Recap: TueNight Live: Photos from “RISE”

Last week, on March 6, we returned to the cozy Wren Downstairs (last time we were there was for “Sisters”), to bring our RISE issue to life. We had six phenomenal storytellers — Melanie Dione, Kerika Nalty Fields, Whitney Johnson, Elana Rabinowitz, Abby West and Yng-Ru Chen. We drank delicious Rise-themed cocktails, noshed on empanadas, and — of course — shared our stories. All photos by Kacy Jahanbini.

Margit kicked off the evening talking about the meaning of this issue (more on that here), thanking The Wren for hosting, our writers for reading, and our bartender, Dale, for bartending.

Kerika pulled us in with her hushed and intimate story of rising in the wee hours of the morning to write.

TueNighter Adrianna introduced her friend of more than a decade, Yng. (Has it really been that long?)

Yng’s shared a harrowing story of a rising fever during the birth of her first child.

And Melanie straight up brought the house down with her frank description of her quest to have an orgasm.

After catching our collective breath, we took a break to meet up with friends…

Get a fancy Rise-themed cocktail from Dale (The Phoenix, anyone?)

…And meet new people.


Did we mention that the empanadas were delicious?

Abby brought us back from break with the story of one difficult and life-changing summer, when running from her husband turned into running for herself.

Whitney, next, described what the death of her brother meant to her.

 

And finally, TueNighter Karen introduced her long-ago friend, Elana.

 

Elana told her story of the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort, and how it brought up a poignant memory from her teenage years

Prompting a lovely, final hug. We’re so grateful for this community we’ve built together. Thank you for coming, and we’ll see you April 24 at the new DUMBO outpost of The Wing!

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