By Bart Greenberg***A star of the Downtown art world, Klaus Nomi performed at such famous spaces as Irving Plaza and such notorious places as the gay sex club Mans Country. He was a best-selling recording artist in Europe and was even an early guest star on Saturday Night Live. A German immigrant, Nomi was famous for 
his beautiful and eerie counter tenor voice applied to both classical music and more popular tunes. But he was also one of the first celebrity victims of the AIDS plague, and passed in the early ‘80s. The tribute took place, with an overflowing crowd, in part as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, at The Green Room 42,
The program was chaotic, confusing and complicated; rather appropriate considering the man of the hour. First, there was a reunion of some of the people most important to Nomi, such as best friend and executor Joey Arias, business partner Katy K (Kattelman) and protectors Snooky and Tish (Eileen Snooky Bellomo and Patrice Tish Bellomo), who sang back up during the concert.
Some of the reminiscences were lost due to being off-mic, and the participants 
being seated in the audience and not visible to many of the attendees. One prominent guest was Kristian Hoffman, who served as Nomi’s songwriter/arranger/music director, who spent a goodly time at the piano, both playing and singing. Part of the agenda was offering selections from a bio-musical he is writing with the also-present Peter Danish, who served as the host and narrator of the show. Between the songs from the musical, the songs Nomi originally sang, and the songs Nomi collaborated on, the set list slipped into confusion at times.
The major weight of the musical performances fell on three excellent countertenors, David Sabella, Tony d’Alelio and Jordan Ritter Covatto. All entered into the spirit of the production with striking wardrobe and make up. Perhaps the best known, 
Sabella, opened the show with “Mon Coer S’ovre a Ta Voix” (Camille Saint-Saens) with great sensitivity. He later got to get down and dirty with a number from the musical “Welcome to Man’s Country,” celebrating the sex club, while stripping down to a leather harness.
D’Alelio also had a number from the new opus, a traditionally theatrical “I Want Song” entitled “I Chase the Stars.” The writing and the artist blended for a strong establishment of Nomi’s character. The singer returned for a quirky and individual version of “Falling in Love Again” (Friedrich Hollaender, Sammy Lerner), that bordered on an audition for the Emcee in Cabaret.
Ritter Covatto tore the place apart with “Total Eslipse” (written by Nomi and Hoffman), with vocal and physical gyrations capturing the original star’s performing style. In a far quieter moment, he offered a tender number from the proposed musical dealing with Nomi’s divided loyalties between his 
commitment to his birthplace of Germany and his adopted home of the United States. “Between Two Worlds” was a welcome ballad delicately done.
In a kind of Follies moment, as the real Snooky and Tish stayed upstage providing back up, Broadway performers Rita Harvey and Liz Byrne delivered “Weird and Wonderful” (from the new musical) as the pair, with considerable energy—just one more quirky moment in many. It was a bit surprising how smoothly things proceeded, especially given how crowded the stage was with Hoffman on piano, Danish on keyboards, Adam Gloc also on keyboards, Joe Katz on bass, Vincent Venezia on guitar and Keith Crupi on drums.
To bring the program to a close, the three countertenors joined forces on “Nomi’s Song,” the first selection that Hoffman wrote for the eponymous singer, in a style that might be described as baroque rock. Beautifully performed, but just one more unique touch in this tribute.
Photos by Mark Wallis
