Brand New Cabaret Hall of Fame Honors World's Greatest Cabaret Performers; Black Tie Gala Set for Tonight

Metropolitan Room's Joseph Macchia and Bernard Furshpan are excited to announce the formation of the Cabaret Hall of Fame (CHOF), as well as the Inaugural Induction Black Tie Gala tonight, January 16th, 2016 at Metropolitan Room, named New York's Best Cabaret by New York Magazine.

The mission statement of the CHOF is: To heighten the awareness and the true meaning and purpose of a Cabaret venue and performance. To reach out to a larger audience for purposes of increasing Cabaret show-goer population, reinforce the beauty of live entertainment, and create and support livelihoods of performers, venues and all support people and business in the Cabaret community. To foster and nurture new generations of performers and audiences dedicated to the intimate art form of Cabaret.

Furshpan says, "Many people have never experienced a true Cabaret performance and are not aware that it's a theatrical art form whose origins are in Europe. In cafes and bars poets, artists and composers could gather to perform or read, trying out material and providing a stimulating evening to patrons for the price of a few drinks. We want to bring the message to the wider world that there is nothing else like the experience of watching a performer in a small room. You are literally with that person and it's incredibly emotionally satisfying. Our labor of love will help insure the existence and understanding of Cabaret performing in the future by establishing a legitimate bricks and mortar organization that recognizes the value of Cabaret and the people who have contributed, molded and refined it. It will fill a void in the music business."

Macchia adds, "It is a beautiful and thought-provoking art form and people put their lives into it: their heart and soul and money and time. I want to turn people on to it and insure its growth and future. A lot of young people don't really understand Cabaret. I want to change that. By establishing a Cabaret Hall of Fame I feel we can educate future audiences and preserve the past history of great performers who have made it a huge part of their lives. "

The CHOF was conceived by Macchia, a longtime cabaret producer and Assistant Booking Manager of the Metropolitan Room. When he mentioned it to Managing Partner/Owner Bernie Furshpan, who is the organizational mastermind behind January 2015's triumphant Guinness Book of World Records event (which broke the record for longest continuous Variety Show), Furshpan said, "Let's do it." Macchia says, "Once you've programmed 300 performers for round-the-clock-entertainment for 60 hours for a Guinness event, establishing an international Cabaret Hall of Fame seems slightly easier." They envision a future venue that will eventually house history and artifacts of Cabaret performing, as well as host events including the annual inductions.

In advance of that, one of the team's first orders of business is to seek and form an International Executive Committee composed of producers, club owners, press, performers and others whose mandate it will be to select iconic candidates from around the world, from whom they will choose the first honoree for the inaugural induction ceremony on January 16, 2016.

A committee and timeline for nominations and announcements will be released in the near future. Please stay tuned for further exciting developments of the Cabaret Hall of Fame.

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