Many of us developed an affection for opera early in life through Looney Tunes versions of Rossini and Wagner. For some, having Elmer Fudd chant “Kill the Wabbit” to the tune of “Ride of the Valkyries” in Chuck Jones's animated masterpiece taught us everything we wanted to know about opera. But if your ambition to appreciate the finer things in life extends beyond Bugs Bunny, real opera could be an intimidating world of old rich......

'Ladies and Gentlemen, live at the Apollo, all the way from Torontoooo, Canada, it's....Torontoist!' Wouldn't we love to hear that. But wouldn't anyone? Here's your chance: On Saturday, December 3, the Drake Hotel Underground offers the chance at a much-coveted Apollo Theatre spot. Apollo judges will host auditions starting at 11 am till 2 pm. The live spot would be a part of the 71st year of obviously Apollo amateur night. The Harlem theatre is......

Representatives of U.S. hip lit invade The Drake Hotel Underground Sunday night as newly minted McSweeney's author Salvador Plascencia presents his first novel The People of Paper alongside fellow McSweeney's alum Paul La Farge. Plascencia's lyrical fantasia is already being compared to the work of beautiful dreamers Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Paul Lafarge's latest work, The Facts of Winter, purports to continue and not continue the work of Paul Poissel, "one of......

The robust, loungey vocals, and the lyrical explorations of male genitalia used to be territory strictly reserved for Rufus. As of last night, officially as of last night, it's now Martha Wainwright's turn to be described as "intoxicating" and "devastatingly beautiful." Last night at the Drake Hotel Underground, however, was not the time for comparisons. A sold-out (didn't look that sold-out though) pro-Martha audience indulged in the woman's every breath, from off-the-cuff jokes to fascinating......

If only FOUND Magazine started finding all my lost socks! What? Anyhow, Found's North American tour stops by the Drake Hotel this Friday, Nov. 5, from 7-9pm. The magazine is a literary collection of found items such as quirky to-do lists and psychotic break-up notes, in which nothing is contextualized or explained at length. The post-it notes, scribblings or what-have-you's can read into the pathos of some or just demonstrate the bizarro lives of others.......