Stephen Hanks News

During the 1940s and '50s, composer and jazz pianist Bobby Troup was getting his kicks writing songs like the classic "Route 66." Over that same period, Scotty Bowers was getting his kicks as "Hollywood's Gentleman Hustler" and Los Angeles' legendary "Pimp to the Stars." Now, New York-based cabaret star JEFF MACAULEY, who for three consecutive years (2016-2018) has been nominated for the MAC Award as "Best Male Vocalist," is connecting the stories of these two men and performing the best of the Bobby Troup Songbook in his new show: WHERE DID THE GENTLEMAN GO? THE SONGS OF BOBBY TROUP & THE LIFE OF SCOTTY BOWERS. The four-show run will open at PANGEA, Downtown's Alternative Supper-Club (178 Second Avenue, between 11th & 12th Streets) on Friday, September 14 at 7 pm.

2018 MAC Award Best Female Vocalist to Perform at Tin Pan Alley in P-Town (8/14, 15, 23 & 9/8) and Critically Acclaimed MY SHIP: SONGS FROM 1941 at Cape Cod's Cotuit Center on 9/7 at 7:30 pm

After five years of teaching, running a theatre department, singing in a big band, and fighting cancer, Singer/Actor BRUCE CLOUGH returns to the New York DON'T TELL MAMA stage--the scene of his many past Cabaret triumphs--to celebrate times in his life when something awesome came from something awful. On Sunday, July 15 at 3:30 PM, Bruce brings SILVER LININGS to Don't Tell Mama (343 W 46th St., between 8th & 9th Ave). Featuring his Musical Director Jeff Dershin on piano, and backup vocalists Barbara Gurskey and Stephen Belfatti, Bruce will tell his poignant and inspirational life stories through classic Broadway show tunes, popular film songs, and eclectic pop music from the 1960s to the 2000s, featuring compositions by Irving Berlin, Jerry Herman, Stevie Wonder, Randy Newman, Jonathan Larson, Van Morrison, Weird Al Yankovic, and more.

Five years after her well-received show 'Jazz and Cocktails,' 2008 MAC Award nominee Kathryne Langford returns to the cabaret stage with a compelling and topical new show, 'For What It's Worth.' Directed by multiple MAC Award winner Lennie Watts, Langford's show features songs by Stephen Stills, Bob Dylan, Lennon & McCartney, Sting, David Frishberg, Johnny Mercer and Henri Mancini, and more. The show is at Don't Tell Mama on July 13, September 7, and November 13, all at 7 pm.

Provincetown CabaretFest 2018 (May 31 to June 3) will feature over thirty vocalists, musicians and comedians, appearing in the Paramount Room of The Crown and Anchor, during its Friday night show 'Music, Music, Music'. The Friday evening show is the largest variety show every produced in the festival's eighteen-year history. The entertainers hail from all over the U.S. and will perform in a variety of shows, in one of the most extensive cabaret festivals in Massachusetts. All festival events share theme of sophisticated and soulful 1950s music and will showcase the unique art form of live cabaret.

New York-based Cabaret producer, performer, promoter, and former reviewer (for Cabaret Scenes Magazine and BroadwayWorld.com) Stephen Hanks is in the midst of a serious love-hate relationship. He loves the art form of Cabaret and hates the dramatic rise of voter suppression and white supremacy in America during the current Republican Party rule of all three branches of the United States Government. So with the November 2018 Midterm elections on the horizon, Hanks has decided to combine the objects of his love and his hate and channel that energy into political action on behalf of the Democratic and Progressive candidates running for the US Senate, the House of Representatives, and perhaps some state governorships in November.

Lane Bradbury - dainty June to Ethel Merman's Rose in the original Broadway production of Gypsy - returned to the stage of Don't Tell Mama cabaret theater for another rousing performance of her current cabaret, LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, AGAIN with a script by award-winning playwright, Doug DeVita.

Just four months after acclaimed Musical Director Barry Levitt tragically died of a heart attack just hours before a performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, Charlotte Patton--a beloved performer for whom Levitt frequently played and was one of his closest friends in Cabaret--died early Thursday morning at Mt. Sinai Hospital after an almost two-year battle with cancer. Both passed away at the age of 70. 

