Melodies & Memoirs
In residency at
The Stonewall Inn,
I produce and perform in “Melodies & Memoirs,”
featuring 2 NYC artists who create original work.
MONDAY APRIL 8, 7pm
Michele Traina is the host of What's Up NY and creator of Divorce Diaries. You can see her on tour with Divorce Diaries, Italian Chicks, or performing stand up all over the country. Michele has been a guest host with Chippendales, Tamron Hall Contributor, and has been in over a dozen commercials in the last 2 years, most recently for Flush Guard Toilets. Her toilet unfortunately still overflows.
Tara Bull is an emerging drag queen based in New York City. first performed at The Duplex in a bi-monthly show “Category is” going on to host and perform at City Winery NYC in “The Tara Bull Show” and “Sahourny Beaver’s Christmas in July Spectacular” and “Slay Belles”. You can find Tara on YouTube on the Haus of Jizzelle channel. Co-writing and appearing in the music video “Too Big” as well as other shows on the channel “Gays Guessing Sports” and “Gays Guessing Bods”. Tara made her 54 Below Debut in their staff show she went on to book her own repeat show “Broadway’s a Drag” having its third performance June 21st. An all drag queen cast performing Broadway songs with an all drag band “The Bad Judies”. Tara can be found at pop up gigs, open competitions at The Ritz and The Spot, and anything else she can get her hands on.
MONDAY JANUARY 29, 7pm
Two days after Michelle Slonim gave birth to a baby girl, Michelle received an email saying she was cast in a sketch for Late Night With Seth Meyers. Michelle had gone on tons of auditions: once in a chicken costume, another time in a bikini while eight months pregnant, and she never got the part. Now a week after her baby was welcomed into the world, Michelle’s in hair, makeup and wardrobe, on set for a major network television show. She plans to have a second child so she can make an appearance on Conan.
Michelle has appeared on web-shows for Comedy Central and HBO and on SiriusXM Radio. You can see her performing stand up comedy in most clubs and bar shows in New York City. Michelle trained at the University of Michigan and the Williamstown Theater Festival, as an apprentice to Lewis Black. She is a seasoned producer having worked on 24 Hour Celebrity Plays on Broadway and produced shows at Webster Hall and Le Poisson Rouge. Special guest performers on her shows have included Dave Attell and Greer Barnes from the Chapelle Show. Though happily married now, for her Anti Valentine’s Day Comedy Show, she was prominently featured in The Wall Street Journal, although as her mother pointed out, it was only on page two in the print edition. Michelle’s side hustle is putting on comedy shows in people’s living rooms – check out LivingRoomLaughs.com.
Emily Frembgen released her first proper studio album with producer Hugh Pool (Taj Mahal, Debbie Harry, Michael Pitt) at Excello Studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in 2021. Irreverently titled It’s Me or the Dog, it was received warmly by critics and radio alike, with New York Music Daily naming it “one of the best records of 2021” and Glide Magazine calling it “a strong study in writing both melodies and powerful lyrics.” In many ways, it looked like her career was just beginning, but it took a long time to get to the beginning.
Her upcoming release, No Hard Feelings, is more introspective than her previous album. While It’s Me or the Dog is relationship-focused, No Hard Feelings explores her past and the echoes of alienation that inform her present. This is in no small part due to the fact that these songs were written after the major world shift of 2020—“Fentanyl,” the first single, opens with the line “Two years of doing nothing makes everybody crazy.” This album is also the first time Emily has delved into her family life with “I Wish I Had a Father” and “Magazines.” Things lighten up with a proper country drinking song, “Drink Tonight,” and the lazy, booze-soaked rag “Harder/Easier.” In another standout from the album, “Are You Listening?” she tells us “The world doesn’t run out of people to love you/Stop thinking that it does,” which is the most optimistic line she’s written to date.
MONDAY N0VEMBER 20, 7pm
Giovanni Miguel Naarendorp is a Surinamese-American comedian, writer, and director raised in Scarsdale, NY. After receiving his BFA in acting from Emerson College, he moved to NYC to pursue comedy. With his sketch comedy group Dinner for One, Giovanni has performed at various nationwide sketch comedy festivals including Chicago Sketchfest, Hell Yes Fest in New Orleans, ITVF in Vermont, and NY Sketchfest. Some more local venues include The PIT, UCB, Asylum NYC, and Joe’s Pub. Giovanni produces two comedy variety shows in Brooklyn: The Live Love Laugh Show and Night Boy. Previous acting credits include Goldhaven (The Brick), Memory Retrograde (Ars Nova/The Public), Christmastown (The Denizen Theater), What’s Your Process (short, dir. Katie Colosimo), Good Guy (short, dir. Morgan Green), Phases of the Moon (short, dir. B. Monet), The Ultimate: By Lou Fescano (short, dir. Daniel Jaffe), Barely Adults (web series, dir. Christine Sanders), Life Sucks (digital series), and Cabin (short, dir. Josh Ruben).
Lyndsay Stone is an NYC-based singer/songwriter whose most recent full length album, A Couple Seeds, includes a potent array of lush string arrangements, intricate classical and acoustic guitar, a full folk-rock rhythm section, and expansive vocal arrangements. Lyndsay processes life through song and translates her experiences into carefully-chosen words, which she has created into a lyricbook that resembles a deeply vulnerable poetry collection. Anyone who values honesty, healing, positive change, and authenticity will be able to connect with her live performances, and she'll probably share a few anecdotes that will make you giggle.
MONDAY OCTOBER 9, 7pm
Seann Cantatore is an NYC-based musical comedian, absurdist,and professional kind person who combines musical characters, sketch comedy and utter ridiculousness in her one woman shows. Seann believes in humor that welcomes everyone to the party and seeks to bring people together through laughter and song. She is currently recording a new musical comedy album and performing her solo variety show throughout NYC and the U.S.
Down the Yellow Brick Pod is a popular fandom podcast preserving and peeling back the curtain on the wonderful world of Oz from the turn of the 20th century to today, and its unparalleled impact on cultural consciousness. The podcast is co-hosted by Tara Tagliaferro and Emily Kay Shrader, two multi-hyphenate theatre artists and educators living and creating in the concrete jungle. Find us on Instagram @downtheyellowbrickpod, Etsy @downtheybp, and at Patreon.com/downtheybp.