"Flow artist" Nezzie Garcia is one of the performers on the roster for Patrick Cabaret's final mainstage offering this weekend. Photo by David Pierini.
A haven for cutting-edge performance in the Twin Cities for 32 years, Patrick's Cabaret will present what is billed as its final mainstage show this weekend.
"Latinx-Q: A Celebration of Queer Latin Artists," which takes place Friday and Saturday at Open Eye Figure Theatre (7:30 p.m., 506 E. 24th St., Mpls. 612-724-6273) brings the company back to a building that was an early foundation.
The venue was, for a decade starting in 1989, the home of Patrick's Cabaret, known for its wide variety of queer-friendly, sometimes risqué shows. It was founded by its namesake, Patrick Scully, in 1986. The cabaret lost its lease in spring 2016 and moved its offices to Intermedia Arts, but the closing of that venue last November was another blow to the itinerant presenter.
The "Latinx-Q" show is curated by Hector Chavarria, who styles himself "The Big Gay Mexican," and will feature a hoop performance by "flow artist" Nezzie Garcia (pictured), a short play by Keila Anali, spoken word by Ellis Perez, songs and live painting by the Christian Ybarra + Mimi Solis combo and a piece on auto-erotic exploration by Beliza Torres Narváez.
In early June, Patrick's will go out of business with a big, blowout performance and party dubbed a "FUNeral." That takes place June 3 at LUSH, 990 Central Av. NE, Mpls. 612-208-0358.
Meanwhile, Patrick's figures in an ongoing exhibit at Walker Art Center, "A Different Kind of Intimacy." Revisiting the performance-art scene that became a target of conservatives during the "culture wars" of the 1990s, the rotating display in the Best Buy Aperture space presents photos, video and other materials from once-controversial works by such artists as Bill T. Jones, Ron Athey, Karen Finley and Patrick's Cabaret founder Patrick Scully.
