Photo Coverage: McElroy, Toro, Edelman & More Perform at NYC Museum

Broadway stars Gregg Edelman, Michael McElroy, Natalie Toro and Christianne Tisdale sang showtunes about home and houses in a cabaret last weekend at the Museum of the City of New York. The 5th Avenue museum hosts a twice-yearly cabaret in conjunction with a current exhibition, drawing from Broadway musicals to illuminate the theme of the exhibit. The June 15 and 16 show, titled "Making Room on Broadway," featured songs by virtually all the giants of musical theater--among them, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim and Kander and Ebb.

The cabaret related to the exhibition "Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers," which is on display through Sept. 2. "It showcases an innovative series of solutions that architects and designers have come up with to create paradigms for housing that better suit the population demographics of New York City today--specifically, the quest to create efficient and attractive small-scale living spaces for single adults, who now comprise one-third of the city's households," explained Sarah Henry, deputy director and chief curator of the museum, in introducing the performance. She went on to say, "This exhibition, which addresses questions like housing policy, changing demographics and architectural design, may seem like a stretch for inspiring a cabaret," but added that the "songs draw out, with flair and wit, the exhibition's emotional subtext--in this case, the pursuit of a home in the big city."

Among the numbers featured in the cabaret were "One Room," from Bock and Harnick's The Rothschilds; "A House Is Not a Home," the Bacharach-David tune incorporated into the 2010 revival of Promises, Promises; the title song of Harold Arlen's House of Flowers; and "I Feel at Home With You," "Blue Room" and "Dancing on the Ceiling," all by Rodgers and Hart.

The Museum of the City of New York's cabaret series is celebrating its 10th anniversary. It was created by Michael Montel, who produces, directs and hosts every performance. Musical director and accompanist for the "Making Room" show was Christopher McGovern.

The cast sings the opening number, "Home" from The Wiz.

From left: Edelman, Toro, Tisdale and McElroy.

Not a Statue of Liberty impersonation, but Natalie Toro singing about somewhere else in New York, "West End Avenue," from The Magic Show. Toro's other solos were Company's "Another Hundred People" and On the Town's "I Can Cook Too."

Gregg Edelman and Michael McElroy perform "Come With Me" from The Boys From Syracuse.

Christianne Tisdale did a flirty rendition of "In My Own Little Corner," the only song in the cabaret that's in a currently running Broadway musical (Cinderella). She also performed Cole Porter's "The Great Indoors" as well as "Who's Been Sitting in My Chair?" from 1958's Goldilocks, with music by Leroy Anderson and lyrics by Walter and Jean Kerr.

Everyone participated in a Peter Pan medley--from two different adaptations of the J.M. Barrie story: Leonard Bernstein's 1950 version and the more popular one by Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The songs were "Build a House" and "Wendy," respectively.

Toro and McElroy have fun with "In a Cozy Kitchenette Apartment" from Irving Berlin's Music Box Revue of 1921.

Edelman soloed on "My Own Space" from The Act and the much older "Here I'll Stay," by Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner.

The stars closed out the program with "The House I Live In," made famous by Frank Sinatra in a World War II short but originally written for a 1942 revue called Let Freedom Sing.

For more about the Museum of the City of New York and the "Making Room" exhibit, click here.

Photographs by Adrienne Onofri