Andy Razaf News

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestra's begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven- o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: Patti LuPone: Far Away Places Part Two, If It Only Even Runs A Minute: 13th Edition, Vanishing Point, Assassins in the Park with George, and T. Oliver Reid.

The Lake Worth Playhouse jives and wails with a musical tribute to the greats of the jazz era with Ain't Misbehavin,' a musical biography celebrating the life of Thomas 'Fats' Waller with humor and style.

To kick off its 20th Anniversary Season, Smuin Ballet will head to Montana, the home state of late founder Michael Smuin, to present a tour that includes Smuin's much-loved Sinatra ballet Fly Me to the Moon, as well as the acclaimed Dear Miss Cline from company Choreographer-in-Residence Amy Seiwert and Jazzin', a saucy and seductive work by Darrell Grand Moultrie. Smuin Ballet's Montana tour will play today and tomorrow, September 8 - 9 in Michael Smuin's hometown of Missoula at the Montana Repertory Theatre and September 13 at the Mansfield Theatre, Great Falls. Tickets are available by calling each venue's box office (see info at the end of the release). The Great Falls performance will benefit McLaughlin Research Institute for Biomedical Sciences, with which Smuin Ballet shares a close connection.

To kick off its 20th Anniversary Season, Smuin Ballet will head to Montana, the home state of late founder Michael Smuin, to present a tour that includes Smuin's much-loved Sinatra ballet Fly Me to the Moon, as well as the acclaimed Dear Miss Cline from company Choreographer-in-Residence Amy Seiwert and Jazzin', a saucy and seductive work by Darrell Grand Moultrie. Smuin Ballet's Montana tour will play September 8 - 9 in Michael Smuin's hometown of Missoula at the Montana Repertory Theatre and September 13 at the Mansfield Theatre, Great Falls. Tickets are available by calling each venue's box office (see info at the end of the release). The Great Falls performance will benefit McLaughlin Research Institute for Biomedical Sciences, with which Smuin Ballet shares a close connection.

Susie McKenna, Creative Director at Hackney Empire, directs Blues in the Night today, 14 July 2013 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.

Scot Albertson (Vocalist - Performer - Producer - Recording Artist) - www.scotalbertson.com) announces his sixth CD release concert, set for tonight June 17, 2013 at 7:30p.m. at Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, located at 2537 Broadway & West 95th Street, New York City, NY.

Scot Albertson (Vocalist - Performer - Producer - Recording Artist) - www.scotalbertson.com) announces his sixth CD release concert, set for Monday June 17, 2013 at 7:30p.m. at Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, located at 2537 Broadway & West 95th Street, New York City, NY.

BLUES IN THE NIGHT uses the great blues and jazz songs of the 1920s and 30s to explore the lives of three women and a saloon singer in a 'cheap hotel' during the course of a long memory-filled evening. The 26 songs celebrate the blues melodies of Bessie Smith, Jimmy Cox, Duke Ellington, Alberta Hunter and songs by Harold Arlen, Benny Goodman, Andy Razaf, Johnny Mercer and others.

Smuin Ballet ends its season with an invigorating lineup of fresh choreography, presenting the West Coast premiere of the bright ballet Petal by acclaimed choreographer Helen Pickett, set to music by Philip Glass and Thomas Montgomery Newman. In addition, Bay Area audiences will get their first look at Darrell Grand Moultrie's JAZZIN', a sultry ballet set to music by Wynton Marsalis, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Andy Razaf. The bill also includes Michael Smuin's romantic and pastoral Chants d'Auvergne. Smuin Ballet's Spring Program will play today, May 10-19 at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, May 22-26 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, May 31-June 1 at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for the Arts, and June 7-8 at Carmel's Sunset Center.

Smuin Ballet ends its season with an invigorating lineup of fresh choreography, presenting the West Coast premiere of the bright ballet Petal by acclaimed choreographer Helen Pickett, set to music by Philip Glass and Thomas Montgomery Newman. In addition, Bay Area audiences will get their first look at Darrell Grand Moultrie's JAZZIN', a sultry ballet set to music by Wynton Marsalis, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Andy Razaf. The bill also includes Michael Smuin's romantic and pastoral Chants d'Auvergne. Smuin Ballet's Spring Program will play May 10-19 at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, May 22-26 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, May 31-June 1 at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for the Arts, and June 7-8 at Carmel's Sunset Center.

