World-renowned opera singer and recitalist Stephanie Blythe will premiere her new cabaret act, 'The Tender Trap,' as a special benefit for The Mabel Mercer Foundation on Thursday evening, June 14th at Feinstein's / 54 Below. Ms. Blythe, acclaimed by The New York Times as 'a force of nature,' will celebrate 'love, obsession, and the stuff in between,' in a repertoire selected from the Great Popular Songbook of the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s - a golden age for the melodies and lyrics of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and (eventually) Hollywood.
Broadway actress-singer, MAC and Bistro Award winner, Raissa Katona Bennett, returns to the cabaret stage in April celebrating the release of her third recording, CAN'T HELP SINGING - THE MUSIC OF JEROME KERN. This romantic celebration of Kern's greatest hits, including "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "All the Things You Are" and "The Way You Look Tonight," will play April 26th & May 3rd at 7pm at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Pianist, Jon Weber, joins Katona Bennett as Musical Director for this engagement.
Tickets are now on sale for 'All the Way: The Music of Jimmy Van Heusen & Friends,' an extraordinary concert event to be produced by The Mabel Mercer Foundation on Friday, May 18th at 7:30 p.m. The special, one-time-only performance will be offered at Weill Recital Hall (part of the Carnegie Hall complex) at 154 West 57th Street.
VIVIAN REED, the two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and concert artist called "remarkable and ferocious" by The New York Times and "a force of nature" by The New York Post, will continues her tribute to entertainment icon Lena Horne in a special centennial celebration at Feinstein's / 54 Below. For one more show on Wednesday, March 7, Reed will offer high-energy, fearless renditions of Lena classics such as "Stormy Weather," "The Lady is a Tramp," "A Fine Romance," "I've Grown Accustomed to His Face" and "On A Wonderful Day Like Today." She is accompanied by an all-star quartet featuring Conductor William Foster McDaniel on piano, Calvin Jones on bass, Damon DueWhite on drums and Don Tipton on guitar. Earlier this season, Vivian received the Mabel Mercer Award from the Mabel Mercer Foundation at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Founder and Artistic Director) is pleased to present the world premiere of SPEED QUEEN, written and performed by Pulitzer Prize-nominee Phoebe Legere, and directed by Lissa Moira at Dixon Place (161A Chrystie Street). The production will preview on March 7, 2018 with press opening on March 9, and performances on March 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24. All performances are at 7:30 PM.
Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Founder and Artistic Director) is pleased to present the world premiere of SPEED QUEEN, written and performed by Pulitzer Prize-nominee Phoebe Legere, and directed by Lissa Moira at Dixon Place (161A Chrystie Street). The production will preview on March 7, 2018 with press opening on March 9, and performances on March 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24. All performances are at 7:30 PM.
Vivian Reed is a performer, through and through, a fact clear from the moment her feet hit the stage (and even before that if she has to saunter through the room first to get there). Even over the phone, her voice brims with confidence and joy as she talks about her current series at Feinstein's/54 Below called VIVIAN REED SINGS LENA HORNE, a tribute she began in honor of Horne's centennial birthday last June.
VIVIAN REED, the two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and concert artist called remarkable and ferocious by The New York Times and a force of nature by The New York Post, continues to honor entertainment icon Lena Horne in a special centennial celebration at Feinstein's / 54 Below. For two more shows February 7 and March 7 Reed offers high-energy, fearless renditions of Lena classics such as Stormy Weather, The Lady is a Tramp, A Fine Romance, I've Grown Accustomed to His Face and On A Wonderful Day Like Today. She is accompanied by an all-star quartet featuring Conductor William Foster McDaniel on piano, Calvin Jones on bass, Damon DueWhite on drums and Don Tipton on guitar. Earlier this season, Vivian received the Mabel Mercer Award from the Mabel Mercer Foundation at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Don't Tell Mama but I'm sure production coordinator Desiree McKim will be telling Live at Lynn producer Jan McArt (who couldn't attend) how the audience was enthralled by Sidney's performance last night.
Broadway veterans Carole Demas, who originated the role of Sandy in Grease, and Sarah Rice, who originated the role of Johanna in Sweeney Todd, have teamed up to celebrate the music of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, composers of THE FANTASTICKS, 110 IN THE SHADE, and I DO! I DO! and more. Demas and Rice have based their show on their 50 years of work and personal relationships with Jones and Schmidt.
This past March, at 2017's MAC Awards, honoring the best of cabaret in New York over the past season, as in most years, there were five nominees for Female Vocalist: Celia Berk, Sally Darling, Meg Flather, Josephine Sanges, and Lisa Viggiano. It's not particularly important, in this case, who won. (Flather did.) If their shared story met the usual expectations, it would've ended there and each nominee would've gone on her own way to do her next big thing. You'll be happy to hear their story defies those expectations.
Bazazz! A Sequined Variety starring Rick Skye as Liza Minnelli will have twice the fun in December with two performances of the hit show of which In New York magazine said, 'There's a new sequined variety show in town that is a must see!'
The Mabel Mercer Foundation announced this week that Adela and Larry Elow have established a $50,000 endowment fund, created specifically to 'encourage teenagers to learn and perform The Great American Songbook, as composed between the years 1900-1970.'
Lynn University and Jan McArt, producer and director of theatre arts program development, today announced that the popular Mabel Mercer Foundation's Cabaret at Lincoln Center comes to Live at Lynn series will return in January. Five of Manhattan's leading cabaret shows will be presented on Wednesday nights, once a month through May, in Lynn's Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall. Season tickets are available at $150, with individual concert tickets only $40.
There have been many 100 year birthday celebrations of singers this year and one of the best was Vivian Reed Sings Lena Horne at Feinstein's/54 Below last night.
Vivian Reed, the two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and concert artist, will honor entertainment icon Lena Horne in a special centennial celebration at Feinstein's / 54 Below.
Everyone knows Hugh Hefner, but the man at Hefner's side for all those ground-breaking Playboy years was Victor Lownes, who passed away January 11, 2017. A Celebration of this extraordinary man's life was organized by The Mabel Mercer Foundation and Victor's wife Marilyn Cole Lownes. It was quite fitting, since Victor Lownes and Hugh Hefner bonded at the beginning of Playboy Magazine because of their love of the cabaret artist Mabel Mercer.
During an evening when Mabel Mercer Foundation President and New York Cabaret Convention Producer KT Sullivan devoted a number of opening night spots in the 28th year of the four-day extravaganza (October 16-19 at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center) to a younger generation of singers and a few veterans making their Convention debuts, the Grande Dame of Cabaret was the star of the night.
