Marian's Brooklyn — Restaurant in New York

This review is in regards to the "Powderpuff Peep Show" booked by "The Park Avenue Pinup" aka "Katherine Harlow", Katherine McMahon. I attended the burlesque show with my husband a couple of weeks ago to scout for new talent since my husband and I produce shows for other venues. I thought it was strange the ad for the show stated to bring cash to tip performers, since tipping at a $20/ticket burlesque show is optional and no legitimate shows would put this on the ad since people that want to tip, always do tip. The lineup repeatedly changed and less dancers appeared than what was advertised, yet the cost of the show was the same. Genie Adagio was by far the best performer and Katherine, the one that "produced" the show was by far the worst, missing the mark considerably on her performance. From her inability to keep on time with the music, lack of understanding on what to do with feather fans, stiff and few movements besides walking back and forth, and failing to do any actual production, it was clear she's new to burlesque. I checked her website and she wrote she was "trained by legends of burlesque" yet doesn't name a single person she's trained under or even a class she took. She also said she was a professional in the industry and her GigSalad profile shows she's attempting to charge between $300-$1500 per performance. Not only did she list her email, but she provided a Cashapp, PayPal, and Venmo username as if people are supposed to send her money prior to performing. It's extremely tacky for any performer to post these payment app usernames on their website. I sent her an email that I had seen the show and provided the tips mentioned above. She sent an unprofessional email back and told me to keep my "opinion" (feedback) to myself. She also said I was "harrassing and stalking" her since I sent my feedback to an email she posted on her website. She ended with a snarky comment hoping I "heal"... from apparently giving feedback. She followed up with an email saying her lawyer would be "tracing the source of my email", along with another message reiterating my need to "heal", and even took the time to research my husband's first name. I hope Marian's reconsiders having Katherine continue to book burlesque shows while ripping off customers (and providing a rude response and looking up my husband's name in response to honest feedback) by having fewer performers than advertised for the same ticket cost. This show is giving a bad name...

4 stars, rounding up since 3.5 isn't an option. A fine neighborhood bar. I live about half a block away and come in here less than I wish I wanted to, because:

The pros: very good beer list, especially if you're not an IPA fan. They have like 16 taps or so and generally only ~3 of them are IPAs (they have good IPAs too though don't worry, that's my go-to) chill music -- on speakers in the front room, and frequent live jazz in the back generally pretty quiet and laid back vibe (I'm getting old, I want a dimly lit, mostly dark, not-very-crowded bar) nice little outdoor seating area for warmer times. Nothing special, but a nice option that a lot of the stuff up on Broadway doesn't have.

The cons: food took a huge turn for the worse. They used to have absolutely insane sandwiches that I would rave about to my friends; Marian's was easily a 5* place that I'd eat dinner at frequently. Amazing BLT; broccolini porchetta; chicken tinga quesadilla; and some delicious grilled cheese variants -- the menu changed regularly and never missed. I'm not sure if they weren't making money, or the chef left or whatever but now they just have frozen pizzas that you could get at the grocery store. Pass. when I first started coming here, the service was amazing. In between now and then they had some not-great bar staff (I get annoyed when I sit at a mostly-empty bar for several minutes before the bartender even acknowledges my existence because they're chatting with their friend). Those bartenders doesn't seem to work there any more and the service is good again now so not knocking any stars for that, just...

I love Marian's as a restaurant, but was extremely disappointed by the '2 hour burlesque spectacular, The Powderpuff Peep Show' that was 'produced' by Katherine Harlow on December 18th. My wife and I came to see Agent Wednesday perform and after we bought a ticket, we learned she wouldn't be there, yet the ticket cost the same. This is deceptive marketing and advertising.

The show had no actual production and it appears Katherine Harlow is simply booking dancers and not actually producing. The sound system didn't have a sound mixer and it was just a basic PA system. There was no lighting technician and just the lights in the venue not being manned by anyone- not even a spotlight. I understand Marian's doesn't have the equipment for a 'burlesque spectacular', but that's the job of the producer (Katherine Harlow) to scout the appropriate venue, advertise honestly and charge appropriately. My wife and I both paid for tickets and the audience should've received the opportunity for a refund.

This low quality event isn't worth the price of the ticket and makes Marian's look extremely bad by allowing Katherine Harlow to have this terrible 'show' here. We've attended other events at Marian's (like the amazing drag show and jazz night), but this event makes me reconsider going back.

Please attend a real burlesque event. Katherine Harlow's shows are a scam and pulls a bait-and-switch by advertising popular performers, then keeping the ticket cost the same without having even the same number...