Joe's Pub Announces Upcoming Performances, Kicks Off With Sean Bradford 5/24
By: Gabrielle Sierra May. 03, 2010
Joe's Pub at The Public Theater debuted in October 1998 and has quickly became one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance. With its genre-blind booking and vast diversity of interests, the stage at Joe's Pub gives voice to a world of varied and stellar artists.
With impeccable sound and lights, the warm and intimate candlelit atmosphere of Joe's Pub is filled with plush velvet couches, softly glowing lucite tables and gorgeously understated architecture. Joe's Pub is open seven days a week, regularly hosting as many as three shows a day. Dinner and drink service is available during every performance; the venue offers a classic Italian dinner menu and a fully stocked bar.
MAY 24 - MAY 30
Monday, May 24 at 9:30 PM
An evening of rock, pop, and everything in between will mark Sean Bradford's debut concert at Joe's Pub. Sean Bradford is currently originating the role of Ozie Powell/ Ruby Bates in the world-premiere of Kander & Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys. Sean made his Broadway debut shortly after graduating from Northwestern University as a Simba Cover in The Lion King. In addition to performing at venues throughout New York City, including Jazz @ Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, and Carnegie Hall, he is frequently a guest soloist for numerous events, most recently singing with the Young People's Chorus of New York City. Expect special guests, a rocking band, and an unforgettable evening. $15
WORLD RECORD APPRECIATION SOCIETY
Tuesday, May 25 & June 29 at 9:30 PM
Dubbed "Best Oddball Night" by New York Magazine, the World Record Appreciation Society features an ever-changing lineup of eclectic performers setting unique world records. The night is hosted by the Universal Record Database (URDB.org), a Web site The New Yorker says "is to the Guinness World Records as Wikipedia is to the Encyclopaedia Britannica." World records set at previous events have ranged from 'Most Cocktail Umbrellas Fit In Hair In One Minute' to 'Tallest Drawing Of A Midget' to 'Most Bananas Fit In A Pair Of Pants At Once.' URDB are regular guests on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and host thousands of unique records on their site.
"Our live events bring out a mix of individual bravery, group participation, hilarity, surprise and all-around general chaos," says URDB co-founder and event host Dan Rollman. "We've seen everything from a wedding proposal to the world's tallest carrot cake to 12 women standing on top of a man rolled up in a carpet." $12
OUR HIT PARADE STARRING Bridget Everett, Kenny Mellman AND NEAL MEDLYN
Wednesdays, May 26, June 30, July 28 and August 25 at 9:30 PM
Our Hit Parade is a live top-ten countdown show created by Tony nominee and Obie winner Kenny Mellman (Kiki & Herb), carnal chanteuse Bridget Everett (At Least It's Pink at Ars Nova), pop song opera impresario Neal Medlyn (Neal Medlyn's Unpronounceable Symbol at P.S. 122), producer and MTV cameraman Brendan Kennedy, and writers Ada Calhoun and Peter Schjeldahl. The show is inspired by the musical sketch series "Your Hit Parade" that ran on radio and then television from 1935 to 1959. On that show, cast members performed the week's most popular songs as comically literal skits. In this show, the hosts and special guest stars from the local performance scene present their renditions of current popular hits live on stage! $20
Friday, May 28 at 9:30 PM
"Flawless"..."radiant" -- Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
"Have you ever seen a woman like me / lying awake in ecstasy" is perhaps the most telltale lyric, philosophical riddle, and experiential result of Eisa Davis, the award-winning singer, songwriter, actor and playwright who embraces all her selves and distills them into elegant, liberating sound. A pianist and effortless bandleader, Eisa returns to Joe's Pub after appearing in This at Playwrights Horizons and Passing Strange: The Movie, which held court at the Public before its decorated, unforgettable run on Broadway. Using music as content and form for her autobiographical memoir Angela's Mixtape garnered the production a nod in The New Yorker's Best of 2009--and she continues to explore the heart's terrain with her passionate, minimalist pop-rock-soul. From her electronica featured on the Showtime series Soul Food to her acoustic album Something Else, Berkeley native Eisa never fails to move audiences with her unique alloy of catharsis and restraint. $15
DON'T GO IN THE WOODS
Friday, May 28 at 11:30 PM
Play This Film Loud presents slasher musical Don't Go In The Woods, directed by Vincent d'Onofrio and featuring music by Sam Bisbee. The screening will be followed by a live musical performance with the cast. $20
Saturday, May 29 at 9:30 PM
