Friday, November 22nd 9:00 pm

Humboldt’s favorite underground lounge is back with a fervor promising to be the year’s most outrageously lit night on the town. Join Papaya Lounge’s Velvet Q Jones and a line-up of stellar cabaret performers for two nights only, November 22 and 23, 2019 at the Arcata Playhouse at 9 p.m.
The Papaya Lounge has been touted as one of Arcata’s not-to-be-missed annual events, playing to sold-out crowds the past two years running. A fresh and hot, down and dirty evening featuring some of Humboldt’s finest performers sears the stage for a bawdy, booze-filled extravaganza. The show features a fist-pumping worthy international cast, including Sarah McKinney as your buxom host, Velvet Q. Jones alongside her non-sexual life partner Nancy Schwarts played by Alyssa Hughlett, and slinging a bevy of wickedly concocted cocktails is Janessa Johnsrude as Musty Beaver. The three take you on a journey into the deliciously seedy world of the Papaya Lounge, a variety show that plays to your wildest sensibilities. With a reverence for the old-world charm of cabaret, the evening is a celebration of this form of entertainment like you’ve never seen before. Backed by the musical stylings of the Papaya Lounge’s house band the Fruit Flies featuring Michael (Tofu) Schwartz on drums, Jennifer Dominick on Keys, Cory Goldman on guitar, Gregg Moore on horn(s), and Nate Zwerdling on bass.
This year the cast of invited acts includes a performance by Las Vegas’s Elizabeth Colón Nelson, who recently starred in Spiegelworld’s hit show “Absinthe” and Canada’s Hannah Butson, who has lit up international stages abound with her incredibly inventive burlesque acts. Ranging from utterly classy to downright absurd, The Papaya Lounge offers a buffet of performative delights to tickle all of your fantasies…er…fancies set to a musical score that will have you twirling your granny panties in the air like a starry-eyed cowgirl riding the bucking bronco of cutting-edge live theatre.
The Papaya Lounge plays at The Arcata Playhouse at 1251 9th St. on November 21 & 22 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 for regular seating and $25 for a spot at a cafe table upfront in the “Splash Zone”. You can get your ticket at Wildberries, brownpapertickets, or by calling the Playhouse at (707) 822-1575. Splash Zone tickets must be purchased by calling or stopping by the Playhouse. You can risk it and wait to get your tickets at the door too but this show might very well sell out. Suitable for ages 19 + and you will be carded at the door.