Joaquina Kalukango & More to Perform at 54 Below Next Week

Next week, 54 BELOW will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. 54 Below celebrates Broadway musicals and writers of the past and present, promoting an ongoing engagement with their work.

PERSON PLACE THING WITH Randy Cohen & Charles Busch – FEBRUARY 10 AT 11AM

Person Place Thing is an interview show based on the idea that people are especially engaging when they speak, not directly about themselves, but something they care about. In this live recording, Randy Cohen will speak with Charles Busch about one person, one place, and one thing that are important to him. The result? Surprising stories from a great talker.

Randy Cohen’s first professional work was writing humor pieces, essays, and stories for newspapers and magazines (The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, Young Love Comics). His first television work was writing for “Late Night With David Letterman” for which he won three Emmy Awards. His fourth Emmy was for his work on Michael Moore’s “TV Nation.” He received a fifth Emmy as a result of a clerical error, and he kept it. For twelve years he wrote The Ethicist, a weekly column for The New York Times Magazine. He is currently the creator and host of Person Place Thing, a public radio program.

Charles Busch has forged a unique place in the world of entertainment as playwright, actor, director, novelist, cabaret performer and drag icon. He is the author and star of over twenty-five plays including The Divine Sister, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, The Tribute Artist, The Confession of Lily Dare, and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom; one of the longest running plays in the history of Off-Broadway. His play The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife ran for 777 performances on Broadway, won the Outer Circle Critics’ John L. Gassner Award for playwrighting, received a Tony® nomination for Best Play and is the longest running Broadway comedy of the past twenty-five years. He is a two-time MAC Award winner, a Bistro Award Honoree and has performed his cabaret act in many cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, London, Paris, Barcelona and New York. In winter of 2016, his show The Lady at the Mic premiered at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. Charles was among the 2024 inductees in New York’s Theater Hall of Fame.

This is a free event for our Patron Program and 54 Below Members. Tickets may be available for the general public closer to the engagement. To join the waitlist, contact their box office at boxoffice@54below.org. Light refreshments will be served.

BROADWAY’S BROKEN HEARTS CLUB, FEAT. Antonio Cipriano & MORE! – FEBRUARY 10 AT 7PM & 9:30PM

The performance at 7pm will also be livestreamed. Welcome to the first meeting of Broadway’s Broken Hearts Club!

Join your favorite stars as they get in their feels and take on some of pop music’s most memorable songs of love, loss, and everything in between. Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this.

From empowering breakup anthems like “Good 4 U” and “Feather” to gut-wrenching iconic ballads like “All Too Well” and “Ceilings,” this is a night not to be missed. Produced by Molly Heller and Linnae Medeiros. Music direction by James Stryska.

Featuring Elyse Bell, Anna Bermudez, Michael Iván Carrier, Antonio Cipriano, Tyler Conroy, Hillary Fisher, Autumn Hurlbert, Ryo Kamibayashi, Elsa Keefe, Johanna Moise, Jimin Moon, Carolina Rial, Diego Andres Rodriguez, Conor Ryan, Analise Scarpaci, Carson Stewart, Allie Trimm, Audrey Trullinger, Trevor Wayne, and more stars to be announced!

For the 7pm performance: $62 cover charge (includes $7 in fees). $100.50 premium seating (includes $10.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

For the 9:30pm performance: $51 cover charge (includes $6 in fees). $84 premium seating (includes $9 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

SILLY LOVE SONGS: 50 YEARS OF #1 HITS – FEBRUARY 11 AT 7PM

“You’d think that people would have had enough of silly songs” but that’s not true! For the last fifty years, the Billboard charts have been ruled by silly love songs. From Madonna to Miley Cyrus, from Captain and Tennille to Bruno Mars, love songs have reigned supreme. Join Scott Coulter & Friends as they celebrate the beloved number one hits from the last five decades, including “Love Will Keep Us Together,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Crazy in Love,” “Rollin’ in the Deep,” “My Heart Will Go On,” “Driver’s License,” and more. It’s the PERFECT way to head into Valentine’s Day.

