Feature: The Days Of Cabaret Gratitude - Day Twenty-Three - The Man For All Seasons

The Days Of Cabaret Gratitude

Day Twenty-Three: The Man For All Seasons - Michael Kirk Lane

There is this face.  It gives comfort.   Every time you see the face, it helps you to smile.  It makes you relax.  You feel happy.  It’s just an instinct that comes from seeing the face.  For a while, the face was the face you saw when you arrived at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.  These last years, it has been the face you see when you walk in the door at Don’t Tell Mama.  But it is not just the face of a house manager or seating host making you feel good when you walk in a door - it is the face of a person, a teacher, an entertainer, and a leader.  It is the face of Michael Kirk Lane.  See?  You smiled, just reading the name.  Read it again:  Michael Kirk Lane.  You smiled again, didn’t you?

Michael Kirk Lane started out in the piano bars of New York City.  That’s a pretty big family.  When Michael segued into his house manager positions, he carried with him the self-confidence, competence, and benevolence earned from being nurtured by the piano bar community (again, it is a REALLY big family, vibrant and valuable).  Michael Lane was a welcoming force in cabaret.  That force found its way to the stage where his unique brand of musical comedy cabaret gave him increasing popularity, until everyone knew and loved him, both the people appearing as guest artists in his shows and the piano bar regulars who had transitioned into being cabaret room stalwarts.  Before you could say Muppet Babies, Michael Kirk Lane had a MAC Award, an internet cabaret chat show, and an appointment to the MAC organization.  That cabaret chat show, a creation of Michael’s to reach people during the pandemic, won him a second MAC award, and continues to thrive, today, as Michael conducts interviews with Tony Award winners and legends, in an effort to explore the craft of cabaret, an art form he teaches for the 92nd Street Y.  Whether he is performing, teaching, or leading from his seat at MAC (the Manhattan Association of Cabarets), Michael Kirk Lane IS cabaret.  He is an artist and he is a friend.  He understands what the artists of the industry go through to create their craft.  He is more than just ready to promote those artists and that craft, he is excited to do so.  Never is there a hint of negativity about him, and never is there anything other than joy in his rhetoric.  With whimsy and with love, he presents musical comedy cabaret centered around heart, joy, the child within, and puppetry (the puppets are a big part of Michael’s makeup).  He is the benevolent force of the industry, beloved by all, and deserving of praise.

I was recently on the subway, heading home from work.  It was a bad day, I was exhausted and scowling at my image in the reflection of the subway doors, as the darkness of the tunnel sped by my eyes.  A reflection appeared over my left shoulder.  A smile.  Two twinkling eyes.  And a warm, welcoming face.  Instantaneously, the bad day melted away, the foul temper slid off of me, and I, like the face, was smiling, and smiling broadly, with absolute joy and pleasure.  The face in the reflection was Michael Kirk Lane.  And on the day that you see that face, your reaction will be exactly the same

Read a Broadway World Cabaret review of Michael Kirk Lane HERE.

Michael will appear in his newest show Whatever I Feel at Don't Tell Mama on Sunday 12/30 at 5 pm.  This show features additional vocals by Jon Satrom and Brian Kalinowski, Musical Direction by William TN Hall, Direction by Jake Bazel, with Movement by Jeffrey Gugliotti.  Reserve seats on the DTM website HERE.

Michael will also be performing, again with William, their almost annual Holiday show Merry Almost Christmas as part of Urban Stages Winter Rhythms on 12/14 at 7 pm. They will be joined by Special Guest Fergie L Philippe.  Reserve seats HERE.

Michael has lots of exciting announcements coming up for the 92NY for 2024 including new guests for Cabaret Conversations, new terms for their Cabaret History class, and all of their Cabaret Performance classes.   Michael will teach alongside three wonderful musical directors, John Bronston, Mary Feinsinger, and Yaz Fukuoka. 92NY also will be announcing another Cabaret Masterclass weekend very soon with another legendary artist.  Information HERE.

BREAKING NEWS:  The new season of CABARET CONVERSATIONS will feature a chat with Tony Award-winning Broadway icon Lillias White.

Michael’s pronouns are he/him/his.

Michael can be found online at the following links:

Website:  HERE 

Instagram:  HERE 

TikTok:  HERE  

YouTube:  HERE

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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