Jim Brochu News

Due to overwhelming demand, the producers of the Off-Broadway smash, Ruthless! The Musical, today put a new block of seats on sale through June 18th.

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.

In an unprecedented outpouring of support by performers, a second show had to be added to accommodate the number of stars that wanted to sing in honor of Barbara Siegel's contributions to the theater as first an Outer Critics Circle Nominator and then a Drama Desk Nominator (the latter, 18 years, 12 of those as chairperson of the Drama Desk Nominating Committee).

Sondheim Unplugged, New York's long running hit revue, will celebrate the 50th installment of the series with two very special gala performances on Sunday, December 27th at 7pm and 9:30pm at Feinstein's/54 Below (254 West 54th St., Cellar, NYC). Each performance will feature entirely different casts and material, running the musical spectrum from Dick Tracy to Follies, Company to Assassins, Forum to Whistle,and lots more in between. For tickets: http://54below.com/artist/sondheim-unplugged/ or call 646 476 3551.There is a $40 cover charge and a $30 food/beverage minimum. There is a special two show package available, which includes a Sondheim-themed prix-fix dinner, for those who wish to see both performances.

Stephen Hanks' Cabaret Life Productions and Associate Producer Fr. Jeffrey Hamblin, MD, are bringing back Karen Oberlin's 2010 Frank Loesser Tribute Show (with original Musical Director Jon Weber and bass player Sean Smith) as the first 2016 installment of the 'New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits' series at the Metropolitan Room on January 13 at 7 pm. 'I entered the cabaret world as a reviewer in late 2010 so I never saw this show,' says Hanks. 'I'm thrilled Karen Oberlin agreed to bring it back so those like me who didn't experience it will get a chance now.'

You never know who you're going to see at RUTHLESS! Larry Thomas, who played the iconic role of the Soup Nazi on SEINFELD, attended the smash hit musical last week. Thomas happily posed for photos with the cast after the performance announcing (to their giddy delight), 'No soup for RUTHLESS!' Scroll down to check them out!

HONKY by Greg Kalleres received its World Premiere at NYC's Award winning Theatre Company Urban Stages in the spring of 2013. The Urban Stages production, directed by Luke Harlan, received raves, and the play was subsequently remounted later that year. Due to its NY success, HONKY was produced at San Diego Rep and was filmed by PBS and OnStage in America and will receive a landmark presentation tomorrow, November 6, at 10PM (www.pbs.org/onstage-in-america/honky/home/).

Urban Stages (Frances Hill, Founding Artistic Director, Peter Napolitano, Producer/Director of Musical Programming) today announced the line-up for this year's Award-Winning Musical event WINTER RHYTHMS 2015, which will begin Wednesday, December 2 and will feature some of New York's best musical performances through December 13, 2015 at Urban Stages Theatre. WINTER RHYTHMS 2015 marks the seventh year that Urban Stages has brought noted musical artists to its stage during the holiday period. The mission of Winter Rhythms is to bring the talents of known and unknown singers, musicians, lyricists and composers to the attention of the New York theater community while performing at Urban Stages Theater. Winner of the 2015 Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Series MAC Award, WINTER RHYTHMS benefits Urban Stages' acclaimed Outreach Program, which brings more than 200 free "arts in education" presentations to libraries and schools throughout the five boroughs. This year's event features 20 shows and more than 100 artists.

A celebrated New York event since 2010, the BroadwayWorld and Bistro Award-winning series Sondheim Unplugged features some of Broadway and cabaret's most dynamic voices, accompanied by piano only, delving into the musical world of Broadway's master composer.

This week FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visitwww.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

For the third night of this year's Cabaret Convention at Town Hall, the uber-enthusiastic Karen Mason hosted Life Is a Cabaret (Directed by Barry Kleinbort) in celebration of long time collaborators, composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. Introduced to each other by their mutual music publisher in 1962, the team's first Broadway show was 1965's Flora the Red Menace in which Liza Minnelli made her Broadway debut and with which the three began a long association. Their last together (Kander is alive and hopefully writing), was 2015's The Visit starring Chita Rivera, a production Ebb (who died in 2004) unfortunately didn't live to see. Kander and Ebb's best known musicals are Cabaret and Chicago, both of which seem to run forever on popular appeal, but they wrote many others, a wide selection of which were represented at Thursday night's show.

