Lauren Fox News

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. 54 Below also launched its series of late night events. Joining Tuesday nights' popular 'Backstage' with Susie Mosher is 15:54, and more:

While Woodstock 1969 will probably forever be known as the ultimate rock n roll festival of all time, NYC cabaret hot spot 54 Below is lining up an impossibly impressive assortment of stars for a one night only Woodstock tribute in August, led by two-time Tony Award-winner Norbert Leo Butz and Broadway/Hollywood notable Raul Esparza.

The Major League Baseball All-Star break (the game is on Tuesday night) has always been considered the midpoint of the season and as a lifelong fan I've always enjoyed reading those analyses from writers that assess the best performances of the first half. Since July is also the middle of the calendar year, I thought it might be fun to present a cabaret equivalent of a baseball midseason report. So . . . (drum roll) . . . presenting the Best (and My Favorite) 20 New York Cabaret Shows and Performances of (the first half) of 2013.

A few weeks before BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Reviewer and Columnist Stephen Hanks was about to stage the opening night of his debut solo cabaret show on May 31, a number of cabaret performers asked him if he was going to write about the experience in some way, with some even encouraging him to keep a diary. 'It might be really interesting to read how your perspective about cabaret performers and performing might have changed and how it might impact your reviews now that you're doing it yourself,' commented one singer. 'It was a fascinating notion and one that I had already thought about,' Hanks admits, 'but between a full time job, attending shows, writing reviews, taking vocal lessons, rehearsing, etc., finding the time and the energy to keep even a weekly diary was not in the cards.' Hanks certainly didn't think he'd forget even the little things that have gone into making his journey what he calls 'an amazing, fantasy-fulfilling, almost surreal experience.' On the eve of his last performance of his three-show run (over three weeks) at the Metropolitan Room of Beyond American Pie: The Don McLean Songbook, BroadwayWorld.com sat down with our lead cabaret reviewer to get his insights and perspective on what's it been like to be on the performer end of things.

Town Hall was the setting in 1968 of the legendary dual concert of America's leading cabaret performers, the great international club and recording artist Mabel Mercer and the reigning prince of cabaret Bobby Short. In a tribute to these great artists, The Mabel Mercer Foundation presented a lineup of today's leading practitioners of the intimate and enduring art of cabaret. Check out photos from the concert below!

Town Hall was the setting in 1968 of the legendary dual concert of America's leading cabaret performers, the great international club and recording artist Mabel Mercer and the reigning prince of cabaret Bobby Short. In a tribute to these great artists, The Mabel Mercer Foundation will present a lineup of today's leading practitioners of the intimate and enduring art of cabaret. KT Sullivan, Artistic Director of the Foundation, will host the evening.

I thought about many happy childhood musical theater memories last night while I attended the Dutch Treat Club's Annual Gold Medal Tribute Dinner and Show at the Harvard Club in honor of the legendary 'Fiddler of the Roof' lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who received the Club's Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts.

York Theatre Company presents the musical I'm a Stranger Here Myself, written and performed by Mark Nadler with Franca Vercellonion accordion, Jessica Wright on violin and directed by David Schweizer. It opened last night and you can check out photo coverage below!

When you're a cabaret reviewer on the evening show prowl between Monday night and Saturday evening (although not every night, thank goodness), you'd like to think that the God of Cabaret would make Sunday a day of rest. No such luck, since the weekend allows clubs to book shows as early as brunch time. I learned this again early this month when I felt compelled to attend three shows starring charming female singers-Corinna Sowers-Adler at Stage 72 (the Triad), Eva Kantor at the Laurie Beechman, and Lianne Marie Dobbs at the Metropolitan Room. I didn't break my personal Sunday record of four shows in one day set in late January (yes, I should be committed), but there was a two-hour break in this mix so it still turned out to be an 8-hour cabaret extravaganza. (Thank you, oh God of Cabaret, for press comps!) While it would have been sweet for the musical marathon to have been a clean sweep of excellent shows, as Meat Loaf might croon, 'Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad.'

Marissa Mulder's stunning foray into the music and poetry of Tom Waits is coming back. The show that Stephen Holden called “far and away the season's best cabaret show” returns to the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, on Tuesday May 7 at 9:30pm and Wednesday May 8 at 7pm.

