Tony Award-Winners Adriane Lenox (After Midnight, Doubt),Karen Ziemba (Bullets Over Broadway, Curtains, Contact), Randy Graff (LES MISERABLES, City of Angels) and Andy Blankenbuehler (In The Heights, Bring it On), Tony Award-nominees Liz Callaway (Miss Saigon, Baby, Cats), Sally Mayes (She Loves Me), Christiane Noll (Ragtime, Chaplin, Jekyll & Hyde), Stephen Bogardus (Irving Berlin's White Christmas), Bob Stillman (Dirty Blonde) and Annie Golden(Hair), and Elizabeth Stanley (Million Dollar Quartet, Company), Ann Harada (Cinderella, Avenue Q), Eddie Korbich(A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder), Kerry O'Malley (Irving Berlin's White Christmas), Sally Wilfert (Assassins) and Nightlife Award Winners Scott Coulter, Julie Reyburn andSteve Ross appeared in Town Hall's Broadway by the Year Series on Monday night, May 12, THE BROADWAY MUSICALS OF 1965-1989.
If you are even a semi-regular reader of this column of reviews, you know that about every three or four months, I post a compilation of observations of shows from the previous quarter of the year. This cabaret critiquing mash up happens for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I admittedly see too many cabaret shows for the amount of time I have to promptly review them (and then, of course, the usual writer's procrastination sets in). So I have to prioritize the timeliness of the reviews based on the prestige of the performer, the length of a show run, the strength (or lack thereof) of the performance, etc. The quality of the shows in these compilations—which can range from a half dozen to a dozen reviews in one shot—are usually a mixed bag of outright raves, qualified positives, and constructive pans (I'm not a fan of the word “negative” in the reviewer lexicon). With that in mind here are a collection of cabaret show reviews going back to the start of a very harsh winter.
Scott Siegel is two-for-two. The diminutive and indefatigable nightlife/cabaret impresario of such productions as Broadway By the Year and the Nightlife Awards at Town Hall, as well as regular variety shows like Broadway Unplugged and Broadway Ballyhoo, last fall decided to give the already skyrocketing cabaret career of Georgia-born southern belle Carole J. Bufford a booster shot when he became the producer, director, and co-creator of Bufford's latest effort, Body and Soul (which this Thursday night at 9:30 begins a weekly run at the Metropolitan Room). Siegel didn't waste much time finding another promising female singer to champion, producing and directing six new shows (on Wednesdays and Sundays between April 27 and May 14 at 7pm) featuring a lovely soprano who is also from the south—the south of Ireland, that is. Thirteen years ago, recently minted American citizen Maxine Linehan was just another starry-eyed singer/actress who traveled to New York City with dreams of a musical theater career. Today, if her May 4 performance at the Terminus Recording Studios is any indication, Siegel has another budding star on his performer roster.
Symphony Space's annual Spring Festival has become one of the season's most keenly awaited events. This year's installment, Sleeping Around: The Cultural Lives of New York's Hotels, may be the most provocative yet. Running from April 26 to May 21, the monthlong festival celebrates New York's landmark hotels, their occupants, and the lengendary boites that nurtured and sustained the evergreen songs and performers of cabaret. Sleeping Around also credits New York's hotels as incubators for film, classical music, and literature, with programs devoted to Andy Warhol, Virgil Thomson, and Dorothy Parker.
Last night more than a dozen musical theater and cabaret stars celebrated the remarkable musical career of Ervin Drake in a special concert to benefit The Gold Coast Arts Center and Landmark on Main Street, two non-profit cultural gems located on the North Shore of Long Island.
