Lauren Fox News

BroadwayWorld.com is proud and excited to announce that it has joined forces with The Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street), one of New York City's leading cabaret venues, to stage a variety show on February 21, 2013 (6:30-9 pm) featuring the winners of the voting now being held on the site and which ends on December 31. More than 3,000 nominations were posted on the site after BroadwayWorld.com announced its first-ever New York Cabaret Awards in early October, and more than 200 performers in 20 categories made the final ballot that is currently being voted on by cabaret fans throughout the New York metro area and beyond.

After receiving more than 3,000 nominations once BroadwayWorld.com announced it's first-ever New York Cabaret Awards in early October, BWW is now pleased to announce it's final nominations ballot in 20 categories. Now it's time for all you cabaret performers and fans to vote for the best singers, musicians and shows of the year. Voting will continue until December 31 and winners will be announced in early January.

Cabaret Cares the award winning benefit series returns to The Laurie Beechman Theatre on November 25th at 9:30 PM. Created by cabaret Producer Joseph Macchia the series raises funds for Help Is On The Way Today a non for profit organization he funded to help children and youth living with HIV and AIDS.

Stephen Hawking and his fellow physicists may not have yet figured out the formula for traveling through the time-space continuum, but apparently the Metropolitan Room discovered the secret. Last Friday night (October 26), I walked through the curtain into the main performance space and entered a time tunnel that took me from the 21st century into the 1960s and '70s. Two lovely, rising young stars of cabaret, Lauren Fox and Jennifer Sheehan (photo left), had obviously hurtled though that same time warp because in two separate shows on the same evening, they performed songs that had been written and recorded 15 to 25 years before they were born. In the process they transported this particular Baby Boomer joyously back to his youth and to the days of cultural upheaval, generation gaps, peace, love, war, and some of the best pop/rock music ever written.

Lauren Fox, whose highly praised Joni Mitchell-Leonard Cohen show was considered one of the most artistically ambitious cabaret debuts in years, continues to explore the music of the '60s and '70s in a new show, "Canyon Folkies," premiering at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, on Thursday October 11 at 7pm. In a major engagement consisting of four shows through November 2, Fox reunites with music director Jon Weber on piano, Peter Calo on guitar and Ritt Henn on bass.

In her new cabaret effort, It's a Good Day: A Tribute to Miss Peggy Lee (running four more times through next February at the Metropolitan Room), Stacy Sullivan so adroitly articulates and emotionally inhabits the songs-and Lee's life story-through the astute arrangements and the well-crafted script, that it is almost impossible not to come away with a new appreciation for one of America's greatest jazz/blues/pop singers.

There may have been 40 cabaret performers strutting their stuff this past week at the 23rd New York Cabaret Convention at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, but the true star of the three-night extravaganza (October 17-19) was the late Donald Smith, the cabaret impresario and guru to the genre's luminaries, who died this past March at 79. Sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, which Smith founded in 1985, this year's Convention featured numerous homages to Smith from the performers, many of whom had their career's supported and advanced with the help of the colorful and beloved cabaret producer and promoter. Early in Wednesday's Gala Opening Night show, the 'first lady of the American keyboard' Barbara Carroll called her friend Donald Smith 'the quintessential New Yorker,' and when Mark Nadler closed night one with George and Ira Gershwin's 'Our Love Is Here to Stay,' he said, 'Everybody who cares about the myths of these songs are in this room tonight.' Well, it was clear that anyone who cared about Donald Smith was at the Rose Theater for at least one of the three shows.

The annual New York City Cabaret Convention -- conceived, launched, and brilliantly sustained for the past 23 seasons by The Mabel Mercer Foundation --has honored many specific people and events across the past two decades. Legendary performers, composers, lyricists, and their anniversaries have all had their day and their due as the Convention grew in visibility, stature, and acclaim.

Singer-actress- cabaret performer Shana Farr will receive the 2012 Julie Wilson Award, presented annually by the Mabel Mercer Foundation 'to a cabaret singer who is a rising star,' at the 23rd New York Cabaret Convention at the Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, today, October 17, at 6 PM, the Opening Night of the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention, hosted by KT Sullivan, Artistic Director of the Mabel Mercer Foundation.

