Catie Lazarus, Women of Letters With Kathleen Turner, Zion80 & More Set for Spring 2015 Residencies at Joe's Pub
By: BWW News Desk Feb. 20, 2015
Since Joe's Pub at The Public opened its doors in 1998, the venue's programming has proudly represented the fabric of not only New York City but the world. With its slate of residencies, world class production and intimate setting, Joe's Pub cultivates an atmosphere and platform where musicians and artists can perform to their greatest power, try new things and reach more people.
This spring, Joe's Pub presents some family favorites in multiple date runs like the Losers Lounge doing The Pretenders versus Blondie, comedian Justin Sayre's hit show The Meeting* to newer faces to Joe's like vocalist/performer Migguel Anggelo and performance artist/choreographer Ann Liv Young.
THE LOSERS LOUNGE: THE PRETENDERS vs BLONDIE
Wednesday - Saturday, March 4-7 at 9:30PM
Saturday, March 7 at 2:00PM
$25
The Losers Lounge is back with the music of The Pretenders and Blondie with all of the incredible songs, great performances, irreverent antics and special guests that you can only find at The Losers Lounge. "From ABBA to The Zombies...The Losers Lounge is in the business of redemption; honoring cartoon pop stars like the Bee Gees or cult artists like Randy Newman validates the zeal of music fans. The series gets its frission form giving permission to love pop, that throwaway stuff, with every ounce of your heart," said The New York Times.
Friday, March 13 & Thursday, April 16 at 9:30PM
$20
In a world of the short and swift, of texts and Twitter, Women of Letters (WoL) honors the most civilized of activities - letter-writing. Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire brought WoL, their bestselling Australian literary salon, to New York as a monthly event and celebration of a diverse range of strong female talent. New York's best and brightest writers, entertainers and artists perform a reading of a letter they've written to the theme of the evening.
Proceeds from Women of Letters shows are donated to charity, with over $500,000 being raised globally to date. NYC events benefit the New York Women's Foundation.
Hosted by Sofjia Stefanovic, the March 13 event features a group of incredible women, including Kathleen Turner, Larisa Oleynik, Suki Kim, Maeve Higgins, Rachel Antonoff and Phoebe Robinson. Past guests included: Molly Ringwald, Edie Falco, Martha Wainwright, Jd Sampson, Kristin Hersh, Sara Benincasa, Adrienne Truscott, Aparna Nancherla, Sasheer Zamata, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Deborra-Lee Furness, Suri Hustvedt + more!
THE MEETING * hosted by JUSTIN SAYRE
Sundays, March 15, April 19 & May 17 at 9:30PM
$20
The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show hailed as "rambunctious, uproarious and unpredictable" by The Wall Street Journal, "delicious and delightfully droll" by The New York Post, and "hilarious and sardonic" by The Village Voice, has returned to its downtown roots this year for another season of shows. The Meeting* - known for a signature blend of outrageous comedy, politics, culture and everything in between - was named among the Top nightclub shows of 2013 by Time Out New York, a 2013 MAC Award for Show of the Year and received the 2012 Bistro Award for "Comedy Artistry." Tracy Stark serves as the show's Music Director. Each month, the I.O.S gathers to honor an artist or a cultural work that is iconic to the gay community.
BRIDGET EVERETT & the TENDER MOMENTS
Wednesday, March 18 & Thursday, April 30 at 9:30PM
$25
Hot on the heels of her critically acclaimed and completely sold out production of Rock Bottom, New York's downtown darling Bridget Everett returns the stage with her band, The Tender Moments, and a bottle of chardonnay to sing all her favorite love songs and share the stories of the men that made her...feel? From tender moments to prison sex, come get inside her. "Who says the city no longer produces artists who challenge, provoke and even, on occasion, dare to disgust? She can rock hard and does!" said The New York Times of her latest show Rock Bottom.
