Feature: THE LINEUP WITH SUSIE MOSHER Celebrates Five Years At Birdland Theater
The July 25th installment of the award-winning variety show will mark five years of LINEUPS.
By: Stephen Mosher Jul. 25, 2023
There's a birthday at Birdland this week... or maybe it's an anniversary. Whatever verbiage one may care to use, there is a celebration at Birdland and it is a celebration well worth having, for THE LINEUP will turn five.
Tonight when Susie Mosher steps up onto the stage of Birdland Theater, the chic and sleek basement venue of the legendary Forty-fourth Street jazz club, she and her band, her cast, and her fans will honor the last five years of hit shows and full houses that THE LINEUP WITH Susie Mosher has inspired. The singing actress turned impressario and emcee devised the award-winning variety show, put the idea in front of Birdland frontman Jim Caruso, and a star was born. Two stars were born, actually, one of them being Mosher herself, and the other being the show, the entity, the force that is THE LINEUP.
When I started my job at Broadway World Cabaret, one of the things that people kept
telling me, repeatedly, was, "You have to go to THE LINEUP, it's amazing." The syntax varied from person to person, but the message was always clear: The Lineup was a show that was not to be missed. I made a reservation and I landed in my seat at the appointed time, and I saw just why the program was such a hit. Susie Mosher (who, by the way, shares a last name with me but no family tree) is a tidal wave of talent, energy, and good will, who is able to gather to her the most fetted artists of the entertainment industry - that first night I had at The Lineup featured the legendary Donna McKechnie, could it get better? I understood why there was nary an empty seat in the house, and every time I returned to check in on The Lineup, it remained a consistent at-capacity experience. There were fans of the show who weren't in show business, civilians, I like to call them, who became regulars. There were those from the business of show who missed a weekly performance at their own unhappiness, people like Michael Kirk Lane, who has offered that:
“The Lineup is consistently one of the best nights out in Manhattan. I tell everyone ( friends, students, tourists) to check out what Susie has put together each week. You always know when you walk into Susie’s show that you’re going to have a great time!” --Michael Kirk Lane
Even the icon, the legend, the Matriarch herself, Marilyn Maye, can't keep away. The cabaret artist admired by all, far and wide, is frequently found in the lineup or in the audience, and any time that she is in the audience, there is every chance Susie or her musical director (regular, Lon Hoyt, or guest MDs) might prompt Maye up onto the stage with one simple word: please.
“Get in line to loose your worries (if you have any) on Tuesday evenings with the brilliant entertainer and singer Susie Mosher, whose spontaneity always finds happiness for you.” --Marilyn Maye
Simply put, The Lineup With Susie Mosher is where the people want to be, including her friends and colleagues, like Jim Caruso, who subbed for Susie three days before the lockdown, while she was at the hospital welcoming her son, Hudson, into the world. And when Susie booked high-profile and high-paying holiday work with Sandy Patti, out of town, cabaret artist and Birdland stalwart Klea Blackhurst spent four weeks filling in for Susie so that the fans wouldn't be disappointed (or suffering from withdrawal). Time and again, industry greats like Natalie Douglas, Max von Essen, Amy Irving, Sean Harkness, Marissa Licata, and Nicolas King have made time and made their way to Birdland to be on either side of the footlights for the weekly Susie Mosher party.
"How do you describe a hurricane barreling at the Floridian coast at 200 miles per hour? How do you describe that feeling you get when a mariachi band approaches your dinner table unexpectedly? How do you describe a fire truck screaming its siren as it races down 9th avenue? How do you describe a woman whose talent and heart are so big that you can’t help but fall in love with her? I suppose if you put all these questions together, the answer will invariably fall somewhere to the left of Susie Mosher. She is a force of nature, our generations answer to Carol Burnett (albeit, a louder Carol Burnett), and one of the most generous artists I’ve ever met in my career. She not only oozes a unique talent herself, but she celebrates talent in others in a way that no one else does. She is a true champion of the people, and happens to be one of my favorite humans. I’ll make out with her in the bathroom any time." --Nicolas King
In honor of the fifth DOB of THE LINEUP WITH Susie Mosher, I emailed my "buzzin' cousin" and asked if her busy schedule might permit a little email q&a about the last five years, her experience, her expectations, and the high (and low) points of putting out a
completely brand new show every week, and her answer was "I have five minutes right now, send it over."
Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, Happy Everything, Susie Mosher and The Lineup. Keep on going because you bring the joy, every week, even in the darkest moments.
And those of you who don't know, those of you who haven't been - what are you waiting for? Check out THE LINEUP WITH Susie Mosher every Tuesday at 8:30 by clicking HERE.
