Champagne Jerry, Michael Shannon, Justin Vivian Bond and More Coming Up at Joe's Pub
By: BWW News Desk Aug. 30, 2016
Joe's Pub at The Public has announced its nightly performances for August 31 - September 11, 2016. Scroll down for details, or visit www.joespub.com for a complete list of shows!
BILL KIRCHEN & AUSTIN DE LONE: TRANSATLANTICANA ALBUM RELEASE
Wednesday, August 31 at 7:30PM
$22
Bill Kirchen and Austin de Lone team up for a hands-across-the-Atlantic collection with their new studio album, Transatlanticana, out on August 26, 2016 on Red House Records. This long overdue release unites the pioneers of two major musical movements. Kirchen co-founded the original Americana band, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen. De Lone dropped out of Harvard to start Eggs Over Easy, moving to London and recording with Jimi Hendrix's producer/manager and The Animals' bass player Chas Chandler in 1970. The Eggs are the progenitors of British pub rock, the first link in the chain to punk rock, new wave and beyond. Backed by both their all-star British and American bands, Transatlanticana finds Kirchen and de Lone trading songwriting credits and lead vocals on this soulful and rocking collection.
Kevin Smith Kirkwood IS CLASSIC WHITNEY: ALIVE!
Wednesday, August 31 at 9:30PM
$20
Hot on the heels of the sold out Joe's Pub debut, Classic Whitney: Alive! is back by popular demand to the place where it all started! In Classic Whitney, the legendary Whitney Houston has come back to earth, reincarnated in the body of Kevin Smith Kirkwood, to deliver a one night only retrospective concert and celebration of some of her iconic live performances. Here, Whitney is backed by a full band and back-up singers (who also play her mother Sissy Houston, brother Gary, and even Bobby Brown) and musical director Drew Wutke. With a script constructed from bits of her live concert banter, and re-enactments of her live concert musical arrangements, it's the ultimate Whitney tribute from the ultimate Whitney fan!
Thursday, September 1 at 7:30PM
$20
Texas-native turned New Yorker Jay Brannan writes and performs his own sweet and sad folk songs, which are tempered with a healthy dose of humor, around the world. He appeared as an actor in John Cameron Mitchell's indie film sensation Shortbus, in which his song "Soda Shop" was the highest selling song on the film's soundtrack album. From there, Brannan released a string of albums, all of which topped the iTunes Singer/Songwriter & Billboard Heatseekers charts. His extensive international touring inspired his 2013 EP release, Around the World in 80 Jays, a collection of nine cover songs spanning six languages. Brannan returned to the road in 2014 to promote his new album of acoustic originals, entitled Always, Then, & Now.
Thursday, September 1 at 9:30PM
$15
Champagne Jerry, also known as Neal Medlyn, is a rapper and performance artist who, along with his main producer, Max Tannone and his onstage entourage, the Champagne Club, seek to transform the world every single time they hit the stage. Real beats, real rapping, real champagne, real realness. Champagne Jerry has worked with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys, Kathleen Hanna, Bridget Everett and performed all across the country, including several Wal-Mart parking lots. His new album The Champagne Room is out now on custom USB drives with unique content and is also available to stream or buy online.
Friday, September 2 at 7:30PM
$25
When you listen to The Kruger Brothers, you can't help but be amazed by the sheer depth of their artistry. Originally from Europe, now living in North Carolina, they were first introduced to American audiences in 1997, quickly gaining the attention of fans and the music industry alike. Drawing on a rich cultural palette, theirs is a music that celebrates the best of what music can be: exciting, engaging, intelligent, and delightful. Some call it jazz, some call it classical and some call it bluegrass. Certainly, the music of The Kruger Brothers is all of that and more. Experience what happens when these innovative and soulful world-class virtuosos put on one-of-a-kind performance that audiences find breathtaking and unforgettable.
ELSTEN "FULANO" TORRES / ELIACIM
Friday, September 2 at 9:30PM
$15
Elsten Torres, twice nominated for Grammy Awards, is a singer-songwriter who blends pop, Latin and Americana musical flavors into rich and eclectic artistic expression. Born in Cuba and raised in New York, the now Miami-based musician is credited as one of the pioneers of the Latin rock movement of the '90s and has had numerous hits on Billboard's Top Ten including a number one song for five consecutive weeks.