THE EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH SHOW with CATIE LAZARUS
Thursdays, March 19, April 16, May 21 at 9:30PM
$20 Adv / $25 Door
Ever wonder what it's like to have a dreamy job? Comedian Catie Lazarus did too, so she created an utterly addictive, candid, fun talk show about work. She kicked off her 2015 season at Joe's Pub with Jon Stewart (his first interview since the news of his impending departure from The Daily Show), singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright and Sherman OT Powell. Other past guests have included Rachel Maddow, Joy Behar, Tom Colicchio, Frank Bruni, Henry Rollins, Mo Rocca and so many more. The show has been described as "beloved" by The New York Times, "hilarious" by BlackBook and "unorthodox" by The New Yorker because of the phenomenal conversations that Lazarus drives. Her insight, humor and genuine curiosity are palpable, encouraging her famous guests to be truly honest about their career paths. Each show is provocative, cathartic and fun, pulling audiences back over and over again. Guests for March 19 are to be announced.
Friday, March 20 at 9:30PM
Friday, May 1 at 7:00PM
$22
Dan Finnerty caught America's attention as the foul-mouthed wedding singer in the box-office smash Old School, performing his now-infamous rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart, as well as his appearance as the sleazy bat-mitzvah singer in Starsky & Hutch and again as the inappropriate wedding singer in the record breaking hit The Hangover.
What started as a drunken joke for Finnerty singing I Am Woman at a karaoke bar spiraled out of control into THE DAN BAND - a cult phenomenon that has garnered rave reviews from The New York Times, The L.A. Times, Variety, Rolling Stone among others, and prompted Entertainment Weekly to dub it the "hottest ticket in Hollywood." THE DAN BAND plays to sold out crowds from Los Angeles to New York and has appeared on numerous shows including The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ellen, The Late Late Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, Last Comic Standing, The Guys Choice Awards and caught the attention of Steven Spielberg, who signed on to executive produce Dan's one hour concert special "The Dan Band: I Am Woman," directed by McG.
Wednesday, March 25 at 9:30PM
$20
Ethan Lipton returns to Joe's, his home base in New York, for a year-long residency. Each month, Lipton will bring a different show to the stage - no two will be the same. With melancholy wit and a cockeyed worldview, sepia-toned frontman Lipton and band mates Eben Levy (guitar), Ian Riggs (bass) and Vito Dieterle (sax) deliver songs steeped in mixed-message sincerity and soul.
While some shows will center on various songs from Lipton's fourth studio album (2015), Lipton plans to take advantage of this rare opportunity to get a "bit loose and freaky." One gig will resurrect every song Lipton and his Orchestra has ever recorded, including early live albums. Lipton will also welcome special guests (to be announced) and perform new covers. He is excited to bring back some of the shambling unpredictability, playfulness and experimentation of his early days of playing in scrappy venues like Low Bar and Zipper Factory. Further dates are to be announced.
Lipton kicked off the residency on February 24 with an encore performance of his musical No Place to Go, which The Public presented as part of their 2012 season and has toured the world. No Place To Go was originally created as part of the Joe's Pub commissioning program New York Voices.
JACOB GARCHIK's
Thursday, March 26 at 9:30PM
Saturday, May 30 at 9:30PM
$15
Jacob Garchik is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. He continues his six-month bi-monthly residency with the premiere of his newest project Ye Olde (with Mary Halvorson, Jonathan Goldberger, Brandon Seabrook, Vinnie Sperrazza and JG Thirlwell) on March 26. On May 30, Garchik will perform with the 14-piece, brass-driven Banda De Los Muertos.
A vital part of NYC's downtown and Brooklyn music scene, Garchik has played with Henry Threadgill, Laurie Anderson, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Coleman, Joe Maneri, Frank London, James Tenney, Josh Roseman, Don Byron, Terry Reilly, George Lewis, Billy Martin, Slavic Soul Party and the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble. Garchik kicked off his residency with The Heavens, a trombone choir actualized from his 2012 solo album The Heavens: the Atheist Gospel Trombone Album, in January 2015.
Saturday - Friday, April 4-10 at 7:30PM & 9:30PM
$35-45
This special run of shows by the dazzling Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, whose vitality, energy and passion have won accolades around the world, will continue the legacy that they have built at Joe's Pub, their New York City home. Noche Flamenca maintains the essence, purity and integrity of one of the world's most complex and mysterious art forms, creating powerful performances that radiate off the stage. The company was founded in 1993 by artistic director Martin Santangelo and his Bessie Award-winning wife Soledad Barrio. Recognized as Spain's leading flamenco touring company, Noche has been hailed for its authentic performances of one of the world's most complex and mysterious art forms - without the use of tricks or gimmicks.
