Ray Kilday News

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present Broadway/cabaret star T. Oliver Reid in his Birdland concert debut on Monday, February 8, with DROP ME OFF IN HARLEM. A portion of proceeds went to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. BroadwayWorld has photos from the concert below!

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present Klea Blackhurst in her return to the Birdland stage with EVERYTHING THE TRAFFIC WILL ALLOW, on Monday, August 24. BroadwayWorld has photos from the concert below!

On Sunday evening, 54 Below celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the musical Grand Hotel on Broadway in high style with two performances crackling with energy and featuring a talented roster of performers including 13 from the original cast. Splendidly Directed (and Written) by Walter Willison, with Musical Direction by Alex Rybeck, Bass Accompaniment from Ray Kiddain, and Dance Supervision by Yvonne Marceau, the delicious production (one really can't call it a concert despite lack of dialogue) was fluid, polished, and imaginative in its use of the room. From leads to the chorus, voices were strong, commitment thorough. In the audience, Tommy Tune must've had a helluva time. We did.

For more than 70 years, composer and lyricist Ervin Drake had a remarkably varied career but we will remember him for his music.With hits like 'Tico Tico', The Rickety Rickshaw Man', 'It Was A Very Good Year', 'Good Morning Heartache' and 'I Believe', Ervin Drake had man 'very good' years. Join us Today, March 6, 2015 at 7pm with an all- star cast including KT Sullivan, Stacy Sullivan, Klea Blackhurst, Tom Moore, Carole J. Bufford, Carol Woods, Jeff Harnar, Eric Yves Garcia, Tony Award winner DeeDee Bridgewater and many more. Featuring Jon Weber on piano and Ray Kilday on bass.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

This March, 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street. Below, find the schedule for upcoming events over the next month.

For more than 70 years, composer and lyricist Ervin Drake had a remarkably varied career but we will remember him for his music.With hits like 'Tico Tico', The Rickety Rickshaw Man', 'It Was A Very Good Year', 'Good Morning Heartache' and 'I Believe', Ervin Drake had man 'very good' years. Join us Friday, March 6, 2015 at 7pm with an all- star cast including KT Sullivan, Stacy Sullivan, Klea Blackhurst, Tom Moore, Carole J. Bufford, Carol Woods, Jeff Harnar, Eric Yves Garcia, Tony Award winner DeeDee Bridgewater and many more. Featuring Jon Weber on piano and Ray Kilday on bass.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents The Cast of SIDE SHOW Reunites in "ADDED ATTRACTIONS" on Monday, March 9. Actors and musicians from the recent Broadway revival of SIDE SHOW come back together to perform some favorites from the show, songs cut or never used and new arrangements of some familiar numbers.

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer Leslie Uggams will share her insights and talents with students of the Wright State University Musical Theatre Program today and tomorrow, January 22-23 in Dayton, Ohio. Uggams will become the first major visiting artist to conduct master classes and perform as a guest of the school's new Musical Theatre Initiative.

Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer Leslie Uggams will share her insights and talents with students of the Wright State University Musical Theatre Program January 22-23 in Dayton, Ohio. Uggams will become the first major visiting artist to conduct master classes and perform as a guest of the school's new Musical Theatre Initiative.

Songs from The New Picasso The Musical, music & lyrics by Jonathan David Sloate, won the 2014 Featured Artist Award at ReverbNation, home to over 3 million music artists.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series presented the songwriting team Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne in Tim & Charlie Go Solo on Monday, February 3 at 7pm. Check out a look back below!

Last night, December 19, Town Hall overflowed with the musical joys of the season when three extraordinary talents, Leslie Uggams, Marilyn Maye and Christine Andreas took the stage for Holiday Belles. These award-winning singers brought their unique and diverse talents to the celebration, performing songs from the musical theater and the American Songbook, as well as holiday favorites. The concert, conceived and directed by Michael Bush, featured each singer performing her own individual set, and then brought them together for a very merry finale of holiday melodies. Check out photos from the concert below!

If you're wondering whether or not 2013 was a fantastic year for the cabaret art form in New York, all you have to do is scan the amazing list of nominees for this year's BroadwayWorld New York Cabaret Awards and you'll know it was one of the best ever. So now it's time for all you cabaret performers and fans to vote for the best singers, musicians, songs, and shows of the year. Voting will continue until Sunday night January 5 and the winners will be announced later that week. We hope that all the winners will be able to perform in the Award show on Sunday night February 23 at Joe's Pub.

Stars and casts from the current Broadway line-up have been busy in the studio, recording for the 2013 Broadway's Carols for a Cure, Volume 15. Singing traditional and original holiday songs, this annual holiday music CD benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you exclusive photos from Newsies' recording session for 'Take Me to Manhattan in December' with castmembers Hogan Fulton, Tommy Martinez, Stuart Marland, Andy Richardson, Iain Young, John Michael Fiumara, Evan Kasprzak, Mark Aldrick, Joshua Colley, Luca Padovan, Joshua Colley, Luca Padovan, Liana Hunt, Kara Lindsay, Vanessa Brown and Julie Foldesi.

Following sold-out performances at Feinstein's, singer CRISTINA FONTANELLI will make her Metropolitan Room debut on Friday, September 20 at 9pm, with her highly acclaimed show With A Song in My Heart. Hosted by PBS (WNET Thirteen/WLIW 21), NJTV, CPTV, ABC WTNH-TV & 'Close-Up TV' news personality, Jim Masters, Cristina will be accompanied by Dennis Buck on piano, Ray Kilday on bass & Ray Grappone on drums.

Tony and Emmy Award winner Leslie Uggams will present a special performance of her acclaimed one-woman musical autobiography Uptown Downtown at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem tonight, March 18 at 8 p.m.

Tony and Emmy Award winner Leslie Uggams will present a special performance of her acclaimed one-woman musical autobiography Uptown Downtown at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem on Monday, March 18 at 8 p.m.

At last year's Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Awards, two of the big winners were T. Oliver Reid (photo left) for Male Debut and Eric Michael Gillett for Major Artist, Male (and both could very likely be MAC nominees again this year). Almost a year later, two of New York cabaret's leading men performed new shows one night apart at 54 Below; Reid on February 6 with Drop Me Off in Harlem, and Gillett the next night with Careless Rhapsody: An Evening Dedicated to the Lyrics of Lorenz Hart. Ironically, what the shows had in common--besides being a fairly good fit of material to singer--was that the majority of their sets featured songs written in the 1930s but in very different styles. With Reid it was the jazz, swing and blues of Harlem; with Gillette it was the romantic Broadway musical sensibility of Hart's lyrics (paired with the timeless melodies of Richard Rodgers). While neither Reid's 'Harlem,' nor Gillett's 'Hart' were stirring or spectacular shows, they were both solid and entertaining enough that both could be nominated for BroadwayWorld.com Awards in 2013.