Norm Lewis, André De Shields, & More Nominated for 2025 MAC Awards - See the Full List

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) has revealed the 39th Annual MAC Awards. The awards presentation and show will take place on Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 7:00 pm, at Peter Norton Symphony Space at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street in New York City.   

The MAC Awards will honor excellence in NYC nightlife during the 2024 calendar year. In addition to live musical performances at the show, competitive awards will be presented in multiple categories to performers, songwriters, directors, musical directors, piano bar performers, behind-the-scenes technical experts, and more, as well as the presentation of special honoree awards.

The envelopes will be opened and the winners will be announced live at the MAC Awards show. At the event, MAC will present a Lifetime Achievement Award to theater and cabaret legend CHARLES BUSCH.  Tickets are available here.

The MAC Awards show is produced by JULIE MILLER and directed by AMY WOLK. The musical director and leader of the MAC Awards Band will be JOHN BRONSTON.

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THE 2025 MAC AWARD NOMINEES ARE:

FEMALE VOCALIST

AMY BETH WILLIAMS
In Reverse
Don't Tell Mama

JOSEPHINE SANGES
How My Heart Sings
Pangea, Hewitt/Woodmere Public Library 

MARGARET CURRY
The Space In-Between
The Laurie Beechman Theatre, The Green Room 42

NATASHA CASTILLO
That’s My Music: Growing Up with the Carpenters
Don’t Tell Mama

SARAH CARSON
Strange Magic - A Musical Journey Through the Unconscious Mind
Don't Tell Mama

SUSAN MACK
No More Blues, The Susan Mack Quintet
Birdland, Jazz on Main, Maureen’s Jazz Cellar

MALE VOCALIST

CHRISTOPHER CASWELL
Listen to My Heart
The Laurie Beechman Theatre, Arts Project of Cherry Grove

RIAN KEATING
Songs from My Trunk
Don’t Tell Mama

TIM CONNELL
Tis the Season, It’s the Joy in Your Heart
The Green Room 42, Pangea

WOODY REGAN
From There to Here
Don’t Tell Mama

MAJOR ARTIST – FEMALE

CAROLE J. BUFFORD
You Don’t Own Me, Come Together, Yuletide Carole
54 Below, Birdland 

MARIEANN MERINGOLO
The Birthday Show: Vintage 1964, 25 Years of Musical Magic, In the Spirit 2024
The Green Room 42, Chelsea Table + Stage

NICOLE ZURAITIS
Birdland

TANYA MOBERLY
Standards
Don’t Tell Mama 

MAJOR ARTIST – MALE

ARI AXELROD
A Place for Us, Self-Portrait
Birdland, Bay Street Theater

CRAIG POMRANZ
Berlin to Dylan to Simon and Garfunkel: It’s All Kosher
Don’t Tell Mama, The Gardenia

CRAIG RUBANO
Take the Moment
The Laurie Beechman Theatre, UU Congregation of Monmouth County

KIM DAVID SMITH
Kim Sings Kylie (You Hear it and You Know), More Mostly Marlene, A Wery Weimar Christmas, Death of Classical’s “Tiergarten”
Bard Spiegeltent, Post Office Ptown, Club Cumming, Great Hall at St Mary’s Church, Joe’s Pub

NICOLAS KING

Various
Post Office PTown, 54 Below, Davenport’s, Crooners

NEW YORK DEBUT – FEMALE

AVERY NUSBAUM
It’s A Girl
Don’t Tell Mama

JENN BORNSTEIN
Diary of a Pizza Bagel’s Daughter
Don’t Tell Mama 

LaRAISHA DiEVELYN DIONNE
Journey to the Center
Don’t Tell Mama

SHEREE SANO
Tension and Release – The Cole Porter I Know and Love
Salmagundi Art Room, Winchester Garden, The Ellington Room

NEW YORK DEBUT – MALE

M. CAN YASAR
Turkish Rhapsody
Don’t Tell Mama

MATTHEW MARTIN WARD
What I Love
Don’t Tell Mama 

MICHAEL RIDER
This ‘Ol House: Stories of a City Bear, Country Queen
Chelsea Table + Stage, The Green Room 42

