Downtown Legends Comes To Pangea In March

Several Downtown legends are congregating at the alt-cabaret hotspot Pangea in March... Among the headliners taking risks and breaking ground are Penny Arcade with her new show, "Notes from the Underground" (March 4 & 18); David Cale, with new show "Sandra" (March 8), and Charles Busch being himself in a new act (March 26).

Making their Pangea debuts are the singer Ann Carpenter and exquisite guitarist Peter Calo with a new tribute to Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon; Downtown singing sensation Bridget Barkan, and East Village theater fixture Don Arrington.

Back where they belong are Steve Hayes and Carol Lipnik, both standouts in TWEED TheaterWorks "Sundays at Seven" series. Pangea resident artists include Hannah Reimann, and new presence Sue Matsuki, who hosts a unique open mic series -- our new Saturday jazz brunch featuring the Gregory Toroian Trio (Mar 21).

Continuing successful Pangea runs are the high-harmony girl-group The Randy Andys painting the town green (March 9); the wildly acclaimed David Bowie nightclub experience "Me & Mr. Jones," starring Raquel Cion (March 13 & 14); and the ill-born and bad-mannered Jazz Bastards making a royal nuissance of themselves the last Friday of the month (March 27).

WELCOME ONE AND ALL!

Avant-garde icon Penny Arcade brings us a work-in-progress of a new show, "Notes from the Underground," which she will have performed three times in this early incarnation. Co-created with her long-time collaborator Steve Zehentner, this mixed-media grudge match between the mainstream and the world of the outsider, the dispossessed, poor and put-down also includes several songs interpreted by the newly ascendant singer. A rollicking exploration of the underground values that made (and make?) New York City a gritty, authentic and creative Mecca.
Penny Arcade in "Notes from the Underground" -- Wednesdays Mar 4 and 18, both at 7pm. Cover $25

In a Pangea departure for Cale and Marsh, David Cale will read and perform his new solo thriller, "Sandra," for the first time, accompanied by a piano score composed and and played by Matthew Dean Marsh. This solo work about a mysterious disappearance will ultimately be performed by an actress, and this night will mark the only time it is performed by Cale and played live by Marsh. Presented by Kevin Malony's TWEED TheaterWorks, Cale ("We're Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time," "Harry Clarke"), the show promises several guest appearances... Don't miss one of the most original voices on the theatre-performance scene today.
David Cale with Matthew Dean Marsh, in "Sandra" -- Sunday Mar 8, 7pm. Cover is $25.

Oh no, who left the paint out?! The fleet-voiced Randy Andys -- a singing trio of Broadway actresses who interpret a crazy assortment of pop songs by channeling the Andrews Sisters -- "Paint the Town Green" just in time for St. Patty's Day! On the second Monday of the month, in rotating formations based on who's in town and not serving time, the Andys torch super eclectic repertoire with radio-era vocal arrangements. This month's Andys roster includes Joanie Anderson, Chelsea Barker, Katie LaMark, and Sarah Pothier. Micah Young plays piano and special guest star is Joe Paparella ("Les Miz" "Phantom").
The Randy Andys - 2nd Monday of the month... Mon March 9, 7pm. Cover $25

Hannah Reimann continues a 4-month residency reprising her on-going celebration of Joni Mitchell, "Both Sides Now: The Music of Joni Mitchell 1966 - 1974." This evolving work, incorporating some of her own compositions, features Pere Ubu band member Michele Temple as guest instrumentalist and back-up vocalist. A singer, filmmaker, actress, and theatre/film composer, Reimann (playing piano and dulcimer) has been called, "an uncanny interpreter of Mitchell's canon" by the New Yorker.
Hannah Reimann Wednesdays Mar 11, Apr 8, all at 8pm . Cover $25

Spellbinding guitar virtuoso Peter Calo teams up with the clear-belled singer-songwriter Ann Carpenter for a joyous dive into the early rock discography of landmark writers Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon. Carly Simon's guitarist and back-up vocalist for more than 20 years, Calo's been a session and live-on-stage mainstay for such varied greats Dionne Warwick, Andrea Bocelli, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Webb, Hall & Oates and the Crash Test Dummies, among many others. The two appear in their Pangea debut.
Ann Carpenter and Peter Calo in "Joni and Paul: The Music of Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon" -- Thurs March 12 at 7pm. Cover $25

The rock-cabaret sensation Raquel Cion is in the midst of a 6-show theatrical run of her highly acclaimed David Bowie tribute, "Me and Mr. Jones: My Intimate Relationship with David Bowie." Written and performed by Cion, directed by Cynthia Cahill, with music director Karl Saint Lucy on piano leading a four-piece combo, this time and dimension-traveling evening not only conjures the world of David Bowie... Cion slips into it, and through her own existential struggles with mid-life and cancer, she finds herself tethered to Mr. Jones in major and unexpected ways. Opened Jan 16.
Raquel Cion in "Me and Mr. Jones", Fri/Sat Mar 13 & 14, all at 9:30pm. Cover $25

