by Marcina Zaccaria . . . .
At The Players Club across the street from Gramercy Park, ghosts from the past are recognized before Penny Arcade took the stage in Longing Lasts Longer.
Not dwarfed by the surrounding portraits inspired by the legendary Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, Penny Arcade presented to a packed audience in an animal print top, London calling trousers, and thick boots. Beginning by standing in the audience greeting people, it’s the opposite of alienation effect. Having first seen her work in the early 90s, myself, I was ready to hear what this solo artist had to say about the world today. I found that Penny Arcade still loves the boisterous, crowd-filled City of New York. Bounding through the City, she says she puts a hip out whenever taking the street by storm. Confessionally speaking about her Italian upbringing, and the ugly 20s that she’d sometimes rather not remember, she admits that she’s now in the youth of her later years.
This piece of performance would be something very different without her collaborator Steve Zehentner who designed and directed the show. At 80 minutes with no intermission, this fast-paced show took the audience though the 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond. Driven by quick clips of music, Penny Arcade appreciates a dark, horror inspired clown in an otherwise staid world. Perhaps, it’s her gravelly, assertive tone mixed with her blonde bangs in her hair, but she’s aware that she’s a uniquely empathetic character. She invites the audience to see the world through her eyes. Politics matter. Today matters. You have to think long, and Penny is concerned about Kiev or the war in the Ukraine, caring about her gay, straight, bi, and trans followers, without letting an overwhelming sense of empathy keep her from spewing her own gospel according to performance art.
The integrated spectacle of mass marketing hits us, like a barrage of images, dazzling Americans since the 1920s. Too much advertising might bring us into a whirlwind, where we don’t know who to believe or where to move next. With only a microphone on stage, Penny speaks about the importance of advertising without real concern to the Social Media explosion or the internet. Just when we might want to hear another David Bowie song or Village People anthem, Penny Arcade is right there to break it down for us and remind us that she was in the clubs through the night with Robert Mapplethorpe and others. Be afraid or stand in awe, Penny Arcade will tell you how it is. She’s quick to say – don’t sit in nostalgia, waiting for something great to happen again. Don’t dance all night around an apple, wondering whether it still has the potential to bring wickedness or blissful memories. Be strong and don’t forget what’s essentially obvious to you about the long in belonging.
Longing Lasts Longer played for one night on Thursday, April 27th at The Players Club, located at 16 Gramercy Park South in NYC.
Photos: Albie Mitchell
