45 Bleecker, manhattan at lafayette, NYC, 10002, 3pm $12.00
Miss Trachtenburg, the young yet veteran drummer in the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, launches a sure-to-be-fun variety show that she debuted in London and now takes to her hometown. How can this not be interesting? (Note that not only is this an all-ages performances, but kids are encouraged to come!)
review:
On the Scene: The Rachel Trachtenburg Morning Show
Jan 28, 2008, 02:48 PM | by Alisa Cohen
Categories: Concert Reviews, Kids' Corner, Morning Madness, Music
If Rachael Ray pulled a Network and slipped some anti-corporate-America sentiments in between her "Yum-O!s," her TV series might look a wee bit like The Rachel Trachtenburg Morning Show, a kid-friendly, progressive-parent-approved variety show in downtown Manhattan. (Well, at the very least, both shows do have snacks, crafts, and special guests…) I first caught 14-year-old Rachel's band, the indie-vaudeville Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, about five years ago, playing at a shoebox-y theater with a then-unknown Regina Spektor. Back then, Rachel (pictured) could barely reach her drum kit, but she made her presence known with her winningly off-the-cuff comments and chirpy-sweet singing voice. So when I heard she was putting on a show of her own, I figured it wouldn't be your typical children's hour. Right I was.
The purple octopus who offered me a balloon on the way in was my first clue. After he danced an awkward jig, I overheard him admit to another audience member, "I never realized how complicated it is to be an octopus." It was that kind of freewheeling, glimpse-behind-the-curtain quality that summed up the show. Sets fell down and science experiments fizzled the first time around, but I'm firmly in the camp that prefers charming goofs to robotic perfection. "You heard there's a writers' strike! I don't think so. This is 'A' material, people!" joked manic dad Jason as he helped Rachel and wife Tina do the weather report on a felt board. (Despite the name-branding, the RTMS is still a family affair.) And much of the material did kill, based on the hearty, knowing response from the adults in the crowd, including actor Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale), who told me he owns all of the Slideshow Players' CDs.
Performance artist Reverend Jen gave gentrification a childlike spin with a puppet show about the sale of Manhattan for $24. "Smallpox, dysentery, cholera, malaria, and whiskey" were just a few of the "gifts" bestowed upon the Native American puppet — who was promptly replaced by a dead Native American puppet. A hilariously deadpan magic-mushroom puppet, voiced by comic Master Lee, dissed David Copperfield and hinted at the meaning of life. Australian/vegetarian go-go dancer Anna Copa Cabanna and her sequin-wearing male dancers (no doubt moonlighting as understudies in the Broadway production of Xanadu) cautioned against cellphone use via a lilting little musical number. But the award for most whacked-out political performance went to death-metal enthusiast T.Y. (link contains some non-kid-friendly language), who didn't even remotely try to candy-coat his segment for the kiddies. "Can you say 'Super Satan,' boys and girls?" he asked while holding up a hand-drawn picture of Rudy Giuliani.
Lest you think said kiddies sat with their chins in their hands while their parents laughed and laughed, there was plenty to keep the under-8 set enthralled. They traipsed after roller-skating Rosie Rebel, who led a workout with construction-paper weights to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger," and giggled at Seagull the puppet, a Scottish bird fond of eating its "cousin," General Tso's chicken. (Of course, the bird appeared to be the only meat-eater on stage. The snack du jour: organic popcorn with vegan butter.) If I could relive my kindergarten days (and I wouldn't mind, if only for the mandatory naptime), I'd probably be right up there in the front row, dancing around to Rachel's ukulele. Some might call it indoctrination; I call it an entertaining way to spend a Saturday.
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Fri 18 Jan 2008 20:00 Ching Chong Song CD release w/ Jason Trachtenburg and the National Distractions, The Wowz, and Creaky Boards at Sound Fix Records 110 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11211 USA (718) 388-8090
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Sat 19 Jan 2008 The Rachel Trachtenburg Morning Show The Green Room
45 Bleecker, manhattan at lafayette, NYC, 10002, 3pm $12.00
Miss Trachtenburg, the young yet veteran drummer in the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, launches a sure-to-be-fun variety show that she debuted in London and now takes to her hometown. How can this not be interesting? (Note that not only is this an all-ages performances, but kids are encouraged to come!)
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Thur 17 Jan 2008 The Rachel Trachtenburg Morning Show The Green Room
45 Bleecker, manhattan at lafayette, NYC, 10002, 9.30pm $12.00
Miss Trachtenburg, the young yet veteran drummer in the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, launches a sure-to-be-fun variety show that she debuted in London and now takes to her hometown. How can this not be interesting? (Note that not only is this an all-ages performances, but kids are encouraged to come!)
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Sat 12 Jan 2008 The Rachel Trachtenburg Morning Show The Green Room
45 Bleecker, manhattan at lafayette, NYC, 10002, 3pm $12.00
Miss Trachtenburg, the young yet veteran drummer in the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, launches a sure-to-be-fun variety show that she debuted in London and now takes to her hometown. How can this not be interesting? (Note that not only is this an all-ages performances, but kids are encouraged to come!)
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Jan 1 2008 The Green Room
45 Bleecker, manhattan at lafayette, NYC, 10002
Cost : $6
Super-Show Every New Year's Day, traditionally your cultural choices for this day off (a Tuesday this time) are the two giant all-day poetry readings, so finally this year there'll be an alternative: It's the Super-Show. Over 50 acts, featuring some of NYC's most insanely talented maniacs in the fields of comedy, music, video, acting, and hard-to-describe shit. Help us remind people to drink lots of water before they go to bed on December 31 (to avoid hangovers) and then party harder at this clusterfest! Confirmations from: Juggernut, Reverend Jen, Seth Herzog, Puppies Hold Hands, Mike Dobbins, Goatslayer of Uber Luber, Diane ODebra as Murder, Jessica Delfino, the Vox Illuminati, Howling Vic, Rob Latahn, Mike Amato as Mormon Surprise Is Mormon Delicious, Livia Scott, Mike Raphone as the Megalomaniac, John F. ODonnell as Shard, David Jenness as Barry Agida, Dr. Steamwhipple of the Pizzas, Rob Shapiro, the Bitter Poet, Rosie Rebel, Jason Trachtenburg, Peter Mavros of Bellmer Dolls, the Fools, Dame Darcy, Touching You, Tom Ritchford, Chuck Funk, Bohemaphelia, Erick Kirchberger, Kelli Rae Powell, and more. The Green Room,45 Bleecker, Manhattan 1p-midnight.$6
