‘A Tribute to Klaus Nomi’- Benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

BY Alix Cohen

Honoree Klaus Nomi né Sperber (1944–1983) was a trained pastry chef who ushered for the Deutsche Oper in West Berlin to be close to the music, sang for staff, and performed arias at gay discotheque Kleist Casino. In 1972, he arrived in New York, an immigrant with a dream.

Nomi partnered with Katy Kattelman (Katy K) in a bakery called Tarts and marginally began sing. Six years later, scheduled to perform in the New Vaudeville series showcase at Irving Plaza, he changed his stage name to the more evocative “Nomi,” an anagram of Omni, after the science-fiction magazine.

An unforgettably theatrical original, Nomi stunned New York’s downtown scene fusing soaring precision of an operatic countertenor with the groove of new wave, glam rock, cabaret, and avant-garde theater, presented with indomitable conviction.

Ghostly white makeup, gravity-defying sculpted hair, and striking geometric costumes made it seem as if he’d stepped from a Bauhaus opera, elegantly out of time and place. He was also compared to an alien. Nomi’s career burned brightly only a few extraordinary years before death in 1983 from AIDS-related complications or G.R.I.D. (Gay- Related Immune Deficiency, as it was known then.)

Author/playwright/filmmaker/composer Peter Danish, and Nomi’s pioneering songwriter/arranger/bandleader, Kristian Hoffman are currently working on a musical about him. This afternoon’s celebration is narrated by Danish. Songs include both those associated with Nomi and others written for the musical. “His life had dramatic architecture,” Danish notes. “We don’t have to manufacture anything. He came here and found his tribe.”
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“November 2, 1978. The crowd at Irving Plaza was expecting just another act, not a countertenor singing the music of Camille Saint-Saëns…” begins Danish.

Opera-trained David Sabella opens the show with “Mon coeur s’ovre a ta voix” (“My heart opens to your voice”) The vocalist’s long, supported breaths passionately buoy lyrics. His sequined jacket reflects Nomi’s modernist style. Slides give us a glimpse of Nomi on and off stage.

Katy K introduced Klaus to performer Joey Arias who became perhaps his dearest friend in the US and executor of his estate. It was Arias who nursed him through AIDS at a time no one would go near the diseased. He recalls his friend with admiration, respect and love.

Tony D’Alileo offers “I Chase the Stars” with a voice that seems to float above notes. Presentation has an aura of Nomi’s low key, spacey, almost deadpan performance. D’Alileo knows when to draw in and when to unleash.

“In our story,” Danish tells us, “Klaus is walking down St. Mark’s Place past used clothing store Manic Panic run by Snooky and Tish…” (Eileen Snooky Bellomo and Patrice Tish Bellomo) The duo, former singers in the original Blondie lineup, join the band today as harmonic back-up, sporting artfully colored hair and wide, net collars.

Broadway actors Rita Harvey and Liz Byrne play the sisters for “Weird and Wonderful.” Tandem voices enthusiastically ascend. Hoffman then assumes the piano bench for iconoclastic treatment of cover tunes he arranged to take advantage of Klaus’s particular talent:

“Lightning Strikes,” a reworking of Lou Christie’s 1965 pop hit, transforms from teenage melodrama. Jordan Rutter Covatto, in white make-up and renegade leather, delivers elastic countertenor and effusive arm movement. Next is interpretation of the Marlene Dietrich anthem, “Falling In Love Again.” (Friedrich Hollaender, English lyrics by Sam Coslow) Music box piano erupts into a kinetic, disco-like beat. Staccato lyrics pierce the air. D’Alileo sings and dances with dynamic abandon..

“Pretty soon Klaus started to get bookings and make money. He decided to take the band out and chose not a restaurant, but Man’s Country, the most notorious bath house in the city.” (Danish) The club was advertised as “ten floors of fantasy.” Sabella, first in jacket, then leather hat and bondage straps, and Rutter Covatto (wearing one less layer) perform a throbbing “Man’s Country.” “Ain’t no virtue in the gutter,” they gleefully sing.

“RCA Records wanted Klaus as a solo artist, working with their session guys. He naively thought that success would later allow him to bring back the original musicians. Unfortunately, he passed before that happened.” (Danish) Hoffman sings “No Sex in Heaven” a song in which record executives compare Nomi’s high notes to castrati. Melody echoes Weimar.

Nomi’s public persona grew. “Total Eclipse” was the work of the new band touring Europe. Rutter Covato bounces, punches, kicks, gyrates, growls and cackles flipping from alto to tenor. Wowza.

“It’s easy to look at photos of Klaus and imagine he lived his life large. In fact, he was gentle, funny, surprisingly shy, and often lonely,” Danish notes. D’Alileo sings “A Simple Man” with sympathetic mien. Rutter Covatto adds to the portrait with a lilting “No Place Feels Like Home” which straddles Germany and the US.

In what Danish calls “the dark portion” of the musical, D’Alileo’s “Grid” emerges like a prayer- at first entreaty, then fueled by percussion. “It takes no prisoners/Spreads through love…” Despite his illness, the record company forced Nomi to tour. Rutter Covato’s version of “After the Fall”…we’ll all be born again… surges with anger, desperation, and mortality. Performed by
Eric Buckley, arms at his sides, “Must the Show Go On!?” brims with pathos.

Sabella returns with Purcell’s 1691 aria “The Cold Song” from King Arthur/libretto John Dryden which describes an unwelcome reawakening of the king after death. His majesty just wants to rest. An apt choice. Hands clasped, perfectly controlled, brief phrases are meant to sound like gasping for breath.

The company closes with “Nomi’s Song”, the first one Hoffman wrote for Klaus. “If they saw my face/Could I still take a bow/Will they know me…?” The three countertenors sing and dance, each in his own way.

“Klaus was told his voice was wrong, his music was wrong, and his appearance was wrong. He changed the way the world saw him instead of himself.”(Peter Danish)

An extraordinary show.

The Band:
Piano: Kristian Hoffman; Additonal Keybords Peter Danish
Keyboards: Adam Gloc, Bass: Joe Katz, Guitar: Vincent Venezia,
Drum: Keith Crupi,

Today’s packed room benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. CNN states that last year 5000 people died of the horrific disease. LAST YEAR. The worthy organization:https://broadwaycares.org/

Klaus Nomi Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmLk2vSXXtk
Interview with Nomi at Ligne Rock, Belgium TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wbQeYLfCGw

Peter Danish presents
A Tribute to Klaus Nomi
Benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

The Green Room 42 Cabaret https://www.thegreenroom42.com/
570 Tenth Avenue
4th Floor- inside the YOTEL
August 30, 2026