Mabel Mercer News

The Colony Hotel - which The Palm Beach Post has hailed as 'probably the best place for cabaret on the planet' - has just launched a new Young Stars Summer Residency Program that will present many of Manhattan's hottest rising cabaret stars every weekend until Labor Day, all of which have been audience favorites during previous Royal Room engagements.

The Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel, has announcde dinner, dancing and all-star performances with The Birth of the Great American Songbook, Saturday, May 21, in the legendary Empire Room, on the lobby level of the Palmer House, 17 E. Monroe St.

Urban Stages celebrates its critically-acclaimed 32nd season at the Central Park Boathouse on Monday, May 23rd at 6:30pm. This year's annual gala will honor the renowned Karen Akers with Urban Stages Musical Artist Award presented by ten-time Tony Award winner Tommy Tune.

It has been 10 years since MAC and Bistro Award-winning producer, Joseph Macchia, founded of the 501c3 non-profit, Help Is On The Way Today.

VIVIAN REED, the two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and concert artist called 'remarkable and ferocious' by The New York Times, returned to New York on Saturday April 2 at 9:30 PM, with the opening night of her new show 'Standards and More' at The Metropolitan Room. BroadwayWorld brings you an exclusive look below!

The Colony Hotel - which The Palm Beach Post has hailed as "probably the best place for cabaret on the planet" - is doing something completely different this year. For the first time in the 15-year history of the Royal Room, the world famous cabaret will not close at the end of "season" but will continue offering extraordinary entertainers straight-through the summer months with dinner shows every Friday and Saturday night.

She was a treasured, one-of-a-kind, multi-faceted performer: actress, comedian, and (in her own phrase) "saloon singer." Her acclaimed career spanned six decades of television, stage, cabaret, and motion picture achievement. Now, A 90th Birthday Celebration of the Incomparable Dorothy Loudon honors her unique contributions to entertainment in a one-night-only video retrospective and cocktail/hors d'oeuvres reception, presented by The Mabel Mercer Foundation at The Paley Center for Media, 25 West 52nd Street, on Wednesday, April 20th. 

VIVIAN REED, the two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and concert artist called "remarkable and ferocious" by The New York Times, will return to New York on Saturday April 2 at 9:30 PM, with the opening night of her new show "Standards and More" at The Metropolitan Room. Her special guests for this performance will be Metropolitan Opera soprano Janinah Burnett and Broadway star Raun Ruffin, who appeared in The Civil War. Reed will also appear at The Metropolitan Room on May 23, June 17 and July 21, backed by a four-piece band led by Billy McDaniel. The evening will include unique arrangements of classic standards by Duke Ellington, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter and George Gershwin in a dazzling blend of pop, jazz, soul and R&B.

 Irvington Town Hall Theater in association with NiCori Studios and Productions announces the finale Cabaret on the Hudson for the 2015/2016 season on Sunday, April 10 at 3pm. Cabaret on the Hudson is a series that features outstanding cabaret performers, each bringing a 25 minute sampling of their New York City cabaret shows to Westchester, NY. Many of the performers are Broadway veterans and have performed in New York City venues such as 54 BELOW, the Oak Room at the Algonquin, Birdland, Feinstein's at Loews Regency, Iridium, the Metropolitan Room and Jazz at Lincoln Center to name a few. Cabaret on the Hudson will be hosted by multi-nominated Cabaret singer and host of the Music at the Mansion series, Corinna Sowers Adler and will feature James Horan on piano.  

The award-winning composer and special guests perform selections from his catalog of stage and screen favorites like 'Magic to Do' from Pippin; 'When You Believe' from the DreamWorks' animated feature, The Prince of Egypt; 'Day By Day' from Godspell and several selections from the Broadway hit Wicked, including 'Defying Gravity.'

Welsh song stylist Iris Williams will make a rare West Coast appearance on Wed., April 13 at 8:30 PM at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, performing her acclaimed show entitled 'I Wish You Love,' featuring classic American standards by such composers as Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington, Burton Lane, and others. Music Director Keith Droste will be on piano, with Jeff Stover on bass and Andy Fraga on drums. She will also appear at the Purple Room in Palm Springs on Friday, April 8 at 7:00 PM.

The 'Tomatoes Got Talent' show took place on Sunday, March 13, at the Triad on West72nd Street.  Randie Levine-Miller, emceed and co-produced the talent show competition featuring women over 40, with Cheryl Benton of The Three Tomatoes.  

Urban Stages will extend its critically acclaimed World Premiere of Mabel Madness written and performed by Tony Award Winner Trezana Beverley (For Colored Girls...) tells the dramatic story with music about the life of the famous cabaret chanteuse, Mabel Mercer. Co-directed by Frances Hill and Peter Napolitano with musical direction by Tuffus Zimbabwe, Mabel Madness began performances on February 19 and was originally set to end its run on March 20, will now play Wednesday nights at 7PM and Sundays at 3PM & 7PM through April 10, 2016. Tickets are $40 and are available at www.urbanstages.org or by calling 1-866-811-4111.

There's not a rotten one in the bunch!  12 mega-talented semi-finalists will perform in the 3rd Annual "Tomatoes Got Talent" singers contest at The Triad Theatre, 158 West 72nd Street, on Sunday March 13 at 3pm. 

?VIVIAN REED, the two-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and concert artist called "remarkable and ferocious" by The New York Times, will return to New York with a four-performance run of her show "Standards and More." She will appear at The Metropolitan Room on April 2, May 23, June 17 and July 21, backed by a four-piece band led by Billy McDaniel. The evening will include unique arrangements of classic standards by Duke Ellington, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter and George Gershwin in a dazzling blend of pop, jazz, soul and R&B.

Randie Levine-Miller is co-producing with Cheryl Benton of The Three Tomatoes, as well as hosting this year's talent competition featuring women over 40 who have segued to other careers. 

NATALIE DOUGLAS - the acclaimed vocalist hailed as "a true, true star" by BBC London, "sensational" by Time Out New York and "stirring" by The New York Daily News - will release her new long-awaited third album Human Heart on Friday, March 18. She will celebrate the new recording with a special concert at Birdland Jazz Club on Monday, March 21 at 7:00 PM. Human Heart is produced by Brian J. Nash with photography by Bill Westmoreland.

 Lynn University and Producer Jan McArt, producer and director of theatre arts program development, are presenting three more concerts under the umbrella of the Live at Lynn series and the Mabel Mercer Foundation's Cabaret at Lincoln Center.

Lynn University to present three more concerts with the Mabel Mercer Foundation's Cabaret at Lincoln Center Comes to Live at Lynn

Some years ago when Tony Award-winning actress (for For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf (Ntozake Shange) and playwright Trezanna Beverley's voice coach suggested she listen to Mabel Mercer, the artist had not heard of the nightclub and cabaret singing icon. A trip to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Harlem) began a protracted period of research into Mercer's life and work. Beverley found she not only respected and admired her subject, but felt a kinship both in spirit and color. Inspired, she decided to write her own theatrical script about Mercer's life and art with the goal of playing her in a one-woman show. Her dream has been realized with Mabel Madness, a play with music that opened this week at Urban Stages and runs until March 20.