CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
hotographer: Paradise Gonzalez; (l-r) Ali Kahn, Dillon Porter, Kesh Baggan, Tjasa Ferme and LaChrisha Brown
My boyfriend and I had recently started reading poems by Walt Whitman each night before falling asleep, so when I noticed the poet's bearded face staring at me outside The Cell, a local incubator theater for emerging artists in New York's Chelsea, my curiosity was piqued. Looking at a flier with his likeness, I soon discovered Walt's words are now the springboard for an innovative one-hour staging called Leaves of Grass Unbound.
The magnum opus has always been known for its overt sexuality, with one critic at the time of its original release calling the work "trashy, profane & obscene." In this dramatization, director Jeremy Bloom has added a visual element that some might consider pornographic: a cast of nine ethnically diverse, naked actors chant selections of Whitman's poetry including "Song of Myself," "I Sing the Body Electric," and "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" while his words are projected onto their unclothed and gracefully moving forms.
Despite the presence of beautiful nude bodies, the performance comes across as neither erotic nor lurid. Instead, the program feels quite sacred, in part because the audience sits upon church pews in an intimate white-walled setting. Whitman once wrote, "If I worship one thing more than another, it shall be the spread of my own body, or any part of it." I'm sure he'd be fully supportive of this effort to celebrate the human physique.
Tickets are $20 per person ($15 Student/Senior discount) and are available for purchase at Brown Paper Tickets or at the door on the evening of each performance.
Leaves of Grass: Written by Walt Whitman, conceived and directed by Jeremy Bloom and produced by The Cell
Playing August 14-29, 2009 at The Cell, 338 West 23rd Street.
Performances:
Friday & Saturday (August 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29) - 8:00pm & 10:00pm
Sunday, Monday & Thursday (August 16, 17, 20, 23, 24, 27) - 8:00pm
-- COURT STROUD
Previously > Britney Spears on David Letterman
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
41 male celebs who did full frontal scenes
September 16 2024 2:02 PM
39 LGBTQ+ celebs you can follow on OnlyFans
November 19 2024 9:39 AM
33 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
September 17 2024 5:43 PM
26 LGBTQ+ reality dating shows & where to watch them
July 03 2024 4:21 PM
21 times male celebrities had to come out as straight
November 19 2024 3:33 PM
15 queens who quit or retired from drag after 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
July 09 2024 11:33 AM
52 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
August 27 2024 1:08 PM
15 things only bottoms understand
October 08 2024 5:18 PM
15 gay celebrity couples who make us believe in love
October 03 2024 5:43 PM
A gay adult film star's complete guide to bottoming
September 16 2024 8:50 AM
Latest Stories
Khalid shares new update clearing the air about being outed
November 26 2024 3:38 PM
No, Ariana Grande wasn't paid more for 'Wicked' than Cynthia Erivo
November 26 2024 2:16 PM
How Jonathan Bennett became the Gay King of Christmas
November 26 2024 12:00 PM
Elton John reveals heartbreaking health update: 'I can't see anything'
November 26 2024 10:47 AM
Barlow & Bear discuss working in 'Moana 2' & making Disney history
November 26 2024 9:00 AM
Nancy Mace's bathroom ban backfires with aide's unlawful entry
November 26 2024 7:49 AM
Finding fun, family, and friends on our first luxury LGBTQ+ cruise
November 26 2024 7:30 AM
KATSEYE reveal why it was 'weird' to watch themselves in Netflix doc
November 25 2024 5:59 PM
I feel for Shawn Mendes. My coming-out was ruined by the gay labelers
November 25 2024 5:47 PM
'Queer' puts Daniel Craig on a trippy tour de force—but how gay is it?
November 25 2024 5:12 PM
Ozian realness! See how 'Wicked' fans are dressing up for the movie
November 25 2024 4:42 PM
How low will Matt Gaetz go in the pursuit of cold, hard cash?
November 25 2024 4:40 PM