Music direction by John Fischer. Featuring Shaleah Adkisson, Susan Agin, Scott Coulter, Chelle Denton, Natalie Douglas, Alex Getlin, Jessica Hendy, Tyler Huckstep, Tamika Lawrence, Lorinda Lisitza, Stephanie Jae Park, Kelli Rabke, and more stars to be announced!

$62 cover charge (includes $7 in fees). $100.50 premium seating (includes $10.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

NEW WRITERS AT 54! Anna K. Jacobs – FEBRUARY 11 AT 9:30PM

This performance will also be livestreamed.  Grab a drink (or a crab cake) and get cozy with Anna K. Jacobs, the Jonathan Larson Award-winning composer behind off-Broadway’s smash hit musical, Teeth (“a bloody, bawdy musical with banging songs” – Vulture). Featuring a dazzling line-up of friends and collaborators, Anna will share songs from her varied and colorful collection of musicals, including Teeth, Anytown (commissioned by George Street Playhouse), and Witnesses (2022 Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Production). She will also give a sneak-peak of the brand-new musical she’s creating with the celebrated playwright, Anna Ziegler (Photograph 51, The Wanderers), called A House Without Windows. Expect to leave with some worms in your ears!

Music direction by Adam J. Rineer. Directed by Jason Aguirre. Featuring Jean Christian Barry, Courtney Bassett, Jennifer Blood, Sean Doherty, Demond Green, Emily Xu Hall, Roe Hartrampf, Jenna Rose Husli, Tony Award® and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson, Anna K. Jacobs, Claire Kwon, Alyse Alan Louis, Madison McBride, Eric William Morris, Sydney Parra, Wren Rivera, James Sasser, and Arri Lawton Simon.

Joined by Steve Count on bass, Liz Faure on guitar, and Dan Weiner on drums. New Writers At 54! is an ongoing series at 54 Below showcasing exciting work by today’s hottest emerging voices, curated by Assistant Programming Director Alexa Spiegel.

$40 cover charge (includes $5 in fees). $67.50 premium seating (includes $7.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

Joaquina Kalukango – FEBRUARY 12, 13, & 15 AT 7PM

The performance on Feb 15 will also be livestreamed. For tickets and more information, click here.

“Joaquina Kalukango’s performance is a tour de force, filled with raw emotion and vocal brilliance.” – The New York Times

Tony Award® winner Joaquina Kalukango teams up with acclaimed music director Michael Orland for their 54 Below debut in An Evening with Joaquina Kalukango. Known for her unforgettable roles in Paradise Square, The Color Purple, and Slave Play, Joaquina invites audiences on a journey that transcends Broadway, blending genres from pop and country to disco and beyond.

With songs from The Color Purple, Paradise Square, and a dynamic mix of genres, Joaquina’s powerhouse vocals and storytelling come alive in this electric and intimate performance. This is a night where you’ll experience the full range of her artistry, delivering a performance that will stay with you long after the final note.

$78.50 cover charge (includes $8 in fees). $122.50 premium seating (includes $12.50 in fees) - $128 premium seating (includes $13 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

355 THE MUSICAL – FEBRUARY 12 AT 9:30PM

Join us for the 54 Below debut of 355 The Musical! 355 is an original musical entirely written and performed by teens that follows spies in war-stricken 18th century New York City, as they infiltrate high society, risking everything to alter the course of history. Written and produced by Maddie Price, with music and lyrics by emerging talent Mayla Stith and Maddie Price, the show embodies the essence of “Gossip Girl” meets “Bridgerton” meets the Eras Tour. As the lines between duty and desire blur, unexpected alliances form, fake relationships ignite, and every dance and whispered conversation could tip the balance of their fate—for better or worse. Focusing on Agent 355 and George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring, this musical sheds light on their untold yet ever impactful stories. The 54 Below night will have you at the edge of your seat as you follow a song cycle from the show, taking you on the journey of America’s hidden heroes. Will you join the Revolution?

