Photos: Jim Caruso's Cast Party Continues To Pack Birdland With Great Talent

For the past nineteen years, Jim Caruso has hosted a talent-packed celebration every Monday night at Birdland called "Cast Party." Each week, the club shines a spotlight on both up-and-coming and established performers, all taking a turn on the stage for an impromptu song with the Cast Party Symphony Orchestra, led by Billy Stritch, with Daniel Glass on drums and Steve Doyle on bass. Photographer Kevin Alvey is always on hand to catch the fun.

"Jim Caruso's Cast Party" is a wildly popular weekly Open Mic Night/Variety Show that has brought Broadway glitz and urbane wit to the legendary Birdland in New York City every Monday night since 2003. Showbiz superstars hit the stage alongside up-and-comers, serving up jaw-dropping music and general razzle-dazzle. It's the ultimate spot to mix and mingle with show folk and the people who love them! Showman Jim Caruso guides the entire affair with razor-sharp humor and the unbridled enthusiasm of an uber-fan. Musical director Billy Stritch holds court at the ivories, along with Steve Doyle on bass and Daniel Glass on drums. But the real fun starts when the audience participates in the onstage festivities. Broadway legends, jazzers, cabaret divas, starry-eyed tourists, and kids right off the bus storm the stage to entertain each other. If you have a voice, a dream, and some sheet music, your Cast Party moment awaits.

Caruso and Stritch have taken the show on the road, celebrating talent in London, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago, Austin, Dallas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, the Hamptons, Provincetown, Miami, Orlando and Delray Beach, as well as special all-star events at The Town Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Cast Party has been honored with four BroadwayWorld Awards, two MAC Awards, Bistro Award, and a Nightlife Award. The New York Times called Cast Party "show business heaven," the Wall Street Journal claimed it is "the gold standard of open mic nights," and Time Out New York exclaimed "this Party is a vital pulse point of the musical theater bloodstream." Visit CastPartyNYC.com and follow us on Instagram at @jimcarusoscastparty.

Photo Credit: Kevin Alvey