Feature: The Stars of Feinstein's/54 Below Meet The Press - Special Guest Journalist - Michael Kirk Lane

On November tenth, Midtown Manhattan Supper Club Feinstein's/54 Below returned to an elegant and fun tradition once observed but quietly back-burnered because of the global health crisis. With the industry back in full swing, the 54 Below public relations machine determined it was time to, once more, take up the Press Meet and Greet, a two-hour noon day event that introduces to the members of the New York City entertainment journalism community some of the artists who will be performing at 54 Below in the upcoming weeks. A handful of artists join reporters and photographers for brief chats (beginning at 10:30 am, those poor singers!) before each taking to the stage for a sample of their show. It's very civilized, delightfully social, and fun - kind of like speed dating without the pressure.

Having accepted an invitation from Feinstein publicist Candi Adams to attend the function, Broadway World Cabaret wanted to mark the occasion in a truly special way, so we invited interview expert Michael Kirk Lane (MKL) to represent our outlet. Happily for all, the host of 92Y's CABARET CONVERSATIONS enthusiastically accepted the invitation and spent a happy five to eight minutes with each of the celebrated artists before documenting their show previews on video, with the kind permission of the club. Please enjoy Mr. Lane's interviews as Broadway World takes a peek into the upcoming shows of Melissa Errico, Michael Feinstein, Lisa Howard, David Sabella and Paulo Szot.

DAVID SABELLA SINGS KANDER & EBB 25CHICAGO25 will have its world premiere as OG cast member of the, now, twenty-five year old revival shares his memories of the creation of the production. Determined to, one day, play "Mary Sunshine" from early in his career, David will discuss his relationship with the role and the show, sharing personal reminiscences, trivia, other K&E songs, and (maybe) a little dish from backstage. Featuring guest artist Jana Robbins. Musical Director: Mark Hartman. November 17th, 7 pm and on Live Stream, Tickets available HERE (live) and HERE (live stream).

MKL: David Sabella, how are you?

I am fantastic.

MKL: I am so thrilled that you are going to be back onstage, singing for the people at 54 Below. So tell me about 25CHICAGO25!

This is the silver anniversary year of Chicago and as an original cast member I have a lot of memories of the show, a lot of stories - I did the show for a decade, on Broadway and on tour, and so the show is built using a lot of music of Chicago, and music of Kander and Ebb. There's two things that are not Kander and Ebb; that is a Jerome Kern song that is modeled after Mary Sunshine, and another song which Marcia Lewis used to do a lot (I'm not going to give you a title, now).

MKL: Keep the surprises!

Yes, keep the surprise - there's an homage to Marcia. The rest is Kander and Ebb, but rearranged to tell my story. For instance, I'm soon to be an empty nester with two grown children, so we are doing an up-tempo version of "My Own Space" with "My Own Best Friend" - that kind of stuff. Pairing the Roxie monologue with "Life Is"... it's fantastic, I'm very happy about it. I'm going to perform "All That Jazz" and "Yes" from Seventy, Girls, Seventy and that tells my first, anything - my audition, how it came to be. It's going to be amazing.

MKL: Well, anytime you're on stage is a joy.

And Jana Robbins and I are singing a never-before ... well, I'm the only one who does it... cut duet from The Visit: a classic Kander and Ebb duet.

MKL: That's going to be exciting! Who else are you working with on the show?

Mark Hartman, who is my music director. My drummer, Dan Gross, who I work with a lot, and Jonathan Michel is the bassit. There's nobody better than Mark Hartman. I just come up with these crazy ideas and he puts this song with that song, and he does it, and it's just fantastic.

MKL: How long have you been working on this show? Is it something that started during the pandemic?

No,we started this show several years ago for the twentieth anniversary. I never thought I would do it again! (Both laughing) Who knew it would be twenty-five years! So we revamped it, we added some stuff - we added the "My Own Space/My Best Friend" (number) this week. When you're doing a show and you have two ballads, you gotta get rid of one ballad and put in something up-tempo, and that's what we did. It falls together easily when you're working with a musical genius.

MKL: Has re-visiting this show five years later, now that you've written a book about the art form of cabaret, changed your approach to the show?