CELEBRITY ARTIST

ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY
Finding Beauty
54 Below 

ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY AND LIZ CALLAWAY
NY State of Mind
54 Below  

BETH LEAVEL
Beth Leavel, Beth Leavel Sings Sondheim
54 Below

BILLY STRITCH
Birdland

GABRIELLE STRAVELLI
Birdland

NORM LEWIS
Summertime, The Best of Christmas
54 Below

SALLY MAYES
Now and Then
The Green Room 42

ICON

ADAM PASCAL AND ANTHONY RAPP
Celebrating Friendship and History
54 Below 

ANDRE DESHIELDS
André DeShields Celebrates The 40th Anniversary of Harlem Nocturne
54 Below

JENNIFER HOLLIDAY
An Intimate Evening
Red Eye NY, Catalina Jazz Club, Café Carlyle

TONY DANZA
Standards and Stories
54 Below

IMPERSONATION/CHARACTERIZATION/DRAG ARTIST

CHEO BOURNE
The Bucket List
Don’t Tell Mama 

KIKI BALL-CHANGE
Hoe Down!
Red Eye NY, Joe’s Pub, Crown and Anchor

SHANNON DALEY

Love And Let Die: Confessions of a Bond Girl
Don’t Tell Mama 

VARLA JEAN MERMAN
The Errors Tour
Red Eye NY, Crown and Anchor

MUSICAL COMEDY PERFORMER

AMY WOLK
Amy Has Some Things To Wolk On
Don’t Tell Mama

BECCA KIDWELL
If You Hadn’t But You Did: songs of love, sex, and murder
Don’t Tell Mama, Club Café Boston

LENA MOY-BORGEN
A Very Jewish Christmas Story
Don’t Tell Mama

LILA DAY
More of the Same
Pangea, Don’t Tell Mama

DUO/GROUP

ERIC COMSTOCK AND BARBARA FASANO
Birdland

KAREN MACK AND ELLIOT ROTH
Twofer Tuesday, Live at The Sands, Elliot & Karen's 3rd Ever Holiday Thing
Pangea, Crown and Anchor, The Triad

SETH SIKES AND NICOLAS KING
The New Belters Sing MGM
Mansion at Saratoga, The Red Room, 54 Below 

REVUE

FIND THE ROAD - A JOHN M. COOK ANTHOLOGY
Created and written by John M. Cook
Don’t Tell Mama 

HOLIDAY REGARDS
Created and written by Michael Colby
Urban Stages

JOE ICONIS AND FAMILY
Created, written, and directed by Joe Iconis
54 Below, The Laurie Beechman Theatre 

RECURRING SERIES

THE AMERICAN POPULAR SONG SOCIETY SERIES
Created, produced, and hosted by Linda Amiel Burns
Don’t Tell Mama

JIM CARUSO’S CAST PARTY
Created, produced, and hosted by Jim Caruso
Birdland

THE LINEUP
Created and hosted by Susie Mosher, produced by Hope Royaltey
Birdland

SONDHEIM UNPLUGGED
Created by Phil Geoffrey Bond, produced by Lucia Spina and Rob Maitner
54 Below

SPOTLIGHT ON YOU OPEN MIC
Produced and hosted by Natasha Castillo, co-created with John Koprowski
53 Above

EMCEE

GOLDIE DVER
Sneak Peek
Don’t Tell Mama

JIM CARUSO
Cast Party
Birdland 

SUSIE MOSHER
The Lineup
Birdland 

TRIBUTE SHOW

CAROLYN MONTGOMERY
GirlSINGER, A Celebration of Rosemary Clooney
Birdland, 54 Below

DEBORAH ZECHER AND JOSHUA ZECHER-ROSS
Family Matters: A Celebration of all Things Rodgers, Rodgers, and Guettel (Richard, Mary, and Adam)
Don’t Tell Mama

