William Blake News

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January.

Wow, talk about a thumbs up! BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Reviewer/Columnist Stephen Hanks received such a positive reaction to his '2012 Best of New York Cabaret' piece posted yesterday that we thought it would be fun for him to add to his original 13 "honorable mentions" list. So, here for your holiday week reading pleasure is Part 2 of his "Best" and "Most" Honorable Mentions in Cabaret for 2012 with 21 new listings (because an even 20 would be trite). Enjoy!

This month, Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) will partner with Trinity Wall Street Church to present two concerts in Trinity's annual Twelfth Night Festival of Early Music, which runs from now through Sunday, January 6, 2013.

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January.

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below.

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below.

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the latest standings below.

Founded by some of the United States' most informed and engaged global music presenters, globalFEST celebrates its 10th year on January 13, 2013 at NYC's Webster Hall with a dozen vibrant acts from across the world and the sonic spectrum. Scroll down to read about each artist.

Martha Redbone, one of the 21st Century's leading contemporary Native American recording artists will be performing at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the re-election of President Barack Obama. 'I am thrilled and humbled to be invited to share our music on this glorious occasion; Indian Country knows how to celebrate with grace and honor and I'm looking forward to rockin' out!' Redbone exclaimed. Martha's spectacular big band performed this past summer at the NYC opening of the National Museum of the American Indian's 'Up Where We Belong' exhibition. For the Inaugural Ball, Ms. Redbone will play the music of Native American music icons such as Jimi Hendrix and Buffy Sainte-Marie as well as her own acclaimed gumbo of Native roots, blues and funk.

This week at Joe's Pub, November 26 - December 2, 2012, features performances by Karine Hannah, a night with PigPen Theatre Co., Nicole Henry, Jack Ingram & Radney Foster, Razia's Shadow, Jonah Smith, Maia Vidal, Frisk Me: The Songs of Max Vernon, Alice Smith, Martha Redbone, Emanuel and the Fear, Public Forum Deut: Tony Kushner and Rachel Maddow, and Grace McLean and Them Apples. Details below!

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below!

This week's 'episode' of Jim Caruso's Cast Party started off with a bang, as the National Yiddish Theater Company's cast of The Golden Land stormed the stage with two wonderful songs. Not to be outdone, Mira Awad came all the way from Israel to serenade the sold-out house with a song from her native land.

Voting is now underway for the Inaugural Cabaret Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the standings here!

"Strippers and Satchmo and guys who sing gospel' sounds like a bastardized Rodgers and Hart lyric, but it helps explain the variety of talent that showed up for Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland on Monday evening. David Phelps, the award-winning tenor best known for his work with the Gaither Vocal Band absolutely thrilled the crowd with "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Nessun Dorma" (a Birdland first). Jeremy Giraud Abram is currently portraying jazz legend Louis Armstrong at Theater 3 in Manhattan, and impressed everyone with his "Wonderful World." Jaymes and James, Chippendales dancers from Las Vegas currently heating up small screens on "The Amazing Race," charmed the room and gained even more fans! Adan Canto, starring in the new Fox thriller, "The Following," is not just another good looking TV star…he's a first-rate singer. Australian bff's Matthew Newton and Matt Baker performed a gorgeous standard together. Dawn Derow showed off her musical stuff, and promoted her upcoming cabaret act. William Blake sang the blues, like he will at his upcoming Sidewalk Cafe gig. The Cast Party Symphony Orchestra (Tedd Firth, Steve Doyle & Daniel Glass) accompanied the extraordinary talent into the wee hours, as they do every single Monday night.

Blues/jazz singer William Blake will kick off the new "Landmark Wednesdays" series of concerts at the historic SideWalk Cafe in the East Village on November 21 and 28. Blake, along with Randy Napoleon on guitar, Mike Karn on bass and Danny Young on percussion, will perform sets at 8 and 10 pm.

After receiving more than 3,000 nominations once BroadwayWorld.com announced it's first-ever New York Cabaret Awards in early October, BWW is now pleased to announce it's final nominations ballot in 20 categories. Now it's time for all you cabaret performers and fans to vote for the best singers, musicians and shows of the year. Voting will continue until December 31 and winners will be announced in early January.

Next month, Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) will partner with Trinity Wall Street Church to present two concerts in Trinity's annual Twelfth Night Festival of Early Music, which runs from Wednesday, December 26, 2012 through Sunday, January 6, 2013.

At Jim Caruso's Cast Party this past Monday, October 22nd, there was an autumnal cornucopia of talent, with impromptu performances by two original cast members of Sophisticated Ladies, Terri Klausner and Ty Stephens. Check out photos of them and more at the concert below!

The Joyce Theater announced today the programming for its 2013 Spring/Summer Season featuring extraordinary international companies, including two festivals, one focusing on Nordic dance and the other on American ballet choreographers.

There may have been 40 cabaret performers strutting their stuff this past week at the 23rd New York Cabaret Convention at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, but the true star of the three-night extravaganza (October 17-19) was the late Donald Smith, the cabaret impresario and guru to the genre's luminaries, who died this past March at 79. Sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, which Smith founded in 1985, this year's Convention featured numerous homages to Smith from the performers, many of whom had their career's supported and advanced with the help of the colorful and beloved cabaret producer and promoter. Early in Wednesday's Gala Opening Night show, the 'first lady of the American keyboard' Barbara Carroll called her friend Donald Smith 'the quintessential New Yorker,' and when Mark Nadler closed night one with George and Ira Gershwin's 'Our Love Is Here to Stay,' he said, 'Everybody who cares about the myths of these songs are in this room tonight.' Well, it was clear that anyone who cared about Donald Smith was at the Rose Theater for at least one of the three shows.