At Tabby Twitch's 'Prime'

Photos and text by Stacie Joy 

Since last summer, an unexpected performance has been taking place in a space better known for watching sports.

Tabby Twitch's live burlesque show "Prime" has found a home in the back room at the Gray Mare, the pub at 61 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street. (The next quarterly show happens on May 2 Thursday, April 4. See the end of the post for info.)

Twitch dubs herself the "friskiest feline in burlesque." Twitch, also known as actor Jane Cortney and a longtime local resident of Ninth Street, produces and performs in "Prime."

She describes it this way: a "racy romp set in an elegant East Village tavern, featuring a ravishing array of burlesque performers at the height of their powers. Not a canter, not a gallop, this show is a sultry yet invigorating trot featuring libidinous libations, the raffle of your dreams and more rhinestones than a room can hold." 

I attended the January show featuring Amanda Poise, Ella Blu, Maria Bartolotta and Queerly Femmetastic.

Here are a few scenes from the evening...

"Prime focuses on performers at the height of their powers because I came to burlesque later in life. I want to show what it means to be 'in your prime,' with all the richness and experience that entails," Cortney said. "Though I highlight burlesque performers, there is a salon feel to the evening. A vocalist performs, and I weave poetry throughout the night. My goal is for the audience to leave my show feeling relaxed and reinvigorated, in their prime regardless of their actual age."

The next "Prime" is this Thursday (April 4) at 8 p.m. now scheduled for May 2. Keep tabs on the shows here.