GOLDIE DVER
What A Man! Goldie Dver Sings Anthony Newley
Don’t Tell Mama, Salmagundi Club

KATI NEIHEISEL
London by Night (Julie London)
Pangea

RENEE KATZ
Renee Katz Sings Irving Berlin: Lost in His Arms
Don’t Tell Mama 

SPECIAL PRODUCTION

DON’T CRY FOR ME - MY YESHIVA
Written, produced, and performed by Joe Fox, directed by Lennie Watts, musical direction by Dan Furman
Don’t Tell Mama

GRAND HOTEL: THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION
Produced by Walter Willison, musical director Alex Rybeck
54 Below

JOE ICONIS CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA
Created and written by Joe Iconis, produced by Jennifer Ashley Tepper, directed by John Simpkins
54 Below           

MAMA’S NEXT BIG ACT
Produced by Don’t Tell Mama and Lennie Watts, created by Lennie Watts, musical direction by Yasuhiko Fukuoka
Don’t Tell Mama

DIRECTOR

BARRY KLEINBORT
Lorna Dallas/Snapshots (Chelsea Table + Stage), Karen Mason/Just in Styne (Birdland), Jason Henderson/Getting to Noël You (Don’t Tell Mama) Jeff Harnar (54 Below, Birdland), Ann Kittredge/Romantic Notions (Chelsea Table + Stage)

JEFF HARNAR
Craig Rubano/Take the Moment (The Laurie Beechman Theatre), Celia Berk/A Dream and a Song (54 Below), Renee Katz/Lost in His Arms (Don’t Tell Mama), Josephine Sanges/How My Heart Sings (Pangea), Richard Holbrook/Twenty+Four in 2024 (54 Below) 

LENNIE WATTS
Sarah Carson/ Strange Magic - A Musical Journey Through the Unconscious Mind (Don’t Tell Mama); M. Can Yasar/Turkish Rhapsody (Don’t Tell Mama); Deborah Zecher and Joshua Zecher-Ross/Family Matters: A Celebration of All Things Rodgers, Rodgers, and Guettel (Richard, Mary, and Adam) (Don’t Tell Mama); Shannon Daley/Love and Let Die: Confessions of a Bond Girl (Don’t Tell Mama); Joe Fox/Don’t Cry for Me - My Yeshiva (Don’t Tell Mama)

LINA KOUTRAKOS
Margaret Curry/The Space In-Between (The Laurie Beechman Theatre, The Green Room 42), Kati Neiheisel/London By Night (Pangea), Susan Mack/No More Blues (Birdland), Marieann Meringolo/The Birthday Show, Vintage 1964 (The Green Room 42), Dawn Derow/Woman’s Work (The Cutting Room)

TANYA MOBERLY
Amy Beth Williams/In Reverse (Don’t Tell Mama), Marnie Klar/Karen Carpenter Covers (Don’t Tell Mama), Woody Regan/From There to Here (Don’t Tell Mama), Rian Keating/Songs from My Trunk (Don’t Tell Mama), Dan Thaler/These are the Days (Don’t Tell Mama)

MUSICAL DIRECTOR

BILLY STRITCH
Jim Caruso’s Cast Party (Birdland), Gabrielle Stravelli (Birdland), David Marino (Birdland), Tribute to Fred Ebb (Birdland) 

DARNELL WHITE
BoyOnBillBoard (54 Below), Melba Moore/To Broadway with Love (54 Below), Diva LaMarr, Darnell White/Just the Two Of Us (Pangea), Michael Ray Fisher Does Marilyn Maye (54 Below), The Garfunkles (Café Carlyle)

GREGORY TOROIAN
Margaret Curry/The Space In-Between (The Laurie Beechman Theatre, The Green Room 42), Kati Neiheisel/London By Night (Pangea), Maria Corsaro and Leslie Vincent/An Evening of Jazz (Don’t Tell Mama), Debra Ta and Gregory Toroian/Reservations for Two (Don’t Tell Mama)