This interview was conducted digitally and is reproduced with minor edits for grammar and punctuation.
Susie Mosher, welcome to Broadway World! How’s the summer treating you?
Hi Stephen! The summer is hot as hell so far, I think we can all agree on that. But I’m having a great time here in NYC, the best city in the world, doing THE LINEUP and hanging with friends and family.
You have a birthday coming up, don’t you? A LINEUP birthday, right?
We do! Five years of doing THE LINEUP at the world-famous BIRDLAND.
So it’s been a few years now, and with the exception of “The Blip” and a couple of holiday breaks, you’ve been doing THE LINEUP every Tuesday, all that time. What is the secret to keeping it fresh?
No secret, it’s fresh every show because it’s different every show. Different guests, different moods, different audience. I come in on Tuesday nights not knowing what to expect. I love that. My adrenaline is raised and I’m off!
If I had asked you what your mission statement was when you opened THE LINEUP, and then asked you the same question today, would your answers be the same?
Hmmmm. Pretty much the same, to showcase the abundant talent this city is so proud of, to give performers a feeling of community and a place to perform. And to let me be my crazy self, of course.
We have Tony winners and total newbies, and they are side by side, doing their thing. I always want it to feel like a big party, filled with laughter and awe.
Creating new content every week, as well as doing all of the marketing and publicity must be strenuous. Do you have a way that you schedule out your day so that you are able to keep the job and the family in distinctive lanes that don’t cross?
Pretty much. I have THE LINEUP prep and business pretty much down to a science. I’m
always booking talent, that’s a constant. I’m booked about two months in advance, so getting talent is the easy part.
Every Wednesday morning I write about the show the night before. Then by Wednesday night my wife Hope has created the flyer for the next Tuesdays show. I start promoting that show on all platforms, while checking in with the participants about rehearsal times.
If we need to order mousepads for the raffle that gets done.
Entering in the names collected into our data base for the mailing.
Day of show we have afternoon slots for performers to rehearse with Lon Hoyt, our brilliant Musical Director. Then it’s showtime!
You are devoted to talent, which is one of the reasons for the success of THE LINEUP - we have seen many photos of you gazing lovingly at the performers during the show. Put me inside of your thought process while seeking out talent to put into the play.
I design each show like a ride I want to get on. I want all emotions covered, I wanna laugh, I wanna feel reflective, I wanna cry, I wanna feel joy. I want to be surprised and comforted. Enlightened and engaged. I want lots of diversity!! Each LINEUP has its own vibe, and I want to enhance each performer by placing them in just right in the order.
There are performers who have done some repeat business at THE LINEUP. If you had to guess, who would you say have been the artists who have come back more times than anyone else?
That’s a tough question because there are so many great people I ask again and again to do the show. The amazing Nicolas King, the insane Kenn Boisinger(aka Michael West) the glorious jazz singer Gabrielle Stravelli, the one and only Julie Halston, the hilarious comic Gianmarco Soresi, Broadways T. Oliver Reid. The Drinkwater Brothers. Natalie Douglas. Ahhh. So many!
Aside from THE LINEUP, you’ve had some other performing opportunities in cabaret and concert, including Sandi Patty’s Christmas show, the Cabaret Convention, and the return of the show that you call your magnum opus, CASHINO. Is there a reality where there is a Susie Mosher solo act?
Well, I have a solo show I’ve performed here in NYC, The Great Daisy Theory. You never know when I might dust that off. John Boswell and I are doing Cashino again on August 28 at BIRDLAND. That is truly the most fulfilling and creative piece I’ve ever done. Come see it!!
Do you have any super special memories that stand out in your mind, as you approach your LINEUP birthday?
To introduce some idols at THE LINEUP has been pretty indelible. Marilyn Maye, Beth Level, Donna McKechnie, Tuck and Patty, Clint Holmes. People I’ve looked up to for years. yeah, that’s been awesome.
Susie Mosher, no relation, thank you for talking with me today, and have a great anniversary show for THE LINEUP.
Yep, five years on July 25th. Come hang out and feel the good vibes at THE LINEUP. Thanks, Stephen for asking me about THE LINEUP, I so appreciate you and Broadwayworld for your support.
THE LINEUP WITH Susie Mosher plays Birdland every Tuesday at 8:30 pm. THIS is the event page for the show and THIS is the Birdland homepage.
Susie Mosher has a website HERE.
Read some of the reviews for THE LINEUP WITH Susie Mosher from over the years:
Read a Broadway World Cabaret interview with Susie Mosher HERE and another HERE
Read Nicholas Adler's BWW Cabaret interview with Susie Mosher HERE.
Read Broadway World Cabaret's feature story on Susie Mosher HERE.
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