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Broadway at the Cabaret - Top 5 Cabaret Picks for June 6-12, Featuring Andrew Rannells, Tom Wopat, and More!

By: Jun. 05, 2016
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Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestras begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City.

Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including:

Click here for BroadwayWorld's Full Cabaret Listings!


Show Biz After Hours With Frank DiLella with Andrew Rannells, James Lecesne, and Rachel Bay Jones

Where: Birdland NYC (315 W 44th Street)

When: June 6th at 7:00 PM

Tickets: $30 http://www.birdlandjazz.com/event/1137143-show-biz-after-hours-frank-new-york/

The Broadway at Birdland concert series is proud to announce that NY1 theater journalist Frank DiLella will return to the Birdland stage with the fifth episode of his new talk show, "Show Biz After Hours With Frank DiLella." Frank's very special guests will include Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon, "Girls," upcoming Falsettos), Rachel Bay Jones (Dear Evan Hansen, Pippin), James Lecesne (The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey). The event will be taped in front of a live audience on Monday, June 6 at 7pm.

"Show Biz After Hours With Frank DiLella" is a regular theater-based live talk show featuring Broadway movers-and-shakers, impromptu musical performances, audience interaction, and a cocktail or two! Musical director for the show will be performer and composer Randy Redd. The show will be filmed and aired on Time Warner Cable's Video On Demand System.

Frank DiLella's celebrity interviews, along with his in-depth reporting of the theatrical scene for NY1, have helped make him a universally trusted friend and confidant, as well as one of the most popular personalities in entertainment journalism.

Frank DiLella joined NY1 in 2004 and now produces and reports for "On Stage," the news channel's weekly half-hour theater program. Working the entertainment beat, DiLella has interviewed many legendary artists including Edward Albee, Tom Hanks, Vanessa Redgrave, Bono, August Wilson, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Bette Midler, Hugh Jackman, Tom Stoppard, Carol Channing, James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera, Jane Fonda, Elaine Stritch, Angela Lansbury, Lady Gaga, Tony Kushner, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Ben Vereen. In the fall of 2009, DiLella and the "On Stage" team were honored by the New York Musical Theater Festival for their weekly coverage of NYC theater. In addition to filing reports on the Broadway and off-Broadway scenes, DiLella has traveled internationally to cover theater in Japan, Hong Kong, England, Scotland, Germany, and Canada.

In May 2013, Time Warner Cable launched a spin-off of "On Stage" entitled "On Stage Across America." The monthly program, which is produced and co-hosted by DiLella, shines a spotlight on Broadway theater, national tours, regional theater, and high school plays. In addition to his work at NY1, DiLella is a contributing correspondent for Playbill, the national theater magazine, and has given lectures on theater and journalism at Hofstra University and The American Theatre Wing. He has also appeared as a theater correspondent for the BBC, Sirius XM, "The Early Show" on CBS, CTV, The American Theatre Wing, and Al Jazeera TV - as well as in the 2010 documentary, "Pitmen Painters - A Brush with Broadway." In 2013, he appeared on NBC's "Smash," portraying himself. DiLella received a B.A in communications/journalism with a minor in theater from Fordham University at Lincoln Center. DiLella has since returned to his alma mater as an adjunct professor teaching theater journalism.

Click here for more information.


Tom Wopat

Where: Metropolitan Room (34 W 22nd Street)

When: June 6th at 7:00 PM

Tickets: $35-115 http://metropolitanroom.com/event.cfm?id=227557&cart

All it takes is a phrase or two from Tom Wopat's warm, engaging baritone to trigger the desire to hear more. And the more one listens, the better it gets - from the way he finds the heart of a song's story to his lyrical phrasing and his gently swinging, jazz-infused rhythms.

That's a large handful of uniquely appealing qualities, and they're all over the fourteen utterly captivating tunes on I've Got Your Number.Tom applies his far-ranging interpretive skills to discovering new, intriguing musical twists in such Great American Songbook classics as "The Good Life," "The Folks Who Live On The Hill," "Call Me," "Born To Be Blue," "I Won't Dance" and, of course, the title track. As if that wasn't enough, he also takes his listeners on adventurous new journeys through contemporary songs from the likes of Paul Simon, Judy Collins, Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Hornsby and James Taylor.

