Jason Ellis News

Singer Jennifer Roberts will toast the 92nd birthday of legendary Broadway lyricist and composer Sheldon Harnick with a tribute show celebrating his impressive body of work. Jennifer will be joined in the special performance at New York hotspot 'Don't Tell Mama' by musical director Tedd Firth and bassist Tom Hubbard.

The 13th Street Repertory isn't always so 'serious.'

The 13th Street Repertory isn't always so 'serious.'

Singer Jennifer Roberts will toast the 92nd birthday of legendary Broadway lyricist and composer Sheldon Harnick with a tribute show celebrating his impressive body of work. Jennifer will be joined in the special performance at New York hotspot 'Don't Tell Mama' by musical director Tedd Firth and bassist Tom Hubbard.

After BroadwayWorld launched its New York Cabaret Awards in 2012, the cabaret section's editors realized that the selected categories and the popular vote nature of the election didn't adequately recognize some great performances and shows for that particular year. So in 2013, BWW added "Editor's Choice Awards" to the mix to not only reward special performances but also to acknowledge people who have helped grow cabaret and foster the spirit of the art form. This year, BWW New York Cabaret Editor Stephen Hanks and his reviewing staff-including Alix Cohen, David Clarke, Billie Roe, Rembert Block, and John Hoglund-selected seven stars of cabaret for this special honor. Now that the Awards for 2015 performances and shows are official, we wanted to tell you a bit about this year's "Editor's Choice Award" winners and offer them a chance to thank the New York cabaret community. Congratulations to all these worthy Award recipients.

After successful shows at Judy's Chelsea and Don't Tell Mama, Jennifer Roberts is back to celebrate her love for Manhattan with her show at New York hotspot Don't Tell Mama (343 West 46th St., New York, NY) on November 20, 2015 at 7 p.m.

After successful shows at Judy's Chelsea and Don't Tell Mama, Jennifer Roberts is back to celebrate her love for Manhattan with her show at New York hotspot Don't Tell Mama (343 West 46th St., New York, NY) on November 20, 2015 at 7 p.m.

Observing the last show of the second cycle of her year-long presentation of Songs I Feel Like Singing--four runs of four different shows with four different musical director/accompanists (Mark Janas, Sean Harkness, Ritt Henn, and Steven Ray Watkins)--one might note that 2014 Bistro Award winner Tanya Moberly presents not so much a cabaret act as an intense “recital in song,” featuring music that seemingly examines the emotional psyche of a woman coming to grips with loneliness, alienation, betrayal, addiction, love, and eventual self acceptance.

The stakes and the excitement just keep getting bigger as the list of competitors grows shorter… On Tuesday night "Mama's Next BIG Act!" trimmed down to 16 competitors in front of a packed house filled with raucous fans.

Four recent shows at Don't Tell Mama featured performers either making their debuts on the New York cabaret scene (Evelyn Sullivan and Erin McCracken) or who returned this spring in hopeful anticipation of sharing their artistic vision with audiences (Rob Sutton and Eve Eaton). They no doubt experienced the usual anxiety, trials and tribulations before ultimately taking the stage. And they've come out on the other side relatively unscathed. 

It's not exactly a secret that cabaret has for decades been a world dominated by female entertainers. Sylvia Syms, Julie Wilson, Margaret Whiting, Karen Akers, KT Sullivan, Karen Mason and myriad others have assumed the top notches of the art form. But, perhaps, men might be taking their place among the front lines and a perfect example this past week were the shows from cabaret veterans Kevin Dozier and Frank Torren.

After successful shows at Judy's Chelsea and Don't Tell Mama, Jennifer Roberts is back to celebrate her love for Manhattan with two shows at New York hotspot 'Don't Tell Mama.' Musical Director Tedd Firth will join Jennifer along with bass player Ritt Henn (www.ritthenn.com) tonight, April 7th and April 9th.

At a ceremony held last night in New York, the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs announced the winners of the 2015 MAC Awards. The show was hosted by Karen Mason, with musical direction by Barry Levitt, and was produced by Julie Miller and directed by Lennie Watts.

After successful shows at Judy's Chelsea and Don't Tell Mama, Jennifer Roberts is back to celebrate her love for Manhattan with two shows at New York hotspot 'Don't Tell Mama.' Musical Director Tedd Firth will join Jennifer along with bass player Ritt Henn (www.ritthenn.com) on April 7th and 9th.

“March is Cabaret Month” in New York gives us the opportunity to examine where we are, and, most importantly, where we have come from with this most magical of all art forms--Cabaret. So how very fortunate we are to see and hear veteran Broadway actress and cabaret performer, Karen Mason return to her roots to lovingly take us down memory lane with her new show Mason at Mama's In March at Don't Tell Mama (which opened on March 1st).

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs will present the 29th Annual MAC Awards on Thursday, March 26st, at 7:30pm, at B.B King Blues Club & Grill in New York City.

A successful duo act is like a good marriage. When it really works there's a certain stage chemistry between two performers that's so obvious yet so hard to define. Magically, voices musically blend as one. Stage personas complement each other yet remain individual. There's a charming give and take, a generous sharing the spotlight, and an obvious mutual respect, sometimes bordering on love. Lorinda Lisitza and Ted Stafford have a very good on-stage marriage.

Stacy Sullivan tells the audience she became interested in Marian McPartland when she was asked to sing at her memorial in 2013. With her show last Saturday night at Don't Tell Mama, On The Air: Songs for Marian McPartland (which enjoyed a late September run of four shows at the York Theatre), the multi MAC-award winning Sullivan has created a beautifully crafted, biographically-driven show featuring the original music, the history, and the life of a jazz icon, who was best known for hosting Piano Jazz on National Public Radio from 1978-2011. Now Stacy Sullivan has made us all interested in the amazing Marian McPartland.

One single most-telling elements of multi-award-nominated cabaret chanteuse Kim Grogg, and her latest show Go Where the Love Is (which makes further appearances at Don't Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues on Tuesday, November 18th and Friday, December 5th at 7:00 PM, as well as Sunday, December 7th at 5:30 PM), is that she along with band and technical crew manage to create a seamlessly-fine line between casual presentation and sophisticated elegance; this show easily could have taken its place among the acts at the now-legendary downtown clubs Reno Sweeney and The Bottom Line in the 1970s. As if that wasn't enough, Grogg manages to spin a glorious yarn on the hazards of love and dating, and does so with absolutely top-notch song selections.

After successful shows at Judy's Chelsea and Don't Tell Mama, Jennifer Roberts is back to celebrate her love for Manhattan with two new shows at New York hotspot 'Don't Tell Mama.' New Musical Director Tedd Firth will join Jennifer along with returning bass player Ritt Henn.