Feature: Gifts To Cabaret That Last All Year - Day Five

Tara Martinez is one of the unsung heroes of the cabaret and concert industry, which is funny because she is a singer. Well, she's not just a singer, she is THE singer. Anyone who has been in the room when Tara has worked her magic with a melody will testify to that. Working her magic with a melody is something that Tara does into the wee small hours of the morning a few nights a week as one of the Piano Bar artists of New York City. Remember that unsung hero thing? Piano Bar workers.

A musical theater actress with a resume full of credits in New York and regional theaters, Tara has found a good deal of success in the cabaret and concert circuit, performing on stages large and small around the country and on the sea, which is where she is finding some exciting gigs these days, as she and fellow Piano Bar entertainers like frequent co-star Laura Pavles (the duo make up a group called Chanteuse), and Michelle Dowdy are cruising the high seas in 2023. Recently returned from entertaining the guests on a cruise to Antarctica, Tara found herself making plans for the future nautical journeys, while plying her craft at her more regular artistic home Don't Tell Mama. There, in the iconic Midtown Manhattan cabaret club, Tara and a coterie of beautiful and talented artists that call one another family serve drinks and sing for the Piano Bar patrons that love the Piano Bar vibe. It's a real thing, and there are people all around this city who love Piano Bar. Those regulars find the Piano Bar that, most uniquely, fits their personality and they come all the time, getting to know the performers, knowing what specialty numbers to request, and hugging them when they book a big gig. It's a special relationship, that between the employees and the patrons of a Piano Bar, and it is a relationship and atmosphere where Tara Martinez has thrived. Indeed, it is where she has helped others to thrive, as it was from a suggestion from Tara that her fellow Don't Tell Mama belters Tommy J. Dose, Brian Kalinowski, Paul Pilcz, and Jon Satrom took to form the super popular boy group MAMA'S BOYS. And, true to Piano Bar family form, when Mama's Boys play out, Tara is front and center, when Mama's Boys have success, Tara cheers the loudest, when Mama's Boys get the prizes, Tara cries tears of pride. Tara Martinez is there for them, for all the Piano Bar folks, from fellow employees to favorite regulars.

But what happens next is everyone else's turn to clap and cheer and cry happy tears for Tara because she is spending more and more time out of town on chic cruise lines, singing like the star that she is. She has made a series of impressive appearances at Birdland in The Lineup With Susie Mosher, one of them with country superstar Ty Herndon, who Susie told a room full of Lineup devotees is interested in doing some recording with Tara, which wouldn't just be of benefit to Tara, but to Ty, too, because Tara Martinez has something to offer, something special and something of import. He will be lucky to have her, just as the cabaret and Piano Bar communities have been lucky, ever since she walked in the door

See Tara Martinez in action at THE LINEUP in THIS Broadway World Photo Flash.

Tara's online presence is as follows:

Website: Click HERE.

Instagram: Click HERE.

Facebook: Click HERE.

Twitter: Click HERE.

Tara's pronouns are She/Her/Hers

Tara's future projects include:

I don't have any upcoming shows in NYC to promote, but people can find me at Don't Tell Mama every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.

Photos by Stephen Mosher; Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.