Debt Can Dance

Has it occurred to you that, in many ways, our current economic downturn -- with its foreclosed homes, spiking jobless rates and come-uppance of the very rich -- is, in some ways at least, like The Great Depression? That's the link made by The Citizens Band, that motley crew of downtown-type New York actors, dancers and singers who formed around 2004 to do anti-Bush-type vaudeville acts. They're still around, and in their latest gig, "The Debt Rattle", which they performed over the weekend at the Lower East Side's Abrons Arts Center, they channeled the Depression-era, dance-marathon desperation of the classic 1969 flick They Shoot Horses, Don't They? to make a point about how we're all dancing for our lives in post-boom, post-bailout America, with many of us dropping one by one...just like exhausted dancers!

It may sound gloomy, but it wasn't, because Citizens Band's beautiful women wore scanty, flapper-type showgirl outfits, the old-time jazz band was amazing, the aerialist was thriling, and the star power on stage -- supermodel and singer Karen Elson (Jack White's wife), the Cardigans' Nina Persson, Lenny Kravitz's daughter Zoe, and Michael Cavadias (a k a downtown draggy DJ Lily of the Valley), to name just a few -- gave the night a warm glow. Bravo, Citizens Band, hurry up with your next show!

-- TIM MURPHY

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