Edith Drake

Gabrielle Stravelli - the acclaimed pop/jazz vocalist called 'ingenious' by The Wall Street Journal and known from her tours with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, appearances at the 92nd Street Y and her long-running Soho jazz brunch - is in the midst an exclusive two week engagement at The Metropolitan Room and broadwayworld was there

Ervin Drake has had many birthday tributes recently and one of the most interesting ones was held at the legendary Friars Club. Host and well known interviewer Bill Boggs, together with music critic/historian/author Will Friedwald traced the life of the 95 year old music icon.

Clint Holmes brought his critically acclaimed show "This Thing Called Love" to Landmark On Main Street on May 10th. The show imagines the two songwriters, Cole Porter and Paul Simon, meeting at a bar and brings together such classics as Night & Day, The 59th Street Song, Have A Good Time and It's Alright with Me plus many more.

Last night more than a dozen musical theater and cabaret stars celebrated the remarkable musical career of Ervin Drake in a special concert to benefit The Gold Coast Arts Center and Landmark on Main Street, two non-profit cultural gems located on the North Shore of Long Island.

On Monday, January 27, Broadway, jazz and pop performers jammed Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland, as they have every Monday for the past ten years! The evening was made especially meaningful with the 5th 'Mentor Monday,' a monthly musical segment that pairs up and coming composers with established artists. Presenter Trevor McQueen combined Broadway's Lillias White with writers Ethan Pakchar and Douglas Lyons, a young songwriting team who began collaborating while touring with The Book of Mormon. The resulting performance was the song, 'Not Meant To Be in Love,' accompanied by Matt Aument, which gave Lillias ample opportunity to be vampy and campy and otherwise leave the audience helpless with laughter. It was a perfect way to introduce the community to Lyons & Pakchar's clever wordplay and catchy melodies!

Frank Wildhorn with Jane Monheit & Clint Holmes continues 'At the Piano in Song and Story', featuring Wildhorn's pop, jazz, and theatre songbook at Cafe Carlyle, through February 1st, 2014. Check out phtos from the concert below!

Winners of the 12th Annual Nightlife Awards and Special Guest Stars joined together to celebrate New York Nightlife on Monday, January 27th at 7 PM at The Town Hall. Special Guest Stars included Stephanie J. Block. Tony Award Winner Bill Irwin, Tony Nominee Jason Robert Brown, Recording and Concert Artist Nellie McKay, and the show's Three-Time Emmy Award-winning host, Bruce Vilanch. Check out a look behind the scenes below!

A tribute to one of the great Friars was held at the legendary club last night. Significantly it was held in the Frank Sinatra room, the crooner who is most identified with Sammy Cahn's songs. Songwriter Sammy Cahn career was presented in live performance, rare video clips, and historical lecture.

ScoBar Entertainment and Iridium NYC last night presented a one-night-only Tribute to Ervin Drake. The evening celebrated the life and music of legendary 94-year-old American songwriter whose works include Great American Songbook standards such as 'It Was A Very Good Year,' which was popularized by Frank Sinatra. Drake, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 also wrote the songs 'I Believe,' 'Good Morning Heartache,' 'Tico-Tico,' 'Perdido,' 'Now I Have Everything,' 'A Room without Windows,' 'AL DI LA,' & 'Quando Quando.' He is also the composer and lyricist of the 1964 Broadway show, What Makes Sammy Run.

Five Towns College is honoring entertainment luminaries for their Contributions to the World of Entertainment by naming four schools, three centers, a theater and a new graduate library after them. The naming dedications are: John Lennon Music & Technology Center, Charles Strouse School of Music, Jule Styne School of Theatre, Maury Yeston School of Education, Stewart F. Lane School of Business, Frank Loesser College Theater, Ervin Drake Popular Music Center, Stanley Cohen College Library, Barbara Siman Dance Center, Richard Hayman Graduate Library and the Nederlander Worldwide Production Center. Scroll down for photos from last month's dedication ceremony!

In addition to her New Year's Eve performances at the Metropolitan Room on December 31, Marilyn Maye kept the party going with five unprecedented, by-request shows during the first week of the year. 'Marilyn By Request,' in which Maye and her Billy Stritch-led band will create a new show based on audience requests, marks her return to her downtown stomping ground. Check out photos from the closing night show below!

