Saadi Zain News

Russ Woolley and Wright Bros. Real Estate, Nyack, NY proudly present Richard Skipper Celebrates His Birthday...nd He'll Sing If He'll Want To! He will be joined by Sidney Myer, Cathy Szabo, Josephine Sanges, and a very special Well Known TONY NOMINATED Mystery Guest*!

Broadway powerhouse, Carol Woods returns to the internationally acclaimed jazz cabaret, Metropolitan Room on Nov. 12th to record her spectacular show AIN'T WE GOT FUN: The Richard Whiting Songbook before a live audience.

For her soulful, imaginative rendering of jazz, pop, and R&B music, Los Angeles native and septuple MAC Award winner Natalie Douglas has earned raves for two decades from American and British critics alike. Superlatives like 'transcendent,' 'heart-stopping,' and '[the] greatest' pepper reviews both of her live performances and work in the studio. Douglas' new show, STEVIE SONGS, which marked her 50th performance at Birdland, made clear why Clive Davis of The New York Times wrote, 'By the end [of a show], you want to her to carry on into the small hours.'

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present singer Natalie Douglas on Monday, September 5 in 'Stevie Songs: The Music of Stevie Nicks & Stevie Wonder.' Scroll down for photos from the concert!

Producer Ralph Lampkin, Jr; of Lampkin Music Group and Cafe Noctambulo co-owner Christopher Gines are proud to announce a new joint venture, 'SPOTLIGHT SERIES.'

I didn't catch Rosemary Loar's original 2006 presentation of 'Quando Swing,' but I can't imagine it performed with more muscular honesty than it was Wednesday night at the Metropolitan Room in the latest monthly installment of Producer Stephen Hanks' 'New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits' series. We've come to expect lucid, intriguing shows from the vocalist, but engagement level on this occasion felt almost cathartic. Energy was full tilt, lyric communication authentic.

Martha will close out this busy year with three different shows at the new room, 'Cafe Noctambulo.'

Ken Greves, performing music from his new CD, will appear at Cafe Noctambulo on Thursday, July 2nd at 8pm with Frank Ponzio (piano), Saadi Zain (bass) and Jacob Melchior (drums). 

This year is the centennial of entertainment legends such as vocalists Billie Holliday and Edith Piaf, singer-actors Frank Sinatra and Alice Faye, composers Billy Strayhorn and Bart Howard, and pianist Cy Walter. In its annual tribute concert, The Mabel Mercer Foundation celebrated all these artists in 1915: It Was a Very Good Year at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, presenting a great variety of musical talent, each with a personal take.

Seven outstanding vocalists, songwriters, and musicians born in 1915 were honored at Weill Recital Hall on Tuesday, June 9th, at 7:30 p.m., when The Mabel Mercer Foundation presented their  annual concert, "It Was A Very Good Year." Cohosted by the Foundation's artistic director KT Sullivan and the distinguished critic Rex Reed, the one-night-only event celebrated the centennial birthdays of (alphabetically) Alice Faye, Billie Holiday, Bart Howard, Edith Piaf, Frank Sinatra, Billy Strayhorn, and Cy Walter.

As the days dwindled down to a precious few in 2014, a few cabaret goers and performers in what is affectionately but also self-mockingly called the “cabaret community” would sidle up and ask if I was planning my annual end-of-the year “Best Of” column, similar to the “Top 20 Bests and Favorites” piece over the first half of the year I posted back in early July. I would respond in the negative with very reasonable and believable excuses, but the truth is I didn't want to reveal my “Bests” of the year until the voting for the 2014 BroadwayWorld New York Cabaret Awards had ended. There's enough baggage and backstage whispering that comes with administering the BWW Awards, so I wasn't about to publish any opinions that might influence the vote while it was in process. I may be crazy but I'm not masochistic. But now all bets are off. You want lists? I'll give you lists.

The month of December has always been an emotional time of the year, especially for our military families; a period to deeply reflect on family and country. Over the past few months in New York cabaret, a few performers have offered up musical testimony on wars, patriotism, and US military veterans. Recently, two singers fairly new to the cabaret scene--Anna Marie Sell and Kim Sutton--staged shows saluting the brave men and women who serve our country now and in the past.

The 25th New York Cabaret Convention first night titled 'I Love A Piano' was held at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center last night and BroadwayWorld was there backstage and out front!

When Margaret Whiting died on January 10, 2011, the news was like a dagger into the heart of the New York cabaret community. Whiting was a beloved singer for almost seven decades, who seemingly delivered every American popular song ever written, conquered almost every musical art form--from Big Band to Country to Musicals to Cabaret, from radio to the recording studio. On top of all that, Whiting worked with and mentored many New York cabaret musical directors and performers, including the late Mary Cleere Haran and K.T. Sullivan, who along with Whiting's daughter Deborah, hosted a 90th birthday Whiting tribute show on Monday night at Carnegie Hall's elegant Weill Recital Hall. Presented by The Mabel Mercer Foundation, for which Sullivan is Artistic Director, It Might As Well Be Spring! A Celebration in Song of the Life of Margaret Whiting was an almost three-hour concert featuring two All-Star teams worth of cabaret stars spanning a few generations.

Voting is now underway for Cabaret! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Cabaret! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Boston! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Cabaret! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Cabaret! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

If you're wondering whether or not 2013 was a fantastic year for the cabaret art form in New York, all you have to do is scan the amazing list of nominees for this year's BroadwayWorld New York Cabaret Awards and you'll know it was one of the best ever. So now it's time for all you cabaret performers and fans to vote for the best singers, musicians, songs, and shows of the year. Voting will continue until Sunday night January 5 and the winners will be announced later that week. We hope that all the winners will be able to perform in the Award show on Sunday night February 23 at Joe's Pub.