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook celebrates the best in American singing and songwriting with a new chapter in the Songbook story: 'American Songbook in the Penthouse,' a series of weekend-only performances by performers and composers presented in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, an intimate yet elegant venue that brings artists closer to the audience in a cabaret-style setting. The second weekend of Kaplan Penthouse performances, the sixth week of American Songbook 2013, runs April 5-6, 2013. April 5th belongs to Cristin Milioti, who was nominated for a Tony Award in 2012 for her lead role in the musical Once.

Following development in New York City and Washington, D.C., including a sold-out run at the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), Trav'lin - The New 1930s Harlem Musical receives its Regional Premiere at Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre, the original home of African-American theater in North Texas,beginning Friday, March 29, 2013. Opening Night is Friday, April 5, and the show runs through April 28, 2013.

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook celebrates the best in American singing and songwriting with a new chapter in the Songbook story: 'American Songbook in the Penthouse,' a series of weekend-only performances by performers and composers presented in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, an intimate yet elegant venue that brings artists closer to the audience in a cabaret-style setting. 'American Songbook in the Penthouse' embraces adventuresome performers and celebrates composers and lyricists, both newer and veteran. With a seating capacity of just 225, the Kaplan Penthouse allows acoustic performers to be heard the way they intend - near to the audience and without elaborate amplification. The size of the space also allows performers to interact with their audience to make them an integral part of their performance, something difficult to do in a larger, more formal venue.

Trav'lin - The New 1930s Harlem Musical, will receive its Regional Premiere production at Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre in Spring 2013. The musical, which received a developmental production in 2010 as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), runs tonight, March 29, 2013 through April 28, 2013.

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook celebrates the best in American singing and songwriting with a new chapter in the Songbook story: 'American Songbook in the Penthouse,' a series of weekend-only performances by performers and composers presented in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, an intimate yet elegant venue that brings artists closer to the audience in a cabaret-style setting. The second weekend of Kaplan Penthouse performances, the sixth week of American Songbook 2013, runs April 5-6, 2013. April 5th belongs to Cristin Milioti, who was nominated for a Tony Award in 2012 for her lead role in the musical Once.

Now in its 15th season, Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook celebrates the best in American singing and songwriting with a new chapter in the Songbook story: 'American Songbook in the Penthouse,' a series of weekend-only performances by performers and composers presented in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, an intimate yet elegant venue that brings artists closer to the audience in a cabaret-style setting. 'American Songbook in the Penthouse' embraces adventuresome performers and celebrates composers and lyricists, both newer and veteran. With a seating capacity of just 225, the Kaplan Penthouse allows acoustic performers to be heard the way they intend - near to the audience and without elaborate amplification. The size of the space also allows performers to interact with their audience to make them an integral part of their performance, something difficult to do in a larger, more formal venue.

At last year's Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Awards, two of the big winners were T. Oliver Reid (photo left) for Male Debut and Eric Michael Gillett for Major Artist, Male (and both could very likely be MAC nominees again this year). Almost a year later, two of New York cabaret's leading men performed new shows one night apart at 54 Below; Reid on February 6 with Drop Me Off in Harlem, and Gillett the next night with Careless Rhapsody: An Evening Dedicated to the Lyrics of Lorenz Hart. Ironically, what the shows had in common--besides being a fairly good fit of material to singer--was that the majority of their sets featured songs written in the 1930s but in very different styles. With Reid it was the jazz, swing and blues of Harlem; with Gillette it was the romantic Broadway musical sensibility of Hart's lyrics (paired with the timeless melodies of Richard Rodgers). While neither Reid's 'Harlem,' nor Gillett's 'Hart' were stirring or spectacular shows, they were both solid and entertaining enough that both could be nominated for BroadwayWorld.com Awards in 2013.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond, including award-winning vocalist Eric Michael Gillett, Broadway star Chester Gregory, Grammy Award winner Joni Mitchell, BACKSTAGE, Broadway star T. Olvier Reid, Tony Award nominee Robert Cuccioli, Toni Award nominee Tovah Feldshuh and SONDHEIM UNPLUGGED.

Trav'lin - The New 1930s Harlem Musical, will receive its Regional Premiere production at Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre in Spring 2013. The musical, which received a developmental production in 2010 as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), runs March 29, 2013 through April 28, 2013.