AWESOME RECAP: Broadway Sings P!nk

After seeing Broadway Sings Justin Timberlake back in July (oh how I miss you summer!),  I knew that I couldn't miss Broadway Sings P!nk. So I grabbed a friend and went back down to (Le) Poisson Rouge for a night we knew would be memorable.

I've been a fan of P!nk's music for many years now, but I admit, some of her songs are hit or miss for me. They often come across angry and I think that turns a lot of people off. One thing I really liked about this concert was how the arrangements were often drastically changed in order to suit the singer's voice. In doing that, the lyrics were able to shine and some of them are pretty spectacular.

It was also a fabulous concert in that I dined over 3 fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk ($5) while listening. I'd highly recommend this treat!

Here are some photos from the event:

Lena Hall sings "Sober"

Chelsea Packard and Colin Hanlon sing "Try"

Kate Rockwell

Mike Schwitter

Ciara Renée

And thanks to Broadway sings, here are some videos:

Broadway Sings is hosting a "Best of" concert in March that will include 14 songs from all 7 previous concerts. It's sure to be a fun one! Who even needs pop stars when you've got Broadway?

Celebrating Justin Timberlake Broadway Style

If you know what music is you likely know Justin Timberlake. The former Mickey Mouse Club member turned N*Sync frontman and ultimately a music icon has practically reinvented the Pop genre to a point where everyone wants a bit of the action. This past Monday, the stars of Broadway took their swing at a few of JT's hits at the "Broadway Sings Justin Timberlake" concert at Le Poisson Rouge.

LPR is one of my favorite venues for its intimate setting, wide variety of food options, and killer cocktails. They feature acts that you won't see anywhere else and the club does it all with a trendy vibe. When you go to a show here, you can't help but feel like you're in a place everyone wants to be.

For seated performances, they have a 2 food or drink item minimum per person. My Dad and I ordered the Margherita Flatbread ($11) and Roasted Beet Salad with Chicken ($14), respectively, and split the Chicken Satay ($11). I also sipped on the Cool Hand Cuke cocktail ($14) -- very refreshing in this humidity!

Margherita Flatbread ($11)

Roasted Beet Salad with Chicken ($14)

Chicken Satay ($11)

Cool Hand Cuke cocktail ($14)

It's been a few years since I've been a diehard JT fan (oh, to relive 7th grade!), but his songs are so ingrained in daily life that they are hard to escape and I can't help but tap my feet to all of them. The great thing about his music is its versatility. Stars from Cinderella's and Sister Act's sassy Marla Mindelle to the brilliant Tony Winner Lena Hall (currently on Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch) to the soulful yet playful Marcus Paul James (of Rent fame) belted out everything from "Mirrors" to "Cry Me a River" to, yes, even "Dick in a Box." Here are a few clips:

Producer Corey Mach did the most spot-in rendition of JT with his version of "It's Gonna Be Me," and was also part of the N*Sync medley along with Max Chernin, Ben Fankhauser, Jason Gotay, and Mykal Kilgore. Wow can these boys sing! Part of me felt like we had all been transported back to 2001 and I couldn't have been happier about it. The only part that sucked was that my memory card had filled already and I couldn't get it on camera.

The best part of Lena Hall's performance was that she was in full Yitzhak character (SEE HEDWIG NOW!!!). She sang "Senorita" and received the most audience interaction. I couldn't help but wonder about all of the training she had to go through to act and sing like a man. It's truly impressive!

Another excellent performance was the "My Love" duet by Jason Gotay and Ari Groover. Gotay delivered a smooth introduction and then Groover took it away with an amazing rap section. I almost thought Mary J Blige had walked in the club.

Darren Bluestone sings "Dick in a Box"

Corey Mach sings "It's Gonna Be Me"

Ari Groover and Jason Gotay sing "My Love"

Shaleah Adkisson, Amber Iman, Crystal Joy sing "God Must Have Spent"

Andy Mientus sings "Not a Bad Thing"

Max Chernin, Ben Fankhauser, Jason Gotay, Mykal Kilgore and Corey Mach sing an N*Sync Medley

Natalie Weiss sings "Gone"

Lena Hall as Yitzhak singes "Senorita"

The whole cast as Mykal Kilgore finishes "Pusher Love Girl"

Mach announced the next installment of Broadway Sings will be Broadway Sings Pink, due sometime this December. I'll be sure to announce it when I get the details. This will not be a show to miss!

