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Mouth gaping, eyes wide, the boy kept
repeating to us, "I had no idea. My
friend said, 'Let's go dancing at
Alegria,' but I had no idea. I never saw
anything like this before."
He wasn't alone. All over Webster Hall,
the scene of Ric Sena's Alegria Carnaval
Carioca, a crowd of spellbound boys
gaped in wonder and cheered and whistled
as the curtain rose on one of the most
incredibly extravagant production
numbers in the history of circuit
parties.
For twelve years, Sena's Alegria Pride
parties have been the climax of NYC
Pride weekend: marathon bacchanals that
stretch long into Monday afternoon, the
unofficial gay holiday of Pride. Not
since 2008 has Sena used Webster Hall
for his Pride event - and in the ensuing
years, the four-story,
40,000-square-foot East Village
architectural landmark won the 2011
"Nightclub of the Year" award from
Nightclub and Bar Magazine, as well
"Best Dance Club" by the Village Voice.
Rock star and fashion icon Prince once
declared that "Webster Hall is the best
stage in New York City" - and Sena
brilliantly utilized every inch of that
expansive stage with its magnificent
proscenium to create a spectacular
Carioca Carnaval parade and festival as
beautiful and riotous as any in Rio.
Marching along the lip of the stage, a
corps of Carioca drummers performed to
the cheering crowd - but this was only
the prelude. Slowly, the curtain rose to
reveal a massive Carnaval float laden
with samba dancers that slid out toward
the capacity house. With Abel in the
booth, and a rainbow of lasers and
confetti cannons bursting overhead, the
room exploded in a resplendent spectacle
of color, light, and music. The crowd
went crazy, cheering in ecstasy. A
stunning exhibition of propulsive
rhythms and theatrical production,
brilliantly aligned and perfectly
executed, the nearly twenty-minute
performance turbo-charged the entire
capacity crowd.
All through the multiple rooms of
Webster Hall - from the Marlin Room
where DJ Joe Gauthreaux held court, to
the brand-new Webster Studio where a
crowd danced to the sounds of San Diego
circuit star DJ Luis Perez, and up into
the Grand Ballroom where DJs Danny Verde
and Alegria resident Abel sent out a
ferociously celebratory set of
freshly-mixed Pride classics - the
capacity crowd danced with an abandon
marked by pride and freedom.
Abel, in particular, was on a tear,
ripping into nearly every song
associated with Pride since Stonewall -
and twisting it into an Alegria Abel
signature mash-up. The boys imbibed the
music like liquid lust and kept the
wooden dance floors rocking like a boat
across the Atlantic. Laser maestro Kyle
Garner and lighting wizards Stephen
Wyker and Tony Lage created a Promethean
extravaganza of light and laser, evoking
not only the majestic mayhem of Rio but
also the electric energy of New York
City.
If anyone ever wondered what motivates
Sena, then one had only to witness
Sena's irrepressible delight as he
witnessed the crowd's euphoric response
to his Carnaval Carioca. This is a
producer who lives to please his
audience - and as he motioned to his
heart and then back again to the
cheering crowd, it was clear that
nothing could have given him more joy
than the joy that enveloped the room.
"The energy from all those boys and the
smiles on those boys' faces... It was
all overwhelming," said Sena. "The
smiles on their faces were a reward for
all the work."
With Carnaval Carioca, the
Brazilian-born Sena gave his Alegria
family the heart and soul of Rio - and a
big part of his own heart.
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