Daniel Fabricant

Bay Area Cabaret will present the highly anticipated cabaret debut of Julie Benko, Broadway's sensational Funny Girl standby-to-breakout star as Fanny Brice, and Jason Yeager, the highly praised jazz pianist-composer, in their new hit show, Hand in Hand, on Sunday, April 16 at 5 p.m., at the elegant Venetian Room.

Bay Area Cabaret's 2022-23 season featuring exceptional and critically acclaimed cabaret, jazz and Broadway artists, continues with multi award-winning star, Carole J. Bufford, on Sunday, November 20 at 5 p.m. in her frothy hit show, Vintage Pop! 

Diablo Regional Arts Association's annual On Broadway Gala returned this year to mark the official reopening of the Lesher Center for the Arts. Leaders in the arts and civic communities came together in downtown Walnut Creek to celebrate the organization's reopening and support its work at the forefront of arts and culture in the East Bay.

Directo Productions (France) presents, for one night only, Paris! The Show, Thursday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m., at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave. Written and directed by Gil Marsalla with music direction by Philippe Villa, this spectacular evening is a vibrant tribute to the greatest French songs of the post-war years, exporting the charm and essence of Paris for the whole world to enjoy.

BWW Review: MELISSA ERRICO - LEGRAND AFFAIR at The Venetian Room is a heartwarming homage to Errico's longtime friend, mentor and collaborator Michel Legrand.

Outside Lands pulls back the curtain on two of its most hotly anticipated culinary attractions – GastroMagic andCocktail Magic. A riotous romp for the senses, both experiences will take Outside Lands fans on a fantastic voyage featuring food, music, comedy, dancing, and cocktails. GastroMagic's full schedule can be accessed here. Cocktail Magic details here. Outside Lands takes place in San Francisco's historic Golden Gate Park August 10-12, 2018; Janet Jackson, The Weeknd and Florence and The Machine are among the over 90 acts performing. A limited number of Single Day and Three-Day tickets are available atwww.sfoutsidelands.com.

Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly and Starr Hill are thrilled to announce the 2018 Outside Lands comedy and improv line-up for the festival's renowned Barbary tent. Co-curated by SF Sketchfest, this year's lineup is headlined by three of the funniest women in the business: Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Game Night star Chelsea Peretti, 2 Dope Queens' Phoebe Robinson and the unstoppable Michelle Wolf.

???????In 1926, Lorenz Hart wrote: 'This funny world makes fun of the things that you strive for. This funny world can laugh at the dreams you're alive for."

After a sold-out engagement in January, Melissa O'Keefe returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko for one night only - tonight, October 21 at 7 p.m. -- with the premiere of her brand new cabaret, UPTOWN GIRL: THE SONGS OF BILLY JOEL.

Back by popular demand, the sumptuously talented Leanne Borghesi returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko with an encore performance of her solo show, LUSH, for one performance only - tonight, October 16 at 8 p.m. Directed by Nicolas Minas, LUSH takes audiences on an intoxicating comedic odyssey through lust, love and loss. Borghesi mixes us an up-tempo elixir of lounge, Latin, jazz and Broadway, with a special tribute to Shirley Bassey and the hits of Eartha Kitt and Rosemary Clooney. With Graham Sobelman leading her hot three-piece band, LUSH features Daniel Fabricant on bass and Roberta Drake on drums. Tickets for Leanne Borghesi range in price from $25- $40 and are on-sale now and available by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

Back by popular demand, the sumptuously talented Leanne Borghesi returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko with an encore performance of her solo show, LUSH, for one performance only - Friday, October 16 at 8 p.m. Directed by Nicolas Minas, LUSH takes audiences on an intoxicating comedic odyssey through lust, love and loss. Borghesi mixes us an up-tempo elixir of lounge, Latin, jazz and Broadway, with a special tribute to Shirley Bassey and the hits of Eartha Kitt and Rosemary Clooney. With Graham Sobelman leading her hot three-piece band, LUSH features Daniel Fabricant on bass and Roberta Drake on drums. Tickets for Leanne Borghesi range in price from $25- $40 and are on-sale now and available by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

After a sold-out engagement in January, Melissa O'Keefe returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko for one night only - Wednesday, October 21 at 7 p.m. -- with the premiere of her brand new cabaret, UPTOWN GIRL: THE SONGS OF BILLY JOEL.