Absolutely. My experience in the last four years, when I started researching the book and talking to people about what this art form is and what it needs to be - when I first did this show it was very different. It was very Razzle Dazzle, it was a theater piece on a small stage. This is a real communicative, I'm talking to you, I want to tell you a story, this is my experience, this is a real connection type of piece. My writing that book (So You Want to Sing Cabaret) with Sue Matsuki taught me so much about how to do this: I have to say I think that I'm a very different performer on these stages. And probably on larger stages because I think you carry this personal connection with you on the larger stage. When I'm here without costume and makeup, it's my story. When I'm onstage in somebody else's costume, somebody else's makeup, somebody else's lights I'm still telling my story - you just can't help but see the rest of the character. So every actor has to come to it themselves. The trick of cabaret is coming to it yourself and revealing yourself in it, and not relying on the character.

MKL: Is there a moment in the show that is the mission statement of the show? Or the moment that you want the audience to take away from 25CHICAGO25?

Wow. Such a great question. The part of the show that hits my heart the most is a three song cycle that sort of illustrates what my life has been since leaving the show. Fostering five children, adopting two, raising them... so we start with the Roxie monologue, that turns into "Life Is" (which details my adoption saga), then "A Quiet Thing" - and then this "My Own Space/My Best Friend." It's a little triptych that just is me. If you want to know me, that is me. I'm very grateful to be able to share that through Kander and Ebb.

MKL: Who you've had such a long history with.

Yeah. The Visit: John burst into my dressing room at The Richard Rodgers and said, "David. Fred and I are writing a new show and I'm writing a role for you." "Ok, when do I show up?" (Laughing) You can't dream about that! I emailed John today. I miss Fred terribly. Fred is the person you want to sit next to and kibitz because he could always say something funny, like, in the midst of a tense rehearsal. You always want to sit next to Fred, just to laugh! John loves classical music and John loves the counter tenor voice... John is the only composer to write two shows with male sopranos in them! Having that happen in The Visit was like "OH!" To think a glimmer that I inspired his creation of that role... It's humbling. It's amazing.

MELISSA ERRICO SINGS HER NEW YORK returns to 54 Below for an encore performance after receiving rave reviews across the boards (read Ricky Pope's HERE). In this personally-informed show written by her own hand, the Tony Award nominee uses literature, music, and her own diary to describe one of the longest and most important relationships in her life, the one she has with Manhattan. Featuring guest artist Max von Essen. Musical Director: Alex Rybeck. November 21st, 7 pm. Tickets available HERE.

MKL: Pleasure to meet you!

Pleasure! I need to meet all of you young people!

MKL: Well, thank you for that!

Well, please.. I'm in, you know, THAT phase. (Both laughing)

MKL: So, you are bringing back your show for a second encore.

This is a show that I did - not as a lark - but I didn't expect to do it over and over again. I was invited to sing in September and I was thinking "What is New York going to be like in September?" so it was spontaneous. It turned out to be a serendipitous idea, to celebrate New York City. I enlisted the help of the great New Yorker magazine writer Adam Gopnik because I wanted it to feel like The Talk of The Town. I wanted, when you're watching this, to feel like you're reading The New Yorker Magazine, so it's all these funny quotes from Nora Ephron, John Updike - the wonderful quote " The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding." (Both laughing) It's wonderful, right? So the idea of New York and all these quirky - and we have screens and the literature goes by, and pictures, so there's a little audio visual element to it: like a Woody Allen movie, the font is very specifically chosen to be Laura Nyro albums - her font. I have a wonderful quote that I say about Laura Nyro: she said what was so alluring for her about New York City when she was fourteen was that she got interested in Doo-Wop and street singing (and she was just a Jewish girl that went to Ethical Culture, she wasn't a street singer, a Doo-Wop-er) but she loved it, and she heard it in the subway station. And she tells a story of hearing harmony in the subway and wanting to sing a certain harmony, and she walked into the group, she had a harmony in her head, and she sang it. And they didn't ask her to leave. And that's what it is to live in New York, to sing harmonies with strangers. You hear a harmony and they don't ask you to leave. I begin the show with that Idea: singing harmony with strangers. So, yes, it's my story but it's also New York being seen like a great writer would have said it, thought it. So when you come to my show you're going to think about New York City as a Rubik's Cube that you keep turning to try to get it right, but you never quite resolve it. And that's what makes it so unsettling but fascinating, so enigmatic. I try to get you thinking about Manhattan but feeling my personal story through it.

