Stephen Hanks

STEPHEN HANKS' CABARET ALL-STARS FIGHT CANCER, a fundraiser dedicated to the late cabaret performer Charlotte Patton, will be presented on March 10, 2020 at 7 pm at Hidden Cabaret (at The Secret Room), Behind the Cooper Door at 707 8th Avenue, between 44th and 45th Streets. Featuring Musical Theater Composer Michael Roberts at the piano, the roster of All-Stars include: Sandra Bargman, Remy Block, Lane Bradbury, Bruce Clough, Meg Flather, Laurie Krauz, Erica Linn, Jeff Macauley, Marissa Mulder, Craig Pomranz, Scott Raneri, Julie Reyburn, Sarah Rice, Billie Roe and Tom Toce. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Melanoma Research Foundation. Main table tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.hiddencabaret.com/march-10th.

Since immersing himself into the world of New York Cabaret in late 2010, Stephen Hanks has been a reviewer, editor, performer, producer, publicist, and promoter. Now he's diving head first into helping a new cabaret club get off the ground. The former lead New York cabaret reviewer/section editor for BroadwayWorld.com (between 2012-2016) has joined the producing team at HIDDEN CABARET, which is now 'in residence' on Monday nights (and select other weekdays) at the Secret Room on 707 8th Avenue (behind 'The Copper Door' between 44th and 45th Street) in Manhattan.

Dawn Derow, the 2018 MAC Award-Winner for 'Best Female Vocalist,' will display her great vocal range and outgoing performing personality at New York's Beach Cafe (1326 2nd Avenue, corner of 70th Street) with THE DAWN DEROW BIRTHDAY PARTY SHOW on Saturday, November 24 at 9:30 pm (Dinner seating at 8:00 pm). Directed by Lina Koutrakos and featuring Music Director Mark Janas on piano and Sean Harkness on guitar, Derow's Birthday Party Show will offer an eclectic mix of songs, including favorites from Legit and her 2011-2014 show with Harkness, Music 4 Two. Helping Dawn celebrate her birthday will be special guest vocalists, including multiple award-winning cabaret performer Celia Berk (who was a guest singer in Legit), MAC Award-nominee and concert performer Suzanne Fiore (also a Boston Conservatory graduate), and Jason Reiff, who has starred as 'Marius' in the national tour of Les Miserables. Fiore and Reiff will join Derow on songs by Heart, Brandi Carlyle, The Indigo Girls, and Sara Bareilles.

Last December, with the 2018 Midterm elections on the horizon, New York-based Cabaret producer, performer, promoter, and former reviewer Stephen Hanks decided he needed to combine his passion for cabaret and politics and channel that energy into action on behalf of the Democratic and Progressive candidates running for the US Senate, the US Congress, and some state offices this November. To help him with his “Campaigning,” Hanks has recruited All-Star Casts of Cabaret performers who are equally passionate about motivating people to “Ride the Blue Wave” in 2018. On Hanks' Birthday, October 13, 7 pm, CABARET CAMPAIGNS: RIDE THE BLUE WAVE 2018! (with Michael Roberts, who wrote the Series theme song “The Great Blue Wave” as Musical Director) will feature the 4th All-Female Cast, featuring 2018 Two-Time MAC Award-Winner Natalie Douglas (representing Florida Governor Candidate Andrew Gillum).

Musical theater actor and Award-winning New York Cabaret performer Rosemary Loar is bringing her original musical SPOOLIE GIRL to the Actors Temple Theatre (339 W 47th St, New York) for a nine-show run from October 17-27. Loar, who wrote the music and lyrics, and co-wrote the book with her late husband Robert Atwood, calls the show “a family-friendly fractured rock fairy tale.” SPOOLIE GIRL is a suddenly orphaned eco-friendly teenager from Kenya who comes to New York City. Wearing magical curlers called “spoolies” in her hair, she is able to read people's thoughts as songs, while navigating a world consisting of her narcissistic, fashionista Aunt, a Fairy Godmother (but way hipper), and a quirky neighbor who walks an invisible dog. And that's her support group. Along with Loar, the cast features Loar, Claire Lilley, and Michiko Sasaki.