As the days dwindled down to a precious few in 2014, a few cabaret goers and performers in what is affectionately but also self-mockingly called the “cabaret community” would sidle up and ask if I was planning my annual end-of-the year “Best Of” column, similar to the “Top 20 Bests and Favorites” piece over the first half of the year I posted back in early July. I would respond in the negative with very reasonable and believable excuses, but the truth is I didn't want to reveal my “Bests” of the year until the voting for the 2014 BroadwayWorld New York Cabaret Awards had ended. There's enough baggage and backstage whispering that comes with administering the BWW Awards, so I wasn't about to publish any opinions that might influence the vote while it was in process. I may be crazy but I'm not masochistic. But now all bets are off. You want lists? I'll give you lists.

Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Michael Feinstein are thrilled to welcome Bay Area native Melissa O'Keefe as she takes center stage at Feinstein's at the Nikko for an exciting night of musical entertainment with her one-woman show, Gentlemen Prefer Redheads.

San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon raised the roof - and significant funds - with the help of celebrity guest star, Megan Hilty, at WHAT WE DID FOR LOVE, the theatre company's gala fundraising evening held February 27 at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco. A sold-out crowd of 270 guests, many of whom adopted the suggested theme attire of 'Anything Goes with a dash of red,' were thrilled by the sultry and Smash-ing talents of Broadway and television star Megan Hilty, who with help from her musical director Bryan Perry, performed a crowd-pleasing array of hits from her already impressive career. Scroll down for photos from the festivities!

After receiving more than 3,000 nominations once BroadwayWorld.com announced it's first-ever New York Cabaret Awards in early October, BWW is now pleased to announce it's final nominations ballot in 20 categories. Now it's time for all you cabaret performers and fans to vote for the best singers, musicians and shows of the year. Voting will continue until December 31 and winners will be announced in early January.

There may have been 40 cabaret performers strutting their stuff this past week at the 23rd New York Cabaret Convention at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, but the true star of the three-night extravaganza (October 17-19) was the late Donald Smith, the cabaret impresario and guru to the genre's luminaries, who died this past March at 79. Sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, which Smith founded in 1985, this year's Convention featured numerous homages to Smith from the performers, many of whom had their career's supported and advanced with the help of the colorful and beloved cabaret producer and promoter. Early in Wednesday's Gala Opening Night show, the 'first lady of the American keyboard' Barbara Carroll called her friend Donald Smith 'the quintessential New Yorker,' and when Mark Nadler closed night one with George and Ira Gershwin's 'Our Love Is Here to Stay,' he said, 'Everybody who cares about the myths of these songs are in this room tonight.' Well, it was clear that anyone who cared about Donald Smith was at the Rose Theater for at least one of the three shows.

This year, the 23rd Cabaret Convention, October 17-19 at Jazz at Lincoln Center/Frederick P. Rose Hall, continued the extraordinary levels of entertainment provided by Smith and his compatriots, as well as provided happy, personal memories of the Mercer/Smith coalescence upon which the Foundation plans to thrive in the future. Check out photos from closing night below!

The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, presents the return of San Francisco chanteuse Veronica Klaus with an encore of her critically acclaimed show featuring the music of Peggy Lee. The two shows, tonight, August 24 and tomorrow night August 25 at 10:00 PM, will help celebrate her new CD "Something Cool."

The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, presents the return of San Francisco chanteuse Veronica Klaus with an encore of her critically acclaimed show featuring the music of Peggy Lee. The two shows, on August 24 and 25 at 10:00 PM, will help celebrate her new CD "Something Cool."