MKL: When did you start putting the show together?

I debuted it in September and then I've worked on it non-stop because the first performance I didn't memorize it - I had just written it and it was in a book. I was amazed at how it landed. I was turning the pages and thinking, "Oh my god, you love this!" and it was so literary there was no chance I could learn it. I didn't want the next performance to not be memorized - it is so important to me because anyone who saw the first one should know I put thirty-five hours into it, and I learned it like Shakespeare. I love the cabaret format, I'm not a binder singer but to write it for everyone was so thrilling, and to see it work was so encouraging! And then I learned it and was asked back, and back, and back.

MKL: You are someone who keeps returning to the cabaret format. What draws you to this art form?

There are practical matters - I have three teenagers. What draws me is that I can work my A off and not have to be at work every day, every day. Though I do work a lot. I don't have to do the same thing every minute - of course, if a Broadway show comes along, I will stop my life. Cabaret keeps up with me. I have so many ideas.. I could tell you, right now, I'm going to do a night of Yeats where Yeats and Maud Gonne had a mystical marriage where they never had sex, but they had sex in their sleep (this is all true) and I do this whole night on Yeats and Joni Mitchell. You'd be like "OK!" My head works like that. There are people who ask me, "Can you do original material?" now. And I've done these original concerts that are cabaret, but they're more. I've been really enjoying doing that. I like writing. I've been writing for the Times for a couple years now and when the New York Times culled my occasional column SCENES FROM AN ACTING LIFE, I was very encouraged to see all those pieces that I've been doing come unified. I felt like, if I channel my love of the details of history and my life experiences, in other words, to get a topic outside of myself but that I've lived... it's been wonderful. Cabaret, I find fascinating, and a lot of my mentors like Mary Cleere Haran, Ute Lemper, these women are friends, but Mary used to be a director of mine. And Marilyn Maye wants to direct my next concert!

MKL: You can't get better than Miss Marilyn Maye.

She's going to direct me next year. These women put a little fairy dust on me, and I hope I live up to that.

PAULO SZOT AN ENCHANTED EVENING OR UNA NOCHE ENCANTADA returns for a Thanksgiving encore after playing a sold-out run at 54 Below earlier this year. In this, his tenth appearance at Feinstein's, the star of both the opera and musical theater worlds performs from the Spanish zarzuela and Broadway, in whatever language suits him, and audiences swoon every time. Filling the stage with the inspirational musicians from American Pops Orchestra, Paulo creates the symphony experience in an intimate setting. Musical Director: Luke Frazier. November 24 through 27, 7 pm. Tickets available HERE.

MKL: I saw Chicago two weeks ago.

You did! Thank you!

MKL: I interviewed Lillias for my 92Y series. What great energy she has.

I love Lillias, she's just amazing. Incredible.

MKL: It was wonderful seeing you there. And now what's bringing you back to 54? Back to the land of cabaret?

I feel like I don't know what to say because this is my tenth time - it's become something that I have to do every year. (Both laughing) And this year, twice... this is a show that is returning. We opened in July here and now we are adding some holiday songs to the program that is filled with songs from the Broadway stage - the best ONLY eleven o'clock numbers. We created this program with Luke Frazier from the American Pops Orchestra during the pandemic and I talked to him, "You know what I want to do, I want to do only the GREATEST numbers people want to hear because of such a long time without being able to be in a place to hear live music." So we programmed this to be only eleven o'clock numbers like "Being Alive," "This is the Moment," "Some Enchanted Evening."

MKL: Everything we all want to hear.

One after the other! It's a challenge, vocally, because they are very demanding..

MKL: When it's only one per show, normally!

We planned to bring a warmth to this program because we are filling the stage with five strings, plus a drummer and a piano. So seven musicians on the stage, plus I. It's going to be an evening filled with warmth and great music.

MKL: When you did the show in July, what was that experience, back, stepping in front of an audience, here in Broadway's living room?