I was invited by LPR to see the show but we paid for our food and drinks. All opinions are my own!

Riding Wax Wings at LPR

Last night was one of those amazing New York nights that makes me so happy to be where I am and doing what I'm doing. I have never been someone who remembers the name of every [insert famous band name] song or who can quote lyrics at the drop of a pin, but there are certain artists and certain songs that have clung to me at different points in my life that remain vital to who I am as a person. Joshua Radin is one of those musicians and if you've ever heard his music, or even better, heard him play live, you know why.

The wonderful people at Le Poisson Rouge invited me and a friend to an intimate Joshua Radin performance tonight and I was over-the-moon happy all week in anticipation. LPR is a great venue for a concert because they offer plenty of seating if you get there early enough that enables you to feel like a civilized adult at a concert rather than the college students we all used to be standing chin to shoulder to hip to elbow trying to get a glimpse of the stage. Yes, there is a 2 drink/food item minimum per person at tables, but to be honest, their food is great and their drinks are even better. I'd highly recommend the edamame with truffle salt ($5) or the fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies and milk ($5) if you are in the mood for something sweeter.

There are not many people I'd go out at 10:30 on a Wednesday night to see (the doors didn't even open until 10:15...here's to being hip and happening!), but with a Pina Colada sandwich from Peanut Butter and Co. freshly down-the-hatch (best Greenwich Village dinner ever), we got to the front of the line only to run into other friends and managed to snag a table so close to the stage that we were sitting practically on top of music people (one musician and 2 suited execs perhaps?) that seemed to be "with the band."

My Name is You opened with some pretty mushy gushy loves songs (hey, there's nothing wrong with those) reminiscent of The Weepies and Of Monsters and Men. Songs like Come Back (The summer’s passing so are you and i’ll come if you want me to, but if you leave without me dear i’ll understand. Come back to me my dear. All has been forgiven. For life without you here is barely even living) will melt your heart, but I especially liked Fortunate Ones (We have all that we could need and some more that we don’t even need, so when we see something new why do we now think we need it too? Let me tell you a secret: we're the fortunate ones. Let me tell you a secret: we're the ones with it all).

My Name is You

When Josh Radin came on stage, clad in a dark grey t-shirt, ripped jeans, and an orange beanie and proclaiming this show would be just like us watching him play in his living room, I knew we were in for a treat. He played the majority of his first two albums We Were Here and Simple Times, which I was very happy about, and I loved that he kept stepping away from the microphone and once even unplugging completely for the most authentic live acoustic experience we could ask for. He also played a good selection of tracks from his newly released album, Wax Wings.

Joshua Radin

Playing with My Name is You

Songs like You've Got Growin Up to Do (So the best thing I can give to you is for me to go, leave you alone cause you got growing up to do) and Winter (I should know who I am by now. I walk the record stands somehow. Thinking of winter. Your name is the splinter inside me. While I wait) are super relatable and have definitely helped me through harder times in my life, but the best part of the show was knowing that life may suck sometimes, but sitting no more than 20 feet away from Joshua Radin pretending he was serenading only me made my entire universe infinitely better. I can only hope to one day feel the way he describes in Today (But you are the one I've been waiting for today. And here comes the sun that's been baiting on today) and You Got What I Need (When I see you it's a beautiful world, but when you're gone, I want you in my arms I'm telling you the last time. Baby you, you got what I need. Baby you, you got my sunshine).

Josh also brought up Brandon from My Name is you to cover Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's All Right:

Ok, enough sap for today. Hope you enjoyed the pictures (taken with my new phone!) and a big shout-out to Lauren for providing the video.

Don't Be Scrooge, Drink At Le Poisson Rouge!

(Le) Poisson Rouge is an awesome venue. Don't be put off by the smack-dab-in-the-middle-of-NYU-territory location, because LPR features everything from classical to rock, folk to Thrillist parties.