This April, legendary songwriter Ervin Drake will turn 95. A Long Island Music Hall of Fame Inductee, Mr. Drake has written some of the American Songbook's most beloved classics, including: 'It Was a Very Good Year,' 'I Believe,' 'Tico Tico,' 'Quando Quando Quando,' 'Perdito' and 'Good Morning, Heartache.' 2014 also marks the 50th anniversary of the Broadway production of Drake's 'What Makes Sammy Run' (starring Steve Lawrence), which featured songs 'A Room Without Windows' and 'The Friendliest Thing.' On Today, April 25 at 8 pm, Producer Sandi Durell, Musical Director Jon Weber, and Host Charles Grodin will lead a tribute to Ervin's illustrious career that will feature a star-studded cast of musical theater and cabaret stars
Margaret Whiting was one of America's favorite and most venerated singers for more than sixty years. She delivered stellar performances on record, radio, television, and the musical comedy, concert, and cabaret stages. She received twelve Gold Records. She offered a repertoire that ranged from Jerome Kern to Leon Russell, and from Rodgers & Hart to Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman.
Kander & Ebb's THE ACT, featuring Anna Chlumsky, Tony winners Randy Graff and Cady Huffman, and more, will play 54 Below in a concert version, continuing tonight April 4 (8 and 11 p.m.). The songs of the show-which originally played Broadway in 1977 with Liza Minnelli as the lead-take place in a nightclub, so it's only fitting this one-night-only event will take place in the swankiest nightclub in town!
Symphony Space's annual Spring Festival has become one of the season's most keenly awaited events. This year's installment, Sleeping Around: The Cultural Lives of New York's Hotels, may be the most provocative yet. Running from April 26 to May 21, the monthlong festival celebrates New York's landmark hotels, their occupants, and the lengendary boites that nurtured and sustained the evergreen songs and performers of cabaret. Sleeping Around also credits New York's hotels as incubators for film, classical music, and literature, with programs devoted to Andy Warhol, Virgil Thomson, and Dorothy Parker.
Kander & Ebb's THE ACT, featuring Anna Chlumsky, Tony winners Randy Graff and Cady Huffman, and more, will play 54 Below in a concert version tonight, April 3 (7 and 9:30 p.m.) and April 4 (8 and 11 p.m.).
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:
This April, May and June at 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54thStreet. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visit www.54Below.com.
This April, legendary songwriter Ervin Drake will turn 95. A Long Island Music Hall of Fame Inductee, Mr. Drake has written some of the American Songbook's most beloved classics, including: 'It Was a Very Good Year,' 'I Believe,' 'Tico Tico,' 'Quando Quando Quando,' 'Perdito' and 'Good Morning, Heartache.' 2014 also marks the 50th anniversary of the Broadway production of Drake's 'What Makes Sammy Run' (starring Steve Lawrence), which featured songs 'A Room Without Windows' and 'The Friendliest Thing.' On Friday, April 25 at 8 pm, Producer Sandi Durell, Musical Director Jon Weber, and Host Charles Grodin will lead a tribute to Ervin's illustrious career that will feature a star-studded cast of musical theater and cabaret stars
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:
Kander & Ebb's THE ACT, featuring Anna Chlumsky, Tony winners Randy Graff and Cady Huffman, and more, will play 54 Below in a concert version on April 3 (7 and 9:30 p.m.) and April 4 (8 and 11 p.m.).
Craving a show after the show? 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, is expanding its popular late-night series with fresh faces and hot new performances to keep the party buzzing into the wee hours. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th St., 54 BELOW welcomes you to loosen your tie and embrace the night at its upcoming events:
Last month, BroadwayWorld was privileged to present not one, but two exceptional entertainment experiences to continue the year-long celebration of our 10th anniversary begun with the simply spectacular BROADWAYWORLD.COM VISITS OZ in January, first with the 2013 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards on Sunday, February 23, and next with FLY: A TRIBUTE TO DAMON INTRABARTOLO on Monday, February 24. Today we recount the Cabaret Awards.
Phil Geoffrey Bond will direct FUNNY GIRL, as part of 54 Sings' series, and will feature Carole J. Bufford, Donna Lynne Champlin, Tovah Feldshuh, Debbie Gravitte, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Karen Mason, Julia Murney, Molly Pope, Emily Skinner, John Tartaglia, Donna Vivino and special guest star Mimi Hines.
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:
This March, April and May at 54 BELOW presents a lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visit www.54Below.com.
