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Tom Judson Kicks Off 20th Annual HOT! Festival
Hosted By Dixon Place
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It is time to brace yourself for a weekend of excitement as the 20th Annual HOT! Festival kicks off with The Tom Judson Show on Friday, June 24 at the Dixon Place. The Tom Judson Show is a brand new cabaret show featuring — you guessed it– Tom Judson on the piano after his return from several successful North American tours of shows including The Loose Chanteuse and his very own Canned Ham.
“Since the musical sections of Canned Ham went over so well,” explains Tom to hotfestival.org, “I thought I’d try to do something along the lines of a more straightforward cabaret evening… I think it’ll be fun.”
Judson is no newcomer to performing at Dixon Place. In March, Judson had a successful run of his show Canned Ham. Judson has a long list of talents to his name including actor, composer, writer and musician. Judson has also appeared on Broadway in Cabaret and has toured with a production of 42nd Street. His writing credentials have appeared in various publications including Out Magazine, The Advocate and Frontiers Magazine. Judson has also composed music for various television projects including MTV and Nickelodeon.
Dixon Place, the venue hosting The Tom Judson Show, is a non-profit organization that was founded in the 1980s to give artists the opportunity to perfect their work in front of a live audience. Many of the artists are performers, writers and musicians from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Their goal is to expand the audiences’ understanding of what the creative process means and to provide performing and literary artists with an environment supportive of their work. The venue has been called “the city’s most fiercely experimental artists’ nests,” by The Village Voice. Calling itself “NYC’s laboratory for performance,” Dixon Place hopes to bring people in the community together to share a passion for performance and creativity.
This summer marks is the 20th Annual HOT! Festival, “the oldest continual festival of queer performance and culture in the world.” Following along with the mission of Dixon Place, HOT! Festival is a “laboratory for inter-disciplinary queer performance from artists at every stage of development, from emerging artists to seasoned veterans.” The festival also includes panel discussions and workshops to engage the public and enlighten festival-goers.
The Tom Judson Show is the first of many events at the festival. “Prepare yourself for a tune-filled evening of songs both familiar and new,” according to hotfestival.org, “Including a handful written by Tom himself.”