Marie's Crisis

This weekend I was going through my journal and came a across my entries from my most recent New York City trip in October. For me, this city is paradise. I have felt this way my entire life. This most recent trip sold me again for many reasons but I would like to share the music related one. My friend and I went to the bar “Marie’s Crisis.” Perhaps some of you have heard of it. It is a basically a big Broadway sing-a-long. There is a pianist who sits in the middle of a small room playing any and all of the Broadway tunes you can think of. He does medlies from varying shows anywhere from Cabaret to The Sound of Music without a score in sight. Everyone there is singing at the top of their lungs. It is truly a special place. Everyone once in a while regulars would do breathtaking solos. It really made me remember how expressive musical theatre can be. I was there singing “Climb Every Mountain” with the best of them. The pianist also knows how to gage his audience. When Chorus Line started to bomb, he moved on. At one point an audience member asked one of the bar’s staff if they could request “Les Misarble.” The staff member curtly replied, “It’s not gonna happen, honey.” Eventually, this request did reach the ear of the pianist and he did indeed oblige his audience and with absolutely no snobbery. It was fantastic. I wish that classical musicians did this more often. In undergrad we did it much more but recently. I remember saying things like “let’s see if I can hit the Queen of the Night high F.” No, my teacher would not have approved. My group of friends and I have become so serious and so precious about music. I miss just messing around and sight-reading for the sake of it. If you get the chance to visit NYC, check this place out, even if you’re not big fan of musical theatre it may just surprise you.