Featuring Ashley Barnes, Vinya Chhabra, Charles Flaherty, Tyler Gay, Julian Lerner, Emmy Liu-Wang, Echo Deva Picone, Sloane Price, Ben C Smith, and Joshua Turchin.

Tickets for this show are currently sold out. Please call (646) 476-3551 to inquire about our waitlist.

$40 cover charge (includes $5 in fees). $67.50 premium seating (includes $7.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

DOOFYLAND: AN ORIGINAL THEME PARK MUSICAL BY Mike Hadge, FEAT. Jelani Remy & MORE! – FEBRUARY 13 AT 9:30PM

“Embrace the Enchanthood” with us at 54 Below for a raucous evening featuring the songs of writer/composer Mike Hadge’s new, original award-winning theme park musical comedy DoofyLand. Backstage at a failing Florida theme park, DoofyLand follows the folks under those giant character heads. Featuring an infectious, Disney-esque soundtrack blending Sherman Brothers-like ditties with rock, pop and old fashioned Broadway flavors. The result is a modern fable about how our “fantasy lands” can become our cages.

It will be a night lovingly ribbing all things Disney characters and theme parks, featuring musical park character inner-monologues, odes to making friends in your thirties, furry love songs, psychosexual carousels and more, all performed by Broadway and Off-Broadway’s finest. Disney adults, this is your Hamilton!

Directed by Jen Wineman, with music direction by Joshua Turchin. Arrangements by David Dabbon (Oh, Mary!), Marcus Montgomery (Dogman: The Musical), and Nick Wilders (Dead Outlaw).

Featuring Jaime Lyn Beatty, Russell Daniels, L.R. Davidson, Manu Narayan, Jelani Remy, and Rianny Vasquez.

$45.50 cover charge (includes $5.50 in fees). $73 premium seating (includes $8 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

A BROADWAY VALENTINE’S DAY! – FEBRUARY 14 AT 7PM & 9:30PM

The performance at 7pm will also be livestreamed. Romance is in the air, and you know what that means.

Valentine’s Day is here once again, so come celebrate with us at 54 Below! Join some of your favorite Broadway lovebirds for an evening of heartfelt and hilarious stories coupled with some of Broadway’s greatest love songs. Whether you’re dating, married, or simply a hopeless romantic, come be our Valentine for a date night affair you won’t forget!

Musical direction by Drew Wutke. Produced by Jen Sandler.

Featuring Maria Briggs and Kevin Shiu, Madge Dietrich and Dani Bryant, Elisa Galindez and Bryan Durieux, Bradley Gibson and Adam Hyndman, Rita Harvey and Neil Berg, Christine Toy Johnson and Bruce Johnson, Billy Recce and Daniel Nolen, Kyle Scatliffe and Savannah Frazier, Austin Scott and Alexa Cepeda, and Q. Smith and Lawrence Stallings.

For A Broadway Valentine’s Day, we will offer a specialty champagne cocktail with a three-course prix fixe. Guests can enjoy the prix fixe menu for $85 or order any item a la carte.

For the 7pm performance: $67.50 cover charge (includes $7.50 in fees). $111.50 premium seating (includes $11.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

For the 9:30pm performance: $62 cover charge (includes $7 in fees). $106 premium seating (includes $11 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

BROADWAY LOVE SONGS!- VALENTINE’S DAY EDITION – FEBRUARY 15 AT 9:30PM

If there is one night when you want — need? — to hear love songs, well, it’s got to be Valentine’s Day. And we’ve got the most romantic, the most glorious — and always the most famous — love songs in the world for you on Broadway Love Songs! Valentine’s Day. From Broadway, country, pop, R & B, and more, you will hear the songs that make your heart beat a little bit faster. And they will be performed by a richly talented cast of stars that sing not from the page, but from the soul.

