Lauren Robert

On Tuesday, October 30, Teens for Food Justice(TFFJ) held its annual gala, "Feast 2018 with Chef David Laris," an immersive dinner theatre experience honoring international superstars Emilio and GloriaEstefan, model and actress Karolina Kurkovaand her husband Archie Drury at Tribeca Rooftop. The event, attended by over 250 guests, supports TFFJ's mission to galvanize a youth-led movement to eradicate food insecurity in one generation.

Connecticut and the O'Neill Theater Center in the Spotlight of This Summer's News for Women in Theater

Terrence Mann Hosts the 27th annual CT Critics Circle Awards June 26 at the Edgerton Center for the Arts in Fairfield.

The Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation celebrated its 23rd Annual Summer Benefit & Auction, a one-of-a-kind evening bringing together over 1,000 guests from the worlds of theater, art, performance, fashion, design, and society at The Watermill Center on Saturday, July 30. The event, entitled FADA: HOUSE OF MADNESS, featured new works by Watermill's International Summer Program participants that came from over 25 countries to create installations and performances throughout the eight and-a-half acre grounds. This year, The Watermill Center honored Madame Giancarla Berti.

Over a hundred volunteers led by the National Theatre of Scotland were part of a UK-wide event that took place today, 1 July 2016, as a modern memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

Denise Rich, co-founder of Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research, and singer Chloe Jane co-hosted a fundraising event last night with SCHOOL OF ROCK: THE MUSICAL on Broadway. Cancer survivors and their families joined supporters of the Foundation to enjoy a pre-show reception at The Palm in Times Square, followed by attending a performance of the show and post-show talkback with the kids who star in the show and actress Mamie Parris from the cast. Scroll down for photos from the event!

The inaugural BROADWAY'S GOT GUTS event was a spectacular evening of wonderful entertainment by Broadway's brightest singing the wonderful standards and hits sung by the late, great Nancy LaMott with proceeds supporting the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America's on November 2, 2015 at the Friars Club. Scroll down for photos!

Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage - the critically-acclaimed play about Gareth Thomas, the first professional rugby player to come out while still playing - comes to Arcola Theatre this spring (20 May - 20 June 2015) following its current tour. Directed by Max Stafford-Clark, and written by Robin Soans, the play is a co-production by Out of Joint, National Theatre Wales and Arcola Theatre.

Last December, after I posted my list of the Best Cabaret Performers of 2012, I followed up my original 'listmania' with a column that served as a way to include some 'honorable mentions,' basically a recognition of other memorable shows and performances of songs that were striking, unique, and/or original that year. The column received a positive response so I thought I'd wheel it out again this year. So as the hours tick away on 2013 and we anticipate the coming of a new year, here is an addendum to the 2013 New York Cabaret Performers of the Year--a totally random list of 30 Honorable Mentions of the 'Best' and 'Most' in Cabaret for 2013 . . . mainly because I can and it's fun. Enjoy and Happy New Year!

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.

Four songs into Lauren Robert's show at Iridium this past Tuesday night (her third appearance at the jazz club since last August), she was already producing her usual pulsating, percussive, and passionate presentation of hard-driving blues and soulful pop when the show took a transformative turn and reached a higher ground. The mature, sultry, blue-eyed blonde, whose sound goes beyond blue-eyed soul, put on her Louisiana accent cultivated from years playing down south with her old band, Mojo Hand, and told her audience that the set's fifth song was 'inspired by the swamps and sexy action of N'awlins.' Then Robert and her new band, which included three members of the old gang, really got their mojo going, jumped into a musical swamp boat and navigated through a Robert original called 'Two Alligators' (from Mojo Hand's 1992 album Zulu Parasol), an intense and rhythmic mix of blues, hard rock n' roll, and Zydeco, and that featured a cool background vocal arrangement and Robert playing a washboard-better known as a fotoi (fo-twa)-draped down her chest. Like an alligator, the song stalked and then snapped, and with Noe Matos supplying some frenetic percussion, it was a draw-dropping number that wouldn't let you stop bouncing in your seat.

Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles, Senior Vice President/Publishing Director of The Cosmopolitan Group Donna Kalajian Lagani, President of HBO Documentary Films Sheila Nevins, Broadway League Executive Director Charlotte St. Martin and the late Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Helen Gurley Brown are Women's Project Theater's 2013 Women of Achievement who were inducted at its 28th Annual Gala Celebration at the Three Sixty°,10 Desbrosses Street, on May 13, 2013. Scroll down for photos from the event!

When Dana Lorge's run as a Variety Show hosted ended at the Iguana Restaurant last July-and after winning two 2012 MAC Awards for 'Best Variety Show' and 'Best Variety Show Host'-who knew she'd be reduced to being a cabaret audience member searching for a new showcase? But a Metropolitan Room Mentch has come to the rescue in the form of Bernie Furshpan (the Met Room's General Partner and Manager), who has provided Dana with a monthly forum for her unique brand of cabaret shtick beginning Friday, April 5 at 7-8:15 pm. While the new show won't be the two-hour plus extravaganza of yore featuring more than a dozen performers, Dana's new 'Variety Show' promises to feature a solid group of experienced and well-known cabaret and musical theater pros. For the April 5 opener, the Lorge Lineup features Richard Skipper, her former Award-winning Co-host from the Iguana days; film and stage actor Jim Brochu (of Zero Mostel One-Man Show fame), singers LaTanya Hall (from the CBS show 'Blue Bloods) and Peggy Herman Klat, Rick Crom (Creator of Newsical the Musical), and Mr. Furshpan, who will show off his stand-up comedy chops. But the real star of the show will always be the hilarious, unpredictable, darling Dana, who will both crack you up with her infectious humor and surprise you with her engaging singing performances.

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs has just announced the winners of the 2013 MAC Awards, which were presented last night at the 27th Annual MAC Awards Show. The awards ceremony was held at B.B. King Blues Club, and the show was directed by Lennie Watts and produced by Julie Miller. Lifetime Achievement awards were presented to Tom Wopat and Penny Fuller. The Board of Directors Award was presented to 54 Below, and a special award was presented in memory of Ruth Kurtzman. The Hanson Award was presented to Elaine St. George. The show was hosted by KT Sullivan, with music direction by Tracy Stark, and stage management by Amy Wolk.

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.

2012 was indeed a very good year for the art of Cabaret in New York City. Here, BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Reviewer and Columnist Stephen Hanks offers up his exclusive 'Best New York Cabaret Performers of the Year' for 2012, plus some surprising honorable mentions. Let the debates begin!

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.