The Cabaret Chronicles: MAC Awards, Hector Coris, and Rob Langeder!

Hello and Happy Friday, everyone!  For that matter, Happy Memorial Weekend (I do hope it's a long one for everyone)!  After taking a hiatus from The Cabaret Chronicles last week, I'm back this week, chock full of news about the MAC Awards, as well as a fantastic show by Hector Coris and Rob Langeder's final performance of Any Place I Hang My Hat! 

The 23^rd annual MAC Awards took place on Monday, May 18^th at BB King Blues Club & Grill and boy, what a night it was!  For those readers who may be unfamiliar with the organization, MAC stands for The Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs, and the MAC Awards are presented annually to honor achievements in cabaret, comedy, and jazz.  This year, there were over 30 awards given, and the show was filled with terrific performances by such legendary performers as Tyne Daly and Marilyn Maye, as well performances by past winners and some of this year's nominees.  Co-hosted by comedienne Nancy Witter and the "Queen of Cabaret," Andrea Marcovicci, the awards show, although lengthy (well, what do you expect when you're giving out 30+ awards?!), moved along beautifully and truly gave the packed house a well-rounded sampling of the best of New York nightlife.  A lifetime achievement award was given to actress/singer Polly Bergen, who wowed the crowd with her beautiful, heartfelt rendition of "The Party's Over," and Board of Directors awards were presented to The Joey Reynolds Show (host Joey Reynolds and producer Myra Chanin were both honored) and Eva Swan & Vocal Ease (a terrific nonprofit volunteer singing organization headed by Eva Swan that provides live music to senior citizens at hospitals, nursing homes, and other senior centers and residences).  It was truly a terrific night  - performers and supporters of the arts alike got glammed up, walked the red carpet (where they were interviewed by Leon hall!), and joined together in a massive celebration of the wonderful talents that make New York City nightlife so unique!  Congratulations to all of this year's winners and nominees!  For a complete list of winners, please click here. 

After the MAC Awards show, there were a number of after-parties going on, but my party of choice was my favorite Monday night party - Cast Party (which, by the way, won a MAC Award for Open Mic)!!  I only got to catch about the last hour by the time I got there, but there was still PLENTY of talent to see!  Klea Blackhurst & Billy Stritch (who also won a MAC Award for their Hoagy Carmichael show!) treated us to a tune, William Blake did a crazy good "At Last," and evidently, I just missed the marvelous Marilyn Maye, who also hightailed it over from BB King's!  

On Tuesday evening, I headed over to Don't Tell Mama to catch Hector Coris in his show, Life Is Wonderful.  Wow, what a show!  I've seen Hector in a number of ensemble shows over the past several years, but this was his debut as a solo artist, and my only complaint is that he didn't do it sooner!  Thoughtful, thought-provoking, at times humorous, at times poignant, the show was filled with excellent material, and Hector's delivery was spot-on.  He confessed, at the top of the show, that he may have tricked some people into coming with the title Life Is Wonderful, because it was actually a show about death.  Depressing as that may sound, it really wasn't!  With a gleam in his eye, Hector matter-of-factly explained that, "It's hard not to think of death when you're living in New York City...you can go at any moment!"  As we consistently jeopardize our safety by walking under scaffolding or crowding onto subway platforms, New Yorkers seem to be tempting fate on a daily basis, was his theory!  About halfway through the show, looking out at the room which was overflowing with cabaret performers, he jokingly admitted that his paranoid side was thinking, "Wow, if something happened in this room and we all died, New York City nightlife would die completely!"  I loved the song selection; much of the material was by contemporary composers including Christine Lavin, Ben Folds, Zoe Lewis, William Finn, and Brett Kristofferson (who happened to be in attendance that night) and while the songs varied in content and tone, they all shared one thing: fantastic lyrics, which Hector did a fabulous job of sinking his teeth into.  Unfortunately, Tuesday evening was the final night of this run of the show, but I'm hoping Hector brings it back for another run soon!  Major kudos, too, to Hector's director, Angela Shultz, and musical director Ray Bailey! 

Wednesday evening found me at the Metropolitan Room for Rob Langeder's final performance of his show Any Place I Hang My Hat..., in which I had the pleasure of singing a few duets and doing some backup vocals.  I wrote about the show in two previous columns, so I won't go into too much detail except to say that it was SO MUCH FUN on Wednesday!  The room was packed, the crowd was rarin' to go, and Rob sounded great and put on a heck of an entertaining show!

That's about all for now, but have a great long weekend and check back for another update next week! 

Where I'm going this week... 

I'm taking the holiday weekend off, but I'll be back in action starting on Monday... 

Monday, May 25^th:  Cast Party at Birdland.  Hosted by Jim Caruso, this fantastic open mic runs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. but again, make sure you get there early to sign up if you want to sing! 

Wednesday, May 27^th:  Ray Jessel at Don't Tell Mama.  Ray Jessel is, hands-down, one of my favorite performers.  He is a brilliant songwriter, who can have you falling off your seat laughing at one moment, and on the verge of tears the next.  Watching him perform his own material in the intimate confines of Don't Tell Mama is an experience I look forward to each time the L.A.-based Mr. Jessel is town!  Show starts at 9:15 p.m. 

Thursday, May 28^th:  Maxine Linehan in her new show: Who Am I?  A Tribute to Petula Clark.  I've only heard the lovely Ms. Linehan do a song or two at a time, and I'm really looking forward to catching a full show of hers!  I'm a big Petula Clark fan, too, so it should be a fun night!  Show is at 7 p.m. at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Pictured: Marilyn Maye

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