EliaCiM is a singer-songwriter and musician from Dominican Republic. His self-titled debut album with the hit single "Un Dia De Esos" catapulted him to a nomination for Best New Artist at the 14th annual Latin Grammys where he was invited to perform in the live pre-telecast ceremony. EliaCiM's songs have been heard on television in the widely popular Nickelodeon series Gracchi, as well as on the albums of multiple Billboard charting artists, including Idol Puerto Rico winner Christian Pagan.
JACK KEROUAC PROJECT BENEFIT CONCERT
Saturday, September 3 at 7PM
$30
Legendary composer David Amram and his Quintet perform Beat-era jazz classics, and accompany actors Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire, Man of Steel, Revolutionary Road) and John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos), poets Bob Holman and Frank Messina, rock legend Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and surprise guests from the film and theater world as they recite the works of Jack Kerouac. The evening will also feature special musical guest saxophonist Erik Lawrence and keynote speaker author/journalist and Kerouac Project co-founder Bob Kealing. Proceeds support the Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence Project of Orlando, Florida, home to nearly 60 writers since 2000.
Saturday, September 3 at 9:30PM
$12
Billy Lloyd began their musical journey learning to play classical and minimalist piano at age six. By age 10, Lloyd began experimenting with a looping system after they became too frustrated with the rules and order of classical music, creating vast arrangements of repetitive piano loops, eventually learning to record and structure them into fully fledged songs. Fast forward to 2014, which saw Lloyd release their first self-produced EP Who ( / ), with headlining shows across Europe and international acclaim. 2015 saw a second EP, Who ( // ), shows all across the US and Europe and a move to New York. Lloyd now completes the Who Trilogy with Who ( /// ), out August 8th 2016, with another string of international performances.
Sunday, September 4 at 7:30PM
$15
Bonjour's eponymous debut album is a collection of musical snapshots. Each works represents a day of the week and its associated mood, and some, like "Friday 3PM," are more specific than others. Bandleader Florent Ghys draws on the Indian classical tradition of raga, the Western classical tradition, jazz and more to craft his own idiosyncratic style that by turns builds like the best kind of post-rock anthem, grooves like a hocket-obsessed West African funk band, and has the harmonic vocabulary of a synthesizing sponge with a diplomatic passport. The combination of vocals with guitars and percussion yields a surprising array of textures in which to become lost and then find one's way out of, or to just relish staying lost in for a while.
Sunday, September 4 at 9:30PM
$20
Fendika is a troupe of accomplished azmari musicians and dancers from Ethiopia. The group draws deeply from the well of Ethiopia's rich bardic tradition while adding creative movements and sounds that revitalize the ancient artistic forms. Fendika features six performers, including two dancers and a singer, and features authentic instruments including kebero drums, masenko and krar. Founded in 2009 by Melaku Belay, the world's foremost interpreter of eskista, a traditional Ethiopian trance dance of athletic shoulder movements that presage hip-hop dance. In early 2016, they were featured in NYC's annual globalFEST!
THE MOVIE STAR AND THE MAMMY: A LOVE STORY
FEATURING Dionne McClain-Freeney AND BIL WRIGHT
Wednesday, September 6 at 7:00PM
$20
In a special concert reading of their new musical, award winning novelist and playwright Bil Wright and GLAAD Award-nominated composer Dionne McClain-Freeney turn mammy-ism on its bandanna-tied head and celebrate colored movie stars now and forever. Fifties "tawny temptress" movie star Dorothy Dandridge implores Gone With the Wind "Mammy" Hattie McDaniel to rise from her grave and help turn her reportedly suicidal death into a proper movie star farewell.
Paul Iacono: PSYCHEDELIC HEDONISM
Tuesday, September 6 at 9:30PM
$25
Psychedelic Hedonism is a bawdy evening of excess with actor and downtown party boy, Paul Iacono, sans the hangover. The show is part cabaret, part rock concert and written by the wickedly witty Iacono. He takes you on an anecdotal, funny and frank surreal journey through the highs and lows of Iacono's many careers in showbiz and nightlife, sharing insanely personal and wildly hilarious moments from Hollywood to the Bowery, baring his heart and just about everything else. The evening will also feature guest appearances by some of Iacono's uptown and downtown crowds.
