Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Angel Eyedealism (and Marlena)
Occupation: Stratospheric Coloratura and Performance Artist
Location: 7th Street and Avenue B
Time: 12:55 on Monday, Dec. 10

Well, I’m incredible. I’m from a small town in New York State but I’ve lived in the East Village since 1983, with the exception of a few years in Europe. I’m a singer and performance artist, a Theremin player and an astrologer.

I performed around the neighborhood for many years. I was just drawing up my résumé and I’m a Stratospheric Coloratura — that’s my vocal range. It means that I have a really huge opera voice. I realized that a lot of the venues in New York that I’ve performed at are no longer around. CBGBs — I left that on the résumé. The neighborhood has changed a lot over the years and you can bitch and moan about that, but it still has magic for me. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. The tour bus comes around and goes, ‘There she is!’

I’ve got so many stories, although I’m not fully awake right now. I never walk out with my makeup this fucked up; I still have my eye makeup on from last night. I worked at a gay club last night. Last night I was reading tarot cards at a gay disco. That sounds like a Smiths song. Right now the sun is in Sagittarius and the Moons in Scorpio. It’s gonna be the end of the world soon so it’s good that you’re interviewing me now. There’s supposed to be a big shift in the consciousness on 12-12-12. Some say it’s the end of the world and some says it’s a shift in consciousness.

I write these crazy songs. [Sings] I’m a tranny-chasing lesbian, I’ve got a reason to go on. I’m a part-time thespian, I am waiting for the call. I am waiting for that call. Oh, finger-fucking transgen, rock my, rock my generation! I’ve got a new band called the Fake Pussy Shadows. I do opera, A cappella, and spoken word with electronic music, but my new band is electronic, laptop, keyboard, bass, guitar, and I play the theremin. It’s dance music.

Last month I lost my job. I lost my job at Lucky Cheng's because they found out after 15 years that I had a real pussy. [Sings] I decided long ago never to walk in fake pussy shadows. If I fail, if I succeed, at least I’ve got a real pussy. So that’s why I started the band The Fake Pussy Shadows. It was devastating: The storm, the blackout, getting fired at the same time.

Lucky Cheng’s moved uptown and said they’re now a toned-down drag restaurant. It’s horrible; it’s character-less. The walls are brown; the furniture is black with some leopard spot pillows. That’s it. There are a few cheap Chinese lanterns over some bare bulbs. There’s no character.

I’ve been fired from all of these gay and drag queen events recently because they say I’m too controversial. It used to be that the gay and drag queens wanted a wild-and-crazy diva to come in and do unusual, Avant-garde stuff. It’s where even Bette Midler back in the day broke in her new, weird material. In her time, in the 1970s, she was very Avant-garde and she’d perform in gay bathhouses.

But now, they want to hear Britney and Madonna and Christina. ‘We’re normal now; we want to listen to normal stuff now; we’re normal.’ And that’s really sad for me. I’m resorting now to going back to a heterosexual audience, but heterosexual men are so literal. Like I say, [Sings] Sometimes I feel like a crack-whore on Sunday, and they go, ‘Oh my god, you smoke crack and are a whore?’ No, that’s just how I’m feeling!

But things come around. Maybe gays will get back to being Avant-garde interesting, cause they’re just trying to be accepted now. But it was hags like me that helped with all of that.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.