See Chicago Dance - June 2022

SEECHICA GODANCE .COM 13 FEATURED EVENT Newport Theater The Newport Theater entrance is unassuming. But behind the double doors, this speakeasy-style black-box theater is (not so) quietly creating a community of nightlife performance art taking the burlesque, belly dance, drag, comedy and clowning worlds by storm. Formerly “Under the Gun Theater,” this former sketch and stand-up comedy venue shifted its focus after reopening with its current name in 2019. Despite closing down due to the pandemic, the Newport Theater remained committed to providing opportunities to artists. “Many Newport performers are full-time artists, and when live entertainment stopped, we knew we had to help. We created Newport Studio, a multi-camera live editing and recording service to help artists create digital content, and the Newport Virtual Venue, a ‘Zelda-meets- Zoom’ digital space created by local coding company QueerCoded, where we screened artist-generated digital work,” explained stage performer and Newport Theater General Manager Eva la Feva. “Now that we’ve reopened for live events, we’re cultivating an event space where nightlife artists can create theatrical and variety shows that might be hard to perform in a bar or a nightclub,” said la Feva. “Not only do we offer a large stage, equipped dressing rooms and access to amenities, we provide a supportive framework for independent artists/ producers to profit from their work and sustainable work opportunities for other nightlife artists.” Newport has attracted a unique conclave of performing artists. The Hot Clown Company, a sex- and body-positive clowning troupe, presented “Hot Clown Sex: The Second Coming” in a sold-out run in 2021, earning a spot at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Bye Bye Liver rebranded after relocating to Newport, spearheaded by the female-fronted production team Trash Panda Comedy. “We wanted to rethink a historically bro-heavy sketch-comedy drinking show by cutting off the frosted tips and reinterpreting it to be more inclusive for a modern audience,” shared director Fee Basanavicius. In March 2022, Bye Bye Liver was selected for the World Comedy Expo. To cultivate new artistic voices, Newport launched Newport Theater Camp, a series of burlesque, clowning and variety classes for emerging artists and performers. “Our goal is to provide a fun, low-pressure opportunity for people to learn a new skill and get stage experience,” said Bazuka Joe, who runs the classes. “We also wanted to offer a variety of disciplines, since Chicago nightlife artists often fuse different art styles.” After live events resumed, the Newport launched “The Newport Peek- Easy,” a weekly live and digital burlesque, drag and variety show produced by a rotating group of nightlife variety performers. “By having multiple producers, we’re ensuring artists who work in the industry have a say in who is performing,” noted la Feva. “The Newport Theater truly has a production for everyone. A comedy show completely in Russian? Bollywood fusion showcases? Nerd-based belly dance and burlesque? Musical theater drag productions? Sex-positive clowns? You can see it at the Newport Theater,” said la Feva. For a full list of events, visit newporttheater.com.