Created by NYC impresario Scott Siegel exclusively for 54 Below, this monthly show, that always emerges on a Saturday night, is the place to swoon, raise a glass, and maybe share a kiss. Nothing says romance like music, and nothing is more exquisite than love on a Saturday night!

Music direction by Evan Zavada. Featuring Jack D’Emilio, Savannah Frazier, Alex Getlin, Talitha McDougall Jones, William Michals, MOIPEI, Benjamin Swanson, and Nyjair Wilkerson.

$56.50 cover charge (includes $6.50 in fees). $95 premium seating (includes $10 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

BIG BROADWAY DRAG BRUNCH WITH Marti Cummings – FEBRUARY 16 AT 1PM

Join host Marti Cummings for a new monthly drag brunch series unlike any other currently happening in NYC! From Broadway to pop to disco and more, be prepared to hear all of your favorite hits! Featuring a rotating roster of your favorite Drag Queens, endless mimosas, Bloody Marys, and sangria, come dressed and ready for a living singing Drag Brunch Spectacular!

Musical direction by Brandon James Gwinn. Featuring Darius Anthony Harper, Diva LaMarr, and Jada Valenciaga.

Marti Gould Cummings is a NYC Drag staple. Their 16 year long career has expanded the realms of nightlife, cabaret, theater, film, and television. They have sold out Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, and Lincoln Center’s Big Apple Circus. As a recording artist they released, A Very Marti Holiday, featuring some of Broadway’s biggest names, as well as their hit single “CAKE.” Marti has been featured in Vogue, W Magazine, Paper Magazine, Time OUT NY, The New York Times, among others as well as on “Good Morning America,” “The View,” and “Inside Edition.”

They produced and starred in the number one rated Fusion Television Docuseries “Shade Queens of NYC,” hosted their own talk show, “The Marti Report” on Logo, “Worst Cooks in America,” Hulus “Drag Me to Dinner,” “The X Change Rate,” and “Dragged for Yahoo!” Marti has appeared in ad campaigns for COACH, McDonalds, Brooklyn Brewery, and Steve Madden.

Brandon James Gwinn (he/they) is a singer-pianist, composer-lyricist, producer, and a BroadwayWorld Award, Global Queer Arts Festival Award, Bistro Award, and Richard Rodgers Award winner. Their albums Bullit and Not Too Late are now available everywhere music is streamed and downloaded. They produced and performed on Two Birds and One Stone, the first and second albums released by Trixie Mattel (Winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Season 3), which debuted at #1 on the iTunes Top Albums chart and the Billboard Heatseekers Albums Charts. Brandon also directs and produces music for Alexis Michelle (“Drag Race” Season 9, “All Stars” 7) and Pandora Boxx (“All Stars” 5).

Unlimited Brunch Drink Package (Bloody Mary, Mimosa, Sangria, and Non-Alcoholic Brunch Cocktails) may be purchased for $25 extra. Unlimited Drink Package is included in Premium and Ringside seating purchases. Tax and tip are not included in the drink package price. VIP ticket purchasers will receive a complimentary mimosa.

A special Brunch menu has been created. It includes Chef James Klapak’s take on mouthwatering classics such as decadent PB&J Stuffed French Toast, sumptuous Chicken and Waffles, and warm and fluffy Cinnamon Rolls. The menu will be available a la carte. For the full brunch menu, click here.

$40 cover charge (includes $5 in fees). $67.50 premium seating (includes $7.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

KING’S ACADEMY JAZZ: NIGHT OF JAZZ FEATURING Nicole Henry – FEBRUARY 16 AT 7PM

This performance will also be livestreamed. As ambassadors of the most influential music of our time, The King’s Academy Jazz Ensemble is proud to bring their celebration of the music from the Great American Songbook to 54 Below! Wes Lowe, 3-time teacher of the year, and Mickey Smith, Jr., 2020 Grammy Music Educator Award Recipient, direct a program that is both innovative and inspirational, helping students find their voice and discover their sound through jazz.

