Adam J. Rineer: THIRD SEX – 1930s transvestite lieder
Joe's Pub425 Lafayette Street, New York 10003
At Joe’s Pub, Adam J. Rineer presents THIRD SEX: 1930s transvestite lieder, a theatrical found-text song cycle and punk cabaret. The work draws on writing published in Berlin’s Das 3. Geschlecht magazine between 1930 and 1932, bringing its trans and queer narratives into a contemporary musical setting. The available information does not specify the formation or other players for this performance, but the project has previously been presented at Ars Nova and HERE Arts Center.
Rineer is an NYC composer, writer, music director, and artistic leader. Their descriptions of THIRD SEX frame it as a score informed by punk and experimental electronic music from across the past 90 years, built to give renewed voice to material that has been overlooked. Across versions of the project, Rineer has been credited for composition, keys or piano, synth and electronics, and vocals. Their wider work in music direction and theatre has involved Goodspeed Musicals, MCC Theater, NAMT, and TheatreWorks Hartford. No reviewer assessment is available in the supplied material, but this is clearly a project rooted in archival queer writing and theatrical songcraft.
The stage is set in a converted library space with a striped bar and photos of legends like Leonard Cohen and Amy Winehouse lining the walls. You'll find yourself seated on velvet couches or at candle-lit tables, close enough to hear every note from the back. The sound, engineered by technicians who've worked with John Legend and The Notorious B.I.G., is consistently ranked among the best in New York. Three shows a day, dinner and drinks served throughout, and a menu ranging from Italian small plates to craft cocktails; it's a place where music and conversation flow together, and where both rising stars and legends have made their U.S. debuts.