Bash Compactor: Tender Isn't The Night

A rare intimate performance by Joey Arias at Foreign Affairs is "only reason to go near Times Square on a Monday," says singer Adam Joseph as we entered the Night Hotel on West 45th Street. Embracing Click Drag founder Rob Roth, Deitch Projects director Susan Geiss and other art-party luminaries was Lee Chappell, the nightlife personage who conceived of and runs this weekly cabaret show—that night wearing a suit with ruffled red trim and a hat encrusted with devil horns.

When voluptuous burlesque star Amber Ray began her act in a slutty cat costume and six-inch plastic claws—switching out "Lola" for a rendition of "Whatever Kitty Wants,"—several young (real) ladies wearing ’20s-style hats bobbed with excitement.

"It's called a cloche," said one of the two Minsky Twins of her rounded, bell-shaped topper. "But this is just an evening hat," said the other, and I realize they're seated at the burlesque-only table (including jewelry designer Wren Britton). Amber Ray then pulls a mouse-shaped cat toy out of her panties, grabs it with her teeth and scampers off.

The captivating Arias sang four numbers, include a throaty and soulful “God Bless the Child,” while winking at Flotilla de Barge and her puppeteer comrade Basil Twist. The room silences as she sings down to a whisper, her unspookable feminine vocals are ridiculous only during her perfect "imitation" of a drunk imbecile, all of which brought cheers and ovation.

Co-hosts Isengart and Lady Rizo also 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 as much as La Arias. But there was also plenty of nipple action from Rizo and Amber Ray, who sang "Naked Before You" and began that way—her last burlesque show was to actually get dressed.