Jim Eklof News

While the casting of Phylicia Rashad as the manipulative, pill-addicted matriarch of Oklahoma's abundantly dysfunctionAl Weston family in Tracy Letts' epic comedy/drama, August: Osage County may seem an odd choice for those who only know the actress from her television roles as the elegant Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show and... uh... Clair Huxtable II on Cosby, she might be considered a natural for the part by New York playgoers who have seen her rip up the stage as the anguished and dominating Bernarda Alba or have observed her communicating silent volumes as a symbol of African heritage in Gem of the Ocean.

You'll please forgive me if I've run out of superlative adjectives with which to describe the work of Marilyn Maye, who, after a 15-year absence from New York's cabaret scene, just opened her 4th Metropolitan Room show in a baker's dozen months.

As she engineers one of the most exciting late-career surges ever seen, the unstoppable Marilyn Maye pays tribute to the great wordsmith Johnny Mercer in a brand new show that opened at the Metropolitan Room on Friday June 12th. Maye, in her sixth Metropolitan Room show (and eighth engagement) since she her triumphant return to New York in late 2006 (after a 16-year Gotham hiatus), premiered 'Mercer the Maye Way,' which plays a total of 9 times through June 21.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Thursday, June 18, 2009.

As she engineers one of the most exciting late-career surges ever seen, the unstoppable Marilyn Maye pays tribute to the great wordsmith Johnny Mercer in a brand new show that opens at the Metropolitan Room on Friday June 12 at 7:30pm.

As she engineers one of the most exciting late-career surges ever seen, the unstoppable Marilyn Maye pays tribute to the great wordsmith Johnny Mercer in a brand new show that opens at the Metropolitan Room on Friday June 12 at 7:30pm.

Drunk with affection for the singer Marilyn Maye, New Yorkers are licking their lips in anticipation of Maye's fifth Metropolitan Room engagement.

Drunk with affection for the singer Marilyn Maye, New Yorkers are licking their lips in anticipation of Maye's fifth Metropolitan Room engagement.

Back by popular demand, in her fourth Metropolitan Room engagement in a little over a year, Marilyn Maye celebrates her birthday in landmark style with a new show 'It's My Party… and I'll Sing 'Cause I Want To,' which runs from April 8 through April 16. In seven performances (five of which are late shows to heighten the party atmosphere) the amazing Maye, who turns 80 during the run, has concocted a gift bag of her favorite songs from a who's who of her favorite songwriters.