Our Hit Parade, Nuyorican Poets Cafe Benefit and More Set for Joe's Pub, Now thru New Year's Eve

This week at Joe's Pub, December 17 through December 31, performances include Taylor Mac: Music of the 1810's & 1830's, A Night with PigPen Theatre Co., Eric Hutchinson, Our Hit Parade, Mike Errico Holiday Show, Michael Sackler-Berner, Nuyorican Poets Cafe Benefit, The Respect Sextet, Starsky + Cox, Joey Arias, Rachael Sage, The Tickled Pinks, Wau Wau Sisters, A Scream Along with Billy Christmas Special, Still Here! A Fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy Relief, Sandra Bernhard, Willie Nile, and Dine or Dance at the Library at the Public on New Year's Eve.

TAYLOR MAC: MUSIC OF THE 1810's & 1830's
December 17 at 7:00 PM
$20
Over the next two years a bedazzled creature builds a community by singing 24 concerts of the last 24 decades of popular music. Ultimately all 24 decades will be stitched together culminating in a 24-hour long extravaganza. Before then, join Taylor Mac and band as they use the popular songs from the 1810's and 1830's, the decades when American Christmas music started to become popular. Alongside the songs and tomfoolery expect Charles Dickens, opium and a new Texas Revolution.

A NIGHT WITH PIGPEN THEATRE CO
December 17 at 9:30 PM
SOLD OUT
The final night of the explosively inventive PigPen Theatre Co.'s 2012 residency at Joe's Pub. The company's work features folk storytelling, puppetry, clever staging, live music, and has captured the imagination of critics and audiences alike since they were introduced to the New York stage in 2010 at FringeNYC with "The Nightmare Story". Since then, the group has gone on to become the first company in history to win FringeNYC's highest honor for a play two years running (2010 and 2011 with "The Mountain Song"), produced their work off-Broadway, ranked as the Huffington Post's #5 theatrical event of 2011, and of course, finished their undergraduate conservatory training at Pittsburgh's historic Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Lush harmonies, banjos, accordions, guitars, drums, pianos and more will bring to life their favorite songs from the debut album, "Bremen."

ERIC HUTCHINSON ALMOST SOLO TOUR WITH SPECIAL GUEST JESSIE PAYO
December 18 at 6:30 & 9:30 PM
SOLD OUT
As Eric Hutchinson journeyed toward the making of Moving Up Living Down, the delightfully witty and supremely wise follow-up to his hit debut Sounds Like This, he developed a very simple rule regarding new songs. "I traveled so long and got to see so many people and places," he says. "And sharing music with the fans every night got me thinking: The best concerts are when people sing along with me. So for the next one, what kind of songs do I want people singing with me? What kind of songs do I want people dancing to?" Get ready to sing and dance. Special guest of the evening is Jessie Payo. This show will be available to stream from home via Livestream.

OUR HIT PARADE: TOP 10 OF 2012
December 19 at 7:30 PM
SOLD OUT
One of the two final Our Hit Parade shows during which hosts and special guests will perform the year's top ten pop songs. Starring Tony nominee and Obie winner Kenny Mellman (Kiki & Herb), carnal chanteuse Bridget Everett (Bridget Everett & the Tender Moments) and pop-song opera impresario Neal Medlyn (known for his pop star based performance pieces), Our Hit Parade (OHP) 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 present their renditions of current popular hits from Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Beyonce, P!nk and more, live on stage. Special guests for the 7:30 PM show include Molly Pope, Varsity Interpretive Dance Squad, Myles Kane, Tonya Pinkins, Jennifer O'Connor / Amy Bezunartea and Tracy Bonham and more!

OUR HIT PARADE: HITS OF OUR HIT PARADE
December 19 at 10:00 PM
SOLD OUT
The final Our Hit Parade show ever! This special finale will feature some of the best moments of Our Hit Parade history LIVE. Starring Tony nominee and Obie winner Kenny Mellman (Kiki & Herb), carnal chanteuse Bridget Everett (Bridget Everett & the Tender Moments) and pop-song opera impresario Neal Medlyn (known for his pop star based performance pieces), Our Hit Parade (OHP) 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 present their renditions of current popular hits from Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Beyonce, P!nk and more, live on stage. Special guests for the finale 10 PM show include Alan Cumming, Murray Hill, Molly Pope, Randy Harrison, Jenn Harris, Erin Markey, Cole Escola, Jim Andralis, Larry Krone and more!

Mike Errico HOLIDAY SHOW
December 20 at 7:30 PM
$20
The Mike Errico Holiday Show is a highlight in a year that has been filled with them. His film work has included That's What She Said, starring Anne Heche, which premiered at Sundance; his television composing has included VH1's revamped Pop-Up Video, which received two Emmy nominations this year. He is presently composing and music supervising for two new shows, while maintaining a touring schedule behind his latest release, Wander Away. The annual Holiday Show will feature favorites from across his discography, and will introduce new and as-yet unreleased material. In keeping with a long-standing Holiday Show tradition, Mike will distribute gifts, known to the loyal as "Holiday Omens," to each audience member. Recipients will be invited to interpret the Omen's personal significance in the coming year. Hilarious, poignant or cautionary, the Omens have proven to be alarmingly accurate.