In light of their mantra "serving alcohol and art," LPR invited me to sample their brand, spanking new cocktail menu on a recent Friday night. Mixologists Laura Smith, Amy Wilkinson, and Renee Rogoff spent significant amounts of time at the bar concocting recipes with one-of-a-kind alcohols and mixers, not a bad job if you ask me. The result is a new menu of 10 drinks ($14 each) ranging from the crisp Cool Hand Cuke to the woodsy Distillery Gibson to the inside-warming Sticki Hot Lemonade.

I'm a fruity-drink lover, so I started out with the Slow Jam. This drink was practically made for me. With cachaca, lemon juice, and ginger beer mixed with a dollop of apricot jam and garnished with dried apricot, the drink made me feel warm and fuzzy with out too much of a sweet kick. My guest decided to start off adventurous and tried the Distillery Gibson. This drink will probably grow hair on your chest, but the good kind, if you know what I mean. The pickled onions were an amazing addition to this gin, dry vermouth, and balsamic and sherry vinegar mixture.

The LPR Bar

Slow Jam and Distillery Gibson (left to right)

While sipping our first drinks, I perused the food menu and it looks killer! Truffled mac n' cheese anyone? How about grilled chicken sliders with caramelized onions or a spicy tuna roll? They also serve milk and cookies for dessert...how oddly quaint!

Next up, I opted for the other jam drink, the Purple Haze. This was another drink made for me with gin, green chartreuse, lime juice, and blackberry jam garnished with mint. My guest went lighter and sampled the Rhuby Slip, with rhubarb liquer, Aperol, and prosecco. Definitely refreshing.

Purple Haze

Rhuby Slip

(Le) Poisson Rouge is located at 158 Bleecker Street in the village.

Thrill Me

When I first started reading Thrillist a while back, I had no idea it was a male-slanted thing. I got great deals, cool finds and random tidbits of weird life sent directly to my inbox, and I liked it. Even after I figured out that I was not part of the website and newsletter's target audience, I stayed a loyal follower, for the perks of course. 

Wednesday night, Thrillist celebrated its fifth anniversary with a bang and a shave. Held at Le Poisson Rouge, a venue I've been meaning to check out since day one of being a New Yorker, the party was co-sponsored by Phillips Norelco, with free shaves and razors for the very manly crowd. Walking in, my cousin Nola and I were greeted by a nostalgic toy -- a photobooth. It beckoned and we acquiesced, as I could not even tell you the last time I was in one of those. I do declare that they should be present at every cool party from here on out.

Photobooth shoot: Normal, Jazz Hands, Bad Smell, Serious

Free drinks were provided by Bacardi, Jose Cuervo, Ciroc and Red Stripe. I tried one of Bacardi's new bottled drinks, and it was pretty good, but definitely sweet. We switched to Ciroc after that, and I'd highly recommend the Ciroc Coco Loso concoction as it brings vacation to your taste buds. Mmmmm coconut!

Drink Specials

The DJ was awesome, and I'm not just saying that. Song after song I was more excited and couldn't stop dancing. You know when you decide to take a break on the next song that sucks? Well, none of them sucked and we were dancing divas. He played everything from Madonna's "Like a Prayer" to Cee-Lo's "F*ck You" and several others that made my (and ever other person born in the late 80s) night. 

Me and Nola and our big curly hair hanging out on the dance floor

And I bumped into Laura from 89thandbroke!

Le Poisson Rouge is known for the musicians and bands (and slam poets) it hosts, and Thrillist kept up the tradition by having Atomic Tom play a set for the party. Having never heard of them before, I was open for anything and was super excited by what I heard. The energy protruding out of the lead singer was contagious and he had everyone dancing and singing aloud. I sort of wish that I had youtubed some of their music before the party so that I could have joined in on the singing charade. 

Atomic Time

In all, I had the most fun that I've had on a Wednesday night in a long time, met some interesting people, and got a snazzy photobooth picture that I can hang on my bulletin board. Thanks Thrillist and congratulations on an awesome five years!