Joe Iconis & Family Halloween Extravaganza

By Alix Cohen

Nothing comes close to the rollicking madness of a Joe Iconis & Family production. Holidays are an excuse to take these even further.

The Laurie Beechman stage is gleefully ungapatchka: wildly ornate, ridiculously over-decorated. ‘Patriarch’ Joe Iconis appears wearing a fabulous raven head and wings created by actor Lauren Marcus. This year, the artist is trick-or- treating as a bird from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, his wife Lauren as star of the film, Tippi Hedren, 1 ½ year old Roxy as Alfred Hitchcock. No kidding. Usually & Family shows are comprised of original Iconis material. Tonight, a few are his, the rest “Halloween adjacent cover songs.”

A rousing “Paint It Black” (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)/“Bad Moon Rising” (John Fogerty), replete with perhaps the first use of kazoos in a rock song, opens festivities as costumed performers gambol onto the stage. Bill Coyne then plays the corrupting wizard from Don Black/Charles Strouse’s The Worst Witch. “ …This hairy, scary, creepy, crawly Halloween…” he sings with sinister baritone innuendo. “Anything Can Happen on Halloween.”

Liz Lark Brown’s version of “House of the Rising Sun” with folk-like vibrato erupts into vibrating, Joplinesque power. Music coursing through her, the artist infectiously grooves. “Dark Lady” (Johnny Durrill) is performed by the threatening Danielle Gimbal grasping a blood smeared hatchet. (It should drip!) Vocal and company back-up are dynamic, but the song is not as vivid as others.

The double-entendre “I Want Candy” (Bert Berns/Bob Feldman/Jerry Goldstein/Richard Gottehrer), fronted by John El-Jor, unleashes a stage of effusive demanding, each artist spinning/dancing on his/her/their own axis. “Someday I’ll make you mine and I’ll have candy all the time!” Disco balls spin, lights flash.

“My Best Friend’s a Skeleton” (Joe Iconis) arrives by way of Jason Sweet Tooth Williams (dressed as an Incredible) and delightfully kinetic Jeremy Morse in a skeleton costume. Actors beam with bonhomie. “Even though he had no face/It didn’t matter cause we had rapport…”

The company is known to fill aisles, cavorting, singing and dancing among us. Audience clapping and chair dancing is common. Energy and high spirits commandeer the venue.

Kelly McIntyre’s rendition of “Run Away From You” (Joe Iconis) presents a werewolf returning home to her lover/husband while wrestling with preference as a beast. “There are times I don’t feel as guilty as I should…” McIntyre is ferocious and demonstrative, with a fine set of pipes. “Kevin” (Joe Iconis) trenchantly performed by A.J. Shively, features a murderous doctor finally losing his grip.

Lauren Marcus and Jeremy Morse present “Father Figure” (Taylor Swift) about a former predator mentor. “All I ask for is your loyalty,” he coos. In a parentheses of bravura fury, ostensible victim Marcus spits lyrics. Both artists evoke the edgy situation.

From the musical Carrie (Dean Pitchford/Michael Gore), we watch Michaela DeJoseph as the distraught heroine and Brooke Shapiro as her evangelistic, condemning mother, Margaret. Wowza. Portrayal by both artists is opera-worthy- wrenching. Shapiro could play Madea or Mama Rose.

Also from that short-lived musical is “Out for Blood/Crackerjack” featuring Amirah Joy Lomax and Jared Weiss. Kids dump pig blood on unsuspecting Carrie who unleashes telekinetic power. Onstage, the company emerges a frenzied mind-meld of wild aggression. Streamers stand in for blood.

Jared Weiss’s “Psycho Killer” (Talking Heads) explodes in relentless rhythm, manic repetition.: “Psycho killer, qu’est-ce que c’est?/
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, fa, /better Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away/ Oh, oh…” Weiss’s intensity embodies lyrics. “Halloween” from Broadway’s teen-centric, Be More Chill (Iconis) follows: “‘Cause a Halloween party’s a rad excuse/To put your body through mad abuse/And I might pass out, but it’s alright/‘Cause I’m Halloween partying hard tonight…”

We close with “Penny Dreadful” (Joe Iconis) “When I try to sleep at night, I think of Penny Dreadfuls…” I’ll bet he does…between dreaming of backers for his musicals. It’s kind of charming. Though mostly behind the piano, Iconis can sing. To say his work is iconoclastic minimizes its offbeat originality.

The excellent Band: Ian Kagey -Bass, Jaz Koft -Assorted Percussion, Melodica, Rob Rokicki –Synth, Bill Hayes -drums, Mike Rosengarten –guitar

See you at Christmas!

The Laurie Beechman Theatre 407 West 42nd Street
https://www.thebeechman.com/