Ron Abel News

The latest iteration of the Sinatra tribute series at 54 Below boggles the mind as Scott Siegel steers a sinking ship into a sea of drunken debauchery while fiddlers helplessly fiddle.

They were the highly awaited Christmas TV Specials. The Perry Como Christmas Show directed by Dwight Hemion and the Dean Martin Christmas Specials directed by Greg Garrison. These evenings had a more casual party atmosphere than the star's regular shows with some well placed poignant moments to celebrate the season. You could also count on some extraordinary guests to make an appearance. Well, flash (or sleigh ride) forward.

Great voice, magnetic personality, good looking, anything else?…Yes, he also writes the songs!

You never know what's just around the corner and that's the fascinating thing about discovering cabaret artists who are new to your milieu. Last night it was at the corner of 71st Street and 2nd Avenue at the Beach Cafe. Friend Ron Abel, one of the music industry's preeminent pianists/ arranger/music directors in his heads up to me about this artist said …“Sometimes you get lucky. You get to work with a smart actress whose ability to understand a lyric translates to her being able to take the song to a place that people haven't heard before. And then, she has the vocal range and ability to take it that one step further.” That folks is Lianne Marie Dobbs who while new to me is well known by cabaret enthusiasts.

Celebrating Broadway's legendary Cole Porter! The York Theatre Company launches their 50th Anniversary Season with its acclaimed Musicals in Mufti series celebrating the legendary Broadway composer Cole Porter. The series honors the illustrious songwriter behind such classics as Anything Goes, Kiss Me, Kate, Gay Divorce, Silk Stockings, Red, Hot and Blue, and Can-Can, to name a few.

Just last night, Primary Stages held its 35th Anniversary Gala, honor ingPulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck (Downstairs, Bernhardt/Hamlet), and Tony Award-winning producers from the Primary Stages family Jamie deRoy (The Ferryman, Little Women), Dasha Epstein (Ain't Misbehavin', Exits and Entrances), Susan Rose (The Band's Visit, Sabina), and Cheryl Wiesenfeld (Ain't Too Proud, In the Continuum). 

The iconic Lucie Arnaz is showing everyone how it's done with I Got The Job! as she looks back on an impressive career with hilarious and tuneful results.

This Month, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

Lucie Arnaz brings a?oeI Got the Job!a??: Songs from My Musical Past to WPPAC Friday, September 27 at 8pm.

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

This Month, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present singer/actress Klea Blackhurst with a brand new solo show, “One Of The Girls,” a tribute to Jerry Herman.

There was a television show in the 1950's called “What's My Line”. The celebrity panelists had to guess what job a person did by asking them investigative questions. I dare say if Gunhild Carling was a guest on a show her occupation could not be ascertained. Who could imagine a musician that can play 20 instruments, sings, tap dances, is capable of physical frolicking and is a master at all of them. As she started her first number I began thinking is this a karaoke singer who had an extra drink before taking the Mic? but then quickly realized that Gunhild Carling is a superb jazz musician who's technique is reminiscent of the 20's 30's hot swing style. Her vocals have an amorous swing to them and it doesn't hurt that she has a kind of nostalgic glamorous appearance that so fits her persona. At one point in her show she had most of the audience following her around the Birdland Theater as she played The Saints Go Marching In.

We are all aware of those great music scores created by gifted composers for the movies but last night at Dizzy's Club, Christine Tamburr, a gifted composer and virtuoso vibraphonist led a world class group of musicians and jazz great Clint Holmes in a performance of his score “The Awakening “ Sounds For Sculpture”. Just as you can't imagine a movie without the underlying music, something tells me I won't be able to enjoy a “silent” Sculpture anymore after the experience of listening to Christian Tambour's breathtaking music inspired by the Sculpture of world renowned Seward Johnson.

In the theater community Jamie deRoy is a well known Broadway producer but in the Friars community she is also acclaimed as an entertainer. Friar Jamie deRoy furthermore has the distinction of being the 8th woman to become a Friar subsequent to the men's only club changing it's rules in 1988. Jamie deRoy who is usually the earliest to spot an opportunity had to wait behind the likes of Liza Minnelli, Joan Rivers Gloria Allred, and Brooke Shields who were also among the first to join the Friars Club.

This Month, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

It's in the Steinbrenner genes, known for excellence, excitement, and showmanship in all things they endeavor. Haley Swindal, Broadway and Concert star continues the legacy of one of America's most well known families and used her formidable talents in an homage to her idol Liza Minnelli last night at Feinstein's/54 Below. Whenever Haley takes time off from her Broadway commitments (presently CHICAGO) her Cabaret concerts are a major happening and last night Broadway's Supper Club was the place to be in New York City. Haley's significant voice and acting abilities, her physical stature and blond hair may be different then Liza's but the audience arousal and passion she evokes is similar to the legend.

Provincetown will see yet another return visitor when Lucie Arnaz returns to The Crown and Anchor for a one night only concert of her latest act ' I Got The Job: Songs From My Musical Past.' After selling out this same concert last year, producer Rick Murray asked Ms. Arnaz to return with the same show that had audiences cheering. Along with her musical director Ron Abel, the show will play Monday July 22,2019 at 8pm. Arnaz and Abel will bring this show to a many more venues over the next year, including New York's fabled 54 BELOW CLUB this fall .

Last night at The Green Room 42 (570 10th Avenue), Broadway star and recording artist Luba Mason (Chicago, Jekyll & Hyde, How to Succeed, recently earned a Lucille Lortel nomination for her role in the acclaimed Public Theater production of Girl From The North Country) premiered a new Broadway-centric concert, Luba Mason - 5' 10' with the pianist & music director to so many Broadway stars and legendary singers, Billy Stritch!

Joanna Gleason gave a  memorable performance in her superbly crafted, written and directed show last night at Feinstein's54 Below. Jeffrey Klitz, her music director and pianist, created some of the most haunting and extraordinary arrangements for a group of musicians consisting of guitar, banjo, autoharp, cello, percussion and 3 back-up vocalists called the Moontones.