Kleztronica and The Neighborhood bring together drag, house music, burlesque, historic Yiddish theatre, and more, for a journey through queer history at this post-Purim bash on Saturday, April 6, 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM. For one night only, the Yiddish techno collective known as Kleztronica will transform The Sultan Room into the Azazel Theatre: a Yiddish cabaret in 1920’s Warsaw. Kleztronica’s Purim afterparty incorporates live DJ sets, drag performances, burlesque, and more in an immersive theater setting.
Digital program can be found here.
After Party at The Azazel will feature:
*A journey through (queer) time and space–for one night only, immersive set design by Bris Baby transforms The Sultan Room into The Azazel Theatre in 1920’s Warsaw
*Interactive performances with time-traveling historical figures
*DJ sets from three-piece electro-folk group Chaia and Yiddish techno artist Sasha Suraski
*Classic klezmer from the Pete Rushefsky Band and the time traveling spiritual sounds of AANI
*Live performances from Yiddish burlesque artist Brenda Roses and Jewish drag king Sir Cum Sized
*Immersive drag experiences
*Purim market with Pushcart Judaica
*Free hamantashen with admission!
About the performers:
Chaia is a three-piece electro-folk group based in New York City featuring Kaia Berman Peters on electronic sampler, Rachel Leader on fiddle, and Maddie Russell on bass. Chaia performs house and techno music using samples from Eastern European Jewish (Yiddish) folk music, with harmonies and melodies borrowed from jazz and other improvisation-forward musics. The group has played at Jewish music festivals around the world (Shtetl Berlin, Yiddish New York, and KlezKanada), as well as at global electronic music festivals (the NAMM Show, NICE, A Fest). They’ve performed in collaboration with Dan Tombs (Fred. Again, Jon Hopkins) and Sidney Mills (Shabba Ranks, Madison McFerrin). Chaia’s upcoming album, Yibaneh, was mixed by Russell Elevado (Jay Z, Al Green, D’Angelo). They’re excited to share their music with you and to dance late into the night!
AANI has been immersed in music since childhood, particularly influenced by Eastern European and Jewish musical traditions. Graduating from Oberlin College with a focus on music as a tool for social change, AANI delves into various styles including pop, Roman/Balkan, and New Orleans Second Lines. Their music embodies a fusion of cultures, reflecting a lifelong dedication to bridging musical traditions. As a queer individual, AANI sees music as a form of self-liberation and expression, finding resonance in both personal and collective experiences. AANI explores the intersection of folk traditions and personal creativity, drawing inspiration from nature and the traditions they aim to preserve and reinterpret for future generations.
Brenda Roses is a labor organizer’s wet dream—Emma Goldman’s supposed lover, Alameda Sperry’s hot co-conspirator, a femme baleboste that will make sure you set the shabbes tish just right. She pushes back against the legacy of universalizing whiteness and appropriation through an embodied reclamation of Yiddish culture. Find her at @giveus_brendaroses.
Sir Cum Sized is the ultimate Jewish artiste. The world’s best klezmer musician, according to his mother. The man of your wildest dreams – if those dreams involve a clarinet worn in a harness like a strap-on. Sir uses drag, clowning and klezmer music to explore gender, stereotypes and antisemitism, and to celebrate the long, queer history of Yiddish Theatre. Sir has performed at New York venues including House of Yes, The Slipper Room and Dixon Place, venues in London including Soho Theatre and the RVT, and at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Pete Rushefsky A practicing klezmer musician, Rushefsky performs and records internationally with violinist Itzhak Perlman, the renowned Klezmer Conservatory Band and NEA National Heritage Fellows Andy Statman and Michael Alpert among others. He has been featured at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Hollywood Bowl, and performed on the air for NPR’s Prairie Home Companion, All Things Considered and PBS’s Great Performances. Rushefsky curated the Yiddish performing arts program for the Smithsonian Institution’s 2013 Folklife Festival on the National Mall, helped to found the annual Yiddish New York festival, and has taught and organized numerous Yiddish folk arts workshops internationally.
Bris Baby is an artist, teacher, exhibit designer, and licensed architect based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Washington, DC, Daniel Toretsky is a graduate from the architecture program at Cornell University in the College of Architecture Art and Planning.
Chava Goodtime is an anarchic drag creature and a proud cofounder of the (currently diasporic) drag troupe Turmohel. They like using spectacle to rupture time til history folds in on itself and we find ourselves living into the stories of our ancestors and the beauty of the world to come all at once. Their previous Kleztronica performances have been described in Jewish Telegraphic Agency with the sentiment “There are some things I just don’t understand”. Their favorite cocktail is Molotov.
This is a 21+ event. Please note that there will be photography.
