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Maury Yeston
From the mind of Gerard Alessandrini — the award-winning creator of the theatrical legend Forbidden Broadway and the recent hit Spamilton — comes a thrilling new nightclub presentation, Anything Can Happen in the Theatre: The Songs of Maury Yeston for 12 nights only October 4th through October 21st at The Triad (158 West 72nd Street, between Broadway and Columbus Ave). Mr. Alessandrini puts aside his parody poison pen for this stylish celebration of the music of Maury Yeston, the man behind the Tony Award-winning shows Nine, Grand Hotel and Titanic.  Featuring Yeston’s best-known songs from his classic shows plus many wonderful new songs that have yet to be performed in public, Anything Can Happen in the Theatre: The Songs of Maury Yeston boasts a stellar cast that includes Tony Award-nominee Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll and Hyde),  Jill Paice (An American in Paris, Matilda, The Woman in White) young NYC cabaret sensation Alex Getlin, Justin Keyes (How to Succeed …, The Apple Tree) and Michael Maliakel (Monsoon Wedding at Berkley Rep). Greg Jarrett (Dames at Sea, Gigi, Side Show) will musically direct.  
Maury Yeston’s music and lyrics have earned him Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Musica, an Olivier Award and Grammy nominations. Yeston received Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice nominations for Best Original Song for the film of Nine, which featured Daniel Day Lewis, Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench. Off-Broadway are his additional musicals: Phantom, Death Takes a Holiday, and In The Beginning. Mr. Yeston composed incidental music for the Tony-nominated 2009 revival of The Royal Family, as well as the legendary Off-Broadway premiere of Cloud 9, directed by Tommy Tune. He works in a wide variety of styles, from his symphonic Tom Sawyer – A Ballet In Three Acts, which premiered in Kansas City, Missouri as the first full-length ballet in our history to be created by an American composer and choreographer, his Cello Concerto premiered by Yo Yo Ma, his American Cantata commissioned by the Kennedy Center (premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin), and the concept album Goya – A Life in Song, written for Placido Domingo. He is a lifetime member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild, and on the Board of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, The Kleban Foundation and The Kurt Weill Foundation.  He also serves on the editorial boards of Musical Quarterly and the advisory board of the Yale University Press Broadway Series. He resides in New York City.
Gerard Alessandrini created and wrote Forbidden Broadway in 1982, and created, wrote and directed the current Off-Broadway hit Spamilton. He co-wrote and/or directed include Madame X: The Musical (an award-winner at the 2011 NYMF Festival), and The Nutcracker and I (with a book by Peter Brash and music by Tchaikovsky.)  Television credits include writing comedy specials for Bob Hope and Angela Lansbury on NBC, Carol Burnett on CBS and “Masterpiece Tonight,” a satirical revue saluting “Masterpiece Theatre” on PBS. Gerard recently co-wrote some special lyrics for Barbra Streisand’s newest recording.  As a performer, he can be heard on four of the twelve Forbidden Broadway cast albums and on the soundtracks of Disney’s Aladdin and Pocahontas. Gerard is the recipient of an OBIE Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, two Lucille Lortel Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Drama League and four Drama Desk Awards
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The performance schedule for Anything Can Happen in the Theatre: The Songs of Maury Yeston is as follows:
Week 1:         Wed. October 4 at 7PM, Thurs. Oct 5 at 7PM, Sat. Oct. 7 at 7PM
Week 2:         Tues. Oct. 10 at 7PM, Wed. Oct. 11 at 7PM, Thurs. Oct. 12 at 9:30PM, Fri. Oct. 13 at 7PM
Week 3:         Tues. Oct. 17 at 7PM, Wed. Oct. 18 at 7PM, Thurs. Oct. 19 at 9:30PM, Fri. Oct. 20 at 7PM, Sat. Oct. 21 at 7PM

