Review: A Cornucopia of Entertainment Closes out CABARET CONVENTION 2026 at Rose Hall

Yesterday saw the closing night of the 37th Annual Mabel Mercer Foundation’s New York Cabaret Convention, and the fine folks at the MMF took us out with class, in style, and in sublime celebration of both the art of cabaret and the Great American Songbook, including a discreet mention of the songs originating in the British Isles from Julie Wilson Award recipient Sam Jewison, who wished to honor the compositions coming out of his homeland and ours.  The whole event was one replete with storytelling, music, and the beautiful artists who make Cabaret and Concert what it is.  I don’t get to go to the Cabaret Convention every year because it is difficult to commit to three nights of anything, (and other BroadwayWorld Cabaret correspondents want to join in the fun, too), but when MMF Artistic Director KT Sullivan told me her night of hosting would feature seven (7!) Cabaret Convention debuts, my interest was definitely piqued, so I took the night off work and got my pad and pen ready to write… and, boy, was I happy that I did.   Talking truth, if I could have, I would have attended all three nights, especially when I learned that opening night Andrea Marcovicci and Jeff Harnar were presenting a tribute to Mabel Mercer titled “Once in a Blue Moon,” and the second evening offered Natalie Douglas hosting “Sammy: All The Way & Then Some! The Songs of Sammy Davis Jr.”  These three hosts who curate their convention nights with meticulous care were certain to be on their A Game, and I knew I was missing out; I hope both nights one and two were resoundiung successes.  Given the proceedings last night, I have no doubt that they were.

Now, about last night…

It’s no secret that I’m a big supporter of the Mabel Mercer Foundation.  The work that they do preserving the history of song, presenting the artists, both living and dead, who make that history their life’s work, the support they provide for the artists and the club owners, and the educational outreach they perform are all invaluable concerns, and Ms. Sullivan and her team are doing this work year-round, not just these three days every October.  It really is a boon to the industry, the happy by-product being the exceptional entertainment that the people in the seats out front get to enjoy.  It was a genuine pleasure to be one of those people for WITH A SONG IN MY HEART - A CORNUCOPIA OF ENTERTAINMENT.  

The closing night of the convention is always hosted by KT Sullivan, and she is always her unique self, effervescent and erudite, and absolutely adorable, a phrase more appropriately applied to a puppy or a five year old, but if you’ve ever seen the way Ms. Sullivan pulls a face in order to illustrate the story of song she is performing (it happened last night), if you’ve ever watched her throw out an aside in the middle of her script (like her off-book tangent about ABBA last night), if you’ve ever seen the way she takes a pause and cocks an eyebrow just before saying her guest’s name, then you will agree that KT Sullivan is (say it with me) adorable.  She can’t help it: adorable.  

Aside from her hosting duties, last night, KT kicked off the show with a New York medley made up of “Give My Regards To Broadway,” “Take Me Back to Manhattan,” and “I Happen To Like New York” from the piano, playing for herself, and delivering the high notes and the face pulls, and just basically reminding everyone why she is a cabaret champion and star - because she knows the craft, she knows the art, and she knows what she’s doing.   And for three hours, she kept the crowd on their toes and on the edge of their seats, presenting artists we all know and love, like luscious-voiced Robert Cuccioli and marvelously mellifluous Ann Kittredge, and convention Freshmen like captivating opera singer Dawn Padmore and Italian ball of fire Mafalda Minnozzi.  The blessing to a program titled “A Cornucopia of Entertainment” is that there is no set theme, so the artists were able to perform that which they felt would, best, serve their presence on the stage of Rose Hall, like Eric Yves Garcia, who performed “C’etai Moi,” a number I recently saw him play as a guest in Sullivan’s residency at The Laurie Beechman, or Marieann Meringolo, who played “Pieces of Dreams” from her Streisand tribute show that opens at the same club tomorrow night.  You see, although these nights are solid entertainment for some of us, this is, after all, a convention, and it is where club owners go to see who’s out there.  As a matter of fact, during her conversation with the crowd, KT pointed out some of the club owners from around the country who always book talent from their annual trips to the convention.  So the MMF is providing a service to the artists and impresarios, including Sullivan doling out the information about where each of the performers is playing, like Raissa Katona Bennett & Arbender Robinson, who have a show coming up in Connecticut, and Melodie Wolford, who plays 54 Below on November 9th.  There is much to celebrate at the Cabaret Convention, like Brian De Lorenzo, whose CD is in the running for a Grammy, or Madeline Joy Travis, who (rightfully) won her spot in the convention when she took first place in the Adela and Larry Elow American Songbook High School Competition, and, of course, there were people to celebrate, like the late Dolly Parton, who Carole J. Bufford honored with a performance from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Dick Gallagher, who would have celebrated a birthday today (October 16th), and whose song “Laughing Matters” (with Mark Waldrop) was performed by Celia Berk.  It should be said, though, that even though these nights at Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall are valuable opportunities for the artists to get the word out about their work, these are evenings of entertainment where fans go to see their favorites, like the purveyors of the Act One finale, Shana Farr, Craig Rubano, and Steve Ross.  We go to glory in the work of the people who are the architects of cabaret.