Urban Stages presents this year's award-winning series, WINTER RHYTHMS 2017, which begins tonight, December 12, featuring some of New York's best musical performances through Saturday, December 23, 2017 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, just East of 8th Avenue).

JANICE HALL has made the journey seamlessly and successfully. After a long career on the international opera stage, Hall joined the New York cabaret scene in 2007 and just four years later won a Bistro Award and MAC Award for her critically acclaimed solo show, Grand Illusions: The Music of Marlene Dietrich. Hall has now created a truly unique new show THE OPERA SHOW (WITH NO OPERA)--that merges the two art forms and that will be launched at the Urban Stages WINTER RHYTHMS Series on Saturday, December 16 at 3 pm.

Cabaret Producer, Promoter, and Performer Stephen Hanks has been chosen by Urban Stages Founding Artistic Director Frances Hill and Director of Musical Theatre Peter Napolitano to Produce and Host the Opening and Closing Night Gala Shows for the organization's Ninth Annual WINTER RHYTHMS SERIES, running this year from December 12 through December 23 at the Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues).

Urban Stages announces the line-up for this year's award-winning series, WINTER RHYTHMS 2017, which will begin Tuesday, December 12 and will feature some of New York's best musical performances through Saturday, December 23, 2017 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, just East of 8th Avenue).

During an evening when Mabel Mercer Foundation President and New York Cabaret Convention Producer KT Sullivan devoted a number of opening night spots in the 28th year of the four-day extravaganza (October 16-19 at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center) to a younger generation of singers and a few veterans making their Convention debuts, the Grande Dame of Cabaret was the star of the night.

Over the past five years, Jeff Macauley has arguably been one of the most prolific performers on the New York Cabaret scene, garnering rave reviews and award nominations for shows paying tribute to legendary composers such as Norman Gimbel, Henry Mancini, and Michel Legrand. Now Macauley is thrilled to be reviving another highly praised show that he first performed more than 20 years ago--a celebration of the Golden Age of music in films called Hollywood Party-Movie Songs 1928-1936. The three-date run-with Macauley's long-time Musical Director Tex Arnold at piano-launches at Pangea, Downtown's Alternative Supper-Club, on October 30 at 7 pm (other dates are November 30 and December 15, also at 7 pm).

Barry Levitt the acclaimed pianist, conductor, composer, musical director and mensch passed away on September 21 after suffering a massive heart attack at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on Sept 21st.

In 1959, theater, film, and TV star LANE BRADBURY created the role of Dainty June in the original Broadway production of the iconic show GYPSY starring Ethel Merman. Now, almost 60 years later, Bradbury is making her debut at the legendary cabaret Don't Tell Mama with LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, AGAIN. Bradbury's musical trip down memory lane is a personal tour of how she transitioned from being an Atlanta Debutante to a performer on The Great White Way during the Golden Age of Broadway Musicals. Written by Doug DeVita, directed by Bradbury's daughter Elkin Antoniou, and with Musical Direction by Joe Goodrich, Lane Bradbury's LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, AGAIN hits the Don't Tell Mama stage for a third performance on Sunday, September 24 at 7 pm.

In 1959, theater, film, and TV star LANE BRADBURY created the role of 'Dainty June' in the original Broadway production of the iconic show GYPSY starring Ethel Merman. Now, almost 60 years later, Bradbury is making her debut at the legendary cabaret Don't Tell Mama with LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, AGAIN. Bradbury's musical trip down memory lane is a personal tour of how she transitioned from being an Atlanta Debutante to a performer on 'The Great White Way' during the Golden Age of Broadway Musicals.

Published every Monday morning, BroadwayWorld Cabaret writers will pick their top recommendations for shows throughout NYC during the upcoming week.

Award-winning cabaret performer Julie Reyburn launched her career in 2000 with the show 'Fate Is Kind'--first at a Singer's Forum benefit and then for a run at Judy's Chelsea-and it so captured the hearts and minds of audiences it earned Reyburn the 2001 MAC and Bistro Awards for 'Outstanding Female Cabaret Debut.' Fifteen years later, the show inspired cabaret show producer and publicist Stephen Hanks to create the series New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits at the Metropolitan Room. Now Julie Reyburn is bringing back this celebrated cabaret piece for a two-show run at the legendary club, Don't Tell Mama (W 46th St, between 8th & 9th Ave) on March 25 and April 22, both shows at 7 pm.