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THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY CELEBRATES HALLOWEEN
WITH ITS LEGENDARY VILLAGE COSTUME BALL OCTOBER 31
Dance with ghouls and swing with the spirits
in the East Village's favorite Halloween tradition.
WHERE AND WHEN
October 31, 2025
"Village Halloween Costume Ball"
Presented by Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. (at E. 10th Street)
Outdoor attractions (free) 3:30 to 7:00 PM
Indoor attractions ($20) 7:00 PM to Midnight
Costumes or Formal Wear are requested.
info/tix: (212) 254-1109, www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/prEwwsQct9R5SC9G7
NEW YORK, October 27 -- To celebrate the spookiest night of the year with art, music, and community spirit, Theater for the New City (TNC), 155 First Ave., will host its annual Village Halloween Costume Ball on Friday, October 31. A large outdoor festivity will be held from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM outside the Theater on East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues (or if it rains, in a big tent), featuring performances and a costume competition for kids. The celebration moves inside from 7:00 PM to midnight with nonstop performances, ballroom dancing (to Art Lillard's Heavenly Swing Band and MisterPablo, a Latin Dance band), an aerial dance concert (by Constellation Moving Company), and dining in a pop-up restaurant (The Witch's Cauldron) where for $4, guests can savor gourmet dishes donated by local restaurants. The evening culminates in a costume judging with prizes from 11:00 PM to midnight. Admission is free for the outdoor program and $20 for the indoor festivities. Costumes or formal wear are requested.
On every Halloween since 1976, TNC has transformed its theater complex and surrounding streets into a carnival of the unexpected, where neighborhood families, artists, and revelers come together for an evening of spirited fun, live music, and avant-garde theater. This extravaganza has been a point of origin for many of the City's most original entertainers. Six full-length plays have grown out of playlets written for the fest and it is probable that the theatrical movement in Performance Art began there. It has been a launching pad for such formative artists as Paul Zaloom, Alice Farley, Bloolips, The Red Mole, Penny Arcade, Basil Twist, Alien Comic Tom Murrin, Zero Boy, Charles Busch, Eduardo Machado, Moises Kaufman, Maria Irene Fornes and Phoebe Legere. Each year, many acts, skits, sketches, and skadoodles go on to become the basis of larger theater works. It is also interesting to note that TNC originated the Village Halloween Parade as part of its annual Halloween Ball. The procession wound its way through the Village from TNC's second home at the corner of Jane and West Streets to Washington Square Park. In the festival's second year, TNC won an Obie for this parade.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
(as of October 4)
PART 1 - OUTDOOR EVENTS
3:30 - 7:00 PM
ADMISSION FREE
Attractions:
• Variety performances by Bond Street Theater, Joe Bendik, Carol Tendava
(Belly Dance), Arley Trice, Lily James Roberts, Vadim Astrakhan, George Bellici,
Star 69, London Fog, Matthew Mendoza and others. Emceed by Mary Tierney and
Rocco Nicholas.
• Children's Costume Contest emceed by T. Scott Lilly and judged by
Crystal Field, Terry Lee King and Emily Pezzella. Winners will receive prizes.
• Giveaway Table with gifts and racks of clothing.
• The Red and Black Masque: an annual Medieval ritual ensemble theater
piece which is performed by torchlight with audience participation. (6:00-6:20)
At 7:00 PM, the celebration goes inside the four-theater complex for food, fun, and exciting new theater works, culminating with a costume contest at 11:00 PM whose winners will each receive a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne and a year's free pass to TNC.
PART 2 - INDOOR EVENTS
7:00 - Midnight
ADMISSION $20
CABARET PERFORMANCES (7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, Community Theater))
• A succession of live, 10-minute performances staged in the Community
Theater. Performing artists will be, among others: Austin Pendleton, Richard
West, Inma Heredia, Lei Zhou (directed by Mark Marcante), John Grimaldi, Hollie
Harper, TNC's Street Theater Ensemble, Carol Tendava (Belly Dance), Peter
Dizzoza, JC's Rat Cabaret, Alessandra Belloni, Wise Guise, Emilio Garcia and
Fairy Tale Marionettes. There will be playlets including works by Stephan
Morrow, Toby Armor and Joan Kane, and an excerpt of "Sartre and Simone"
by William Cane, among others. At 9:30, there will be a scream contest run
by Lissa Moira. Melanie Maria Goodreaux and Crystal Field are emcees.
