Featuring
ISENGART & LADY RIZO
With live music and new guest performers every week.
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Videos
Foreign Affairs' creator and co-host Isengart sizzles at the Night Hotel. Filmed on Jun 10 2009.
With Michael O'Brian (bass), Ben Clines (drums), Benjamin Ickies (accordion), and Brian Newman (trumpet).
Isengart "Light My Fire" at FOREIGN AFFAIRS from Forward MotionTheater on Vimeo.
Foreign Affairs' co-hostess Lady Rizo teases the audience with her tantalizing rendition of "Love for Sale".
Filmed on Jun 10 2009.
With Michael O'Brian (bass), Ben Clines (drums), Benjamin Ickies (accordion), and Brian Newman (trumpet).
Lady Rizo "Love For Sale" at FOREIGN AFFAIRS from Forward MotionTheater on Vimeo.
Frequent Foreign Affairs guest performer World Famous *BOB* stirs all hearts with a shaken (and dirty!) martini.
World Famous Bob at FOREIGN AFFAIRS from Forward MotionTheater on Vimeo.
Watch a clip from an exclusive NY appearance of Joey Arias at Foreign Affairs on April 6 2009.
With Mike Jackson (guitar), Dave Berger (drums), and Russell Moore (trumpet).
Joey Arias at FOREIGN AFFAIRS from Forward MotionTheater on Vimeo.
Here is Foreign Affairs's fabulous co-hostess, comedienne singer Lady Rizo, teaching the audience the intricate subtleties of the Spanish language:
Lady Rizo at FOREIGN AFFAIRS from Forward MotionTheater on Vimeo.
Watch highlights from the original Foreign Affairs at The Canal Chapter in SoHo.
For more videos from Foreign Affairs, go to www.youtube.com/foreignaffairsnyc
History
In the spring of 2008, New York-resident Euro-Entertainer Isengart created an underground cabaret night in the loft of a downtown art collective, the Red Bull-sponsored Canal Chapter. He named it Foreign Affairs.
Directed and hosted by Isengart, the weekly shows became spectacles that drew inspiration from the vaudeville and cabaret cultures of Berlin, Paris, Shanghai, Bucharest, and even the imaginary worlds of cartoon movies. Folk singer Tine Kindermann cooed medieval German songs of dark debauchery. The Shanghai Triad played authentic Chinese jazz songs from the 1940's. Burlesque artists Amber Ray and Legs Malone tantalized viewers with their inventive dance numbers. French chanteuse Nicole Renaud enchanted the crowd with her ethereal soprano, and Isengart belted out 80's disco hits mixed up with political ditties from the Weimar Republic era, arranged by producer Rami Ramirez. Gypsy music singer Sanda Weigl sang haunting songs from her native Romania, and singer-songwriter Todd Almond brought down the house with witty and elegant compositions about urban life. In between performance sets, the crowd mingled to the eclectic sounds of DJ Mondo Lucien.
After the loft's lease expired, Isengart brought the cabaret to different venues around town, including Corio Supper Club and The Gershwin Hotel.
In October 2008, Isengart created a Foreign Affairs-inspired Cabaret Night (named The Boulevard of Berlin Dreams) for a special event at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
On February 2nd 2009, Foreign Affairs reopened as a weekly cabaret in the lounge of the chic Night Hotel in midtown Manhattan, this time produced by legendary NYC nightlife maven Lee Chappell and hosted by Isengart and, following Isengart's invitation, singing comedienne and cabaret star Lady Rizo. The new show, featuring a live quartet of musicians as well as a wide array of guest performers ran as a critically acclaimed, weekly cabaret for 10 months before going on hiatus in December 2009.
Foreign Affairs is currently negotiating with several venues in New York City for a new season.
Happy New Year!
Press
"Top Live Act" & Critic's "Pick of the Week"
- Time Out NY, Nov 26, 2009
Promoted by the iconic 1990s club-scene figure Lee Chappell, Foreign Affairs is hosted by a pair of usual downtown suspects: the slick, sharp-cheeked German singer Daniel Isengart, who goes for a strange balance between sexual exhibitionism and Continental archness--he's like a hustler striking Marlene Dietrich poses in an Amsterdam window--and the distinctive comic vocalist Lady Rizo, who lends a Victrola vibrato to modern fare with a wink of her elaborate lashes.