At first glance, that could be viewed as a surprisingly diverse program of material from a performer who may be best known for his starring role in the '80s hit television series The Dukes of Hazzard. But his versatility was there from the beginning, and on full display in a career reaching from his television work of the '70s and '80s to high visibility Broadway roles in 1999's Annie Get Your Gun and 2008's Catered Affair (he received Tony Award nominations for both), as well as Chicago, Forty-Second St., Sondheim on Sondheim and more.

But with I've Got Your Number, Tom's musical expedition has traveled into colorful territory. Backed by a thirty-piece orchestra he fulfills his desire to focus on what he describes as the "orchestra/big band hybrid of the '60s and '70s." "Like the Bobby Darin stuff," he says. "Frank Sinatra did big band stuff then, too. Everybody did. And we really wanted to go for that - in the standards we've done as well as in the contemporary tunes. We've evoked the spirit of the New York supper club era and the cool vibe of the Mad Men days, that's really what we're doing. The music swings hard and there's a lot of really, really fine music."

At a time when male vocal artists have been in fairly short supply, his singing is a welcome addition to the contemporary jazz scene.

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Kurt Weill on Broadway with Mary Testa and Friends

Where: 54 Below (254 W 54th Street)

When: June 7th at 7:00 PM

Tickets: $30-65 at https://54below.com/events/kurt-weill-broadway-mary-testa-friends/

Gritty, politically charged, and psychologically fraught, the music of Kurt Weill remains as potent and sharp as when it was written over 60 years ago. Kurt Weill on Broadway explores the canon of the German composer's extensive output, including Broadway favorite Threepenny Opera, which has been revived every decade since its premiere, Lady in the Dark, Street Scene, One Touch of Venus, among others. Weill's music represents the finest intersection of the classical and pop worlds. Come hear the music that has influenced generations of composers sung by some of the finest singers in New York, including Broadway veteran and Feinstein's/54 Below favorite, Mary Testa.

Presented by Light Opera of New York and Eric Sweeney.

Also featuring:

Maria Failla (Lotte Lenya finalist)
Gillian Hassert (LOONY: American Songbook Concert)
Jacob Keith Watson (Broadway: Violet; Nat'l Tour: Chicago)
Michael Maliakel (2015 Gold Medal winner at the American Traditions Competition; 2015 Third Prize winner Lotte Lenya Competition.)

Musical Direction by Matthew Stephens.

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Victoria Cook

Where: 54 Below (254 W 54th Street)

When: June 8th at 9:30 PM

Tickets: $25-60 at https://54below.com/events/victoria-cook/

Introducing Victoria Cook - come witness the birth of a star. Victoria Cook (Into The Woods, 44 West Entertainment) will take you on a journey through a woman's heart and soul. Her unique, multi octave, soulful voice will soar through the American Songbook, with songs from Funny Girl and Evening Primrose, as well as tunes associated with Bette Midler and Minnie Riperton. Backed by the best in the business, Jessica Hendy(Aida), Max Chernin (Bright Star), and Blaine Krauss (Lion King) will join Victoria on stage.

In addition, Dylan Glatthorn (Republic, Alan Menken Award winner) will return to Feinstein's/ 54 Below with 'The Glatthorns', a 7 piece brass band, and all new arrangements to bring life to songs you love and songs you will soon treasure. With this amount of talent on stage, Victoria Cook is certainly going to make her mark with this stunning debut concert.

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Women in the World of Sondheim: Katie Welsh and Emily Whitaker

Where: 54 Below (254 W 54th Street)

When: June 10th at 9:30 PM

Tickets: $25-65 at https://54below.com/events/women-in-the-world-of-sondheim-katie-welsh-and-emily-whitaker/

In this evening of song, singer Katie Welsh and pianist Emily Whitaker consider what it means to be a "Sondheim woman" by exploring twelve female characters from the musicals of Stephen Sondheim. How are the Sondheim women in conversation with one another and with the Golden Age musical heroines who came before them in Broadway history? What can we learn about these women when we put them "side by side - by side?" Katie considers these questions as she sings songs from beloved musicals such as Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, Company, Merrily We Roll Along, Follies, and many others, with Emily on the keys. This piece is an adaptation of a project originally directed by Suzanne Agins. It has been previously developed at Princeton University.

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