Review: Entertaining 'Voting' at the Dutch Treat Club

The performances weren’t mailed in and the candidates certainly didn’t disappoint, entertaining Dutch Treat voters with a rousing selection of patriotic favorites that had everyone singing along at the regular Tuesday lunch of The Dutch Treat Club.  Tuesday October 13th also happened to be the first night of the Cabaret Convention and club President KT Sullivan wanted to prove that we still have something to sing about in her new show called "This Is My Country: A Celebration of America’s 250th,” and prove it she did. 

Entertainment Chair, Raissa Katona Bennett, introduced Ms. Sullivan, noting that in addition to the being the President of Dutch Treat, she is also the Artistic Director of the Mabel Mercer Foundation: and KT chose to present this program on the same day as the opening night of the 37th Annual Cabaret Convention which was some “crazy” feat! But KT is no stranger to challenges, having starred on Broadway in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and at Irish Repertory Theatre in Love, Noël with Steve Ross. For more than two decades, she headlined at the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room and now performs regularly at Birdland, Don’t Tell Mama, and 54 Below in New York, as well as Crazy Coqs in London.

Accompanying herself on the piano, Ms. Sullivan led the friendly crowd in many sing-a-longs including “This Land is Your Land”, “As Time Goes By” and “America the Beautiful” to name a few, delighting the crowd with her wit and her historical knowledge. She also accompanied her brother-in-law, Bob Downey, who possesses a rich, booming baritone and affable manner, on “This is My Country”. Other Sullivan family members were also in attendance, to cheer them on: KT’s brother Pat, sister-in-law Suzanne, and the ever luminous Elizabeth Sullivan, matriarch of the “Singing Sullivans”.

Then piano virtuoso, Mark Janas, who has conducted the Broadway tours of Les Miserables and who was a protégé of Leonard Bernstein, came to the piano to accompany several Dutch Treat members that KT had requested perform. First up, was Corinna Sowers Adler who sang a gorgeous and moving version of “Anthem” from the musical Chess, in her signature clarion soprano. Corinna is a 2026 Bistro Award winner for Outstanding Vocalist and Educator and a 2015–2025 nominee for the Excellence in Theatre Education Tony Award. She has also received MAC and BroadwayWorld Award nominations for Best Vocalist. Corinna has headlined at venues such as: Feinstein’s/54 Below, The Green Room 42, and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room. She is the founding Artistic Director of NiCori Studios & Productions, along with her husband, DT Board Member Nicholas Adler, who was in attendance today. 

Next, award-winning singer-pianist, Eric Yves Garcia introduced his selection “The House I Live In”, with a very personal connection to it explaining how, as the descendant of several generations of Italian immigrants, the song held special meaning to him. Garcia, who performs regularly in London and Paris, is a recipient of the Margaret Whiting Award, a Bistro Award for Singer-Instrumentalist, and the Donald F. Smith Award, presented at Jazz at Lincoln Center. His New York appearances include Carnegie Hall, 54 Below, Birdland, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Café Carlyle

KT chose Raissa Katona Bennett to perform “Take Care of This House” by Leonard Bernstein, from the short-lived Broadway show, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But first, KT shared that the inspiration for the song came directly from a letter written by John Adams to his wife, which made the selection all the more significant. In her warm soprano, Katona Bennett, who appeared as Christine Daaé in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera, and in Chess in Concert, as well as the First National Tours of Cats and Parade, shared a moving arrangement created by Mark Janas and Miles Phillips, pairing the song with “Children Will Listen” from Into The Woods.  You could hear a pin drop during her impassioned performance and there were several tears shed as the lyrics resonated even more so today, probably than when the song was written – a few of those tears came from the singer herself. 

With Janas at the keys, KT took to the “stage” and delivered a hilarious version of Sheldon Harnick’s “Boston Beguine” from Broadway’s New Faces of ’52. As delightful as it is to have KT at the keys, it is always a special treat to see her in all her glory, commanding a stage like no one else can!

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Learn more about the Dutch Treat Club and how to join at www.dutchtreatny.org

See photos from the performance below

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