Destinations: Halloween 2009

Halloween falls on a weekend for the first time in years. That equates to dozens of ghoulish parties, a myriad of masquerade balls, plenty of parades, and Gotham City in full dress up mode. I predict lots of Zombies in Mad Men attire. The festivities begin on All Hallow's Eve Eve and keep going well into the All Souls Day. Below is a short list of Loungerati recommendations:

Friday, October 30th
The Halloween Eve Masquerade

Join Michael Arenella & His Dreamland Orchestra the night before Halloween, and rub elbows with other glamorous ghouls... at Brooklyn's most enchanting little speakeasy, the Green Building, a 19th-century warehouse nestled along the banks of the Gowanus Canal, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

The featured performances include:
- The Love Show - sultry avant-garde dance troupe
- Jezebel Express and Lucy Lustgaarten - burlesque sensations
- Roddy Caravella & His Varsity Syncopators - wobbly-kneed Charleston-dancing troublemakers
- The Minsky Sisters - world renowned '20s tap duo
- Special musical guest Drew Nugent
Plus - Exotic Pumpkin and Gourd Exhibition!

- Cocktails served by the mixologists of Court & Spark. Fredo of Loungerati will also be slinging drinks.
- A tasty variety of hot and cold hors d'oeuvres and treats will be available if you're feeling peckish.

The Green Building
450 Union Street
Brooklyn, NY
9pm - $20


Saturday, October 31st
The Black Cat Masquerade with Gelber & Manning

Brought to you by Wit's End and the Dorothy Parker Society - the Black Cat Masquerade is the place to be this Hallowe'en!

It's the big one, kids! We've been waiting all year to bring you a Hallowe'en evening of spooky hot jazz tunes and other surprises, and we're bringing it to you with the fabulous musical stylings of Gelber & Manning! Come on in, take off your skin, and dance around in your bones with us!

DRESS : Vintage evening attire 1920s-40s: the more glamorous and mysterious, the better! And MASKS of course! We'll have some masks on hand for those unfortunate few who come bare-faced!

This evening also features the OFFICIAL LAUNCH of Zelda : The Magazine of the Vintage Nouveau! Our hostess Diane (along with a bevy of amazing talent) brings you THE publication for lovers of early 20th century arts and culture!

ALL GUESTS AT THE BLACK CAT MASQUERADE WILL RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF ZELDA, AND AN ARRAY OF OTHER LOVELY FAVORS IN OUR HALLOWE'EN TREAT BAG! (treat bags while they last! arrive early!)

PLUS:
--FREE Balboa Lesson at 8PM with Jeri Lynn Astra and Neal Groothuis!
--Vintage party games to win prizes from our pals at Hey Sailor Hats and Cladrite.com!
--Best Dressed will take home a special prize provided by our venue, Flute Bar!
--Haute Chocolates from our favorite chocolatier, Chocolats Meurens!

Our venue for this special event has moved to Flute Bar, conveniently located at 54th Street near 7th Ave! Flute is in a quite legendary location : the very same spot as Texas Guinan's notorious speakeasy, Club Intime! (Also a longtime favorite of the Dorothy Parker Society!)

Flute
205 West 54th St @ 7th Ave
New York City

SWEET & SOUR SCARY SWING

Sweet & Sour Scary Swing returns to The Grand Harmony Palace in Chinatown on Spooky HALLOWEEN SATURDAY NIGHT, October 31st, 2009. LIVE HOT SWING JAZZ for listening and dancing featuring The Battle of the Bands with George Gee and The Jump, Jivin' Wailers (with vocalists John Dokes and Hilary Gardner) and Lt. Jim and The Blue Saracens (with vocalist Bess McCrary) duking it t all night long! A guaranteed good time with a heavy dose of Halloween Revelry and exciting, swingin LIVE BIG BAND dance music!

COSTUME CONTEST!CHINESE FOOD!COCKTAILS!TWO 12PC. BANDS, TWO CHARISMATIC BANDLEADERS!
SWINGIN' VOCALS!LIVE HOT SWINGIN' JAZZ!DIM SUM!LARGE DANCE FLOOR (MARBLE)DOOR PRIZES!
AND MORE.......

$20 Advance (Please make Paypal payment to "grandharmonyswings at gmail dot com" with indication of how many tickets and attached names - your names will be at the door night of the event)
$25 at the door.

Doors open for dinner at 7pm and music from 9pm to 1am.

GRAND HARMONY PALACE is located at 98 Mott Street (Canal Street) in historic Chinatown in lower Manhattan, New York City.

Dances of Vice Halloween: The DWINDLING PARTY

This Halloween, Dances of Vice presents "The Dwindling Party", an ominous Edward Gorey themed Victorian Halloween fete with a murder mystery undertone that promises to be most elegantly deranged.

The Dwindling Party will feature the murder ballads of special musical guests THE SCARRING PARTY, sensational crime scenes performed by resident rapscallions COMPANY XIV, fashions by that ruffled ruffian PUREVILE!, CORNELIUS LOY performing on the theremin, and the musical pandemonium of Ben Ickies' 24-piece chamber rock orchestra, THIS AMBITIOUS ORCHESTRA. Specialty cocktail menu presented by your charming bartender CHRX!

Artists FYODOR PAVLOV and LAWRENCE GULLO will be offering hand-drawn Gorey portraits to our dwindling guests, photographer STEVEN ROSEN will be offering specialty antiquated portraits, and PUREVILE! and COR-LEONIS will be vending handmade jewelry, candles and accoutrements!

303 BOND Street Theatre
303 Bond St.
Brooklyn, NY