Palm Springs Art Museum Announces CABARET 88 Performers

Palm Springs Art Museum has announced that the popular performance series Cabaret 88 will be returning to the Annenberg Theater starting in January 2022. Four Broadway headliners-including three Tony Award winners-will perform three nights each between January and April. The Cabaret 88 program, which takes place on the stage of the theater, was suspended for the 2020/2021 season due to the museum's closure during COVID.

Starting out the series will be Hugh Panaro on Jan. 17, 18, and 19. Panaro is best known for portraying the Phantom in Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera over 2,000 times, including the 25th anniversary production. He is one of the few actors to be cast by director Harold Prince as both the Phantom and Raoul in the show's Broadway production. Panaro made his Broadway debut in the original production of LES MISERABLES as Marius, the role he originated in the First National Company. He was nominated for an Outer Critic Circle Award for his performance in the title role of Elton John's Lestat.

Panaro will be followed by Beth Leavel on Feb. 14, 15, and 16. For her performance as the title character in The Drowsy Chaperone, Leavel received the Tony, Drama Desk, NY Outer Critics Circle, and L.A. Drama Critics awards. She was also lauded for her performance in the critically acclaimed Broadway show, The Prom, and received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for her role as Florence Greenberg in Baby It's You. Leavel will soon be bringing the iconic role of Miranda Priestly to the Broadway stage in the anticipated production of The Devil Wears Prada.

Lillias White appears on March 21, 22, and 23. Her performance in Cy Coleman's Broadway musical, The Life, won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and she was nominated for a second Tony for Fela! Additional Broadway credits include Barnum, Dreamgirls, Cats, Carrie, Once on This Island, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Chicago. White received a Daytime Emmy Award for her role as Lillian Edwards on Sesame Street, and was recently featured in the Baz Luhrmann-directed Netflix series The Get Down.

Santino Fontana closes out the Cabaret 88 season on April 11, 12, and 13. He received a Tony Award for his performance in the musical version of Tootsie, and has also racked up two Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Lortel Award, an Obie Award, and a Clarence Derwent Award in a mix of straight plays and musicals. Fontana's Broadway credits include Hello Dolly, Act One, Cinderella, and The Importance of Being Earnest, and he is perhaps best known for lending his voice to Prince Hans in Disney's animated film, Frozen. His television appearances include The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Shades of Blue.

Tickets to the Cabaret 88 series are first being made available to past subscribers through individual invitations. Remaining tickets will then be offered to museum members for purchase.

Cabaret 88 is co-chaired by Terri Ketover, David Zippel, Tom Truhe, and the museum's new JoAnn McGrath Executive Director/CEO, Adam Lerner. Zippel, a Tony Award-winning lyricist, will be moderating "A New Chapter for the Museum: A Conversation with Adam Lerner" in the Annenberg Theater on Dec. 6 in which the two will discuss plans for future public programming, including Cabaret 88. The event will feature a musical performance by acclaimed TV and Broadway performer Carly Hughes with accompaniment by Michael Orland, and is being sponsored by David Kaplan & Glenn Ostergaard and the Brautigam/Kaplan Foundation.

For more information about Palm Springs Art Museum exhibitions, programs, and events, please visit psmuseum.org or call (760) 322-4800.