Closed by COVID-19 concerns, New York’s most iconic piano bar now a virtual sing-along destination.

Ok, this is some of the best news that I’ve had all day.

Marie’s Crisis, in New York’s West Village, has become a virtual piano bar while they—and the rest of us—ride out the disruptions and closures caused by attempts to slow the progress of the coronavirus.

The historic venue on Grove Street, housed in a sparkling-lit basement space, is a cherished sing-along piano bar for Broadway theater lovers. And while Marie’s Crisis is a historic a gay bar, everyone is welcome and all are cheered as locals and visitors belt out tunes like “We Need a Little Christmas” or “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” It’s a festive place and the pianists are supremely talented. Servers taking your orders moonlight as soloists throughout the evening. And, everyone has a cocktail in hand.

Time Out New York reports, “In a typical display of communal spirit, Marie’s Crisis staff is soldiering on. Every night on the Facebook page Maries Group, the talented pianists who would normally be playing at the bar will be live-streaming their sets to audiences at home. All you need to do to be part of the nightly festivities is apply to join the group; it is normally closed but is currently accepting all applicants.”

Apply and let’s all sing along together. Note that you’ll probably want to have your own cocktail in hand. While I love to sing out Broadway tunes with great enthusiasm, I’m pretty much tone-deaf. A strong dring will help soothe, help mitigate, your discomfort.

Feel free to share this with your Broadway buddies! Cheers!

By Stephen Brockelman

As a Sr. Writer at T. Rowe Price, I work with a group of the best copywriters around. We belong to the broader creative team within Enterprise Creative, a part of Corporate Marketing Services. _____________________________________________ A long and winding road: My path to T. Rowe Price was more twisted than Fidelity’s green line. With scholarship in hand, I left Kansas at 18 to study theatre in New York. When my soap opera paychecks stopped coming from CBS and started coming from the show’s sponsor, Proctor & Gamble, I discovered the power of advertising and switched careers. Over the years I’ve owned an ad agency in San Francisco; worked for Norman Lear on All in the Family, Good Times, Sanford and Son, and the rest of his hit shows; and as a member of Directors Guild of America, I directed Desi Arnaz in his last television appearance— we remained friends until his death. In 1988 I began freelancing full time didn’t look back. In January 2012 my rep at Boss Group called and said, “I know you don’t want to commute and writing for the financial industry isn’t high on your wish list, but I have a gig with T. Rowe Price in Owings Mills…” I was a contractor for eight months, drank the corporate Kool-Aid, became a TRP associate that August, and today I find myself smiling more often than not.

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