Mabel Mercer News

THE THEATRE COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL ARTS CLUB in association with THE HARLEM SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL presented MABEL MADNESS: The Life and Times of Mabel Mercer.  Written by and Starring Tony Award Winner Trezana Beverley*. Pianist: Matthew Ward and General Manager: Debra Ann Byrd*

Acclaimed vocalist Todd Murray will make his Feinstein's at the Nikko debut on Thursday, August 23 at 8 p.m. Joined by renowned pianist and composer Quinn Johnson, Murray will perform an evening of old and new American standards, including songs by Cole Porter, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Sade, and more. Tickets range in price from $22.50-$50 and are available now by calling 866-663-1063 or visiting www.ticketfly.com.

Birdland Jazz Club will present New York, Old Friend-The Songs of Ken Laub, a celebration of the sights, scenes and relationships in New York City, for one night only as part of the "Broadway at Birdland" concert series, on Monday, June 25, 2018 @7pm.

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 today 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.

Deborah Grace Winer continues her 3-part Feinstein's/54 Below series of jewel box revues celebrating the Classic American Songbook with its season finale on Sunday, June 17th, TILL THERE WAS YOU: A CELEBRATION OF Barbara Cook with Musical Direction by Mark Hummel and direction by Mark Waldrop. Ms. Winer will host a glittering parade of Broadway divas including Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba; Tony nominees Christine Andreas, Rebecca Luker and Christiane Noll; Linda Purl, Aisha de Haas, Natalie Douglas and K.T. Sullivan, who will raise their voices in celebration of Barbara Cook, one of the greatest interpreters of the American Songbook.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Corinna Sowers Adler in Something Beautiful on Saturday, June 16 at 9:30pm One of the most gorgeous voices in New York belongs to Corinna Sowers Adler, who returns to Feinstein's/54 Below in Something Beautiful, which debuted in Jazz at Lincoln Center's majestic Appel Room. Filled with magical songs by Billy Joel, Ahrens and Flaherty, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Elton John, Stephen Schwartz, and others, Corinna Sowers Adler will mesmerize and delight while packing an emotional punch with the songs of Something Beautiful. 

The Cabaret Room at Drury Lane Theatre announces The Summer Series featuring some of Chicago's top cabaret artists in unforgettable limited engagements at Drury Lane's intimate Cabaret Room. The Summer Series will include performances by Chicago's Cabaret Queen Denise Tomasello (August 3 and 4), Beckie Menzie and Tom Michael (August 17 and 18), and Joan Curto (August 24 and 25). Performances will be held on Friday and Saturday evenings in the Cabaret Room at Drury Lane Theatre located at 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace.

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. The Laurie Beechman Theatre is in the rear and downstairs at the West Bank Cafe, 407 West 42nd Street, NYC 10036. For tickets/reservations call 212.695.6909 or visit: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/986039.

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: Summer: The Donna Summer Musicals officially opens tonight on Broadway, and more!

The wry, witty, and sophisticated Tony nominee Jane Summerhays swings by Shetler Studios to look back on her incredible career in such musicals as A Chorus Line, Me and My Girl (for which she was nominated for the Tony), Lend Me A Tenor, The Wild Party, and what it was like to learn from artists like Barbara Cook, Wally Harper, and Mabel Mercer.

This week – Friday, April 6th, 2018 Harbinger Records is releasing CY COLEMAN A Jazzman's Broadway (Jamaica, Flower Drum Song, South Pacific) HCD 3401. Harbinger loves composer/jazz pianist Cy Coleman. In fact, they have undertaken an entire series of CDs devoted to his vast musical talents. The first Coleman CD was a companion to the first biography on Cy, You Fascinate Me So (an overview of rare songs by Coleman with as disparate a bunch of lyricists as Carolyn Leigh, Dorothy Fields, Floyd Huddleston, A.E. Hotchner, and even comic Allan Sherman). The CD got rave reviews and opened many musical theatre aficionados to the depth of his composing skills.

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.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with Tierney Sutton Band, Nicolas King, Shelly Berg and David Finck, and more!

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.