ANN LIV YOUNG: ELEKTRA CABARET
April 15, 22, 27; May 6, 13 & 20 at 9:30PM
$15
Ann Liv Young's creations are essentially a reflection of her life, inspired by her experiences with her dancers, family, collaborators and passerby. The ultra-personal becomes the material she molds for performance. Young's mission is to create work that is honest in its inception, creation and execution. Her work combines text, music and choreography to build scenes that set up ideas, images and relationships and then destroy them. Young's text is explicitly sexual, emotional and blunt, but it is always delivered in a manner that is not. The overt drama of her work is subdued by the realness of this text. Her work exemplifies constant contrast in all its layers.
Audiences are provoked and forced to examine their role in the presentation of dance and performance. They must determine their place as supporters, mockers, posers or subjects.
Young creates fantastical sets for the comfort of her dancers and in an effort to take the audience to a unique space that is not necessarily the stage. Young's work, creation process, titles and intentions are forward and literal resulting in layered, provocative, contrived and thoughtful work that breaks barriers in dance performance.
MIGGUEL ANGGELO: LA CASA AZUL ALBUM RELEASE
Monday, April 20 and Tuesday, June 23 at 7:30PM
$20
Migguel Anggelo is a Brooklyn-based, Venezuelan-born dynamo known for his electric stage performances. Anggelo cut his teeth in the worlds of musical theater and opera and returns to Joe's Pub with his virtuosic band and a brand new kaleidoscope of vocal theatrics and poetic storytelling. Through his original compositions and reinterpretations of Latin, folk, pop, and opera works, and with themes touching upon art, history, immigration, homelessness and dictatorship, the artist paints the stories of larger-than-life characters that draw parallels between their passions and struggles and his own desires and dreams. Musical Direction is by Mau Quiros in a new show directed by David Drake.
The April 20 show will celebrate the release of Anggelo's new album La Casa Azul, produced by Mau Quiros and mixed by Grammy Award-winner Felipe Tichauer.
Tuesdays, May 5 - June 9 at 9:30PM
$14
Zion80 explores Jewish music - from Shlomo Carlebach to John Zorn and everything in between - through the lens of the Afrobeat funk master Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Led by Jon Madof (Rashanim, Matisyahu), the 11-piece band arranges Jewish melodies using the polyrhythmic intensity of Afrobeat, blended with the madness of the Downtown scene. Madof's most ambitious project to date, Zion80 is blazing hot and tight as a drum. Spiritual, grooving and endlessly exciting, this is essential Jewish music for the 21st century. Zion80's latest album is Adramelech: John Zorn's Book of Angels Volume 22. Cyro Baptista will guest on May 26 and June 2.
For tickets, go online at joespub.com, call 10AM-7PM daily at 212-967-7555 or visit in person at The Public Theater Box Office, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC. The Box Office window opens daily at 2PM.
ABOUT JOE'S PUB AT THE PUBLIC Named for Public Theater founder Joe Papp, Joe's Pub at The Public opened 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. Joe's Pub consistently presents the best in live music and performance nightly, continuing its commitment to diversity, production values, community and artistic freedom. The organization also offers unique opportunities like New York Voices, an artist commissioning program that provides musicians the resources and tools needed to develop original theater works. Commissioned artists have included Ethan Lipton, Toshi Reagon, Bridget Everett, Allen Toussaint and more. In 2011, the Pub received a top-to-bottom renovation, 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.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC THEATER AT ASTOR PLACE Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public Theater is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare and the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. 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 its beloved, 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, new and experimental stagings at The Public at Astor Place, and a range of artist and audience development initiatives including its Public Forum series, which brings together theater artists and professionals from a variety of disciplines for discussions that shed light on social issues explored in Public productions. The Public Theater is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust provides leadership support for The Public Theater's year-round activities.
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