Suzanna, co-owns and publishes the newspaper Times Square Chronicles or T2C. At one point a working actress, she has performed in numerous productions in film, TV, cabaret, opera and theatre. She has performed at The New Orleans Jazz festival, The United Nations and Carnegie Hall. She has a screenplay and a TV show in the works, which she developed with her mentor and friend the late Arthur Herzog. She is a proud member of the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle and was a nominator. Email: suzanna@t2conline.com

Cabaret

My View: The Palm Beach Cabaret Season Has Officially Begun at Cafe Centro

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Entertainer Rob Russell, aka Mr. Palm Beach entered a room full of cheering music devotees at

 last night and hosted the unofficial start of the Cabaret season at the popular Palm Beach dinner/music venue. Last season the Cafe welcomed one night only special performances by Ann Hampton Callaway, Billy Stritch, Carole J. Bufford, Anthony Nunziata, Linda Purl, and Todd Murray, which supplemented the Cabaret’s regular music fare of Copeland Davis, Motown, and the Susan Merritt Trio who hold court every week. Last night it was an open mic with some great local talent assembled by MC Russell which included a call in from Legends Radio founder Dick Robinson.   Rob does it again on November 4th and Anthony Nunziata is the headliner in a special dinner/concert on November 9th.

ROB RUSSELL, LESLIE LAREDO, EDA SOROKOFF

ROB RUSSELL

ROB RUSSELL

ROB RUSSELL

ROB RUSSELL

ARLENE HERSON, MIKE McGANN, AVERY SOMMERS, ROB RUSSELL, EDA SOROKOFF, LESLIE LAREDO

LESLIE LAREDO, MIKE McGANN, EDA SOROKOFF

PHOEBE AUSTIN

KATHY O’NEIL

JOE FREER

KIM FORMAN

MIKE McGANN

SANDY HANSON

IKE REEVES

AGI THOMPSON

AVERY SOMMERS & MIKE McGANN

CAFE CENTRO

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Cabaret

VideoCabaret in assoc. with Crow’s Theatre presents the World Premiere of “(EVERYONE I LOVE HAS) A TERRIBLE FATE (BEFALL THEM)”

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VideoCabaret in association with Crow’s Theatre presents

(EVERYONE I LOVE HAS) A TERRIBLE FATE (BEFALL THEM)

WORLD PREMIERE

Written & performed by Cliff Cardinal. Dramaturged & directed by Karin Randoja

Produced by Aaron Rothermund & Layne Coleman

VideoCabaret in association with Crow’s Theatre presents the World Premiere of (EVERYONE I LOVE HAS) A TERRIBLE FATE (BEFALL THEM) by Cliff Cardinal from October 10-29, 2023 at the Deanne Taylor Theatre (10 Busy Street, Toronto).

Deep in the bowels of a church basement, Robert and his support group must come to terms with their mortality before the impending apocalypse. If only they had just one more day…. Like an asteroid hurtling towards Earth, (EVERYONE I LOVE HAS) A TERRIBLE FATE (BEFALL THEM) is a haunting and humorous portrayal of humankind on the brink of extinction written and performed by Cliff Cardinal, dramaturged and directed by Karin Randoja.

Cliff Cardinal is a polarizing writer and performer known for black humour and compassionate poeticism. His solo theatre productions Stitch, Huff, and Cliff Cardinal’s CBC Special have toured extensively and won numerous awards. Cliff is an associate artist at VideoCabaret, where he premiered his multi-character play Too Good to Be True, “a captivating tale that solidifies Cardinal as one of the most talented and intriguing writers in the country” (NOW Magazine). He was named a “Canadian Cultural Icon ” in 2022 (The Globe and Mail) for William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, A Radical Retelling produced by Crow’s Theatre. The show has since toured across Canada, and was recently presented by Mirvish Productions in Toronto as The Land Acknowledgement, or As You Like It.