Sierra Rein launched her much-anticipated debut solo cabaret show RUNNING IN PLACE at The Laurie Beechman Theater in April and May and earned raves for a performance that weaved together American Songbook gems, contemporary Broadway and pop, and new cabaret classics, in an inspiring rundown on dreaming against all odds. Directed by James Beaman with Musical Direction by Bill Zeffiro (with Matt Scharfglass on Bass and Rex Benincasa on Drums), RUNNING IN PLACE features compositions by Stephen Sondheim, Dave Frishberg, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Zina Goldrich & Marcy Heisler, Kander & Ebb, and more. Such terrific notices merited a return engagement so Sierra will be reprising RUNNING IN PLACE on Saturday, September 22 at 2 pm and Wednesday, September 26 at 9:30 pm at The Laurie Beechman Theatre (407 West 42nd Street, Downstairs at the West Back Café, 212-695-6909).

During the 1940s and '50s, composer and jazz pianist Bobby Troup was getting his kicks writing songs like the classic "Route 66." Over that same period, Scotty Bowers was getting his kicks as "Hollywood's Gentleman Hustler" and Los Angeles' legendary "Pimp to the Stars." Now, New York-based cabaret star JEFF MACAULEY, who for three consecutive years (2016-2018) has been nominated for the MAC Award as "Best Male Vocalist," is connecting the stories of these two men and performing the best of the Bobby Troup Songbook in his new show: WHERE DID THE GENTLEMAN GO? THE SONGS OF BOBBY TROUP & THE LIFE OF SCOTTY BOWERS. The four-show run will open at PANGEA, Downtown's Alternative Supper-Club (178 Second Avenue, between 11th & 12th Streets) on Friday, September 14 at 7 pm.

2018 MAC Award Best Female Vocalist to Perform at Tin Pan Alley in P-Town (8/14, 15, 23 & 9/8) and Critically Acclaimed MY SHIP: SONGS FROM 1941 at Cape Cod's Cotuit Center on 9/7 at 7:30 pm

After five years of teaching, running a theatre department, singing in a big band, and fighting cancer, Singer/Actor BRUCE CLOUGH returns to the New York DON'T TELL MAMA stage--the scene of his many past Cabaret triumphs--to celebrate times in his life when something awesome came from something awful. On Sunday, July 15 at 3:30 PM, Bruce brings SILVER LININGS to Don't Tell Mama (343 W 46th St., between 8th & 9th Ave). Featuring his Musical Director Jeff Dershin on piano, and backup vocalists Barbara Gurskey and Stephen Belfatti, Bruce will tell his poignant and inspirational life stories through classic Broadway show tunes, popular film songs, and eclectic pop music from the 1960s to the 2000s, featuring compositions by Irving Berlin, Jerry Herman, Stevie Wonder, Randy Newman, Jonathan Larson, Van Morrison, Weird Al Yankovic, and more.

Five years after her well-received show 'Jazz and Cocktails,' 2008 MAC Award nominee Kathryne Langford returns to the cabaret stage with a compelling and topical new show, 'For What It's Worth.' Directed by multiple MAC Award winner Lennie Watts, Langford's show features songs by Stephen Stills, Bob Dylan, Lennon & McCartney, Sting, David Frishberg, Johnny Mercer and Henri Mancini, and more. The show is at Don't Tell Mama on July 13, September 7, and November 13, all at 7 pm.

Just four months after acclaimed Musical Director Barry Levitt tragically died of a heart attack just hours before a performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, Charlotte Patton--a beloved performer for whom Levitt frequently played and was one of his closest friends in Cabaret--died early Thursday morning at Mt. Sinai Hospital after an almost two-year battle with cancer. Both passed away at the age of 70. 

JANICE HALL has made the journey seamlessly and successfully. After a long career on the international opera stage, Hall joined the New York cabaret scene in 2007 and just four years later won a Bistro Award and MAC Award for her critically acclaimed solo show, Grand Illusions: The Music of Marlene Dietrich. Hall has now created a truly unique new show THE OPERA SHOW (WITH NO OPERA)--that merges the two art forms and that will be launched at the Urban Stages WINTER RHYTHMS Series on Saturday, December 16 at 3 pm.

