The award-winning Broadway at Birdland concert series and Jim Caruso's Cast Party have been constants on the New York scene for the past eleven years. Every week, performers from the Great White Way and beyond are showcased in the concert series, followed by the always-extreme open mic.
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
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
On Monday, January 27, Broadway, jazz and pop performers jammed Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland, as they have every Monday for the past ten years! The evening was made especially meaningful with the 5th 'Mentor Monday,' a monthly musical segment that pairs up and coming composers with established artists. Presenter Trevor McQueen combined Broadway's Lillias White with writers Ethan Pakchar and Douglas Lyons, a young songwriting team who began collaborating while touring with The Book of Mormon. The resulting performance was the song, 'Not Meant To Be in Love,' accompanied by Matt Aument, which gave Lillias ample opportunity to be vampy and campy and otherwise leave the audience helpless with laughter. It was a perfect way to introduce the community to Lyons & Pakchar's clever wordplay and catchy melodies!
Just added to the lineup for COMEDY COCKTAILS 2 at 54 BELOW tomorrow night, Thursday January 23, is Tony Award winner and '30 Rock' star JANE KRAKOWSKI.
Catch the NEW episode of Dave's Gone By (#453 - Urinenation) - LIVE, this Saturday, Jan. 11, 9am-noon(MT) streaming on UNC Radio (www.uncradio.com).
Catch the new episode of Dave's Gone By (#448 - Oh, Carol) - live, today, Dec. 14, 9am-noon(MT) streaming on UNC Radio.
Catch the new episode of Dave's Gone By (#448 - Oh, Carol) - live, this Saturday, Dec. 14, 9am-noon(MT) streaming on UNC Radio.
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:
Catch the NEW episode of Dave's Gone By (#447 - Oh, Donna) - LIVE, today, Saturday, Dec. 7, 9am-noon(MT) streaming on UNC Radio (www.uncradio.com).
Catch the NEW episode of Dave's Gone By (#446 - Say Cheese) - LIVE, this Saturday, Nov. 30, 9am-noon(MT) streaming on UNC Radio (www.uncradio.com).
The musical comedy about nightclub singers and night-time musical fantasies - Humpty Dumpty Cracks Up: The Nightmare of Cabaret --- will be performed in Manhattan on November 23, 24, and 25. The cast includes cabaret singers themselves in prominent and cameo roles, along with singer-actors who are kids, teens and adults (senior citizens among them). In the year marking her triumphant nightclub return, not resting her laurels or her tuffet, singer KAREN WYMAN is featured as Little Miss Muffet, writer of self-help books for arachnophobes and bullied teens. Cabaret-goers will find other favorites in the cast such as TERESA FISCHER as the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. Rotating guests in cameo and featured roles include such folks as RICKY RITZEL at the first performance, The Duplex's THOMAS HONECK at the middle performance, and CHRISTINE LAVIN on the Monday night. As the legendary Little Bo Peep, TANYA MOBERLY sheepishly appears at the first and third performances. The plot concerns a first-time cabaret performer (WENDY RUSSELL), her singer pal (BRENDA BERGMAN) and strange dreams about nursery rhyme characters putting on cabaret acts.
Artists' Exchange has announced its upcoming events for November 2013. Details below!
Artists' Exchange has announced its upcoming events for November 2013. Details below!
Catch the NEW episode of Dave's Gone By (#443 - Backstage Pass) - LIVE, today, Saturday, Nov. 2, 9am-noon(MT) streaming on UNC Radio (www.uncradio.com). Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with theatrical press agent Susan L. Schulman ('Backstage Pass to Broadway'). Plus: Inside Broadway and remembering Lou Reed.
Catch the NEW episode of Dave's Gone By (#443 - Backstage Pass) - LIVE, this Saturday, Nov. 2, 9am-noon(MT) streaming on UNC Radio (www.uncradio.com). Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with theatrical press agent SUSAN L. SCHULMAN ('Backstage Pass to Broadway'). Plus: Inside Broadway and remembering Lou Reed.
Catch the NEW episode of Dave's Gone By (#440 - Super Mario) - LIVE, this Saturday, Oct. 5, 10am-1pm (MT) streaming on UNC Radio (www.uncradio.com). 11th Anniversary Episode featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with veteran playwright MARIO FRATTI. Plus: Inside Broadway,Saturday Segues (Matthew Sweet, John Lennon), Bob Dylan - Sooner & Later (nobel deeds) & more!
You never know who will show up at Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland! The award-winning open mic/variety show has been the place for show folk to strut their stuff for the past ten years, with no let-up in sight. Scroll down for a look at this week's star-studded concert!
Over the past ten years, Jim Caruso's Cast Party has become the ultimate spot for show folk to mix, mingle and entertain themselves and the people who love them. It helps that Birdland, it's home base, has been a world-class music room since 1949, that the sound, lights, food and staff are all top-notch, and that the entertainers that drop in are accompanied by world-class musicians. This past Monday night, the cast of "Real Housewives of New York" joined in on the Cast Party fun. Music was made, fun was had, and there was some vamping, camping and scamping, what with series regulars LuAnn de Lesseps, Mario and Ramona Singer, Heather Thompson, and Sonja Morgan in the house. Ann Hampton Callaway created a fabulous impromptu song for the cast of characters, and Monica Mancini thrilled the crowd with two of her dad Henry's biggest hits, ably accompanied by Shelly Berg on piano and Dave Koz on sax. Beloved regulars like Christine Lavin, Therese Curatolo, Gabrielle Stravelli, T. Oliver Reid, Andrew Nemr, Lodi Carr, Jon Victor Corpus and Nancy Harms performed their hearts out. Jessica Keenan Wynn, Annika, Shane Stevens, Tabitha Fair, Cole Burden and Katherine Alcorn made brilliant debuts. Happily, Billy Stritch, Steve Doyle and Carmen Intorre were the Cast Party Symphony Orchestra, dazzling and accompanying everyone. Check out a look back below!
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