TEDD FIRTH
Susan Mack/No More Blues (Birdland), Carolyn Montgomery/Girl Singer (54 Below), Melissa Errico/A Manhattan Valentine (Birdland), Marilyn Maye/By Request (54 Below), Sally Mayes/Now and Then (The Green Room 42)

TRACY STARK
Kim David Smith/Various (Joe’s Pub, Club Cumming), Brenda Braxton/Stars Tonight! (54 Below), Meg Flather/The Brick Room Tour (Don’t Tell Mama), Can Yasar/Turkish Rhapsody (Don’t Tell Mama), Jeanne McDonald live at the Eldred Preserve (The Eldred Preserve) 

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

ADAM DeCARLO 
Deborah Zecher & Joshua Zecher-Ross/Family Matters (Don't Tell Mama); Meg Flather/The Brick Room Tour (Don't Tell Mama); Claudine Cassan-Jellison/Memory Laps (Don't Tell Mama); Sarah Carson/ Strange Magic - A Musical Journey Through the Unconscious Mind  (Don't Tell Mama); Marjorie Sanua's Secrets of Life (Don't Tell Mama); Shannon Daley/Love and Let Die (Don't Tell Mama)

AMANDA RAYMOND/ BECKY MORRIS
Marilyn Maye/By Request (54 Below); The Callaways/New York State of Mind (54 Below); Lee Roy Reams/Uncensored! (54 Below); Grand Hotel Cast Reunion Concert (54 Below)  

GIAN DiCOSTANZO
Fidelity Theatricals/Selections from Hair (Don’t Tell Mama); Joe Fox/Don’t Cry For Me, My Yeshiva (Don’t Tell Mama); Eden Casteel/Kahn Artist (Don’t Tell Mama); Jay Daniels/Jay Walking (Don’t Tell Mama); Hope Levy/The Connie Converse Universe (Don’t Tell Mama)

KELLY WOHLFORD
Lost in his Arms: Renee Katz Sings Irving Berlin (Don’t Tell Mama); Andrea Marcovicci/Beyond Compare (Don’t Tell Mama); American Popular Songbook Society (Don’t Tell Mama); Yael Rasooly and Daniel Rein/Hymn to Love-A Cabaret with Piaf (Don’t Tell Mama); Goldie Dver/What a Man! - The Songs of Anthony Newley (Don’t Tell Mama)

SHERIDAN GLOVER
Leslie Carrara-Rudolph/Moonlight Madness (The Green Room 42); Reeve Carney Performs the Music of Prince (The Green Room 42); Ava Nicole Francis/The Dream That I See (The Green Room 42); Madeline Dalton/Swingin' with Sara (The Green Room 42); Natalie Joy Johnson/Songs from the Bunker (The Green Room 42)

ENSEMBLE INSTRUMENTALIST

DON KELLY, drums/percussion 
Can Yaser/Turkish Rhapsody (Don’t Tell Mama); Eve Eaton/Back to Billy (Don’t Tell Mama); Marnie Klar/Karen Carpenter Covers (Don’t Tell Mama); Natasha Castillo/Growing Up with the Carpenters (Don’t Tell Mama); Sarah Carson/ Strange Magic - A Musical Journey Through the Unconscious Mind  (Don’t Tell Mama) 

MATT SCHARFGLASS, bass
Can Yasar/A Turkish Rhapsody (Don’t Tell Mama); Carolyn Montgomery/girlSINGER, A Celebration of Rosemary Clooney (54 Below); Jenn Bornstein/Diary of a Pizza Bagel's Daughter (Don’t Tell Mama); Marnie Klar/Karen Carpenter Covers (Don’t Tell Mama); Tanya Moberly/I Love NY Songwriters (Don’t Tell Mama)

RITT HENN, bass
Amanda McBroom/Wintersong (Birdland); Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway/NY State of Mind (54 Below); Jeff Harnar/It’s Delovely (Birdland); Renee Katz/ Lost in His Arms (Don’t Tell Mama); Tanya Moberly/Standards (Don’t Tell Mama)