MICHAEL SACKLER-BERNER
December 20 at 9:30 PM
$17
Born and raised in New York, based in Brooklyn, Michael Sackler-Berner is a singer-songwriter with roots in the past, and a sound very much in tune with the present. Surrounded by longtime collaborators of artists like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, Sackler-Berner's music is distinguished by the songwriting craft of that era, and by a contemporary rhythmic sensibility, anchored by some of the heaviest drummers of our time. Sackler-Berner's body of work is unified by his bittersweet voice, paired with a lyrical economy and an expressive feel for pop dynamics. The songs, whether ballads or up tempo, are constructed with a delicate sense of emotional momentum. Sackler-Berner performs and records with the finest of musicians, yet there's always the sense that it's not about how fast or how complicated -- it's about how deep. For Michael Sackler-Berner the song always comes first.

NUYORICAN POETS CAFÉ BENEFIT
December 20 at 11:30 PM
$25 Reserved / $40 Premium
Over the last 40 years, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe has served as a home for groundbreaking works of poetry, music, theater and visual arts. But during Hurricane Sandy, the Cafe lost its heating system, and many of the students and artists the Cafe serves are still struggling in the aftermath of the storm. So a lineup of the Nuyo's most accomplished young performers will perform at Joe's Pub on December 20 in a fundraising event for the Cafe and its community. Featured artists will include muMs da Schemer ("Poet" from the HBO series OZ); Mahogany Browne (host of the Cafe's legendary Friday Night Slam); Jive Poetic (DJ and host of the Nuyo's Slam Open); poet Caroline Rothstein (whose video "Fat" was recently tweeted by Lady Gaga); poet, actress and vocalist La Bruja (aka Caridad De La Luz); vocalists Aurora Rose and Melodie Nicholson and poets Caits Meissner and Whitney "Witness" Greenway. USA Today recommends the Nuyorican Poets Cafe as one of the top cultural attractions in downtown Manhattan, and the Wall Street Journal says the Cafe has grown "from a small, volunteer-led venue to a thriving arts center."

THE RESPECT SEXTET: RESPECT IN YULE CD RELEASE
December 21 at 7:30 PM
$12 Advance / $15 at Door
The Respect Sextet, a decade-old powerhouse ensemble dedicated to performing a wide variety of improvisational music, is celebrating the release of their brand new Christmas album. Respect In Yule! The album ranges from ecstatic to introspective, from the popular to the obscure, from the sacred to the secular. Featuring guest spots from new-music stalwarts Ensemble Signal and the JACK Quartet and guitarist Marco Cappelli, Respect In Yule shall be unto you an instant holiday classic, belonging in the collection of any self-respecting listener, bringing with it tidings of great joy. In this performance, Respect (along with special guests) will knock your holiday stockings off in their trademark free-wheeling, infectiously giddy style, giving all comers the gift of Respect they so richly deserve.

STARSKY + COX: HAUL AT THE HOLLY
December 21 at 9:30 PM
$20
Strap on your Yule log, pop a few mistletoe berries and join the 2012 Afterglow Festival artistes for this sinful, tuneful, posh-pagan celebration of the winter Solstice that proves, once and for all, that our messiah was a little light in the loaves and fishes and in no way in hell a Capricorn. Armed with a warm muff and a firm tannenbaum, Stella Starsky + Quinn Cox host this star-studded hollyday benefit with the third in their tantric thruple, musical director Matt Ray. Stand-up authors, astrologers and cabaret comperes Starsky + Cox connect the cosmic dots (read: stars), showing us how above so below, to aha!-hilarious results, while answering the age-old question: Who the f*#k is Parson Brown, anyway?. Haul Out The Holly sparkles with performances by John Cameron Mitchell, Amber Martin, Heather Matarazzo, Taylor Mac, Joseph Keckler, John Kelly, Lady Rizo, Cole Escola, Erin Markey, Dan Fishback and Brett Every. Artists' proceeds go toward the Afterglow Festival (founded by Quinn Cox and John Cameron Mitchell), Provincetown's live performance arts festival that reconnects the century old link between the Greenwich Village and Provincetown theatrical performance scenes, putting Provincetown on the international festival map, and amassing a culture of artistry, each September, in this seaside birth place of modern, alternative American stage work.

Joey Arias: END OF THE WORLD
December 21 at 11:30 PM
SOLD OUT
Boldly flying in the face of the prognostications of the Mayan Calendar, Nostradamus and the revelations made to John, Joey Arias ushers in the End of the World at Joe's Pub on Friday, December 12. Following high-profile concerts this year at Central Park SummerStage and London's Southbank Centre (as part of the Antony-curated Meltdown Festival), Arias brings his bawdy humor and incomparable vocal stylings to the intimacy of Joe's Pub for an apocalyptic evening. Guest performers include the glamorously gender-bent Pixie Harlots (Weimar New York) and performance artist Narcissister. Special guest: Doveman.

