Phoebe Legere Off To LA for Hilary Knight Birthday Fest!

 

FROM PHOEBE LEGERE'S FACEBOOK PAGE: 

Happy Halloween, my dear Facebook friends!

While the ghosts, princesses and goblins are out, I’m taking flight to Los Angeles for a different kind of magic: the 99th birthday party of one of my best friends, the great American illustrator, Hilary Knight.

MILESTONE & GERSHWIN

To mark this milestone, I’ll be singing a very obscure Gershwin song Hilary requested: “Ask Me Again.” It’s a song written at the very end of George’s life, with words by Ira—"Ask Me Again" was discovered by the great Michael Feinstein, who will be there, along with a constellation of stars: William Ivey Long, Alan Eichler, Howard Mandelbaum, Douglas Colby and others.

Our friendship has withstood every assault—even when a now-canceled Lena Dunham tried to usurp my place as Hilary's protégé, cartooning us in her absurd HBO movie. Our relationship shuddered gloriously when Marlene Dietrich herself called -- during the Marlene tribute show Hilary masterminded for me at The Ballroom - demanding: "Who is this kid?" (Alas, the video of that show and all our other ephemeral masterpieces burned to ash in the Altadena fire. A tragedy!) A few excerpts, filmed by Hilary, can be seen on my Youtube channel.

HIGH AMERICAN ART

You have to understand, Hilary’s art is not "illustration." This is High American Art. His father, Clayton Knight, was friends with George Bellows, and Hilary studied with Reginald Marsh. His line is a living thing—a vibrating, vibrant, virtuosic electric wire, elegantly delineating his ever-so-playful and ingeniously delightful wit.

I am so blessed. So honored to have moistened my soul in the font of American Art greatness.

It all began, as the best things do, with a book. My childhood friend Jenny Wylie and I would spend hours studying our "Eloise."

BOBBY VAN's

Years later, I met Hilary at Bobby Van’s. He presented me with a signed first edition containing a beautiful drawing of Eloise looking at a poster of me, captioned: "It is me - Eloise." My retinas and my heart melted. And we became friends. Very good friends.

You may ask, how does one live to be 100? My friends, the answer is simple: Do what you love. And Make Art.

Here are just a very few of the hundreds of drawings, posters, and designs Hilary has made of me over the decades. Now I am flying to LA to sing for my friend.

Here’s to 99 years of genius, and to the art of friendship.

HilaryKnight #Eloise #AmericanArt #Gershwin #Broadway #Cabaret #Illustration #Friendship #HappyBirthday #Halloween #phoebelegere #phoebe #cabaret

FOLLOW PHOEBE ON FACEBOOK AT: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553756645583

Phoebe Legere * Troma Studios * Museum of the Moving Image * November 7

 PHOEBE LEGERE Says:

" I stunt with fire, play accordion, and survive toxic male chaos.

"A brand new compilation of my work at Troma Studios: #Troma #Toxic Mr. Melvin

Q&A with director Lloyd Kaufman

Première à NY • 7 nov • 18h30 • Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Ave., Astoria, NY"

Phoebe Legere To Attend Prestigious Artist Residency in France

 Phoebe Legere on X/twitter:

"I've been awarded the The Denis Diderot Grant to attend this artist residency at Château D'Orquevaux. I am deeply honored."

Follow Phoebe @Legere on X/twitter:

https://x.com/Legere/status/1981193275878056080

WOW! MONDAY, OCT. 6 , 7 pm at PERFORMANCE SPACE NYC: PHOEBE LEGERE

 

October 6! PERFORMANCE SPACE! EAST VILLAGE! Phoebe Legere & Sarah Shulman & Karen Malpede!

 

From Phoebe Legere's Facebook Page: (follow Phoebe at:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553756645583 )

Performance Space poster just dropped

Karen Malpede, M. Lamar & ya gurl P. Legere… like??? #freakpower we’re back babyyy serving the #REAL American zeitgeist realness Monday Oct 6 · 7PM

NY Performance Space (PS122)

Coming home to the stage where I once stood with Jack Smith + Ethyl Eichelberger.

Opening night of Sarah Shulman First Mondays.

