The Cabaret Chronicles: Cast Party, Danny Leary, and More!

Ah, another Saturday, another Cabaret Chronicles.  This week was actually fairly quiet for me, show-wise, which is typical for mid-August!  Monday evening found me, as usual, at Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland.  Cast Party is THE Monday night destination for showbiz folk and tourists alike, and this week proved no exception!  Guest host Klea Blackhurst did a tremendous job subbing for Mr. Caruso, and the lineup of talent was simply superb.  Ms. Blackhurst herself got things off to a rollicking start with a great "In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," followed by a rousing "Everything's Coming Up Birdland!"  Next up was the über-talented Hilary Kole, who delighted the crowd with her rendition of "You and the Night and the Music."  Other talented performers who got up to the mic included Philadelphia's Eddie Bruce; visiting Italian Federico Florio, who performed a terrific original composition; William Blake, who brought the house down with his "At Last"; Joshua Dixon, who serenaded his mother with "Mama, A Rainbow"; and Janet Fanale who performed Mary Liz McNamara's comic masterpiece "Bacon."  As always, the Cast Party Symphony Orchestra (Tedd Firth on piano and Steve Doyle on bass) was outstanding! 

Thursday evening, I headed to Comix for the second installment of comedian Danny Leary's new variety show, the aptly named Danny Leary Variety Extravaganza.  Mixing comedians, musicians, singers, Oprah-style giveaways and more, Danny Leary is taking the variety show of yesteryear, hugging it, and giving it a 2010 makeover!  Thursday's show opened with a Greek chorus, chanting and occasionally breaking into lyrics from overplayed pop songs, which was followed by a mega-medley of George Michael hits, sung by Angela Shultz, Karen Mack, Mr. Leary himself, musical director Kenneth Gartman, and yours truly!  Following that was stand-up Rena Zager, who was then ushered offstage and given a makeover by a Broadway makeup artist, a Pop-Tart Sushi (ground up pop-tarts wrapped in fruit roll-ups and served sushi-style, courtesy of the new Pop-Tarts World store on 42^nd St.) giveaway, singer Angela Scollo doing a fabu rendition of "Heaven Is A Place On Earth," and stand-up Gloria Bigelow, who had the crowd hooting and hollering.  It was a fun, silly, and highly entertaining evening - can't wait to see what next month's installment (scheduled for Sept. 30^th) brings! 

That's all I managed to squeeze in this week, but check back next week for a new article! 

Where I'm Going This Week...  

Monday, August 22^nd:  Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland.  Hosted by Jim Caruso, this weekly open mic is THE place to be on Monday nights!  It runs from 10 p.m. - 1 a.m., but if you'd like to perform, be sure to arrive early to sign up!  Note: the lovely and talented Klea Blackhurst will be filling in as host this week! 

Thursday, August 26^th: Bernie Bierman's Birthday Party! Songwriter Bernie Bierman, whose songs have been recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan, will be celebrating his 102^nd birthday on Thursday, and I'm very honored to be among the invited guests!  There is sure to be some terrific talent lined up to help the birthday boy celebrate in style, so I'll be giving a full report next week!

Pictured: Klea Blackhurst

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