Skip to content
Bushwick DailyBecome a member
Advertisement
Met FreshMet Fresh

Arts & Culture

Company XIV’s New Show “Queen of Hearts” Is the Gender Fluid Immersive Theater We All Need

Nothing is off-limits for the racy nouveau company in the heart of Bushwick.

Company XIV’s New Show “Queen of Hearts” Is the Gender Fluid Immersive Theater We All Need

Company XIV’s New Show “Queen of Hearts” Is the Gender Fluid Immersive Theater We All Need

Nothing is off-limits for the racy nouveau company in the heart of Bushwick.

Company XIV’s New Show “Queen of Hearts” Is the Gender Fluid Immersive Theater We All Need
Advertisement
Met FreshMet Fresh

Sure, there is a saying “If it ain’t baroque don’t fix it.” Company XIV’s artistic director and choreographer Austin McCormick, expert in all things baroque, opulent, and performative, isn’t fixing anything — he’s just changing it a little.

Bringing new life to classic and familiar stories with his immersive retellings, McCormick’s most recent show, Queen of Hearts, is now onstage at the company’s permanent location on Troutman Street in the informal nightlife center of Bushwick, showing a new side to “Alice in Wonderland.”

LEXXE as Alice in Queen of Hearts. Courtesy of Mark Shelby Perry.

The show itself — at its best when it is most irreverent and also most referential — takes place just off the Jefferson L, in a former warehouse and current land of dreams (or perhaps pre-adolescent nightmares for the easily scared, yet imaginative). The surroundings themselves are lush, with hyper-designed surroundings, including an indoor faux-tree, carousel ponies on the bar, and a martini glass that is sized to fit a human in the place of an olive.

It was a long road to be able to settle into this Bushwick space and create these worlds so vividly for audiences. Company XIV began its journey in 2006 and…

Thanks for reading Bushwick Daily.

Create your free account or log in to continue reading.

By continuing, you agree to the Membership Terms and Privacy Policy.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of Bushwick Daily. See membership options

Cover photo courtesy of Mark Shelby Perry.

Advertisement
Met Fresh

Thanks for being a member.

Read next

News

Nutcracker Rouge is back at Bushwick’s Théâtre XIV through Jan. 30

Company XIV's burlesque "Nutcracker Rouge" is in previews at Théâtre XIV on Troutman Street in Bushwick and opens Nov. 22, with 63 performances through Jan. 30, 2027, and tickets from $49.

Bark Barbecue is now open seven days a week in Bushwick, and breakfast is next

Restaurants ·

Broadway Baddies drag show returns to All Night Skate in Bed-Stuy on November 17

On Stage ·

NYC Parks lists 174 Bushwick sites for new street trees, and says homeowners ‘may not reject planting’

News ·

Advertise with Bushwick Daily

Reach North Brooklyn, and the New Yorkers who read it.

Written in Bushwick, read across the city since 2009.

129K site visitors a month 1–2M Instagram impressions a month 24K email list members
Advertise with us →
Become a member of Bushwick Daily