- Time Out NY (Issue 739 : Nov 26-Dec 2, 2009)
Read the full review here.
Melding burlesque raunch with old-world supper-club glamour, the louche Lady Rizo and Isengart host a night of cabaret at this modern gothic leather-flanked venue.
- New York Magazine, June 2009
Contempo hits are reworked in the Lee Chappell-promoted Foreign Affairs Cabaret, an insouciantly zingy Wednesday-night revue on "the tiniest, sparkliest stage in New York," past the lobby of the Night Hotel. The show is co-hosted by the talented Lady Rizo, who combines glamour, wit, and real vocal chops as she slows down and pumps up "Fame"--I mean, "Toxic"--and croons a bilingual anti-love song that concludes, "Estoy creepo. Estoy weirdo. Yo no belong here."
Co-host Daniel Isengart, a naughty wood nymph in spangly hot pants, sings "Holiday" and other hits with a high-pitched twinkle and a real tan. And there are guest stars, from trannie jazz singers to exotic dancers and beyond. Yo belong here.
- Village Voice
Are moody medieval German tunes your cup of tea? Then you're sure to enjoy this speakeasy cabaret night starring a host of colorful crooners, musicians and variety acts, including mesmerizing singer and queer-scene favorite Isengart.
- TimeOut New York
Nouveau cabaret darling Isengart and the talented and hilarious Lady Rizo host a postmodern cabaret that features live music, special guest performances and nostalgic acts. The evening combines burlesque raunch and old world supper club glamour for an effect that's retro with a twist.
Metrosource Magazine
Foreign Affairs, an absurdist cabaret hosted by Isengart and Lady Rizo at the modern gothic Night Hotel, deceptively created a posh and well-behaved atmosphere until the music started. Among the well-dressed, fashion forward crowd, Arias With a Twist star Joey Arias cheered while perched at the bar for the performers including the co-hosts, drag legend Sherry Vine and fetishy burlesque artist Amber Ray.
Accompanied by a 4-piece band, every performer showed off great wit and excellent stage presence in the intimate hotel lobby bar.
- NY Press (February 3, 2009)
The captivating Joey Arias sang four numbers, including a throaty and soulful "God Bless the Child," (...) all of which brought cheers and ovations. (...)Co-hosts Isengart and Lady Rizo carry the show with powerful voices; Isengart's vintage cabaret is offset by his lithe body and glitter-encrusted nipples, while Rizo's mischievous grin and banter hold the audience captive.
- NY Press (April 8, 2009)
Read the full review here.
Foreign Affairs is musical candy for the eyes and the ears.
- According to G (November 5, 2009)
Read the full blog entry here.
Performers
past and present
Foreign Affairs has featured some of New York City's most exciting performers, ranging from singer/songwriters, burlesque and boylesque artists, entertainers and musicians.
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Entertainer (and Foreign Affairs Founder) Isengart Comedienne Singer Lady Rizo French Chanteuse Nicole Renaud Burlesque superstar Amber Ray Drag Superstar Joey Arias Boylesque sensation La JohnJoseph The Shanghai Triad featuring Shien Lee Gypsy Music singer Sanda Weigl Singer-songwriter Todd Almond Burlesque star Legs Malone Singer-songwriter Novice Theory German Folk Singer Tine Kindermann Trombone player Matt Musselman, bandleader of the jazz ensemble Grandpa Musselman and his Syncopators |
Steel guitar player Mark Deffenbaugh of the jazz combo The Moonlighters Kenny Mellman, Musical Director of the hit show At Least it's Pink Blues Chanteuse Bridget Everett Singer-songwriter Rachelle Garniez Gospel pianist Our Lady J Pixie Harlot Matti Burlesque Superstar World Famous *BOB* Burlesque Superstar Dirty Martini
Burlesque Performance Artist Julie Atlas Muz Performance Bizzarist Michael Carbonaro Actress/Singer Molly Pope Jazz Trumpeter/Crooner Brian Newman ... and DJ Mondo Lucien |