Tedd Firth News

Judith Clurman conducts her acclaimed chorus, Essential Voices USA, in Season of Light: Songs of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, New Year, the ensemble's fourth recording for Sono Luminus. 

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was over the moon to present internet sensation Randy Rainbow with his Election Eve Party at the historic music room on Monday night. The extravaganza was directed by Victor Wisehart, with musical direction by Tedd Firth. BroadwayWorld has photos from the concert below!

The second annual spectacular evening of wonderful entertainment by Broadway's brightest singing the wonderful standards and hits sung by the late, great Nancy Lamott on the 21st anniversary of her death, to benefit the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, took place on Monday, October 24, at 6 PM at the Copacabana in New York City. BroadwayWorld has photos from the event below!

Singer/entertainer Jenene Caramielo brought her thrilling voice to Feinstein's/54 Below last night and BroadwayWorld was there. Jenene graduated from Shenandoah Conservatory, in Virginia, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater. She studied private voice, dance and acting as well as piano and improvisation. After college she started working in different regional theaters in Virginia and Florida. With a thirst to travel she continued her career as the headliner on different cruise lines such as Holland America, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and most recently she performed as a guest entertainer on a 2013 world tour with Princess Cruises where she sang her way through Australia to the middle east and Italy.

Actress/singer Ana Gasteyer made her Cafe Carlyle debut last night and BroadwayWorld was there. Her engagement runs through November 5th.

Ana Gasteyer is a true renaissance woman. Having been a cast member on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for six seasons, she subverted some expectations after leaving the sketch show by going on to play Elphaba in WICKED, originating the role in Chicago's sit-down production before eventually taking her Green Girl to Broadway. Gasteyer has also had extensive success in the concert capacity, and she is now preparing for a major milestone in any solo performer's career: her debut at the Cafe Carlyle. BroadwayWorld spoke with Gasteyer ahead of her Carlyle shows, the first of which is on October 25, about the differences between SNL and eight shows a week (both are grueling, but disparately so), why she yearns for the emotional connection of performing live, and whether or not Donald Trump makes her miss being in the trenches of live comedy.

On the penultimate night of the 2016 Cabaret Convention, presented by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, 11 fantastic cabaret artists---those who are celebrated in the form as well as those who are emerging alike---assembled to salute the late and legendary Sylvia Syms. The evening, hosted by one of Syms' closest confidants, the critic Rex Reed, was brassy, delivered wonderful anecdotes, and was ultimately very moving musically, much like Syms herself. A black and white photograph of Syms, accurately capturing her maternal warmth, hung high inside the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center throughout the evening, which was formatted in two distinct segments. Act One was comprised of each performer taking to the stage alone to sing one of Syms' lesser known cabaret staples, or the songs which she "rescued" from obscurity such as those cut from golden age musicals. Act Two saw the performers again take on a Syms staple, but those which were more well-known hits and standards, displaying the full range of Syms' nightclub chops.

KT Sullivan made an astute call and turned over the creation of the third night of the Cabaret Convention to host Rex Reed.  If there is anyone in the world who symbolizes music sophistication with a flawless comprehension of what good cabaret performance is about it is the elegant Mr. Reed. The Convention's final evening is yet to be heard (tonight), but last evening must have been one of the finest chapters in the long history of Donald Smith and the Mabel Mercer Foundation's twenty seven year old creation. The musicians, singers, and material, which honored the legendary cabaret performer Sylvia Syms truly represented the highest quality of cabaret performance. Rex also made an important artistic decision….he included himself as one of the vocalists.  Rex Reed was a participating member of the golden age of New York life and his unique ability to verbally convey it's history honored Sylvia Syms, who as Rex pointed out at the start of the evening…..died the way she wanted, singing in a  nightclub (Oak Room Algonquin)  to a standing ovation.  She collapsed into the arms of audience member Cy Coleman.  

The Broadway at Birdland concert series welcomed Tony and Grammy nominee Bryce Pinkham in his first solo concert, 'Between The Moon and Me,' last night, October 17. BroadwayWorld has photos from the evening below!