Karin Randoja is a dramaturg, director, actor, teacher, singer, and composer. For over 30 years she has specialized in creating and directing original devised performances including Cliff Cardinal’s CBC Special, This is the Point, Gertrude and Alice, Jacinto, Huff, Brotherhood: The Hip Hopera, Breakfast, and Clean Irene and Dirty Maxine. Karin was a founding member of Primus Theatre and The Independent Aunties. Her work has received numerous Canadian and International awards and has been seen in Australia, Denmark, England, India, Italy, France, Japan, Mozambique, Scotland, and across the US. As a teacher/director, she has taught at Humber College, The Centre for Indigenous Theatre, Brock University, and The National Theatre School of Canada, of which she is also a graduate.

VideoCabaret was created by Michael Hollingsworth, Deanne Taylor, and The Hummer Sisters, collaborating with Chris Clifford (videographer), Jim Plaxton (designer), and Andy Paterson (musician). With its innovative blend of live-video and rock ‘n’ roll, VideoCabaret reinvented classic works like Orwell’s 1984, Huxley’s Brave New World, and Verdi’s Rigoletto. VideoCabaret stirred controversy with Hollingsworth’s radical early plays such as Clear Light (which was famously raided by the police) and Strawberry Fields. Taylor’s work included the satirical civic-cabaret City for Sale and her epic rock-operetta 2nd Nature. The Hummer Sisters’ live-shows included Dressed to Kill, The Patty Rehearsed Story, and the Vox Pop cabarets.

All this grew out of Queen Street West’s legendary Cameron House where VideoCabaret refurbished a small backroom as a jewel-box stage for Hollingsworth’s The History of  the Village of the Small Huts, a 21-play cycle exposing Canada’s history of colonialism, with VideoCabaret’s signature “black box” staging. In 2016, VideoCabaret presented Hollingsworth’s The War of 1812 at the Stratford Festival and remounted the show at Soulpepper Theatre Company. This started a chain of collaborations with Soulpepper that included Trudeau & The FLQ, Trudeau & Levesque, and Confederation: Part 1&2. During this time Deanne and Michael mentored many young artists including Cliff Cardinal, whose play Too Good to be Truewas the first to be produced in VideoCabaret’s new east-end home at 10 Busy St in 2019. By 2022, Hollingsworth’s eerily timely history play The Cold War was produced in the new space directed by Mac Fyfe, and co-produced by Aviva Armour-Ostroff and Layne Coleman.

(Everyone I Love Has) A Terrible Fate (Befall Them) by Cliff Cardinal, co-produced by Aaron Rothermund and Layne Coleman, officially launches VideoCabaret’s ambitious new programming at Busy St. under the guidance of its new Artistic Producer and General Director, Aaron Rothermund.

It’s a distinct honour to work with Michael Hollingsworth, Layne Coleman, and Cliff Cardinal,” says Aaron Rothermund, “to further develop the legacy of VideoCabaret while celebrating the founding Artistic Directors and playwrights.”

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Cabaret

My View: Barrington Stage Co. on 42nd Street Oct. 30 For Its Gala at Green Room 42

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The evening of cocktails, dinner, and cabaret show headlined by Billy Stritch celebrates the inaugural season of newly appointed Artistic Director Alan Paul and Managing Director Lynsey Shade.

Proceeds from the Gala will benefit the Julianne Boyd New Works Fund.

Mary Ann and Bruno Quinson are presenting the event which is sponsored in part by Rhoda Levitt.  Eda Sorokoff is Chair with Violet Eagan & Rosita Sarnoff Co-Chairs

Since its inception in 1995, Barrington Stage (BSC) has produced 41 new works, 21 of which have moved on to New York and major regional theatres around the country.

BSC believes that new work is the heart and soul of theatre. If theatre is to thrive and create meaningful and new experiences for audiences, then it is vital to support playwrights and their visions of the world we live in.

BSC’s New Works Fund takes a two-pronged approach – PlayWorks supports the creation of new plays while our acclaimed Musical Theatre Lab develops new musicals. In both of these programs, BSC seeks artists whose unique voices speak to our audiences with relevant new plays and musicals. BSC hopes our new work will ask questions of the world we live in – questions that may not have answers but will begin a dialogue between the artists and our audiences.