The 3rd night of The 26th New YOrk Cabaret Convention at The Town Hall was hosted by Karen Mason and directed by Barry Kleinbort. BroadwayWorld was there for performances by Karen Mason, Sandy Stewart, Bill Charlap, Karen Ziemba, Stearns Matthews, Amra-Faye Wright, Robert Creighton, Sally Mayes, Lina Koutrakos, Jim Brochu, Steve Ross, Lauren Stanford, T. Oliver Reid, Penny Fuller & Marilyn Maye.

Located in the heart of the fashion district, Urban Stages will present a series of talk backs to accompany, the American Premiere of Oren Safdie's (Private Jokes, Public Places) play UNSEAMLY this October.

Back in January, BroadwayWorld's lead cabaret reviewer Stephen Hanks announced he was giving up critiquing shows to start his own company, Cabaret Life Productions, through which he would publicize, promote, and help book cabaret performers, and also produce cabaret shows. Hanks' first major production out of the box is a monthly series at the Metropolitan Room called New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits, that features talented artists recreating award-winning or highly-praised shows we wish we'd seen--a really good idea. Hanks' series launched Wednesday night with Mark Nadler's award-winning 2003 show Tschaikowsky (And Other Russians). The Metropolitan Room was filled to the gills and abuzz with anticipation, as most of the audience was only familiar with the show's second-hand praise and/or the CD version of Nadler's performance.

Tickets are now on sale for the comedy "Cookin' with Gus" presented by the Hill Country Community Theatre. Reservations can be made by calling (830) 798-8944, online at www.thehcct.org, or at the box office (12:00 noon to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday) beginning August 31 for HCCT members and September 3 for the general public.

For diehard cabaret fans and lovers of live music, there's nothing like experiencing a classic show once again or seeing an award winning 'blast from the past' for the first time. That's how cabaret show producer and publicist Stephen Hanks felt and so through his new company, Cabaret Life Productions, he's launching a new monthly series at New York's Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street) titled New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits. Hanks wanted the cream of the New York cabaret crop to open the series and tapped veteran cabaret star Mark Nadler, who the New York Times critic Stephen Holden has called 'Mr. Show Business' and 'an immensely talented latter-day Al Jolson.' On August 26 (7-8:30 pm), Nadler will perform his critically acclaimed show Tschaikowsky (And Other Russians), which won a 2003 Bistro Award for 'Raising Standards of Cabaret Performance,' and received MAC and Nightlife Award Nominations for 'Outstanding Performance in a Major Engagement.'

Beginning this Saturday, the Elite Theatre Company's South Stage will be presenting Zero Hour, a one-man play about legendary actor Zero Mostel. The project is near and dear to the heart of actor John Medeiros, who has tried to get it produced for almost 5 years. Medeiros has performed in two roles made famous by Mostel, Pseudolus (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) and Tevye (Fiddler on the Roof). He won the Four Star Alliance Award in 2013 for Outstanding Lead Actor for his portrayal of Tevye.

For the first time in 15 years, cabaret star Julie Reyburn brings back her award-winning show, Fate Is Kind, to a New York nightclub stage when she performs the classic at the Metropolitan Room on Monday, September 14 at 7 pm as part of the new monthly series, New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits, produced by Stephen Hanks' Cabaret Life Productions with cabaret supporter Fr. Jeffrey Hamblin, MD as Associate Producer. [Reyburn's show will follow the Series launch on August 26 at 7 pm with Mark Nadler's critically acclaimed Tschaikowsky (And Other Russians), which won a 2003 Bistro Award.] Reyburn and her celebrated Musical Director Mark Janas (Producer of the Award-Winning Open-Mic show Salon) introduced Fate Is Kind in February 2000 at The Singer's Forum as a benefit cabaret for their scholarship program. It then moved to Judy's Chelsea in March 2000 for its official cabaret debut, and the show ran off and on there for most of the year. Fate Is Kind world earn Reyburn MAC and Bistro Awards in 2001 for "Outstanding Female Cabaret Debut."

The Hill Country Community Theatre presents Cookin' with Gus, a hilarious comedy about Gussie, a famous food columnist and cookbook author that gets a chance to star in her own television show.  Patrick Lescarbeau will direct this comedy by Jim Brochu.