The Broadway at Birdland concert series presents Tony Award Nominated actress and singer Anita Gillette is presenting two evenings of music and memories while taking what's being described as 'an intimate, touching and hilarious look behind the scenes from Broadway to Hollywood' in her new autobiographical one-woman show "After All." The first event took place last night, September 24 & and the second will happen on Monday, October 1 at 7pm at Birdland (315 West 44 Street, NYC). Check out photos from the concert below!

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY continues its Spring 2012 season with the return engagement of Grammy Award nominated singer and entertainer MARILYN MAYE. Her new show - "The Happiest Sound In Town" - is her annual birthday celebration and features some of her most-requested numbers including "Guess Who I Saw Today," "Bye Bye Country Boy," "Rain" and "Golden Rainbow." Another highlight of the show, "Come In From The Rain," was a personal favorite of Johnny Carson; Maye performed it many times on "The Tonight Show" at his personal invitation. Maye's recent local appearances have been received with rave reviews and full houses. The show runs through Saturday, May 5 at the Loews Regency Hotel (540 Park Avenue at 61st Street). Check out photos from the concert below!

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs presented the 26th Annual MAC Awards Show on March 29th. The awards ceremony was held at B.B. King Blues Club, and the show was directed by Lennie Watts and produced by Julie Miller. BWW was there to cover the event. Check out the photos below!

Friars Freddie Roman, Stewie Stone & Irv Welzer, Dick Capri held a mini roast for Friar Stewart F. Lane to kick off the release of his new book Jews On Broadway at The Friars Club on Wednesday night.

A world premiere screening of the Sondheim: The Birthday Concert was held at the NYIT Auditorium on November 1, 2010 and attended by cast, crew and friends. The star-studded event, Sondheim! The Birthday Concert, celebrating the 80th birthday of the Broadway and film legend Stephen Sondheim with performances of his music and songs by some of the world's biggest talents, will make its debut on PBS stations across the country on November 24th, thanks to the Emmy Award-winning producer Ellen M. Krass and multiple Tony Award-winning co-producers Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley in association with Thirteen/WNET and Image Entertainment. The production, which is hosted by David Hyde Pierce, will air at 9PM ET (check local listings).

Utilizing songs from John Denver, one of America's most cherished songwriters and performers, A MOMENT IN TIME, is about a marine in Afghanistan who, moments before a battle, recalls a safer, happier place. The new musical, written by Stewart F. Lane, got its world premiere at Five Towns College, Dix Hills, New York, on June 25, 2010.

Last night, June 14, The Town Hall celebrated the Broadway By The Year® 10th Anniversary Celebration - Broadway By The Year 1990-2010, Created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel for the Town Hall, the Broadway performers included Norm Lewis (The Little Mermaid, Sondheim on Sondheim), Karen Mason (Mama Mia!), Astaire Award-winner Spencer Liff (Cry- Baby), Michael Winther (Mama Mia!), Douglas Ladnier (Jekyll & Hyde), Ann Harada (Avenue Q), four-time Tony® Award nominee Gregg Edelmann (Tale of Two Cities), Alexander Gemignani (Les Miserables), Tony® Award winner Debbie Gravitte, Kendrick Jones (The Scottsboro Boys), three-time Tony® Award nominee Mark Kudisch (9 to 5), Tony® Award nominee Bobby Steggert (Ragtime), Julia Murney (Wicked), Max Von Essen (Xanadu national tour), Tony ® Award nominee Barbara Wash (Company) and Lari White (Ring of Fire). Broadway by the Year 1990-2010 was directed by Nightlife Award winner Scott Coulter, who also performed in the show.

Grammy Award-winner and platinum-selling recording artist Melissa Manchester joined the cast of The Town Hall's Broadway Musicals of 1948 on Monday, March 22. Continuing the 10th Anniversary celebration of The Town Hall's Broadway by the Year ® concert series, Manchester joined the cast of musical theater performers celebrating shows that graced Broadway stages in 1948, including Cole Porter's classic Kiss Me Kate and Frank Loesser's Where's Charley?. The show was hosted, created and written for The Town Hall by Scott Siegel.

This week, January 25, stars celebrated the winners of the 2010 Nightlife Awards at The Town Hall. Among the winners and performers were Christine Ebersole, Cheyenne Jackson, Johnny Rodgers, Gretchen Reinhagen, Anne Steele, Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano. Additional winners included Kurt Elling, Hank Jones, Sheila Jordan, Bad Plus, Baby Jane Dexter, Louis CK, John Mulaney, and Slovin and Allen.