Where can I hear a torch song in New York City?

November 29, 2023 4:41 AM

I've never been to New York City. I've also always wanted to go to a piano bar where (cis or trans) women sing torch songs and (cis or trans) women in the audience wear evening dresses and elbow gloves. Where can I go?
posted by cda to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (8 answers total)

Googling "new york caberet" turns up a list.
posted by brujita at 7:46 AM on November 29, 2023

I am a piano bar fan. Lots of places to hear singers, sadly very few (if any) with elbow-glove wearing audiences. The closest place to that, perhaps the ultimate sophisticated cabaret, was the Oak Room at the Algonquin, which closed about ten years ago.

54 Below inherited the mantle of New York's top cabaret venue.

Other places: Green Room 42
Older/divier... Don't Tell Mama, The Duplex, and if you want a boisterous sing-along experience, Marie's Crisis. Brandy's on the Upper East Side is tiny but on non-weekend nights in the wee hours I found it magical. The Laurie Beechman also sometimes has cabaret/concert type things happening.

It looks like the Metropolitan Room has closed -- that was closer to the Oak Room vibe.

But overall, for the elegance you describe, I would start with 54 Below.
posted by profreader at 8:01 AM on November 29, 2023 [6 favorites]

Marie's Crisis
posted by virve at 9:06 AM on November 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

I think Don't Tell Mama is the most popular example of the kind of thing you're looking for, where The Fabulous Sadie LaRue or whoever has a standing gig on Tuesdays.

Counter-argument about Marie's Crisis - this is a piano bar where the guests are the singers. It's a place that brings in piano players to accompany THE PATRONS singing along to show tunes as opposed to being a place where you sit and listen to someone else singing. That said, Marie's Crisis would be an awesome trip in its own right.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:10 AM on November 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

I don't even like show tunes, and I go back to Marie's Crisis time and again because it is literally the happiest place in the world when folks are joining in on songs I've never heard. (And Franca is a friend of mine!)
posted by AJaffe at 9:22 AM on November 29, 2023

If money is no object, what about the Cafe Carlyle? The luxe price point makes it more likely that the audience will be dressed to the nines.
posted by hhc5 at 10:05 AM on November 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh yes — Cafe Carlyle—! Excellent suggestion.
posted by profreader at 11:35 AM on November 29, 2023

Joe's Pub may also have performances that meet your criteria, although no guarantee about the audience attire.
posted by gingerbeer at 2:47 PM on November 30, 2023