Karen Akers News

Urban Stages (Frances Hill, Founding Artistic Director), in association with producer/director/lyricist Peter Napolitano announces a series of musical evenings entitled WINTER RHYTHMS 2012, beginning on Tuesday, December 4 and running through Friday, December 15, 2012 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street). Tickets are $25 per show (both shows in one night, $40). Beer and wine will be available for a $3 donation. Tickets may be purchased on www.smarttix.com or 212 868-4444.

Urban Stages, in association with producer/director/lyricist Peter Napolitano, announces a series of musical evenings entitled WINTER RHYTHMS 2012, beginning tonight, December 4 and running through Friday, December 15, 2012 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street).

It may not be like getting a gift on every one of the 12 Days of Christmas, but for cabaret and musical theater lovers, the 4th Annual Urban Stages 'Winter Rhythms' series-presented over a dozen straight nights at the not-for-profit's Off-Broadway theatre on 259 West 39th Street-could be the closest thing to opening a daily present by the tree. From December 4-15, more than 80 singers and actors will perform in an eclectic mix of 22 shows (including three on Saturday and Sunday, 12/8 and 12/9), with all the proceeds from ticket sales dedicated to the Urban Stages 'On Tour Outreach Program.' Two years ago, Urban Stages Artistic Director Frances Hill brought in MAC and Bistro award-winning director, lyricist and producer Peter Napolitano to produce the Winter Rhythms program and broaden the scope of it's musical offerings. BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Columnist Stephen Hanks recently caught up with the new Sol Hurok of Urban Stages to learn how he had helped Winter Rhythms evolve and get some insights into this year's program.

FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: ALIVE AND KICKING, The UN-Original Cast Album features Gerard Alessandrini's parodies of Broadway's biggest shows and brightest stars, including Annie, Newsies, Once, The Book of Mormon, Spiderman, Evita, Porgy and Bess, Anything Goes, and Follies, as well of send-ups of Catherine Zeta Jones, Matthew Broderick, Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin, among others.

DRG Records announces the release of the cast recording of FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: ALIVE AND KICKING, The UN-Original Cast Album, produced by Hugh Fordin, and available on iTunes and in stores today, November 27, 2012. The recording will be available for download for $9.99 on iTunes; individual tracks will be available for $.99 each. Featured on the album are cast members Natalie Charlé Ellis, Scott Richard Foster, Jenny Lee Stern and Marcus Stevens, with David Caldwell on piano.

Urban Stages, in association with producer/director/lyricist Peter Napolitano, announces a series of musical evenings entitled WINTER RHYTHMS 2012, beginning on Tuesday, December 4 and running through Friday, December 15, 2012 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street).

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre - the acclaimed gay comedy/variety show - will continue their fourth season tonight, November 15, 2012 at The Duplex in New York's West Village.

DRG Records announces the release of the cast recording of FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: ALIVE AND KICKING, The UN-Original Cast Album, produced by Hugh Fordin, andavailable on iTunes and in stores on November 27, 2012. The recording will be available for download for $9.99 on iTunes; individual tracks will be available for $.99 each. FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: ALIVE AND KICKING, The UN-Original Cast Album, is also available for pre-order on amazon.com for $14.99.

The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, will present the Bay Area debut of "Jim Caruso's Cast Party" tonight, November 6 at 8:00 PM. "Jim Caruso's Cast Party" is a wildly popular weekly event that has been bringing a sprinkling of Broadway glitz and urbane wit to the legendary Birdland in New York City every Monday night for the past nine years. The hilariously impromptu evening has also been celebrating local talent across the country, in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Cleveland, Austin, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and on the high seas.

The critically acclaimed first Off-Broadway revival of the of Closer Than Ever, with lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire, will end its extended run with its 150th performance on Sunday evening, November 4, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at The York Theatre at Saint Peter's (Entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue) where performances began June 5, 2012.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre - the acclaimed gay comedy/variety show - will continue their fourth season on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at The Duplex in New York's West Village.

The 2013 Lincoln Center American Songbook series has just been announced via the New York Times.

There may have been 40 cabaret performers strutting their stuff this past week at the 23rd New York Cabaret Convention at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, but the true star of the three-night extravaganza (October 17-19) was the late Donald Smith, the cabaret impresario and guru to the genre's luminaries, who died this past March at 79. Sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, which Smith founded in 1985, this year's Convention featured numerous homages to Smith from the performers, many of whom had their career's supported and advanced with the help of the colorful and beloved cabaret producer and promoter. Early in Wednesday's Gala Opening Night show, the 'first lady of the American keyboard' Barbara Carroll called her friend Donald Smith 'the quintessential New Yorker,' and when Mark Nadler closed night one with George and Ira Gershwin's 'Our Love Is Here to Stay,' he said, 'Everybody who cares about the myths of these songs are in this room tonight.' Well, it was clear that anyone who cared about Donald Smith was at the Rose Theater for at least one of the three shows.

The annual New York City Cabaret Convention -- conceived, launched, and brilliantly sustained for the past 23 seasons by The Mabel Mercer Foundation --has honored many specific people and events across the past two decades. Legendary performers, composers, lyricists, and their anniversaries have all had their day and their due as the Convention grew in visibility, stature, and acclaim.

The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, will present the Bay Area debut of "Jim Caruso's Cast Party" on Tuesday, November 6 at 8:00 PM. "Jim Caruso's Cast Party" is a wildly popular weekly event that has been bringing a sprinkling of Broadway glitz and urbane wit to the legendary Birdland in New York City every Monday night for the past nine years. The hilariously impromptu evening has also been celebrating local talent across the country, in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Cleveland, Austin, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and on the high seas.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre - the acclaimed gay comedy/variety show will continue their fourth season tonight, October 18, 2012 at The Duplex in New York's West Village.

The York Theatre Company has announced the first Off-Broadway revival of the of Closer Than Ever, with lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire, will end its extended run with its 150th performance on Sunday evening, November 4, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at The York Theatre at Saint Peter's (Entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue) where performances began June 5, 2012.

The Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street), New York's landmark theatre and concert venue, has announced the Eighth Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival, which takes place over three consecutive weeks in October. The Broadway Cabaret Festival begins tonight, October 13th at 8pm with Linda Eder: A New Life, and continues on Sunday, October 21st at 3pm with Broadway Originals!. The Festival concludes on Friday, October 26th at 8pm with The Best of Broadway by the Year. The Broadway Cabaret Festival is created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel for The Town Hall.