 

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

JULIANNE BOYD & BILLY STRITCH

ALAN PAUL & RHODA LEVITT

MARY ANN QUINSON

ALAN PAUL & WILLIAM FINN

MARY ANN QUINSON & JULIANNE BOYD

BILLY STRITCH

EDA SORKOFF & BILLY STRITCH

BILLY STRTICH & STEPHEN SOROKOFF

MARY ANN QUINSON, JULIANNE BOYD, MARITA GLODT, EDA SOROKOFF

 

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Cabaret

Cabaret, Talks and Concerts For October

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The question would be, what to pick to go see, out of the multitude of offerings. Here are our picks for October

92 Street Y: 1395 Lexington Ave. 10/1: Dr. Jane Goodall in Conversation with David Rubenstein; 10/4: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis: Martha Stewart; 10/9: “Gutenberg! The Musical!”: Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells in Conversation with MTV’s Josh Horowitz; 10/10: Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conversation: BE USEFUL: Seven Tools for Life; 10/12: Audra McDonald: Musings through Music with Andy Einhorn and 10/28 – 30: Tale as Old as Time: The Songs of Howard Ashman

Birdland Jazz: 315 West 44 St. Every Monday at 9:30pm Jim Caruso’s Cast Party; Every Tuesday at 8:30pm The Lineup with Susie Mosher; Every Saturday at 7pm Eric Comstock with Sean Smith (Bass) & special guest Barbara Fasano (Voice); 10/2: A Collective Cy Jeff Harner sings Cy Coleman; 10/9: The Unprecedented Amanda Green & Friends; 10/16: Maude Maggart: “Here Come The Dreamers” and 10/23: Jamie deRoy and Friends and 10/26 -28: Karrin Allyson: “Brazilian Nights And Beyond” Feat. Vitor Goncalves, Rafael Barata & Harvie S.

Cafe Carlyle: 35 E 76th St. 10/3-7: Peter Cincotti; 10/11 -14: Patina Miller; 10/17 – 28 John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey and 10/31 – 11/8: Steve Tyrell

Hailey Kilgore by Tom Lupton, Derek Klena by Jenny Anderson, Javier Muñoz by Chad Griffith, Ali Stroker by Jenny Anderson

Carnegie Hall: 881 7th Ave at 57th St. 10/2: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band; 10/18: A Very Good+ Night of Comedy with Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer & Ronny Chieng
Special Guest D-Nice and 10/27: The New York Pops with Hailey Kilgore, Derek Klena, Javier Muñoz and Ali Stroker 

Chelsea Table + Stage: Hilton Fashion District Hotel, 152 W 26th St. 10/20: Marieann Meringolo

Don’t Tell Mama: 343 W. 46 St. 10/28: Quinn Lemley

Dizzys Club Coca Cola: Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street. 10/1: Songbook Sundays: Harold Arlen

The DJango: 2 Avenue of the Americas.


54 Below:
254 West 54 St. 10/2 The New York Pops Underground; 10/2, 17, 28 and 30: Norbert Leo Butz Sings Torch Songs for a Pandemic; 10/3, 7 and 11 Linda Eder; 10/5 -6 Mauricio Martínez: 5’11” Based in NYC, feat. Linedy Genao & more!; 10/8: Little By Little Reunion Concert, feat. Darrin Baker, Liz Larsen, and Christiane Noll; 10/12: Lee Roy Reams: Uncensored! For Adults Only!’ 10/14 -16 and 23 -25 and 30: Marilyn Maye; 10/20 – 21: Lorna Luft; 10/22: A Gentleman’s Guide 10th Anniversary Celebration and 10/ 26 -28: Jai Rodriguez: A Thousand Sweet Kisses

The Green Room 42: 570 10th Ave. 10/9: Natalie Joy Johnson; 10/11 – 12, 14 -15: Candace Bushnell; 10/15: Reeve Carney; 10/17: Spencer Day; 10/19 Mamie Paris and 10/24: Dawn Derow and Sean Harkness

