Roxy Bar Presents: Pianist Michael Garin

Michael Garin takes the piano for Roxy Bar’s Christmas Day live-music program. The hotel’s resident pianist plays a roaming, request-friendly set that deliberately blurs piano performance and D.J.-like sequencing. His repertoire joins far-flung material including Shaggy, Om Kalthum, Rossini, Jobim, Zappa, and Raymond Scott, with room for comic asides and audience interaction. Garin has been known to invite children to play alongside him, tap dance from the piano bench, and announce that he is “in his office” to take requests. The evening is presented as part of his regular residency at the downtown bar.

A New York City nightlife mainstay for decades, Garin is a Drama Desk Award winner whose résumé includes Elaine’s, the Monkey Bar, the Rainbow Room, and the VIP Room at Limelight. He is also a songwriter, singer, poet, actor, and song-and-dance performer. In the mid-1990s, he hosted midnight burlesque shows credited with helping launch the burlesque revival, and he co-created and co-starred in Song of Singapore, the environmental musical that earned his Drama Desk Award. His credits also include acting work with Spike Lee. The venue describes his approach as a “goofy, stylish, and very smart stream of musical consciousness,” built to connect listeners across generations.