Klea Blackhurst News

Singer Jim Caruso and singer/pianist Billy Stritch will celebrate the release of their new CD, The Sunday Set with a virtual listening party on Tuesday, January 25 at 7pm ET.  The show will be available on the Cast Party Network on YouTube, on BroadwayWorld.com, and on the Birdland, Billy Stritch and Jim Caruso Facebook pages.  The recording is currently #4 on the iTunes Jazz Charts.

CLUB44 RECORDS has announced the release of The Sunday Set, the new album from Billy Stritch and Jim Caruso today, Friday, January 21. The team now reunites for this new selection of urbane standards, jazz favorites and sly comedy numbers

Birdland Jazz Club and Birdland Theater are open this February with a full slate of nightly performances! 

Marilyn Maye toasts the New Year 2022 on the stage of the Birdland Theater with songs of love and friendship.

CLUB44 RECORDS announced the release of The Sunday Set, the new album from Billy Stritch and Jim Caruso, which will debut on Friday, January 21. The album, recorded live at The Birdland Theater, features vocals from Stritch and Caruso, with Stritch on piano and Steve Doyle on bass.

It was another smash-hit week for Klea Blackhurst, who will return hosting duties to Susie Mosher next week.

You can’t say Jim Caruso’s Cast Party hasn’t had staying power!  Every Monday night for the past eighteen years, musical talent has been celebrated on the Birdland stage.  Superstars, up-and-comers, Broadway legends, jazzers and cabaret divas have all been in the spotlight and taken a turn at the grand piano. 

For the twelfth year in a row, Klea Blackhurst, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch bring “A Swinging Birdland Christmas” to the iconic New York City stage with a five-night engagement.  Rounding out the “festive five” is Steve Doyle on bass and Daniel Glass/Eric Halverson on drums.

This close to the big day, you might already be flagging in your enthusiasm for the traditional old songs and carols attached to the upcoming holiday. Have no fear! There is an alternative. Birdland's 12th iteration of A Swinging Birdland Christmas will reinvigorate that waning spirit. The trio of Klea Blackhurst, Billy Stritch, and Jim Caruso, along with Steve Doyle on bass and Daniel Glass on drums, takes us on a bouncing ride through many tunes, most of which we layfolk won't know by rote. That's what makes this an extraordinary holiday offering. Eventually, we learn the reasons for quite a few song choices in this presentation... from movie musicals and the nostalgia for the TV Christmas specials of the 60s and 70s such as Andy Williams, The Osmonds, Cher. It is an aesthetic that is completely authentic to the artists on the stage, Misters Caruso and Stritch, and Ms. Blackhurst.

Our readers set the nominees, and now voting is open for the 2021 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor events which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

Photographer Stewart Green graciously allows Broadway World Cabaret readers to see what's happening at Birdland Theater while Klea Blackhurst is running the Lineup show.

Our readers set the nominees, and now voting is open for the 2021 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor events which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

It's business as usual at THE LINEUP, as Klea Blackhurst warms the hearth with another fine week of festive talent.

Our readers set the nominees, and now voting is open for the 2021 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards! The 2021 Regional Awards honor events which had their first performance between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

On Monday, November 29, Robbie Rozelle made his Birdland debut with “The Next One,” a carefully curated evening of chaos celebrating his 45th birthday. “The Next One” was created for every person who has ever told the comedian “I can’t make it, but I’ll be at the next one.” Musical direction and arrangements by Yasuhiko Fukuoka, with Wes Bourland on bass, Mike Lunroe on drums, Johnny Wise on violin, Samuel Quiggins on cello, and David Ashton on reeds. 

While Susie is getting her out-of-town gig on, Klea Blackhurst is filling in at The Lineup and, from the looks of it, the weekly variety show is in great hands.

A popular fixture of the New York cabaret scene, Jim Caruso brings his JIM CARUSO’S CAST PARTY across the nation to Feinstein’s At Vitellos November 28th and 29th. An evening of “extreme open mic” provides a platform for new performers as well as surprise established guests. Jim took a few moments after completing his CAST PARTY in Nashville to give us some behind-the-scenes of his once-was “weird, show-biz adjacent gig,” now his most enjoyable passion CAST PARTY.

Photographer Stewart Green has another great week at THE LINEUP WITH SUSIE MOSHER

Billy, Klea and Jim are back for a twelfth year with their smash-hit holiday show... and lots of Christmas lights.

BIRDLAND will present the 12th Annual “A Swinging Birdland Christmas” – starring vocalists Klea Blackhurst, Jim Caruso, and Billy Stritch – for five performances from December 21 to 25 at 5:30 PM.