Sony Hall: 235 W. 46th St. 10/4:Daniel Nardicio presents Witch Perfect An all live-singing parody of Disney’s Hocus Pocus feat. Emmy-winning stars from RuPaul’s Drag Race: Scarlet Envy, Tina Burner & Alexis Michelle and 10/16: Rockers on Broadway 30th Anniversary

Theatre at the West Bank Café: 407 West 42 St. 10/14 and 28: Mark Nadler – CRAZY

The Triad: 158 W. 72 St. 

The Town Hall: 123 West 43rd Street. 10/10: A Not That Fancy Conversation and Performance with Reba Mcentire and 10/11: Alec Baldwin’s Here’s The Thing Live With Michael Wolff

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Broadway

Santino Fontana Brings Voice, Comedy and Showmanship To 54 Below

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Tony Award® winner Santino Fontana brings his tremendous talent to 54 Below and it is a show that wraps you up in his humor, charm, vocal prowess, laid back demeanor, jeopardy style musical choices and over all entertaining. By the end of the show you feel as if you know him or at least a part of him. Starting off with Charles Strouse and Lee Adams’s “Stick Around,” the night turned into a Russian roulette of material.  The audience picked numbers and as Santino put it “if you don’t like the show, it’s your fault.” First up for my show was the naughty but amusing  “Making Love Alone” followed by Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella‘s “Do I Love You,” which made for an amusing combination of songs. During Cinderella Mr. Fontana had shoes that were built up 2 inches inside and 2 inches outside, which cause a tremendous amount of pain, so the song told the story of his plight, which made the song take on a much different meaning. Sondheim’s “Anyone Can Whistle,” was sung for a Carol Burnett tribute, that luckily we were treated to.

 

His guest for the evening was Sarah Steele (“The Good Wife,” The HumansThe Country House) who sang “out There On My Own” from Fame. On the 14th it will be Greg Hildreth (Company, Disney’s FrozenRodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella). Click on the name and you can hear that version.

Showing off his baritone side with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “If I Loved You.” We almost got to see Santino in Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields”s Sweet Charity, instead we got hint of what that would be like with “Too Many Tomorrows.” A hilarious version of “I feel Pretty” from West Side Story lightened the mood and had the room in tears. Recreating his duet “Love Is An Open Door” from Frozen, Santino channeled Dorothy Michaels from Tootsie. Again the room was laughing with the sheer comedic genius that won Mr. Fontana a Tony Award. Bringing the energy to a calmer state was the emotional Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s “Who Can I Turn To?”

Vocally the most impressive song of the night was “Joey, Joey, Joey” from Most Happy Fellow. Mr. Fontana’s voice was glorious in the tones and the subtle texturing. Keeping in the ballad mode and honoring Marilyn Bergman he launched into the iconic “Where Do You Start,”while accompany himself on the piano, which was highly impressive. Back to the uptempo mode “I Met A Girl” from Bells Are Ringing, was given a rigorous, amusing take. This was his original audition song. Lerner and Loewe’s “How to Handle a Woman,” from the recent Camelot, showed how Santino would have made an excellent King Arthur.

Another favorite moment of the night was “Buddy’s Blues” from Follies. Already a personal favorite, this made me want to see Santino play this role at a later date, though personally I would cast him as Ben.

For the finale songs “The Music In You” from Cinderella, told how he and the cast loved watching the magnificent Victoria Clark perform. “This Can’t Be Love” from 1938 Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse, ended up in an encore, of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones’s “They Were You” from The Fantasticks, which made my guest producer Pat Addiss extremely happy.

Cody Owen Stine

Santino was backed by his musical director and accompanist Cody Owen Stine, who played flawlessly.

Santino Fontana

Santino Fontana opened September 10th at 54 Below and you can still catch this marvelous show tonight September 14th. 54below.com

This is a do not miss!

 

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