It was a very curious one because whenever we are not performing - maybe it's just me... no, it's not just me, I know a lot of artists who have the same thing - we are very insecure. We need to be doing what we do. Otherwise we start to doubt, we start to "Oh my voice isn't going to work," and that's one of the things that was very important during the pandemic. To stay active and to stay vocally exercising your voice all the time. So it was a difficult task because nobody had any prediction when we were going to be back. And still we knew that we had to exercise, that we had to sing all the time. And it's very hard to sing when you're sad and depressed. But it was a great exercise and when it came the right moment, I felt like I was ready to do it - that's why we made it this very demanding program. It's a thing that, when you don't do it for so long, it's challenging in a way that you start to doubt yourself. But from the moment when I stepped on that stage, from the second song, it was like riding a bike. People were so pleased to hear live music again, and I was pleased to do that for them.

MKL: This time around, you're coming back Thanksgiving week, and adding some holiday songs.

Yes, we have some surprise songs, we added some beautiful songs that I will not talk about, yet, because it's a surprise! They are going to be inserted into those eleven o'clock numbers and I will be talking about my experiences that I am very thankful for, from my years of singing on the stage. It's a musical show; it's more sung than patter. People can come and they can expect great music.

Editor's note: Paulo Szot did not perform because his musical director was unavailable.LISA HOWARD WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS TO ME returns to the 54 Below stage one of Broadway's most well-loved and most unique talents. The star of "It Shoulda Been You" releases her first Christmas album, THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR, this month and her Richard-Jay Alexander-helmed holiday show will celebrate the season in ways totally unique, in the Broadway belt and twisty-turny aesthetic for which the award-winning actress has come to be known and loved. Featuring the Michael Shaieb Trio. Musical Director: Michael Shaieb. December 12, 7 pm. Tickets available HERE.

LH: Hi! This is Michael Shaieb - he is my Musical Director and composer of the song I am singing today.

MKL: Oh, amazing! Pleasure to meet you.

MS: Pleasure to meet you.

MKL: You're here doing WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS TO ME.

LH: Yes.

MKL: So without giving too much away about the show, let's start with what does Christmas mean to you?

(All laughing)

LH: Exactly! I don't give too much away because it's kind of a funny little twist... but I will say that I had the idea for the show. And we had talked for a long time about wanting to do a Christmas album. And I said, "Ok before I choose songs, because there's a gajillion songs, let me write what the show is going to be, first, and that will help us choose the songs for the album." So we did this.. And all I'll say is: Hallmark Christmas movie.

MKL: Ok!

(Laughter all around)

LH: That's all I'll say! So we chose the songs and we've been longtime collaborators, and he has gorgeous songs and we knew that his original was going to be one on the album. So we put the show together and then we spent all summer - it was one of those things where you wanted to have something fruitful from all of the downtime - and so we did it! We're so proud of ourselves! We did it!

MKL: So how long were you in the recording studio?

MS: We ran about eighteen days...

LH: Months!

MS: ... at different times

LH: We would come in and do sessions

MS: We have our own recording studio, so there's not a time crunch.

LH: Which was delightful

MS: We were able to just do the arrangements and have her in when we had her in.

LH: So we basically spent the summer recording and trying to coordinate... the album comes out November 20th, just in time for the holidays.

MKL: Just in time!

LH: So this concert is a celebration of all of that!

MKL: It lets you bring the joy to the audience. What are you most looking forward to about stepping back onto the 54 Below stage after the... vacation?

LH: After the "before time"... Just creating something. And bringing that to life! Because it's just not the same as doing a Zoom concert in your dining room.

MKL: Yeah. You lose that audience interaction.

LH: You lose it and it's so nice to give and take, and the understanding, and the laughter, and all of that.

MKL: You're someone who's done Broadway, you do movies, and TV shows. You keep coming back to the art form of cabaret.

LH: Yeah!

MKL: What keeps bringing you back to this art form?

LH: (Laughing) I don't know! (Everyone laughing) Because I'm not going to lie - it's a little stressful, putting together a show like this. But then you want it to be out there in the world. Once you do it, you're like "I love it! It's amazing!" It's just the getting there that is challenging. But it's worth the challenge because once you're up there doing the show is so fun.

MKL: Is there a moment in the show you're most looking forward to the audience experiencing?

LH: Michael's original song!

MS: Good answer.

(All laughing)

LH: I'm excited for people hear his unique arrangements of some classics because there'll be a lot of songs you know... but there'll be a little twist or they're combined with something different. I'm looking forward to sharing that.

MKL: Is there a moment that you think is going to surprise the audience?