Night of Jazz is a dynamic musical journey of the best jazz standards performed by a dynamic 20-piece high school jazz band and guest starring award winning vocalist, Nicole Henry. The King’s Academy Jazz Ensemble is a nationally recognized program where students perform at a professional level. Featuring young artists like Julia Basile and Ashton Horne, this next generation of musicians will leave the audience with hope and pride for a brighter future. This show will highlight everything that puts the “Great” in the Great American Songbook.

Nicole Henry’s versatile and emotionally driven performances have wowed audiences in 20 countries. Among her numerous accolades, Henry’s passionate, soulful voice and heartfelt charisma have earned her a Soul Train Award for “Best Traditional Jazz Performance,” “Best New Jazz Artist” by HMV Japan, “Best Solo Musician” by her hometown Miami New Times, while also being hailed as “One of Eight Black Artists Making Waves in 2024” by Symphonic. She has enjoyed four top 10 CDs including her latest album Time to Love Again which reached #4 on the U.S. jazz radio chart and remained in the top 40 for 20 weeks. Time to Love Again also reached #6 on the UK’s Sweet Rhythms chart and enjoys worldwide play on both Sirius XM’s Real Jazz & Watercolors stations. These successes were supplemented by a 32-city national tour.

The New York Times raved, “I had the sense of being in the presence of a pop-soul superwoman whose every gesture and inflection conveyed confidence and mastery,” while  BroadwayWorld exclaimed, “(She) should be standing on the biggest stages of the world, alongside the biggest divas in the world. Everyone everywhere needs to be exposed to this magical force of musical artistry.”

$62 cover charge (includes $7 in fees). $100.50 premium seating (includes $10.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

54 SINGS Lizzy McAlpine – FEBRUARY 16 AT 9:30PM

Lizzy McAlpine will not appear at this performance

Celebrate soon-to-be Broadway star Lizzy McAlpine in a journey through her greatest hits so far. This immensely popular indie-pop singer-songwriter is set to make her Broadway debut in the 2025 premiere of Floyd Collins, following her viral performances at 2024’s Elsie Fest. Get ready to hear all of your favorites, including “Ceilings,” “Older,” “Call Your Mom,” “hate to be lame,” and more. Featuring an incredibly talented cast, this is one concert no Broadway or indie-pop music fan should skip! Produced by Lydia Newman, with music direction by Jonja Merck.

Featuring Jordan Crow, Meggie Ferguson, Jack Gereski, Taylor Greny, Nour Habbash, Gia Marino, Lydia Newman, Renée Sabrina, James Seufzer, Vaheed Ali Talebian, Ulric Alfred Taylor, Malaika Wanjiku, and more stars to be announced!

Joined by Jonja Merck on piano and Benjamin Walton on guitar.

$45.50 cover charge (includes $5.50 in fees). $73 premium seating (includes $8 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

LIVE AT 54 BELOW

54 Below’s streaming series is designed to make more shows accessible to fans all over the world. “Live from 54 Below” will feature LIVE performances of current shows on the calendar, streamed directly from Broadway’s Living Room. Seven cameras will capture the excitement of being at the venue – all paired with the club’s dramatic lighting and award-winning sound design. To recreate the live experience, all shows will be presented exclusively at the time of performance with an in-house audience and will not be available on demand afterwards.

BROADWAY BROKEN HEART’S CLUB February 10 at 7pm ET / Tickets $28.50 (includes $3.50 in fees.)

NEW WRITERS AT 54! ANNA K JACOBS February 11 at 9:45pm ET / Tickets $28.50 (includes $3.50 in fees.)

A BROADWAY VALENTINE’S DAY! February 14 at 7pm ET / Tickets $28.50 (includes $3.50 in fees.)

Joaquina Kalukango February 15 at 7pm ET / Tickets $28.50 (includes $3.50 in fees.)

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