SKIP WARD, bass
Brenda Braxton/Stars Tonight! (54 Below); Kati Neiheisel/London by Night (Pangea); Leslie Vincent and Maria Corsaro/An Evening of Jazz with Leslie Vincent and Maria Corsaro (Don’t Tell Mama); Margaret Curry/The Space In-Between (The Laurie Beechman Theatre); Michael Rider/This ‘Ol House: Stories of a City Bear, Country Queen (Chelsea Table + Stage) 

PIANO BAR SINGING ENTERTAINER – UPTOWN

ANDRE JORDAN
Don’t Tell Mama

ANNA ANDERSON
Don’t Tell Mama, Brandy’s

ELAINE BRIER
Don’t Tell Mama

JENNIFER PACE
Brandy’s

JON SATROM
Don’t Tell Mama, Brandy’s

TARA MARTINEZ
Don’t Tell Mama

PIANO BAR SINGING ENTERTAINER – DOWNTOWN

ALANA DIAZ
Stonewall, The Duplex 

MARIA GENTILE
The Duplex, Stonewall

MILES WHITTAKER
Stonewall

SUSAN CAMPANARO
Stonewall 

PIANO BAR INSTRUMENTALIST – UPTOWN

ALEXANDRA FREDERICK
The Townhouse, Don’t Tell Mama, Da Marino

BILL ZEFFIRO
Le Rivage, Tudor City Steakhouse, Da Marino 

GERRY DEIFFENBACH
Don’t Tell Mama

JOE REGAN
Don’t Tell Mama

NATE BUCCIERI
Don’t Tell Mama, Brandy’s

WILL TN HALL
Don’t Tell Mama, Brandy’s 

PIANO BAR INSTRUMENTALIST – DOWNTOWN

BRANDON JAMES GWINN
Marie’s Crisis

DAN PARDO
Stonewall 

DARNELL WHITE
The Nines, Soho Grand Club Room 

KENNEY GREEN-TILFORD
Marie’s Crisis

SONG

ABOUT LOVE
Music and Lyrics by Bob Levy

BETTER PLACE
Music and Lyrics by Tracy Stark

BIG DREAMS
Music by Teresa Eggertsen Cooke, Lyrics by Andy Jackson

LITTLE DID I KNOW
Music and Lyrics by Ava Nicole Frances

LOOKING BACK
Music by Michael Leonard, Lyrics by Jane Scheckter and Roger Schore

THE MOON IS A KITE
Music and Lyrics by Ann Hampton Callaway 

WAIT 
Music and Lyrics by Drew Fornarola 

COMEDY/NOVELTY SONG

THE BAGEL’S IN MY SOUL
Music and Lyrics by Daniel Cainer

LUV SCHMUV
Music by David Alpher, Lyrics by Jennie Litt

OL’ SANTA FELL IN LOVE WITH A HOT KNISH
Music and Lyrics by John A. Todras

SHE LIKES ME
Music by Tom Toce, Lyrics by Bob Levy and Tom Toce

SOMEONE WHO CAN STAND YOU
Music and Lyrics by John Forster

THE TEACHERS I REMEMBER
Music by Matthew Martin Ward, Lyrics by Peter Napolitano

RECORDING (LaMott Friedman Recording Award)

BOB LEVY
All About Love: The Dane Vannatter Recordings Volume II 

D.C. ANDERSON
Believe, Breathe and Sing

KAREN MACK
Catch & Keep

RICK BOGART
Rick Bogart Sings Mr. Paganini

SHEREE SANO
Tension and Release – The Cole Porter I Know and Love

MAJOR RECORDING

JANE SCHECKTER
I’ll Take Romance 

NATALIE DOUGLAS
Back to the Garden 

ROSEMARY LOAR
Curaçāo Vagabundo – Vagabond Heart

TANYA MOBERLY
I Love New York Songwriters

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Chip Deffaa's Rare and Unrecorded Irving Berlin Songs