Mabel Mercer Foundation Honors Alan and Marilyn Bergman at 54 Below
YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING will feature Karen Akers, Steven, and a cast of cabaret favorites
The Mabel Mercer Foundation will honor the husband-and-wife team of Alan & Marilyn Bergman in YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING. This special, one-night-only gala concert serves as a benefit evening for the Foundation, whose charter of 40+ years is dedicated to the performance of such timeless lyrics as those epitomized by THE LOVE SONGS OF ALAN & Marilyn Bergman.
The event takes place on Thursday, June 4, from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at 54 Below (254 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019). Libations and a two-course meal will accompany the cabaret performance at 6:30 p.m., and the outstanding roster of entertainers includes Karen Akers, Steven Brinberg, Michael-Demby Cain, Natalie Douglas, Bryan Eng, Eric Yves Garcia, Jeff Harnar, Ann Kittredge, Nicolas King, Karen Mason, Marieann Meringolo, Stephanie Pope, Craig Rubano, KT Sullivan and Dorian Woodruff.
Tickets and seating arrangements for YOU MUST BELIEVE IN SPRING: THE LOVE SONGS OF MARILYN & Alan Bergman are set as follows: Premium booth seating: $500 ($300 tax-deductible), Main dining room seating: $300 ($100 tax-deductible), and Bar seating: $200 (non-deductible) All tickets include access to food, drinks, and entertainment in the iconic 54 Below setting, and “cabaret festive attire” is encouraged. (For those unable to participate in person, a livestream option will be available, allowing audiences worldwide to take part in this unforgettable celebration.)
KT Sullivan, Artistic Director of The Mabel Mercer Foundation, is particularly exultant about this addition to their events for the year. “An evening of the Bergmans' contributions gives us the opportunity to present standards that both reach back into the 1950s and soar well into the 21st Century. Their own love story is extraordinarily song-based; back in 1956, he was working as a lyricist with composer Lew Spence in the mornings, while Marilyn came in to do the same thing in the afternoons. Spence introduced them; two years later, they were married, and their professional partnership went on, pretty much ceaselessly, from the first day. They wrote for Broadway (BALLROOM) and countless films; on their own and with composers like Michel Legrand and Marvin Hamlisch; and for singers ranging from Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand to Neil Diamond and Celine Dion. So much of their work is love-based or love-oriented; the Bergmans were writing for themselves and for the whole world at the same time.”
Videos