Town Hall was the setting in 1968 of the legendary dual concert of America's leading cabaret performers, the great international club and recording artist Mabel Mercer and the reigning prince of cabaret Bobby Short. In a tribute to these great artists, The Mabel Mercer Foundation will present a lineup of today's leading practitioners of the intimate and enduring art of cabaret. KT Sullivan, Artistic Director of the Foundation, will host the evening.

Help is on the Way Today, a 501c3 non-profit which assists children and youth living with HIV/AIDS, is announcing their annual Gala on May 19th at the Laurie Beechman Theater.In addition, founder Joseph Macchia is announcing a name change to the charity's Lifetime Achievement Award."It is with a bittersweet pleasure that we've renamed the Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of the late Ruth Kurtzman," says Macchia. "Ruth was a true lady and a kind and caring person who was a tireless supporter of the Cabaret Cares series, as well Help Is On The Way Today, MAC and Broadway Cares. She is someone I will never forget and her kind heart will live on in everyone she touched. I'm very happy to announce the 2013 Cabaret Cares Ruth Kurtzman Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Peter Leavy. Like Ruth, Peter is a true champion of the community, the publisher of Cabaret Scenes magazine - the world's only magazine dedicated to the art form - and a generous supporter of Cabaret Cares and its mission."

With the grit of a sheriff facing down an outlaw, the silky-toned Marissa Mulder takes on the bard of bad Tom Waits, in the premiere of "Tom… in His Words", which began on March 27 and runs through tonight, March 30, 2013, at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street. BroadwayWorld was there and brings you photos from the concert!

Observing the evolution of young Marissa Mulder's cabaret career is like watching a high jumper going for the gold at the Olympic Games. With every show or performance, she and the creative teams around her set the bar just a little bit higher and she keeps clearing the dang thing. But with her new Tom Waits Tribute Show, which opened last night at the Metropolitan Room (and continues through Saturday night, all at 7pm), the bar was raised multiple notches, and damn if she didn't clear it with inches to spare. With Tom . . . In His Own Words/The Songs of Tom Waits, Mulder has vaulted herself into major cabaret performer territory and even managed to stick the landing.

Help Is On The Way Today, a 501c3 non-profit that assists children and youth living with HIV/AIDS, is announcing their annual Gala on May 19th at the Laurie Beechman Theater. In addition, founder Joseph Macchia is announcing a name change to the charity's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs will present the 27th Annual MAC Awards on Thursday, March 21st, at B.B King Blues Club & Grill in New York City.

When it comes to the number of award shows staged in a given season, the film, TV and recording industry no longer leave New York Cabaret in the stardust. Kicking off a 10-week period during which the Big Apple cabaret scene will now feature four award ceremonies (including the first-ever BroadwayWorld.com Awards on February 21, the 28th annual Bistro Awards on March 4, and the 27th annual MAC Awards on March 21), the 11th annual Nightlife Awards (voted on by a select group of cabaret and nightlife writers and critics) was staged at The Town Hall on January 14 and, for the most part, was a pleasantly entertaining event. Co-produced by Max Weintraub and nightlife impresario Scott Siegel (Broadway by the Year, 11 O'Clock Numbers at 11 O'Clock, Broadway Ballyhoo, et al), this year's show featured the usual mix of nightclub singing legends, budding cabaret stars, solid veterans of musical theater, outstanding jazz vocalists, stellar instrumentalists, and quirky comedians, almost all delivering the goods under the smooth direction of Scott Coulter.

Bill Charlap, Julie Halston, Jim Caruso, Mark Nadler, Lauren Fox, Marilyn Maye, Faith Prince, James Barbour, Rupert Holmes, Jane Monheit, Emily Bergl, Jessica Kirson, Kate McGarry, Jason Graae and Carole J. Bufford, all took part in the Nightlife Awards hosted by Multiple Emmy Award Winner Bruce Vilanch.

On Tuesday, January 8, 2013, the Friars Club presented ELVIS: THE KING IN NEW YORK - A JAZZ & CABARET BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE. Inspired by the recent release of a lavish boxed set from Sony BMG containing all the extant audio and video recordings of Elvis Presley's only formal concert in New York.

Led by Lauren Fox, a lively group of New York cabaret all-stars, staged a rousing and highly entertaining late night benefit show called 'Cabaret Rocks the Rockaways' to raise funds for the people out in the far reaches of Queens who are still suffering from the ravages of last November's Hurricane Sandy.