BALLROOM DANCING (8:00 PM to 11:00, Johnson Theater)
• Art Lillard's Heavenly Big Band, a 17 piece swing orchestra performing
an extensive repertoire of songs from swing to samba to jazz ballad to Bossa
Nova with a swinging singing soloist (8:00 - 9:30)
• Aerial Dance with Constellation Moving Company, performing high over
our heads in exciting new challenges to eye and ear (9:30 - 10:00)
• Mr. Pablo's Latin Dance Band, a five-piece fusion band with vocalist,
mixing Salsa, Samba and Flamenco with Rock, Reggae and Funk (10:00 - 11:00)
DINING IN THE WITCHES' CAULDRON (7:00 to 11:00 PM, Cino Theater)
• Downtown's most sensational Halloween cafe, featuring a variety of
American and international delicacies at peoples' prices ($4 buys you entree
and dessert). Holiday dishes are contributed by neighboring East Village restaurants,
some with celebrity chefs. Beginning at 7:00 PM, you can gobble couscous from
a coffin lid while enjoying spine-tingling performances by performance artists,
songwriters, poets and variety artists, including Smokey Stevens, WillieAnn
Gissendanner, Pamela Enz, Miguel Loyola, Mimi Block & Rome Neal, ZeroBoy,
Sylvain Leroux, Lili Barsha, George Belleci, Marilyn Horan, Sarah Lilly, Ellen
Steir, Peter Welch, and The Head Peddlers. There will also be an excerpt from
"Dune the Dunsical" (written and directed by Blake Du Bois and TJ Canlon)
and a short play from the Mary Tierney Acting Workshop.
MONSTERS AND MIRACLES COSTUME PARADE (11:00 PM to Midnight,
Johnson Theater)
• This annual costume contest will be accompanied on piano by Peter
Dizzoza. All costumed attendees are invited to march past a panel of celebrity
judges. Winners receive one-year passes to TNC and a bottle of Moet &
Chandon Champagne. Attendees will be judged in such categories as "Most
Politically Irrelevant," "Most 1984," "Most Woke,"
"Most Fake News," "Most Stephen Miller," "Most Unvaccinated,"
and "Most Likely to be Extinct." Judged by Terry Lee King, Joe Battista,
Crystal Field, Andy P. Travis, Phillip Hackett, Lissa Moira, David Willinger
and Jenne Vath.
VAUDEVILLE PERFORMANCES IN THE WOMB ROOM (8:00 to 11:00 PM, Cabaret Theater)
• Performers include Star '69, Larry Litt & Eleanor Heartney, Bina
Sherif, Sue Horowitz, New Yiddish Rep, Joe Bendik, Claude Solnik, Breaking
the Trust, Lei Zhou & Peter Dizzoza, Rocco Nicholas, Terry Lee King &
Billy Little, Sam Wiek, Danielle Aziza, and others. (8:00 - 10:00)
LOBBY EVENTS (7:00 to 11:00 PM)
• Performances by Middy Streeter, Cobu (all-women Taiko drum group),
Hellsouls, flute-playing goblin Kahley Mitchell, tap dance with Laraine Goodman
and The Mad Tappers, Fish Pond (casting for giveaway gifts), Fortune Teller
Penny Diora (free readings), Champagne Bar that serves Bubbly over a coffin
with a live vampire inside.
Theater for the New City (www.theaterforthenewcity.net) is located at 155 First Avenue, at the corner of East Tenth Street. Reservations are optional. The TNC box office number is (212) 254-1109.
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PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/prEwwsQct9R5SC9G7