The writer, composer and performer Don Arrington brings back his wild and wacky musical revue, "On the Block" featuring co-star Camille Tibaldeo and running for four consecutive Fridays. First seen at Theater for the New City, this raucous and raunchy profile of a rogue's gallery of denizens of one East Village block, showcases Arrington and Tibaldeo's quick-change dexterity in multiple roles and playing a who's that? of classic East Village characters. The music, like the stories, is a madcap cocktail of music hall patter songs, military marches, blues, rock and pop, with a dollop of Spike Jones insanity.
Don Arrington's "On the Block," featuring Camille Tibaldeo -- four consecutive Fridays March 13, 20, 27 and April 3, all at 7pm. Cover $25

Singing sorceress Carol Lipnik, going into the fifth year of her acclaimed residency at Pangea, returns with a new set of original and cover songs, this time in collaboration with the highly lauded jazz pianist Mara Rosenbloom. This new journey into the unknown - presented by TWEED TheaterWorks -- explores magic everywhere, from the way-out-there to the right under your nose... The NY Times has called her "an ethereal vocal phenomenon!" and the Village Voice once sang her praises, calling her art "a siren song to lost cosmopolitans everywhere."
Carol Lipnik in "Natural Magic" -- Sun Mar 15, at 7pm. Cover is $25.

A new monthly jazz brunch open mic series hosted by the writer and singer Sue Matsuki launched in January and continues on the third Saturday of the month. Featuring The Gregory Toroian Trio, with Toroian on piano, Skip Ward on bass and David Silliman on drums, Matsuki uses her deep industry contacts and supportive reputation to stir up the fun, attracting singers from all corners of the industry, interested in all genres. Matsuki and Toroian, who are a singer-songwriting team, craft mini in-the-moment sets with the participants who contact Matsuki in advance, though walk-ins are welcome.
Sue Matsuki hosts "The Pangea Jazz Brunch Open Mic" 3rd Saturdays Mar 21, 12pm to 2:30pm. Cover $15

The Downtown chanteuse and performance artist Bridget Barkan burns through eclectic interpretations of a surprising array of cover songs and her own originals in a pointedly personal illumination of the times, "In Her Feelings." This bad-ass native New Yorker who lists playing baby Jesus for a line of decorative wall plates as her first professional gig, frequently performs for and with young people, is the mistress of ceremonies at burlesque hall Duane Park and as a singer has toured with pop/glam band Scissor Sisters opening for Lady Gaga.
Bridget Barkan in "In Her Feelings" Tue Mar 24, 7pm. Cover $25

In his new cabaret concert, legendary actor/playwright/cabaret entertainer Charles Busch recounts his lifelong love affair with the movies. Interpreting a wildly eclectic songbook that ranges from Kern and Mancini to Bacharach and Springsteen, Charles ignites a luminous tribute to the magic of the movies.
Charles Busch in "An Evening with Charles Busch" Thur Mar 26, 7pm. Cover $30

Now in their 19th smash-hit month, it's the Jazz Bastards, an illegitimate jazz act if there ever was one! Led by Jenny Lee Mitchell, Aldo Perez and Matt Kanelos -- with the musically gifted Big Apple Circus clown Glen Heroy, hornplayer Richard Philbin, and the acrobatically inclined drummer Nick Parker - Jazz Bastards could be called the ill-born progeny of PDQ Bach and Al Capone. Masterminds of an endless caper on and off stage, this immersive lounge show, different every time (thank god!), launched in August 2018, and doesn't seem to want to go away.
Jazz Bastards - the last Friday of the year, Fri Mar 27, at 9:30pm. The cover is a steal -- $15

Good evening... Screen gems funnyman Steve Hayes, who could be called a camp second coming of Turner Classics' Robert Osborne (but funnier), gets extended laughs in his brilliant explorations of Hollywood's Golden Age and the soignee post-War nightclub scene. Tonight, in "Steve Hayes... With a Hitch" -- presented by Kevin Malony's TWEED TheaterWorks -- the masterful chronicler of everything tinsle brings legendary director Alfred Hitchcock to shocking, grab-the-person-next-to-you life. Intimate, frightening, hilarious.
"Steve Hayes... With a Hitch" - Sun Mar 29, 7pm. Cover $25

Since it began programming music in January 2015, Pangea prides itself on being a leader in the burgeoning alt-cabaret movement, serving as an incubator for new work -- in particular theatre-music hybrids -- in a city that has become prohibitively expensive for artists. Mixing spirited downtown hospitality with a deliciously priced Italian-Mediterranean menu, Pangea has been called "a bohemian oasis not unlike the fabled Max's Kansas City from days gone by" by The NY Times. There is a $20 food and drink minimum for all shows. To purchase tickets online visit www.pangeanyc.com , or for info call 212/995-0900. Pangea is located at 178 Second Avenue (between 11th & 12th Streets).