Feature: Urban Stages and Winter Rhythms Still Going Strong Decades Later

Now celebrating 42 seasons, Urban Stages is a haven for artists in Manhattan’s Garment District.  Dedicated to the development and production of playwrights, musical theatre artists, and new works, the petite playground is also the home of Winter Rhythms, an annual cabaret festival taking place during the season of good cheer and giving.    Although the Urban umbrella has been around for over four decades, the cabaret contingency is only seventeen years old, a production created by Peter Napolitano.  In that 2006 version, the week-long festival presented a series of tribute shows, but as time went on, Napolitano curated eleven days' worth of productions, the scope of which was broadened beyond the tribute-type of presentation.  Flash forward to 2017, when Urban Stages Board President Tom Toce took over the producing duties and named cabaret artist Sue Matsuki as his assistant.  Matuski now stands tall as producer, a position she assumed from Toce in 2019, and it is she who gives the curtain speech at each of more than twenty shows every December.  The number of acts and days each year has varied, but when the final tally button is punched, Winter Rhythms has presented more than 300 shows employing the talents of more than 1300 craftspeople, from singers to musicians to crew - and that’s just in the 12 years since Matsuki came on board as Tom’s trusted go-to gal.  It’s an impressive feat for all involved, yet Urban Stages and Winter Rhythms is still out there, fighting the good fight to present art and outreach.  

The Urban Stages outreach program was created some twenty years ago to take theatrical artistry into all five boroughs of Manhattan in the form of play productions and workshops.  The program provides art to the communities free of charge, and work opportunities to the craftspeople who work within the Urban Stages system - and all of the ticket sales from Winter Rhythms go right into the outreach program.  The cabaret artists who appear in Winter Rhythms donate their time to the cause, while the musicians performing for the series agree to payment by stipend, rather than the scale pay normally required by the musicians’ union.  The entire operation savors of one big George Bailey moment, with administrators, artists, and public benefiting from the generosity of the human spirit. 

Recently, Winter Rhythms hosted the cabaret show #realjoy2025 featuring Meg Flather and Lisa Viggiano, with Tracy Stark at the piano - all three women are staples of the community and industry, respected and rewarded on a regular basis for their artistry and quality entertainment.  Their program, originally presented in 2018 as an exploration of getting through the holidays when you’re “not feeling it,” seemed to be the best option, when Matsuki mentioned to Viggiano that she and Flather should create a cabaret for the 2025 Winter Rhythms.  Both singing storytellers actually have tribute shows that could, easily, have been plugged into the roster, but Viggiano felt like the times in which we live lent themselves perfectly to their earlier outing about finding joy… and, after the performance, Lisa mentioned that it seemed even more relevant in 2025, than it did in 2018.  For this freshened-up presentation, the two award winners leaned into Tracy Stark’s musical arrangements while Lennie Watts brought his director’s eye to the proceedings, and what they ended up with was an hour of heartfelt ballads, niche comedy numbers, and sisterhood between the three female friends for life.  But what this writer witnessed on December 10th was about more than three women putting on a musical cabaret.  The quality of the entertainment was a given, walking in the door, for Stark, Viggiano and Flather always put the focus on giving good story, in words and in music.  But, sitting in the second row, what this writer (and watcher of cabaret and the people who create it) witnessed was a community.  Frances Hill (founding artistic director of Urban Stages) sat in the first row, chatting with audience members as they came in.  Producer Matsuki greeted patrons in the lobby, handed out programs, and even went up onto the stage to adjust some set dressing.  It was like being inside one of those artistic communes you see in the indie movies of the Eighties.  And in the auditorium, chatting with Hill and Matsuki from their seats were cabaret stalwarts like Joanne Halev, Dorian Woodruff, Lucille Carr-Kaffashan, Celia Berk, Rian Keating, Mardie Millitt, Ricky Ritzel, Richard Skipper, and Lenore Stefanik, all there to support not only their galpals up in the light on the boards, but an artistic organization that hasn’t only lifted them up by putting them on their stage, but that needs their support, as it needs everyone’s support. 

During her curtain speech, Sue Matsuki drew everyone’s attention to a wish list that the theater has.  Last year, Sue jokingly suggested the creation of a kind of “wedding registry” to help Urban Stages stay up-to-date, afloat, and operating at the highest possible level.  House Manager and theater tech proficient Leigh Selting remembered the idea and called Matsuki on it a few months ago, even going so far as presenting her with a list of items the theater needed.  Before you could say “Happy Honeymoon,” Urban Stages had a website that patrons and angels could visit, in order to make a Christmas contribution to the company.  There is even an option to make a monetary donation to higher priced items so that nobody need be relied upon to spend too much money - groups of people can chip in on one item.  Matsuki remarked, in a post-performance conversation, “My peeps in the cabaret community really came through.  Cabaret supporting theater… it’s a beautiful thing.  I feel so proud of my community for this.”  In the meantime, Hill is quick to point out that the Urban Stages website and programs list the many angels who continue to support the organization.  Matsuki declares, “I am sure that I speak for Frances when I say...DONATE! SPONSOR! Keep live performing arts alive! If anyone wants to make a donation to Urban Stages specifically for next year's Winter Rhythms...go for it...we'll take it and list you as a sponsor! As Frances always likes to say, ‘We're theater people...we are not afraid to beg!’”

In the meantime, and even though Winter Rhythms 2025 has concluded, Matsuki is right back at work on next year, stating that 2026 will go back to the original concept of tribute shows.  Sue, well-known for attending a high volume of club acts and cabarets every year, has her finger on the proverbial pulse, making a list and checking it more than twice, in order to decide which shows to invite to be in Winter Rhythms.   She points out that she seeks diversity and multicultural acts to present, as well as a wide range in styles, from cabaret to blues, jazz to classical, folk to pop, drag, American Songbook, comedy, performance art, and shows from other countries.  She also tenderheartedly points out how hard it is to say no, when approached by artists who would like to be a part of the series but who just aren’t ready for their shot at the Winter Rhythms stage.  That, though, is the nature of the business, which Matsuki and Hill know, and are more than happy to continue applying those noses to those grindstones.  Thank goodness for artists like Flather, Stark, and Viggiano for making the curating decisions easy… and for the patrons putting their bumms in the Urban Stages seats, and the angels putting their money where their mouths are.  They are all keeping art alive in New York City, and where would we Manhattanites be without our art?

Read about Urban Stages and Winter Rhythms on the Urban Stags website HERE.

Look into donating to Urban Stages HERE.

Consider the Urban Stages wishlist HERE.

Visit the websites for:

Meg Flather HERE.

Lisa Viggiano HERE.

Tracy Stark HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher are of Meg Flather, Lisa Viggiano, and Tracy Stark in #realjoy2025