Performa 20th Anniversary Variety Show at Town Hall

Performa celebrated its 20th anniversary with a 90-minute variety show at New York's historic Town Hall on Wednesday night. Over 50 artists transformed the venue into a living archive of the organization's history, featuring performances by Yvonne Rainer (Chair/Pillow, 1969/2026), Lonnie Holley with Shahzad Ismaily, Marcel Dzama (Moth Dance), Laurie Simmons and Michael Rohatyn (Music of Regret), Artina McCain performing Mary Lou Williams's A Fungus Amungus (directed by Solange Knowles and Carlos Soto for Saint Heron), and Alexa West closing the show. Actor Casey Jost hosted, reading 1920s Yelp reviews and meditating on deleting apps. Julio Torres drew the biggest laugh with a deadpan routine about a Diet Coke can just out of reach that turned out empty. After the show, RoseLee Goldberg and the Performa team attended the Tribeca Festival premiere of MUTTER: The Diary of a Mother at SeventyFour Films, joined by Natasha Lyonne, Gina Gershon, James Frey, and Waris Ahluwalia. The audience included Solange Knowles, Alia Shawkat, artists Marika Thunder, Martine Gutierrez, Marcus Jahmal, Jean-Pierre Villafane, writers Matt Starr, Barbara Graustark, Michael Bullock, and editor Alexander Provan. Town Hall, opened in 1921, was designed with no private boxes or elite sightlines, embodying a democratic principle.