While I did enjoy, deeply, the production last night, there was an element to the proceedings that stood out as a curiosity, though.  There seemed to be more talking than I remembered from past conventions.  Admittedly, I haven’t attended in a couple of years, but I feel like the performances I attended in the past had a formula in which the host introduced the artist, the artist walked out and sang, the artist left the stage.  There seemed to be a lot of chat this year, and it broke the fluidity of the evening.  It’s understandable if the chat is a part of the number, like when Freshmen, The IMs, had dialogue that led into their (stunning) vocal performance of “You’re Nearer” or when Marta Sanders had dialogue that explained her pending performance of “Volero” (that had people on their feet, after), but when some performers are given stage time to just talk, not only does it break the flow of the show, it gives an air of special treatment that hasn’t been afforded to other players on the bill.  This writer finds it much more powerful when each player hits their mark and does all the storytelling within the musical monologue they are performing, like Tim Connell, whose tender performance of “End of the World” was spot on pitch perfect, or Ben Jones, who effectively redefined ABBA with his breathtaking “Slipping Through My Fingers.”  It wouldn’t be accurate to consider this a criticism, as much as an observation because the With A Song In My Heart show was an exceptional night of cabaret entertainment, the highlights of which (for this writer) came from two convention Freshmen and one veteran.  Can M. Yasar’s mesmerizing performance of “Coming To America” (prefaced by some words about the melting pot that is New York City) drew cheers from the crowd.  Susan Mack (performing in the all-important second number spot) SLAYED her medley of “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die” and “Let The Good Times Roll,” complete with specialty lyrics created for the occasion, calling out the members of her band with praise.  And the undisputed triumph of the evening was Mark Nadler’s performance of “New Music/Ragtime,” as related to his own family’s status as Polish immigrants.  I’ve seen Mr. Nadler perform this number at 54 Below and, after seeing it last night, I have to say I believe it to be the greatest number I’ve ever seen performed on the Cabaret and Concert stage.  It was the perfect finale to a wonderful night of entertainment, and, one suspects, a wonderful convention.  It was so good, in fact, that I feel a strong pull toward attending all three nights next year.  Hopefully I will see you all there.

The musicians of WITH A SONG IN MY HEART: A CORNUCOPIA OF ENTERTAINMENT were, in order of appearance:

KT Sullivan, piano;  Jon Weber, piano, Steve Doyle, bass, Ray Marchica, drums;  Joe Baker, piano; Brian Holman, piano; James Followel, piano, Seoyeon Im, violin; Jim Harder, piano; Paul Ricci, guitar; Eric Yves Garcia, piano; Stephen Purdy, piano, Alden Terry, cello; Tracy Stark, piano; Steve Ross, piano; Ian Herman, piano; Mark Janus, piano; Doyle Newmyer, piano; Sam Jewison, piano; Christopher Denny, piano, Sean Harkness, guitar; Alex Rybeck, piano, Mark Nadler, piano.

The New York Cabaret Convention Freshmen are, in alphabetical order:

The IMs, Susan Mack, Mafalda Minnozzi, Dawn Padmore, Madeline Joy Travis, Melodie Wolford, Can M. Yasar

The recipient of the 2026 Julie Wilson Award For Promising New Talent made possible by Linda & Peter Hanson is Sam Jewison.

Learn more about the Mabel Mercer Foundation HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

Susan Mack performs "I'm Gonna Live Til I Die/Let The Good Times Roll"

Robert Cuccioli sings "How Little We Know/Ain't That A Kick In The Head"

Dawn Padmore sings "Losing My Mind"

Tim Connell sings "End of the World"

Madeline Joy Travis sings "Will He Like Me?"

The IMs sing "You're Nearer"

Mafalda Minnozzi sings "The Girl From Ipanema"

Eric Yves Garcia sings "C'etai Moi"

Melodie Wolford sings "Smile"

Can M. Yasar sings "Coming to America"

Carole J. Bufford sings "Little Bitty Pissant Country Place"

Raissa Katona Bennett & Arbender Robinson sing "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor"

Marieann Meringolo sings "Pieces of Dreams"

Sam Jewison sings "The Heather On The Hill"

The presentation of The Julie Wilson Award to Sam Jewison:

Ann Kittredge sings "I Feel The Earth Move"

Brian De Lorenzo sings "In Other Words/Just in Time"

Celia Berk sings "Laughing Matters"

Ben Jones sings "Slipping Through My Fingers"

Marta Sanders sings "Volero"

Mark Nadler sings "New Music/Ragtime"

Farewells, until next year...

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