The Mabel Mercer Foundation presents The First Virtual Cabaret Convention - New York City Article

The Mabel Mercer Foundation presents
The First Virtual Cabaret Convention
Monday October 19th through Thursday October 22nd

for more information, and to attend the performances, click here.

For all of its focus on intimacy - surely a delicate, fragile quality if ever there were one - the art form known as “cabaret” is one of the more durable musical genres of our time. Cabaret has survived worse than a pandemic before, and it will take more than a virus to stop it. Empowered by that spirit, the art form’s most central organization - the foundation named after Mabel Mercer, it’s single most important practitioner - is presenting the first ever “virtual Cabaret Convention.” After 30 years of doing it live, at Town Hall and then Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, the Mercer Foundation’s Madame Chairwoman, K. T. Sullivan, has announced that the entire four-night event will take place at the usual week this October, and (hopefully for this year only) it will be presented virtually on the foundation’s website.

Monday, October 19 - “New York Cabaret: Yesterday and Today”

Opening night will be a highly metro-centric gathering of talent - including the elegant Karen Akers and Shana Farr, the exciting and funny Klea Blackhurst, the highly-musical Daryl Sherman, and the droll, adorable Sidney Myer. We’ll also hear from Andrea Marcovicci and Anne Hampton Callaway, who, though they may be streaming from different parts of the country, are nonetheless an indispensable part of the New York scene; the latter will undoubtedly compose one of her spontaneously-created improv songs just for this occasion. (These last seven months are the longest I’ve ever gone without hearing the wonderful Marissa Mulder, I’m sad to report.)

Tuesday, October 20 - “The Future of Cabaret”

Tonight the accent is on youth, and the roll call is made up of winners and contenders in the Elow Songbook Competition, a special event for teenage cabarateurs (and cabarateuses) produced by the MMF and sponsored by Larry and Adela Elow. Only two names in this roster are familiar to me, but they’re both extra special enough to warrant “streaming in” just for them: the jazz-oriented wunderkind Anais Reno, she of the magisterial, dark smoky contralto (despite her very young years) and the perky, Broadway-bound Hannah Jane Peterson. If the other half dozen vocalists on the bill are anywhere near their level, this will indeed be a highly memorable evening.

Wednesday, October 21 - “A World Of Cabaret”

A lot of the big guns are participating in this one, streaming live from all over the country and the globe from Chicago to London, from Ohio (Maureen McGovern) to Ojai (Amanda McBroom), from Palm Springs to Palm Beach. I’m especially looking forward to hearing Deborah Silver, whose new album, Glitter and Grits (with Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel) is a virtual party all by itself. Also not to miss: Nicolas King, Carole J. Bufford, and the inestimable 92-year-old dynamo, Miss Marilyn Maye.

Thursday, October 22 - “Cabaret Classics: Performing from Birdland.”

While the first three nights are free with a suggested donation (although you do have to register at the MMF URL above) there’s a $25 fee attached to this one, which has been pre-recorded at Birdland, the Jazz Corner of the World which in the current century has become a cabaret hotspot as well. Nearly all the artists featured are Birdland regulars, including the high-powered duo of Barbara Fasano and Eric Comstock, the uber-sophisticated Steve Ross, the harmonically-endowed Billy Stritch, and the vocally-endowed Christine Andreas. Then there’s the marvelous Natalie Douglas, whose long-running series of tribute “songbook” shows are one of the best reasons to come to Birdland, and, neither last nor least, we can expect a few songs from K. T. Sullivan, Madame Chairwoman, herself.