PANGEA Announces December Lineup

A melodious potpourri of musical holiday gifts from far and wide is being placed under the tree at the alt cabaret oasis Pangea in December. And at the tippy top is our star, the beloved Sidney Myer, who lights up Pangea at the pinnacle of the month, New Year's Eve. The day before, on December 30, Rachelle Garniez throws her popular "Farewell Party" - her fourth annual countdown of the amazing musicians who left us in the last 365.

The entire month of December is decked with fun treats: the high-topping girl-group The Randy Andys (Dec 9); the scintillating singer-host Colin Cunliffe (Dec 16); two-McCanns-are-better-than-one as the singer-songwriter Carol McCann and the Chicago-based jazz vocal sensation Tammy McCann appear on back-to-back nights (Dec 19 & 20); and singer-activist Stephan Said returns for a master class in how to make a difference with the help of several legendary rock 'n roll frontmen (Dec 21).

NEW YEAR'S EVE WITH Sidney Myer

Cabaret arch-angel Sidney Myer headlines Pangea's New Year's Eve festivities in back-to-back shows at 8pm and 10:30pm. The New Year's Eve edition of "Sidney Myer Live!" is a new evening of stylish specialties and signature songs, with music direction by Tracy Stark on piano and Matt Scharfglass on bass. The show piggybacks on Myer's dazzling string of sold-out shows at Pangea, his newfound performance home since 2018, where he has sold out four separate engagements, three of which were extended by popular demand.
"Sidney Myer Live!" for New Year's Eve -- Tue Dec 31, 2019, two shows, at 8pm and at 10:30pm. $135 for the early show and $165 for the late show. Includes 3-course dinner, and a half-bottle of Prosecco per person

NOTABLE PANGEA DEBUTS

Guitarist Albert Alabedra & and singer Noemi Perez give us "Flamenco Fusion," a sophisticated evening of sultry song and dance, with special guest, dancer singer Paloma de Vega. Ranging from traditional Spanish coplas, sevillanas, rumbas, tangos to modern original music, "Flamenco Fusion" takes its cues from flamenco greats such as Ketama, Niña Pastori, and Rosario Flores, but this East Village manifestation, infusing even some American classics with a flamenco touch, is as Downtown as it is overseas.
Flamenco Fusion with Albert Alabedra & Noemi Perez... Thur Dec 5, at 9:30pm. Cover $15

Writer and director Gerry Geddes curates "Fabulous First Fridays," a monthly variety series featuring some of the extraordinary talents making names for themselves on the cutting edges of cabaret. Following his memorable Pangea Pride show this summer, the new "Fabulous First Fridays" monthly variety series - with music director is Yasuhiko Fukuoka -- kicks off with a special holiday edition featuring Jack Bartholet, Brian Childers, Matt DiPasquale, Billy Lykken, Andre Montgomery and George Winters, and special guest host, comedian Zach Zimmerman.
"Fabulous First Fridays" with Gerry Geddes -- Fri Dec 6, at 9:30pm. Cover $20

THE RUN-UP TO CHRISTMAS

Interpreting a crazy assortment of pop repertoire by channeling the Andrews Sisters, The Randy Andys are a singing trio of Broadway actresses, in rotating formations based on who's in town and not serving time. On the second Monday of the month drag host Cacophony Daniels puts the month's cast through their cheeky paces as they explode super eclectic repertoire with radio-era vocal arrangements. The Andys include Alison Mahoney, Sarah Pothier, Katie LaMark, Chelsea Barker, Joan Anderson, and Catie Pires-Fernandez. But there are always a few extra surprises. December's guest stars are Robert Creighton ("Frozen"); Marisa McGowan ("Kiss Me Kate"), and Tug Watson ("Phantom of the Opera").
The Randy Andys - 2nd Monday of the month... Mon Dec 9, at 7pm. Cover $25

Rising Broadway star Colin Cunliffe -- with Lance Horne on piano and Ray Cetta on guitar -- takes charge of the 3rd Monday of the month with a new series of shows mixing the intimacy of late-night piano bar with precision stagecraft, vocal fireworks and outré hilarity. Since he captivated us this summer as part of Pangea Pride, Colin has become one of our favorite talent instigators able to draw a crowd with the barest of means. In a city that's in desperate need of community, Colin and his confrères are the perfect antidote to our ennui and isolation.
"Colin Cunliffe and Friends" - Mon Dec 16, at 8pm. Cover $25

Club stalwart Carol McCann is just getting started at Pangea, which is pleased to showcase her clever artistry and refreshingly madcap style. Joined by her longtime music director John DiPinto on piano, Greg Landes on drums, Marc Schmied on bass, and Mary Foster Conklin on back-up vocals, McCann mixes standards and originals and an occasional re-worded classic in an all-out holiday humdinger made to delight all you urban misfits!
Carol McCann in "Christmas Carol" -- Thur Dec 19, 7pm. Cover $25
The Chicago-based jazz sensation Tammy McCann returns to her New York hideaway in "Merry Christmas Baby!!" and all-out Christmas jazz party. In regular visits to New York since 2018, McCann has probed standard repertoire and newer pop classics to uncover illusive qualities. Tonight she trains this same lazer-sharp stylistic eye for the unusual on some holiday songs we thought we knew. Her travelers are Arcorlis Sandoval on piano, Steven Laspina on bass and Corey Rawls on drums.
Tammy McCann "Merry Christmas Baby!!" -- Fri Dec 20, at 7pm. Cover is $25.

Host of the new docuseries "Borderless," the singer-activist Stephan Said, who has been called "this generation's Woody Guthrie" by Billboard Magazine, uses music and his compelling presence to help shape social change movements across the globe. His presence in the East Village turns Pangea into a laboratory of frontline humanism as he shares anthems he created for the Seattle Demonstrations, the Arab Spring, and the fights against police brutality and climate change. It's only a gift if we do something with it... with keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen (Blondie), bassist Mark Plati (David Bowie), drummer Doug Yowell (Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik).
Stephan Said Holiday Show - Sat Dec 21, at 10pm. Cover $25

THE RUN-UP TO NEW YEAR'S EVE

Now in their 16th 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 last year, and doesn't seem to want to go away.
Jazz Bastards - the last Friday of the year, Fri Dec 27, at 9:30pm. The cover is a steal -- $15

Rachelle Garniez's fourth annual "Farewell Party" the surprisingly trippy trip down memory lane is a big send-off of the greats we lost this year. 2019's pantheon includes Doris Day, Ric Ocasek, Robert Hunter, Michel Legrand, Dr. John, Leigh Harris, Leon Redbone, Peter Tork, and Stanley Donen, among others. With bassist Derek Nievergelt and violinist Karen Waltuch at her side, the Bistro Award-winning Garniez will have us wondering what it all means to be without them. Don't miss her 4th annual say-goodbye scéance.
Time to Say Goodbye with Rachelle Garniez! Mon Dec 30, at 7pm. Cover $25

The Downtown supper club Pangea, which The NY Times recently called "a bohemian oasis not unlike the fabled Max's Kansas City from days gone by," has been programming eclectic performance in its 60-seat jewel-box showroom since 2015. A leader of the burgeoning alt-cabaret movement, Pangea provides a safe place to develop new theatre-music hybrids in an atmosphere of experimentation, deep inclusion and protest.

For information or to order online, visit www.pangeanyc.com or call 212/995-0900. Pangea is located at 178 Second Avenue (between 11th & 12th Streets).