In preparation for her return engagement at Feinstein's/54 Below, Melissa Errico was looking for answers, but she ended up with far more questions. In fact, much of the Tony-nominated mother of three's life and career as of late seems to be cloaked in indefinable uncertainty. She recently penned an op-ed for The New York Times detailing the confounding reality of being an actress who is not yet old but no longer 'an ingenue' and yet continues to work in the business of Broadway. Errico is all too aware of the current impasse of her life and, in an embrace, she dedicated her show, FUNNY, I'M A WOMAN WITH CHILDREN, to that very not-knowing. Nearly all of her songs throughout her performance on September 20---the first of four in her run---had the central theme of questioning because, as artists have done for centuries and which Errico set out to do this evening, to make sense of life through art is any creator's most powerful capability.

Tony Award-nominated singer and actress Melissa Errico (Amour, White Christmas, My Fair Lady, High Society) is currently appearing at Feinstein's/54 Below (254 W. 54th St.), now through September 24, following her sold-out run at the venue this past April. BroadwayWorld has photos from her opening night concert below!

Broadway's Will Swenson (LES MISERABLES, Hair, Disaster!) and Ryan Silverman (Side Show, Cry-Baby, Chicago) and The Met Opera's Richard Troxell will guest star with Tony Award-nominated singer & actress Melissa Errico (Amour, White Christmas, My Fair Lady, High Society) at Feinstein's/54 Below (254 W. 54th St.) tonight, September 20, through September 24, following her sold-out run at the venue this past April.

Since her rediscovery of New York City 10 years ago, Marilyn Maye has sung on most of it's important music streets. Marilyn's re-emergence in the Big Apple began with her appearance at the Metropolitan Room with Billy Stritch. She moved uptown to Birdland at 44th street, Carnegie Hall at 57th and then Lincoln Center's Rose Hall & Appel Room at 60th. Last night she sang in a venue she was born to perform in - Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz in Lincoln Center. Marilyn has shared stages with Dizzy Gillespie and other Jazz greats. Hearing her in the Jazz building's most intimate space was another historic milestone added to the long list of her legendary performances. Where will she be in our city next? How about 122nd street - Honorary Doctor of Great Music at Columbia University.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

Get ready for Errico's encore appearance at 54 Below with footage of her performing 'Ribbons Down My Back' from HELLO, DOLLY! last spring!

Broadway's Will Swenson (LES MISERABLES, Hair, Disaster!) and Ryan Silverman (Side Show, Cry-Baby, Chicago) and The Met Opera's Richard Troxell will guest star with Tony Award-nominated singer & actress Melissa Errico (Amour, White Christmas, My Fair Lady, High Society) at Feinstein's/54 Below (254 W. 54th St.) September 20-24, following her sold-out run at the venue this past April.

The second annual spectacular evening of wonderful entertainment by Broadway's brightest singing the wonderful standards and hits sung by the late, great Nancy LaMott on the 21st anniversary of her death, to benefit the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America will take place on Monday, October 24, at 6 PM at the Copacabana, 268 West 47th Street, New York City.

Summertime brings to mind nighttime fireflies, lemonade that makes your lips pucker, rocking chairs creaking on the front porch, and, like the famous Porgy and Bess tune of the same name, melodies that trickle into the night. Summertime Swing is the latest masterpiece and collaboration at its finest by the legendary Michael Feinstein and Marilyn Maye, evoking a sultry, steamy love letter to the fleeting season and a prime example of craft, art, and passion. The moment I walked into the dining room at Feinstein's/54 Below, where Summertime Swing played through September 1 a fashionably dressed gentleman greeted me with, 'It's a fantastic show.' The packed house was already alive with thrilling enthusiasm as they eagerly waited for the show to start. When you attend a show headlined by a golden age cabaret great and a prolific 'music revivalist' who happens to have the venue named for him, you come expecting to be no less than entertained. Summertime Swing elevated the art of summer entertainment tenfold--- a tribute to anything we could hope for in the last days of summer.

On Saturday September 10 Downtown's alternative supper-club Pangea wastes no time getting the fall season started. That's when the alt-cabaret divas Joey Arias and Carol Lipnik headline a special one-night-only party-performance to celebrate Pangea's 30th birthday.