Review: MARILYN MAYE A Gift To All In Birthday Concert at 54 Below
The legend's annual birthday concert is cause for celebration.
It’s today! Marilyn Maye celebrates her birth on this day, April 10th, and, as usual, her chosen form of celebration is to work. Ms. Maye kicked off her annual birthday concert at 54 Below on Monday, April 6th, and she has been laying them in the aisles every night since (nearly). Maye, who has presented past concerts with names like 92 and I’m Not Through!, has chosen, this time around, a title with a powerful statement: Marilyn Maye. The name says it all. And the name gets the bumms in seats, luv, for the birthday lady always plays at capacity, and with good reason. When this writer attended the April 7th show, the crowd was enthusiastic and effusive in their response to every moment of the eighty-minute musical cabaret. And, for the sake of clarity, when I say every moment, I don’t mean every song, I mean every moment. Obviously, when Marilyn Maye sings, people are prone to cheering while applauding, and frequently can be heard to say words like “wow” and phrases like “Oh my gosh!” but MM also does a fair amount of talking during her concerts, and whether she is throwing out jokes about her multiple marriages (jokes she regularly makes) or throwing out wit in real time during impromptu discussions with the crowd, her natural (and sharp) wit leads the conversation. Marilyn Maye is hilarious. She’s wry, she’s dry, she’s clever, she’s coy, and she lands the punchline every single time, even when she maybe doesn’t intend one, and she is a genuine pleasure to be with. She is the real thing, and she is real. She knows her audience, be it en masse or one-on-one, and she wants to reach them. Observe the number of times she stretches out her hand(s) out at the crowd, or how she points a knowing finger at someone in the audience. Note the number of times she bends down to take hold of a hand in the first row. And on April 7th, MM even surprised everyone in the house with a spontaneous special guest - nobody could have been more surprised, especially the special guest, dancer Josh Prince, who Marilyn pulled up onto the stage to teach her how to do a time step, which, by the way, she did. This nonagenarian and her young terpsichorean did a good thirty-plus seconds working on the Shim Sham (which Marilyn did not want) and the Time Step (which she did want), much to the delight of an audience that knows, when you buy a ticket to a Marilyn Maye show, all bets are off. Anything can happen. Her first album (released in 1965) was titled Meet Marvelous Marilyn Maye, but in 2026, we’re seeing Magical Marilyn Maye maintain her mantle as cabaret’s greatest artist, the one everyone looks up to, the one the artists emulate, the one the audiences marvel at.
For her 2026 birthday show, Marilyn has curated a set of songs that the MM aficionados (raises hand) all know, but that the Maye neophytes (like the young woman who shared our table) will be experiencing for the first time, and it is a perfect setlist to keep everyone happy because those in the know wait for their favorites, and those in the new are building favorites. Trade secret - any time I walk into 54 Below either Macon or Cassie or Alex or GG hands me a set list so that I know what will be/has been performed, when I sit down to write my review. On April 7th, Macon made it clear that the sheet of paper was a kind of musical smorgasbord from which Marvelous Marilyn and Titanic Tedd would select songs. Glancing at the list, I whispered a silent prayer to the song gods that my favorite would make the cut, and as the lights went down, I told my date the same prayer, please just let her sing my favorite. Every one of the devotees was whispering their own prayer of a similar nature. Well, who needs prayers? At least three times, Marilyn turned to the crowd and said, “So… what do you want to hear?” Hallelujah! Jukebox Marilyn! Tedd - that’s Mr. Firth to you - was a master at getting Marilyn back on track, but she actually did do some selections, on the spot, like a sensational “Too Late Now” that had the requesting audience member (a woman seated nearby) clutching her chest during and ovating on her feet after. (A cry out for “Guess Who I Saw Today?” was met by a hysterical reply from Marilyn: “Ooooh… That leads us down another path...”) An impromptu dance lesson and songs by request from a woman who is just this side of her 100th birthday? Artists of the cabaret persuasion, the bar is raised, the gauntlet is down, and everyone has their work cut out for them. Marilyn Maye is the Gold Standard of what audiences can and should expect when they put down their money and raise their glass.
Among the magnificent musical performances presented by Our Lady Of The Microphone were plenty of Marilyn’s famous medleys and mash-ups (which the newcomers to the club might want to know all spring from Marilyn’s mind), including her “Face/Smile Medley,” the “Love Medley,” and everyone’s favorite “New York Medley,” and some of these arrangements last ten or twelve minutes - it is an embarrassment of riches in which we get to hear so many songs that a drinking game might be in order, for those keeping count of just how many songs there are. There is also the stunning “Lazy Afternoon/Bye Bye Country Boy” mashup and the unfathomable Ray Charles tribute created around the song “Hallelujah, I Just Love Him So,” and what makes it so unfathomable is that Marilyn Maye is singing like a rock star. She moves like a rock star. She blows the roof off the joint with this number and opening number “The Song Is You,” both vocally and physically. These beats! Are we at 54 Below or Studio 54? Maye and co. effectively blow the mind as her three gentlemen give her rhythm and she gives them moves. She’s like Mick Jagger in a purple sequined pantsuit, strutting the stage, grooving her hips, and, before anyone asks, there were four highkicks on April 7th - two pointing south and two pointing north. There was also specialty material because Marilyn Maye is constantly engaged in the act of creation. For this show, Marilyn presented her version of “I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Face,” which she has re-written as “I’ve Grown Accustomed To This Place,” in honor of 54 Below. It was one of many highlights, as were her version of “Joey, Joey, Joey” from the Carnegie Hall concert, and (this is the one for which I prayed) the rendition of “Misty” from the Marvelous Marilyn Maye album. These two musical choices rounded out a spectacular night of musical storytelling, and if one is really watching closely, if one is paying attention during these eclectic performances, a person can discernibly recognize that what makes Marilyn Maye so special is the combination of technical vocal proficiency applied to a naturally beautiful voice and the mastery of musical monology. Marilyn Maye can play her voice like the most exquisitely crafted instrument while employing intricate lyrical phrasing and depth of emotion. She is able to play with her band on complicated scat singing, and then flip the script with intimate internal acting moments. There are those who possess this combination of skills (not everyone, mind) but few are operating at this vibration. Next time you’re in the room with her, sit and watch - don’t just listen. Watch. You’ll see.
Aiding Marilyn Maye in her work this month are her usual fellas - a team of men she loves and appreciates so much that she threw them her appreciation some three times on April 7th, at one point even bringing Drummer Mark McLean and Musical Director/Pianist Tedd Firth out from behind their instruments - Bassist Tom Hubbard could not physically come out from behind his bass, so Marilyn went to him, to draw the audience to him for some well-deserved praise. Maye and co. are the proverbial dream team, and she knows it and says it out loud, many times. They all know it - look at the way they look at her. They love her. Everyone loves her. Everyone celebrates Marilyn Maye every day of the year, but, today, we really raise a glass for her in mass amounts of joy. This is an artist to see, this is a woman to love. There will be a cake cutting tonight at the 8 pm show, and the roof at 54 Below will be properly raised. If there is a ticket to be had, this will be the party of the year. Get there.
Marilyn Maye is in residence at 54 Below until April 19th. Information and tickets can be accessed HERE. The livestream on the closing night can be accessed HERE.
Marilyn Maye has an online presence HERE.
Photos by Stephen Mosher
.jpg?format=auto&width=1400 "Review: MARILYN MAYE A Gift To All In Birthday Concert at 54 Below")
Reader Reviews
Videos