There are shows that dazzle with technical precision, shows that bowl you over with spectacle, and then there are shows like “The Breakup Variety Hour” – ones that feel like a long-overdue heart-to-heart with someone you didn’t realize you missed. This past Wednesday at Club Cumming, Ariana and The Rose didn’t just perform; she welcomed the room into her orbit like a friend sliding into the booth beside you after a breakup, ready with drinks and emotional triage.

Club Cumming is a classic Lower East Side grit – no glitz, no pretense. It’s a bar that smells like New York: sweat, ambition, and a little eyeliner at the bottom of your tote bag. That made it the ideal backdrop for Ariana’s summer residency; a room where heartbreak doesn’t echo, it harmonizes. The space wasn’t packed wall to wall, but that only magnified the sense of intimacy. Ariana met that ambiance like a seasoned confidante: magnetic, unfiltered, and utterly in sync with her audience.

Before the show even began, cards sat on every table, inviting guests to scribble their funniest or most chaotic date stories. As patrons sipped cocktails and scrawled confessions, Ariana herself made the rounds, collecting them with the warmth of someone who truly wanted to know. It was clear: this wasn’t just a concert. It was community therapy disguised as cabaret.

When she finally took the stage – no flashy lights, no elaborate set – none of that mattered. Ariana’s charisma is the set design. Whether cracking jokes between songs or weaving through the crowd, she commanded the room with disarming ease. There’s no fourth wall at an Ariana and The Rose show. We were all in it together: laughing, cringing, healing. She raised a glass of wine and dedicated a toast to the crowd, kicking off the show like an old friend we had missed.

The night was framed as a six-act emotional journey, tracing the stages of a breakup with glitter, humor, and unapologetic pop. Ariana’s musical world blends Broadway theatricality with danceable synth-pop, offering a glittering soundtrack for those nursing wounds with sequins and side-eyes. The songs aren’t trying to be deep — they’re trying to make you feel seen, and on that front, they deliver.

Still, the show’s most stirring moment came when Ariana slipped behind the venue’s upright piano. The set stilled. Her voice, stripped of production and pretense, carried a different weight – one that hinted at something more tender, more timeless. I think Ariana shone brightest in this more acoustic setup. I personally found some of her electronic tracks to feel a bit too produced, too familiar. But at the piano, she wasn’t just Ariana and The Rose; she was Ariana in full bloom.

In the final act, she returned to the audience’s shared stories, reading them aloud like pages from a collective diary. The crowd howled, winced, and sighed in recognition. Ariana had invited us into her world, and in return, we shared our own vulnerabilities with her, despite how embarrassing they might’ve been.

“The Breakup Variety Hour” isn’t just a show; it’s an experience, an exhale, a little bit of therapy wrapped in sequins and synths. Ariana may still be evolving musically, but her power lies in presence, in sincerity, in the uncanny ability to make a bar full of strangers feel like old friends at a sleepover.

As her Club Cumming residency continues, one thing is clear: this isn’t just a pop act. It’s a sanctuary for the brokenhearted and the wildly hopeful alike. If you’re looking for a spontaneous night out that feels both irreverent and intimate, put Ariana and The Rose on your calendar. “The Breakup Variety Hour” offers an unhinged night of laughter, levity, and lax like no other.