There’s Always Room in the Clown Car

AS A YOUNG woman in Mexico City, Gaby Muñoz, a 43-year-old performer known onstage as Chula the Clown, recalls, putting on makeup with her friends was always a fraught experience. “There was this whole idea of how to be a woman. They had this beautiful hair and these divine bodies, and I would look in … Read more

Phylicia Rashad Knows Her Purpose

The first time Phylicia Rashad realized what she wanted to do with her life, she was making her way to the exit of a bustling auditorium. This was November 1959, in Houston, after a student music festival at the 9,000-seat Sam Houston Coliseum. Rashad, who was then Phylicia Allen, had been the festival’s mistress of … Read more

Jennifer Tilly Is In On the Joke

She has been electrocuted, hatcheted, murdered by a doll with her soul trapped inside it. She has also notched up an epic kill count of her own, decapitating one victim with a nail file, eviscerating another and melting one unfortunate’s face off with boiling water. And that was before she joined “The Real Housewives of … Read more

Performa 2025 Biennial Announces New Commissions

Every two years the nonprofit Performa Biennial commissions a global mix of established and up-and-coming visual artists to mount live spectacles all over New York City. Performa plans to announce this week that the eight premieres in this fall’s edition, Nov. 1-23, will include a musical written by the French artist Camille Henrot, whose oversize … Read more