Café Nordo Explores The Wonderful World Of Klaus Nomi With “Alien/Angel”

Devin Bannon as Klaus Nomi in Alien/Angel. Photo: Bruce Clayton Tom.

I’m shocked someone hasn’t already done this. A cabaret/dinner theater tribute about the influential, experimental avant garde theater artist KLAUS NOMI, who delighted/confused audiences in New York in the 1970s and up to his tragic death by AIDS in 1983. Since, no one has, those arty musical dinner theater weirdos at Seattle’s beloved Café Nordo tackled just such a project with ALIEN/ANGEL their just opened new show about the man described as “Half Maria Callas, Half Elvis Presley and 100% Extra-Terrestrial!”

It’s the brainchild of writer/star DEVIN BANNON and director KEIRA MCDONALD who used historical archival as source material to recreate the life, art and music of the German born counter-tenor who influenced David Bowie and countless alternative artists over the decades including many a drag performer.

(Nomi fans are well aware you can find footage of the performer on the Internet including his stint as a back up singer for Bowie during his 1979 appearance on Saturday Night Live….check it out on Vimeo, here.)

Naturally, being Nordo, you also get a four course meal with your show….and, this ain’t your Grandma’s suburban dinner theater with choice of dry chicken or dry steak. Nordo don’t fool around with the food…here’s the menu for Alien/Angel:

First Course:
The Fatayer Triangle Pie
Inspired by the Lebanese Hand Pie
Ground Spiced Lamb with Pomegranate Molasses and a
Tart Cherry Chutney
(v) Fatayer be Sabanekh Chopped Spinach, Onions, & Pine Nuts

Second Course:
Savory Sweet Potato Pie Upside Down, Round and Round
With Five Spice Candied Bacon & Pecans
(v) Candied Butternut Bacon

Third Course:
Short Rib Shepherd’s Pie to the Sky
A Pyramid of Duchess Potatoes filled with Braised Short Rib and
House Made Wasabi Peas
(v) A Pyramid of Duchess Potatoes filled with Braised Winter Vegetables, Shiitakes, and House Made Wasabi Peas

Dessert:
Lime Pies Don’t Lies
Klaus Nomi’s own recipe for Lime Pie

More info on the show which runs through February 24th at Nordo’s home in Pioneer Square. Snag tix HERE.

Our 10th Season of world premieres continues with Alien/Angel. Writer/Performer Devin Bannon (Onērus, Lost Falls) and director Keira McDonald (To Savor Tomorrow 2016) bring to life historical TV interviews of the actual Klaus Sperber, while reimagining the musical acts of his rock alter ego Nomi in nine soaring numbers.

In between the songs, Bannon-as-Klaus tells a moving narrative of his life as a young, queer German gifted with a soprano vocal range, who moved to Manhattan in the 1980’s with a generation of youth inspired by Warhol’s Factory. Klaus Nomi did the impossible: struck NYC speechless with his latex costumes, clown makeup and angelic voice. Now, on his comeback tour from outer space, Klaus tells the tale of his brush with fame and all-too-young death as one of the first celebrity victims of the AIDS epidemic.

Accompanied by Annastasia Workman on the keys and Kathy Moore on guitar, and MC’d by otherworldly announcer Heather Revfem (Onērus, Hotel Nordo) Alien/Angel also features twin back-up dancers joining Klaus onstage with choreography by Waxie Moon. The Nomi Song, Total Eclipse and other New Wave favorites will transport you to Planet Nomi.

Known as the weirdo’s weirdo, starving artist Klaus was famous for trading his homemade pastries in exchange for studio time and rehearsal space to create music that became inspiration for artists like David Bowie and Joey Arias. Award winning Chef Erin Brindley will craft a four course menu of pies, savory and sweet, that is included in the ticket price.