The Duplex News

Performing legends Ben Vereen and Marilyn Maye, celebrated composer Jason Robert Brown, as well as cabaret stars Billy Stritch, KT Sullivan, Karen Kohler, Jim Caruso, and Colleen McHugh are among the winners of the first-ever BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Awards, and who will appear in a star-studded show at the Metropolitan Room on Thursday, February 21 (6:30-9 pm). These entertainers and many others became award-winners after almost two months of voting and the casting of an astounding 10,000 votes over 20 categories on the Cabaret section of the BroadwayWorld.com website. The 2012 BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Awards Show will be hosted by BroadwayWorld.com's lead Cabaret Reviewer/Columnist Stephen Hanks, while the show's Musical Director will be MAC Award-winning MD and composer Bill Zeffiro.

LezCab is a monthly cabaret series of musical theatre songs written by, performed by, and/or about queer women. This month's LezCab will be held Sunday, January 20th at 7:00 pm at The Duplex in Manhattan's West Village.

A total of 35 established and emerging writers, composers and lyricists will converge on the Goodspeed campus this month to participate in the first-ever Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing more than twenty new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

Legendary singer-actress Lainie Kazan and versatile performer Maurice Hines will be honored, along with 16 others, at the 28th Annual Bistro Awards gala, which recognizes outstanding achievement in New York cabaret, jazz, and comedy. The celebration will take place on Monday, March 4 at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 West 23rd Street (between 7th & 8th avenues).

In a desperate attempt to pay her rent, single-white-cabaret performer-comedienne-depressive Kristine Zbornik is back with a somewhat new and entirely unrehearsed show. With the assistance of Bobby Peaco, her trusty piano-playing, joke-writing 'straight' man, Kristine Zbornik's Open-Ended Depression will most certainly be a rehash of everything you've already seen before and much, much less. Performances are Sundays at 9:30 beginning February 10th.

It's finally official! After almost two months of voting and the casting of more than 10,000 votes, we know the winners of the 20 categories in the first-ever BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Awards. The biggest of the winners are Ann Hampton Callaway, Jim Caruso and Colleen McHugh, each taking two awards. Other notable winners include: Marilyn Maye, Michael Feinstein, Betty Buckley, Ben Vereen, Jason Robert Brown, Jane Monheit, and Billy Stritch. Many of these fantastic entertainers will be performing at the BroadwayWorld.com 2012 Cabaret Awards Show, which will be held at the Metropolitan Room on February 21, 2013 from 6:30-9PM.

Carly Sakolove, who is currently featured in the YouTube sensation "Les Miserables NYC Film Premiere," will return to The Duplex with her hilarious Broadway Diva impressions in January. Carly will appear for one night only in her show I HEAR VOICES. The show, written by Sakolove and Tony Award nominee Bill Russell, will play on January 25th at 9:30pm.

Carly Sakolove, who is currently featured in the YouTube sensation "Les Miserables NYC Film Premiere," will return to The Duplex with her hilarious Broadway Diva impressions in January. Carly will appear for one night only in her show I HEAR VOICES. The show, written by Sakolove and Tony Award nominee Bill Russell, will play on January 25th at 9:30pm.

Sasha is back in NYC for one night only with 'The Education of Professor Weiss.' Come enjoy amazing songs and stories as Sasha shares the trials and tribulations of being an MFA student. With songs from Kurt Weill to John Mayer, she'll take you from the front of the classroom to behind the bleachers. Accompanied by Dan Micciche and also featuring special guest singers, it's a night you don't want to miss.

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January.

An official choice of the 2012 Chicago and San Francisco Fringe Festivals, CrAzYToWn: my first psychopath is a comic take on how an encounter with psychopath helped an over-eager therapist get over herself - when nothing else seemed to be working. In this storytelling show with original music real-life therapist/performer Jude Treder-Wolff takes audiences down the rabbit hole of belief that led to her experience of being blind-sided by reality, in a cautionary tale about how authentic a completely fake person can be.

In TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN: The Smoldering Lyrics of Amanda Yesnowitz, join Amanda and a luminous lineup of performers as they heat up the eve of New Year's Eve with hot songs about love, art, angst, and beverages.

By the last August, I had fallen so far behind on writing reviews of cabaret shows from the spring and early summer (I guess it's a positive when there are more performers and shows in New York than days in the week) that I decided to play catch up by combining a bunch of critiques into one big column. I hadn't planned on doing that again, but this fall there were so many shows that once again I couldn't keep up. but at least I've beaten my self-imposed deadline New Year's Eve deadline of posting these reviews of 12 shows, all staged between September-December by lovely, attractive women (okay, so one is a gender-bender) of varying talents and levels on the cabaret depth chart, from established stars to MAC and Bistro Award-winners to comeback 'kids' to interesting beginners and occasional performers who are in the game to follow their bliss. Whether their performances were rave-worthy, earning of qualified praise, or not quite up to snuff, they all deserve kudos for taking the plunge.

In TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN: The Smoldering Lyrics of Amanda Yesnowitz, join Amanda and a luminous lineup of performers as they heat up the eve of New Year's Eve with hot songs about love, art, angst, and beverages.

Wow, talk about a thumbs up! BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Reviewer/Columnist Stephen Hanks received such a positive reaction to his '2012 Best of New York Cabaret' piece posted yesterday that we thought it would be fun for him to add to his original 13 "honorable mentions" list. So, here for your holiday week reading pleasure is Part 2 of his "Best" and "Most" Honorable Mentions in Cabaret for 2012 with 21 new listings (because an even 20 would be trite). Enjoy!

Jack Herholdt, who was previously seen by audiences uptown in a sold-out engagement, will bring his one man show Falling in Love…and other Ridiculous Ideas to The Duplex in January. Written by Herholdt, the earnest and hilarious journey will be directed by Matt Keel and feature musical direction by William TN Hall. The show will play two dates on January 13th at 7:00pm and January 20th at 9:30pm.

2012 was indeed a very good year for the art of Cabaret in New York City. Here, BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Reviewer and Columnist Stephen Hanks offers up his exclusive 'Best New York Cabaret Performers of the Year' for 2012, plus some surprising honorable mentions. Let the debates begin!

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January.

Seven-time MAC, Backstage Bistro & Nightlife Award Winner Natalie Douglas returns to her annual New Year's Eve Bash with TWO shows at The Duplex Cabaret Theatre on Monday, December 31 @ 7:30 p.m & 10:30 p.m.