Lauren Fox, whose highly praised Joni Mitchell-Leonard Cohen show was considered one of the most artistically ambitious cabaret debuts in years, continues to explore the music of the '60s and '70s in a new show, 'Canyon Folkies,' playing at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street. In a major engagement consisting of four shows through November 2, Fox reunites with music director Jon Weber on piano, Peter Calo on guitar and Ritt Henn on bass. 'Canyon Folkies: Over the Hills and Under the Covers' performs Friday October 12 at 7pm; Friday October 26 at 9:30pm, and Friday November 2 at 7pm. Check out photos from the concert below!

Lauren Fox, whose highly praised Joni Mitchell-Leonard Cohen show was considered one of the most artistically ambitious cabaret debuts in years, continues to explore the music of the '60s and '70s in a new show, "Canyon Folkies," premiering at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, tonight, October 11 at 7pm. In a major engagement consisting of four shows through November 2, Fox reunites with music director Jon Weber on piano, Peter Calo on guitar and Ritt Henn on bass.

Singer-actress- cabaret performer Shana Farr will receive the 2012 Julie Wilson Award, presented annually by the Mabel Mercer Foundation 'to a cabaret singer who is a rising star,' at the 23rd New York Cabaret Convention at the Rose Theater, Jazz At Lincoln Center, on Wednesday, October 17, at 6 PM, the Opening Night of the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention, hosted by KT Sullivan, Artistic Director of the Mabel Mercer Foundation.

The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel welcomes one of the finest and most noted cabaret stars, Andrea Marcovicci, in her long-awaited Cafe Carlyle debut. Ms. Marcovicci's four week engagement at the Carlyle's iconic venue runs through October 27th. Check out photos from the concert below!

Lauren Fox, whose highly praised Joni Mitchell-Leonard Cohen show was considered one of the most artistically ambitious cabaret debuts in years, continues to explore the music of the '60s and '70s in a new show, "Canyon Folkies," premiering at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, on Thursday October 11 at 7pm. In a major engagement consisting of four shows through November 2, Fox reunites with music director Jon Weber on piano, Peter Calo on guitar and Ritt Henn on bass.

So many cabaret shows, so little time . . . to write reviews that is. During his almost two years as a cabaret reviewer, BroadwayWorld.com critic Stephen Hanks managed to do a pretty good job of writing critiques during a show's run or soon after the run ended. But this summer he just couldn't keep up. Finally, here are observations on 10 performances over the past two months.

The 2012 Bistro Awards took place on Monday, April 23 at 6:30pm at Gotham Comedy Club. The 27th Annual Bistro Awards gala recognized 25 artists and shows for outstanding achievement in New York cabaret and jazz. Check out our extensive photo coverage of the evening, featuring host Jim David and the award winners.

The singer, actress and comedienne Kaye Ballard, the Grammy and Tony Award-winning singer/songwriter and actress Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the jazz trumpeter and cornetist Warren Vaché will be the special honorees of the 2012 Bistro Awards tonight, April 23 at 6:30pm. Taking place at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 West 23rd Street (between 7th & 8th avenues), the 27th Annual Bistro Awards gala, which celebrates outstanding achievement in New York cabaret and jazz, will also recognize 22 other artists and shows.

The lineup of people either receiving or presenting honors at the 27th Annual Bistro Awards on Monday, April 23 (at 6:30pm at the Gotham Comedy Club on 208 West 23rd Street) just keeps getting better. The Bistro's will be the place to be that evening because there won't be as much cabaret/nightlife talent in one room, well, since last month's MAC awards.

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs presented the 26th Annual MAC Awards Show on March 29th. The awards ceremony was held at B.B. King Blues Club, and the show was directed by Lennie Watts and produced by Julie Miller. BWW was there to cover the event. Check out the photos below!

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs announced the winners of the 2012 MAC Awards last night at the 26th Annual MAC Awards Show. The awards ceremony was held at B.B. King Blues Club, and the show was directed by Lennie Watts and produced by Julie Miller.