2016 DANCE NOW FESTIVAL AND ENCORE - 21ST ANNUAL SEASON
Festival: Wednesday - Saturday, September 7 - 10 at 7:00PM
Encore: Thursday, August 29 at 7:00PM
Festival: $20 Adv / $25 Door
Encore: $25 Adv / $30 Door
Acclaimed for its adventurous short-takes format, the DANCE NOW Festival, now in its 21st year, presents a diverse array of works by some of today's most exciting dance makers. The 2016 festival will feature 40 emerging and mid-career choreographers side by side, including festival newcomers and DANCE NOW veterans in the famed, convivial setting of Joe's Pub. The extraordinary TruDee will emcee every event. A testing ground for the development of new work, DANCE NOW Joe's Pub centers around a unique challenge for artists: to create a clear and complete artistic statement in five minutes or less for the specifics of the stage at Joe's Pub. This season, the festival producers will select ten artists whose work best meets the festival challenge to participate in the encore performance. The overall challenge winner will receive a $1,500 development stipend and a weeklong creative residency at DANCE NOW Silo on Kirkland Farm in Bucks County, PA.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF Justin VivIan Bond
Wednesday - Saturday, September 7 - 10 at 9:00PM
$30
Iconic performer, writer, artist and activist Mx Justin VivIan Bond will close out an epic yearlong retrospective of v's 25 year career at Joe's Pub at The Public with a new show called The Golden Age of Justin VivIan Bond. Each night will have a different set and feature a changing variety of special guests, friends and family. The show will also feature the original originals Mx. Bond has created over the last few years of v's boundless career as well as a selection of covers.
TRANS/ART/FAMILY: THE VIVIFICATION OF NYC, A CELEBRATION AND BENEFIT
Sunday, September 11 at 8:00PM
$75
The weeklong celebration of Mx Justin VivIan Bond will culminate with Trans/Art/Family: The VIVification of NYC, a one-night-only tribute to Mx Bond. A sparkling lineup of celebrity guests, artists, influencers and culture-makers - including Sandra Bernhard, Kate Bornstein, Kenny Mellman, Jack Ferver, Lance Horne and more - will pay homage to the creative contributions of, and the sense of community engendered by, the life and art of Mx Bond. The tribute will benefit two non-profit organizations very dear to Mx Bond's heart: Participant, Inc and The Gender and Family Project.
For tickets, go online to joespub.com, call 10AM-7:00PM daily at 212-967-7555, or visit in person at The Public Theater Box Office, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC (Opens daily at 2PM). There is a $12 food / two (2) drink minimum per person per show, unless otherwise noted.
Named for Public Theater founder Joe Papp, Joe's Pub at The Public debuted in 1998 and plays a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting young artists while providing established artists with an intimate space to perform and develop new work. In 2013, Joe's Pub celebrates 15 years of the best in live music and performance nightly, continuing its commitment to diversity, production values, community and artistic freedom. It received a top-to-bottom renovation in 2011, leading to improved sightlines, expanded seating capacity and a new menu from acclaimed Chef Andrew Carmellini. With its intimate atmosphere and superior acoustics, Joe's Pub presents talent from all over the world as part of The Public's programming downtown at its Astor Place home, hosting approximately 800 shows and serving over 100,000 audience members annually.
The Public Theater, under the leadership of Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. Celebrating his 10th anniversary season at The Public, Eustis has created new community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences like Public Lab, Public Studio, Public Forum, Public Works, and a remount of the Mobile Unit. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all; Public Works, an expanding initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences and the community each year; and audience and artist development initiatives that range from Emerging Writers Group and to the Public Forum series. The Public is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and in October 2012 the landmark building downtown at Astor Place was revitalized to physically manifest the Company's core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences, by dramatically opening up the building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning Fun Home and Lin-Manuel Miranda's acclaimed American musical Hamilton, and Danai Gurira's Eclipsed featuring Lupita Nyong'o. The Public has received 47 Tony Awards, 168 Obie Awards, 52 Drama Desk Awards, 54 Lortel Awards, 32 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics Awards, and five Pulitzer Prizes.
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