of the show, which premiered in London in 2008. This fractured fairy tale rendition of the Cinderella story includes a few twists, such as making the show's title character a drug-addicted prostitute, and saddling the prince with a graphically described bout with colon cancer.
The songs range from the giddily subversive "Blow-Jobs" to the devastatingly beautiful ballad, "I Cried." Bond delivers the latter with a quiet grace that comes as a sharp contrast to the more manically sung tunes heard throughout the evening.
Prior to the start of the Sinderella set, Bond sings a few solos accompanied by Lance Horne on piano. These range from the Bond-scripted "The New Economy" to Patti Smith's "Pissing in a River." The performer has a sultry presence and masterfully works the crowd, regaling them with seemingly off the cuff stories about everything from the influence of Joan Didion on Bond as a young lad to a practice among British schoolboys known as "seagulling," which has the audience doubled over with laughter.
Following the intermission, The Tiger Lillies take center stage and perform several of their most macabre songs -- many of which seem to end with someone dying. Jacques dominates the proceedings, switching from his powerful countertenor to a Tom Waits-like growl, depending upon the song. His face is painted in a manner that calls to mind German Expressionism, and the superlative lighting design by Brendon Boyd emphasizes this quality by often lighting the performers from below.
Jacques is well supported by fellow band members Adrian Huge, on drums and other percussive instruments, and Adrian Stout, who produces some of the most amazing sounds from the musical saw and Theremin, as well as expertly playing the contrabass.
A definite highlight of the Tiger Lillies' set is "Aunty Mabel," which includes some incredibly raunchy lyrics and shows off the superb comic timing of Jacques and his cohorts. "Sand in the Sea" is a lusciously hypnotic ballad, while "Waltz the Night Away" has an almost frightening intensity. But while the majority of the band's songs revolve around themes of cruelty and death, there's often a joyous bounce to their music that makes it strangely uplifting.
See the original review
here.