Sarah = Lioness. Novelist. Playwright. #Beloved Gay activist. #Revered AIDS historian. #Fearless truth-teller.

I’ll be reading from my new novel.

Comedy = performance art.

Reading = theater.

It will sell out.

People will be swinging from the rafters. order your tix now.

CELEB SPOTTING: Phoebe Legere in the East Village

 

Spotted in the East Village: me in full leopard regalia, sneaking into a gluten-free café with a painting under her arm. (Follow Phoebe Legere on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553756645583)

Tonight Phoebe Legere, Painter/Artist/Musician/Playwright/Filmmaker/Philanthropist delivered an oil painting "Deeply Human" to one of the amazing donors to Phoebe's arts education nonprofit www.foundationfornewamericanart.org. 

Said Phoebe Legere, "Our donors help us bring free art and music lessons to kids in underserved communities — and in return, they receive original works of art that will only grow in meaning (and value!) over time. Huge thanks to Ivan Steiger Galette for making the donation."

TOXIC AVENGER Movie Series Now Playing in NYC's Cinema Stars Phoebe Legere

Phoebe Legere stars in the Toxic Avenger series produced by Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Entertainment. The films are currently being featured in a well-known New York City movie theater.

Tim Bruno Interviews Phoebe Legere on NPR's Radio Catskill About Her Kindness Is The New Green Initiative & Just Released Song "2 PIANOS"

 

When Phoebe Legere describes her art, 

she doesn’t talk only about notes, 

instruments, or performance. 

She talks about floating pianos, recycled 

costumes dredged from 

Venetian canals, and children’s 

sneakers that make music with every step.

The visionary singer, composer, 

and multi-instrumentalist — who’s 

been compared to everyone from Beethoven 

to Edith Piaf — 

has always blurred the lines between music, 

theater, and activism. 

On August 31, she brings it all together with the 

premiere of her new film The Gender Symphony 

at the 

Phoenicia Playhouse.

“I was the director of the film. I’m in the film. 

I designed all of the costumes from junk that I

 found floating in the canals of Venice,” 

Legere said. 

“I also did the animation for the film. 

It’s called The Gender Symphony and it is about 

a man and a woman suddenly magically 

switching places.”

The project reflects her lifelong fascination 

with the differences — and striking similarities — 

between men and women. “It is the basis 

of almost all of art and music. 

And of course, it is the engine for love, 

the greatest of human activities,” she said.

Legere describes her style as eco-magic — 

art that reuses and reinvents, turning the 

discarded into something visionary. 

That philosophy flows through the film’s

 theme song, “2 Pianos,”released as a single 

last week. Inspired by the sinking 

of the Titanic, where two grand pianos 

were seen floating among icebergs and 

wreckage, Legere transformed the image into a 

metaphor for art’s survival in the face of tragedy.

“Art persists in the greatest tragedy,

in the greatest confusion. 

Art does not die,” she said.

Her work is never just about performance. 

As executive director of the 

Foundation for New American Art, Legere 

helps bring free music and art education 

to children in low-income communities 

across New York City and Poughkeepsie. 

That work even inspired one of her inventions: 

the “Sneakers of Samothrace,” musical shoes 

that create rhythm through tiny movements 

of the foot. Originally designed to 

encourage children with 

disabilities to walk again, the sneakers 

now feature in her compositions — 

including “2 Pianos.”

The film is already making waves abroad, 

winning 19 international festival prizes. 

Meanwhile, the single is gaining 

traction on Spotify playlists in France, 

Haiti, Belgium, and Quebec. 

But Legere is quick to connect her 

success to a bigger purpose.

“We are living in an extraordinary 

political moment,” she said.

“But I don’t believe in despair.

What I believe in is creativity,

and I believe that we can

        sing our way 

        forward together.”

Her message is simple, but radical: 

“Creativity and kindness 

are the most radical form of power.”

The Gender Symphony premieres 

Sunday, August 31, at the Phoenicia Playhouse.

TO LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE 

INTERVIEW, PLEASE VISIT:

https://wjffradio.org/phoebe-legere-brings-eco-magic-to-phoenicia/

Image Credit: PhoebeLegere.com