Australian Kim Smith is an award winning cabaret artist known for his Weimar-inspired cabarets that juxtapose authentic musical material with stylistic takes on more current popular tunes. His newest cabaret, Morphium (directed by Christian Coulson) premiered in March 2009 at the Neue Galerie's Café Sabarsky in New York, before touring to Melbourne, Australia. Morphium has since returned to Café Sabarsky, and performed at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, and at Don't Tell Mama, NYC. In 2008, Smith debuted his acclaimed cabaret, Johnny Come Lately (directed and produced by Karen Kohler) at New York's Don't Tell Mama, transferring to The Duo Theatre at DMAC. Past cabaret works include Quietly Kim Smith, Kim Smith is Madly Adored, and Kim Smith's Jungle Parade-the latter having run for a total of five seasons at Melbourne's Butterfly Club and headlining at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2007. In 2009 Smith was presented the Ira Eaker Back Stage Magazine Bistro Award for Special Achievement as an outstanding performer on the rise (honored alongside Broadway and Cabaret legends Liza Minnelli and Charles Aznavour), and was nominated for both 2009 and 2010 MAC Awards in the Outstanding Male Vocalist category. He is also a recipient of the American Australian Association's Dame Joan Sutherland Award for aspiring artists, and is a member of the Kabarett Kollektif, a troupe of New York-based artists dedicated to preserving the European cabaret tradition. Smith has also headlined for Earl Dax's Weimar New York and Tingel Tangel Club, as well as for Floating Kabarett at Galapagos Art Space, DUMBO. Other theatrical credits include Merrily We Roll Along (Charlie Kringas), The World Goes 'Round (Redroom Theatre), and the New York premiere of Jude, a new British musical after Hardy's Jude the Obscure (as Philotson). Mr. Smith studied in Australia at the Ballarat Arts Academy (BA, Music Theatre), and has worked extensively with the Walt Disney Company. He now resides in New York City. $15
LIMBSAKIMBO
Saturday, May 29 at Midnight
After two successful engagements at Birdland, Limbsakimbo is coming downtown to Joe's Pub to revisit, revise, and reimagine the songs of Marvin Gaye in a special midnight show. Sexy and political, compassionate and defiant, Marvin Gaye's songs continue to inspire the members of Limbsakimbo and promise for a soulful, electric witching hour of music. Limbsakimbo is Lindsay Mendez, Michael Aarons, and Chris Fenwick, whose creative energy and musical restlessness marked their work together on the recent Broadway revival of Grease. The band will also be joined by Damien Bassman on drums, Mark Vanderpoel on bass, and Eric Davis on guitar.
Lead singer Lindsay Mendez is currently performing alongside Sherie Rene Scott in Everyday Rapture on Broadway at the American Airlines Theater. She was an original cast member of the most recent Broadway revival of Grease, playing the role of Jan. Off-Broadway; The Marvelous Wonderettes (Westside Theater). Other/Regional: Band Geeks! (NAMT), Rated RSO; The Music and Lyrics of Ryan Scott Oliver (The Kennedy Center, NYMF), Princesses (Goodspeed Opera House, 5th Avenue Theater),
Footloose (Sacramento Music Circus), Call Me Madam (Reprise!). Recordings: "Grease, " "New York City Christmas" (benefit for ASTEP), "Everyday Rapture."
Guitarist and arranger Michael Aarons has worked with Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Barry Manilow, Patti LaBelle, Paul McCartney, Luther Vandross, Michael McDonald, James Ingram, Liza Minnelli, Elton John and others. He originated the guitar chairs at Laugh Whore, High Fidelity, Grease, 9 to 5, and Memphis, where he currently plays. Michael is an arranger on the hit show, Next To Normal. As a composer, Michael's music has been featured on Lifetime, Style Network and MTV. Michael is currently the lead guitarist of American Idiot on Broadway.
Pianist and arranger Chris Fenwick has musical directed productions on Broadway, off-Broadway, and across the country. He has also accompanied and conducted numerous artists in concert including Patti LuPone, Elaine Stritch and Audra McDonald. His most recent project was the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's Giant. Currently, he can be seen as Associate Musical Director on The Addams Family.$15 in advance / $20 at the door
Perez Hilton SAVES THE UNIVERSE
Sunday, May 30 at 9:30 PM
Book by Randy Blair and Timothy Michael Drucker
Lyrics by Randy Blair
Music by Zachary Redler
Directed and choreographed by Connor Gallagher
Perez Hilton Saves the Universe explores a normal day in the life of celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton. Well, were it not for the plans of evil Islamic terrorists and Kathy Griffin. Throughout the course of the day, Perez must wrestle with the demons of love, ego and celebrity, all whilst saving Los Angeles from an imminent nuclear disaster. $20
TICKETS
Online at joespub.com, phone 212-967-7555, in Person At The Public Theater Box Office (1 PM to 6 PM), or at the Joe's Pub Box Office from (6 PM to 10 PM) both located at 425 Lafayette Street, NYC
For table reservations please call 212-539-8778. Purchase of tickets does NOT guarantee a table reservation; you must call to reserve seats. Seating, as well as standing-room, is available only on a first-come, first-served basis for all shows without a dinner reservation. Two drink or $12 food minimum per person is standard.
Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski
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