Cabaret Producer, Promoter, and Performer Stephen Hanks has been chosen by Urban Stages Founding Artistic Director Frances Hill and Director of Musical Theatre Peter Napolitano to Produce and Host the Opening and Closing Night Gala Shows for the organization's Ninth Annual WINTER RHYTHMS SERIES, running this year from December 12 through December 23 at the Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues).

During an evening when Mabel Mercer Foundation President and New York Cabaret Convention Producer KT Sullivan devoted a number of opening night spots in the 28th year of the four-day extravaganza (October 16-19 at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center) to a younger generation of singers and a few veterans making their Convention debuts, the Grande Dame of Cabaret was the star of the night.

Over the past five years, Jeff Macauley has arguably been one of the most prolific performers on the New York Cabaret scene, garnering rave reviews and award nominations for shows paying tribute to legendary composers such as Norman Gimbel, Henry Mancini, and Michel Legrand. Now Macauley is thrilled to be reviving another highly praised show that he first performed more than 20 years ago--a celebration of the Golden Age of music in films called Hollywood Party-Movie Songs 1928-1936. The three-date run-with Macauley's long-time Musical Director Tex Arnold at piano-launches at Pangea, Downtown's Alternative Supper-Club, on October 30 at 7 pm (other dates are November 30 and December 15, also at 7 pm).

In 1959, theater, film, and TV star LANE BRADBURY created the role of Dainty June in the original Broadway production of the iconic show GYPSY starring Ethel Merman. Now, almost 60 years later, Bradbury is making her debut at the legendary cabaret Don't Tell Mama with LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, AGAIN. Bradbury's musical trip down memory lane is a personal tour of how she transitioned from being an Atlanta Debutante to a performer on The Great White Way during the Golden Age of Broadway Musicals. Written by Doug DeVita, directed by Bradbury's daughter Elkin Antoniou, and with Musical Direction by Joe Goodrich, Lane Bradbury's LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, AGAIN hits the Don't Tell Mama stage for a third performance on Sunday, September 24 at 7 pm.

In 1959, theater, film, and TV star LANE BRADBURY created the role of 'Dainty June' in the original Broadway production of the iconic show GYPSY starring Ethel Merman. Now, almost 60 years later, Bradbury is making her debut at the legendary cabaret Don't Tell Mama with LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, AGAIN. Bradbury's musical trip down memory lane is a personal tour of how she transitioned from being an Atlanta Debutante to a performer on 'The Great White Way' during the Golden Age of Broadway Musicals.

Award-winning cabaret performer Julie Reyburn launched her career in 2000 with the show 'Fate Is Kind'--first at a Singer's Forum benefit and then for a run at Judy's Chelsea-and it so captured the hearts and minds of audiences it earned Reyburn the 2001 MAC and Bistro Awards for 'Outstanding Female Cabaret Debut.' Fifteen years later, the show inspired cabaret show producer and publicist Stephen Hanks to create the series New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits at the Metropolitan Room. Now Julie Reyburn is bringing back this celebrated cabaret piece for a two-show run at the legendary club, Don't Tell Mama (W 46th St, between 8th & 9th Ave) on March 25 and April 22, both shows at 7 pm.

According to singer/actor Adam B. Shapiro, breakups can be one of the most devastatingly painful things in the world . . . but not if you know how to do them right. Four years after Shapiro launched his 2013 MAC Award-Winning show GUIDE TO THE PERFECT BREAKUP, Shapiro will reprise his hilarious and musically compelling show-with songs written by composers as diverse as Cole Porter and Weird Al Yankovic--in the BroadwayWorld Award-Nominated series NEW YORK CABARET'S GREATEST HITS at the Metropolitan Room on March 15 at 7 pm. The series is produced and hosted by Stephen Hanks (with Associate Producer Fr. Jeffrey Hamblin, MD).

In what he has been calling the third part of a 'Cabaret Trilogy of Classic Hollywood Songwriters,' 2016 MAC Award nominee and 2016 and 2015 BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Award Nominee Jeff Macauley will continue the run of his most recent show, Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand, at Don't Tell Mama (W 46th St., between 8th & 9th Ave) on March 17 at 7 pm. Macauley's Musical Director/Arranger/Pianist Tex Arnold and Jon Burr is on bass. After performing his Legrand Tribute show at the Metropolitan Room last August, BistroAwards.com called it ' . . . smart, funny, and well constructed . . . a good mix of classic and rarer material . . .'