LH: Maybe... again, I don't want to give it away. I don't think you'll have seen a cabaret like this. It's a different format, if you will, and we create something in the show.

MKL: Well, see, now I'm intrigued!

LH: (Laughing) Now you have to come!

MKL: Yes, I do!

(Gales of laughter)

GET HAPPY: MICHAEL FEINSTEIN CELEBRATES THE JUDY GARLAND CENTENNIAL brings Mr. Feinstein back to his New York artistic home so that he might share something special with his fans and the fans of Judy Garland, whose one hundredth birthday would have been this year. Performed in two parts over two weeks, the program will be multi-media events executive produced by Liza Minnelli that will feature big screen film clips, never-before-seen photos, rare audio recordings, great music, and much humor. Special guest: Garland expert, author John Fricke. Special ticket packages are available for those wishing to see both installments of the show, and for Christmas Day audiences. Musical Director: Tedd Firth. December 15 through 26, 7 pm. Tickets available HERE.

MKL: It's a pleasure to meet you!

A pleasure, Michael.

MKL: We are here, in your club...

I've heard that.

MKL: So you are coming back home to your club, your New York club - you've got this club, your club in Indiana, your club in California..

Two in California. But who's counting?

MKL: Well, I mean... There'll be more before the year's done, I'm sure.

(Both laughing)

It's possible actually!

MKL: What is it like, coming back to a New York audience?

New York audiences are unique in the best sense of the word because there is a certain understanding of what entertainment is about, with a deeper appreciation . People listen differently to lyrics... one thing that I've discovered is that, geographically, people are different, fundamentally, in the way they experience entertainment and theater because of the environment. Johnny Mercer, when he was starting out (he grew up in Savannah, Georgia) and he said he'd listen to Rodgers and Hart songs, and he said the lyrics didn't make sense to him because they were about New York and the city and all that stuff. And a few years later, when he moved to New York, all of a sudden those lyrics made sense to him, and he experienced them in a different way. That's what it's like, even though life is multicultural because of the way we live our lives, still, our environment changes our fundamental perspective of art.

MKL: You are someone who has always been a champion of The Great American Songbook but also the art form of cabaret in itself. What do you think makes this art form so unique, and important in this city but also globally?

I think that any performance in a smaller space is different, and when I speak to Braodwawy performers who I've asked to do a nightclub turn, the first thing that they often say is, "Oh my god, I'm not comfortable being that close to the audience," or"People are right there, staring at me!" And it's like, "Yes, they are!" and that's what it is. It is not more honest, but it's raw. Because you can't conceal what you can on a stage. There is a purposeful illusion when one is on a stage. A nightclub is - I think, in the best iteration of that form - the opposite of that. It is verite. It is raw. It is of the moment. It is about revealing, not concealing.

MKL: You'll be here for two weeks in December doing GET HAPPY - A celebration of Judy Garland's centennial.

Yes.

MKL: What made this your focus, for this show?

A Thirty-five year association with her family. A friendship with her three children, Liza, Lorna and Joe. Having been a trustee of the Garland estate and having had access to amazing archival materials - photographs, film clips, audio... so I put together a multimedia quotient. And the deep desire to celebrate her in a way that I don't think has been done before, which is from the perspective of really celebrating the art in the context of greater history of the times; not going into the tabloid stuff. Because it's not the enduring part of the legacy. It's a very Michael Feinstein approach. With some songs that were written for her that were not used... it's all to evoke a sense of her without copying her... hopefully sharing with people why she endures.

For information on the entire Feinstein's/54 Below calendar visit the 54 Below website HERE.

HERE is the Michael Kirk Lane website.

Special Guest Interviewer: Michael Kirk Lane is the host of Cabaret Conversations for 92Y School of Music, where he also teaches Cabaret History and Cabaret Performance. He is an award-winning cabaret artist, having most recently won the 2020 Manhattan Association of Cabaret Award for Male Musical Comedy Performer. Along with 3 previous MAC nominations, Lane has been nominated for 10 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards, winning in 2018 for Best Show. Beyond his own experience performing in cabaret, Lane's experience managing two of the city's most renowned cabaret venues (The Laurie Beechman Theatre, Don't Tell Mama) offers him a unique vantage point and perspective on the art form. BroadwayWorld Cabaret has called Lane "one of the most popular performers and people working in cabaret today."

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