RACHAEL SAGE: TCHATCHKES & LATKES!
December 22 at 7:30 PM
$20
Local art-pop songstress Rachael Sage brings her campy, inspiring Tchatchkes & Latkes back to Joe's Pub as A Holiday Benefit for Hurricane Sandy Relief. Her post-Hanukah,-pre-Christmas musical hijinks will feature Sage's quirky theatricality at its best - an upbeat evening of vaudevillian shtick, playful Yiddishkeit, tall tales, wacky props, pianistic flair and hilarious, written-on-the-spot, topical compositions. Sage will weave songs from her ten-album discography with shpiel about her life as a former ballerina, adventures on the road, and her family's extensive menorah collection. **All proceeds from this performance will benefit the following Hurricane Sandy Relief organizations: The Red Hook Initiative (Brooklyn), Project Hospitality Staten Island Hurricane Relief Fund (Staten Island) and Graybeards (The Rockaways).

THE TICKLED PINKS
December 22 at 9:30 PM
$15
The Tickled Pinks are a swing vocal trio and band that started as a tribute act dedicated to playing Andrews Sisters arrangements true to their original 1940's sound. What started out as three bartending canaries on late night romps evolved into a sophisticated evocation of a time almost forgotten. While the ensemble maintains an authentic quality in its musicality, the young members bring a fresh energy and witty playfulness to the repertoire. Current members include vocalists Stephanie Layton, Kate Sland and Karla Moheno, with Dan Parra (bass), Andrew Zehnol (drums), Yakir Ben-Hur (piano), Nate Sutton (trombone) and Mike Maher (trumpet).

WAU WAU SISTERS
December 23 at 7:30 PM
$20
New York's bravest and bawdiest cabaret duo returns to Joe's Pub after 4 years of international touring to serve up a ludicrous night of chaos, burlesque, comedy, and nudity. Straddling (literally) the gap between religious and related, performance art and party, busking and burlesque The Wau Wau Sisters take audiences on a ride which always teeters on the brink of a divine and demented disaster. The world may end on December 21st, but the Wau Wau Sisters - unruly, undressed, unabashed, unrepentant and uninhibited - will be here. Forever!

A SCREAM ALONG WITH BILLY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: SUCK MY DICKENS OR SCROOGE YOU
With Special Guest Lili Taylor
December 23 at 9:30 PM
$20
Billy Hough, from the legendary punk band garageDogs, sings, screams, rants, and fights his way through a punk rock retelling of "A Christmas Carol", featuring the songs of a Jew, Bob Dylan. With the historically accurate Sue Goldberg (Space Pussy) on bass and eye-rolls, Paul Hough on drums, and other guests. Come and be a part of our family, our fucked up family, for Christmas. Joy to the world. Special guest: acclaimed independent film actress Lili Taylor.

STILL HERE! A FUNDRAISER FOR HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF
December 26 at 7:00 PM
SOLD OUT
Still Here! is a fundraiser event for Hurricane Sandy Relief. Hosted by Spoken Word Poet Sarah Kay, featuring the music of Andy Suzuki & the Method, Arthur Lewis (Freestyle Love Supreme), Jeanann Verlee, Taylor Mali, Anthony Veneziale & special guest Milan R. Taylor, founder and President of The Rockaway Youth Task.

Sandra Bernhard
December 27, 28, 29, 30 at 7:30 & 9:30 PM
December 31 at 9:00 & 11:00 PM
$50 (December 27-30) / $100 (December 31 @ 9PM) / $150 (December 31 @ 11PM)
Sandra Bernhard is priming her hysterical insight, outspoken views and outrageous mouth to ring in the New Year. Sandra's brilliant unity of hilarious diatribes on the state of modern culture and classic rock attitude burns smart. Sandra's show is fresh, crazy and real. She inspires and invigorates. With her band, The Rebellious Jezebels, she still has all the raucous energy of youth, bringing audiences to their feet. See her New Year's Weekend and rave!

WILLIE NILE
December 31 at 7:00 PM
$50
The New York Times called him "one of the most gifted singer-songwriters to emerge from the New York scene in years." His album "Streets Of New York" was hailed as "a platter for the ages" by Uncut magazine. He has been called everything from "a one-man Clash" (Uncut) to "the next Bob Dylan" and his critically acclaimed solo albums have gotten rave reviews around the world. Bono, Lou Reed, Lucinda Williams and Little Steven of the E Street Band are among those who have sung his praises.

Visit us at www.joespub.com for a complete list of shows and to purchase tickets, or call 212-967-7555, or visit in person at The Public Theater Box Office (1 PM to 6 PM) located at 425 Lafayette Street, NYC.

ABOUT JOE'S PUB AT THE PUBLIC: Joe's Pub at The Public is one of New York City's most celebrated venues for emerging and established performing artists. Named for Public Theater founder Joe Papp, Joe's Pub debuted in 1998 and plays a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting new artists while providing established artists with an intimate space to develop new work. Joe's Pub presents talent from all over the world as part of The Public's programming downtown at its Astor Place home. Open seven days a week, dinner and drink service is available during every performance.

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. www.publictheater.org