Stephen Hanks News

Just four months after acclaimed Musical Director Barry Levitt tragically died of a heart attack just hours before a performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, Charlotte Patton--a beloved performer for whom Levitt frequently played and was one of his closest friends in Cabaret--died early Thursday morning at Mt. Sinai Hospital after an almost two-year battle with cancer. Both passed away at the age of 70. 

Urban Stages presents this year's award-winning series, WINTER RHYTHMS 2017, which begins tonight, December 12, featuring some of New York's best musical performances through Saturday, December 23, 2017 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, just East of 8th Avenue).

Cabaret Producer, Promoter, and Performer Stephen Hanks has been chosen by Urban Stages Founding Artistic Director Frances Hill and Director of Musical Theatre Peter Napolitano to Produce and Host the Opening and Closing Night Gala Shows for the organization's Ninth Annual WINTER RHYTHMS SERIES, running this year from December 12 through December 23 at the Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues).

Urban Stages announces the line-up for this year's award-winning series, WINTER RHYTHMS 2017, which will begin Tuesday, December 12 and will feature some of New York's best musical performances through Saturday, December 23, 2017 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, just East of 8th Avenue).

During an evening when Mabel Mercer Foundation President and New York Cabaret Convention Producer KT Sullivan devoted a number of opening night spots in the 28th year of the four-day extravaganza (October 16-19 at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center) to a younger generation of singers and a few veterans making their Convention debuts, the Grande Dame of Cabaret was the star of the night.

Barry Levitt the acclaimed pianist, conductor, composer, musical director and mensch passed away on September 21 after suffering a massive heart attack at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on Sept 21st.

In 1959, theater, film, and TV star LANE BRADBURY created the role of 'Dainty June' in the original Broadway production of the iconic show GYPSY starring Ethel Merman. Now, almost 60 years later, Bradbury is making her debut at the legendary cabaret Don't Tell Mama with LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, AGAIN. Bradbury's musical trip down memory lane is a personal tour of how she transitioned from being an Atlanta Debutante to a performer on 'The Great White Way' during the Golden Age of Broadway Musicals.

Published every Monday morning, BroadwayWorld Cabaret writers will pick their top recommendations for shows throughout NYC during the upcoming week.

Award-winning cabaret performer Julie Reyburn launched her career in 2000 with the show 'Fate Is Kind'--first at a Singer's Forum benefit and then for a run at Judy's Chelsea-and it so captured the hearts and minds of audiences it earned Reyburn the 2001 MAC and Bistro Awards for 'Outstanding Female Cabaret Debut.' Fifteen years later, the show inspired cabaret show producer and publicist Stephen Hanks to create the series New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits at the Metropolitan Room. Now Julie Reyburn is bringing back this celebrated cabaret piece for a two-show run at the legendary club, Don't Tell Mama (W 46th St, between 8th & 9th Ave) on March 25 and April 22, both shows at 7 pm.

According to singer/actor Adam B. Shapiro, breakups can be one of the most devastatingly painful things in the world . . . but not if you know how to do them right. Four years after Shapiro launched his 2013 MAC Award-Winning show GUIDE TO THE PERFECT BREAKUP, Shapiro will reprise his hilarious and musically compelling show-with songs written by composers as diverse as Cole Porter and Weird Al Yankovic--in the BroadwayWorld Award-Nominated series NEW YORK CABARET'S GREATEST HITS at the Metropolitan Room on March 15 at 7 pm. The series is produced and hosted by Stephen Hanks (with Associate Producer Fr. Jeffrey Hamblin, MD).

In what he has been calling the third part of a 'Cabaret Trilogy of Classic Hollywood Songwriters,' 2016 MAC Award nominee and 2016 and 2015 BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Award Nominee Jeff Macauley will continue the run of his most recent show, Le Grand Tour: The Music of Michel Legrand, at Don't Tell Mama (W 46th St., between 8th & 9th Ave) on March 17 at 7 pm. Macauley's Musical Director/Arranger/Pianist Tex Arnold and Jon Burr is on bass. After performing his Legrand Tribute show at the Metropolitan Room last August, BistroAwards.com called it ' . . . smart, funny, and well constructed . . . a good mix of classic and rarer material . . .'

Billie Roe's uniquely provocative musical show MONOPOLY: SINGING THE LIVES FROM BALTIC AVENUE TO BOARDWALK, combines biting political commentary, humanity, and humor with songs by composers as diverse as Kurt Weill, Alan Jay Lerner, Stephen Sondheim, Tom Waits, Rickie Lee Jones, Pink Floyd, and Bono from U2. Roe's pithy and poignant script brings the people who reside within one of the world's most popular board games to life. MONOPOLY has earned Roe a BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Award Nomination for 'Best Show, Female.' Directed by multiple Award-winning cabaret star Mark Nadler, with music direction by Steven Ray Watkins (the two combined on the show's musical arrangements), Billie Roe's MONOPOLY moves to Don't Tell Mama (343 West 46th St, New York, NY) on February 12 and 19, 2017, both shows at 5:30 PM. For reservations, call: 212-757-0788

Singer/Actress Jenna Esposito made her New York nightclub debut in 2004, and has been delighting audiences across the country ever since. Esposito is perhaps best known for her tribute to iconic pop singer Connie Francis-Jenna Esposito Sings Connie Francis-a show that has been a smash hit among audiences and critics since it debuted in 2009. Connie Francis herself has praised Jenna's work, raving, 'I've known and loved Jenna for years and love the way she sings. I'm so grateful for the love and respect she shows to the catalog of songs that has been so good to me through the years.' Now Esposito will be reprising her critically acclaimed show to launch the 2017 season of the BroadwayWorld.com Award-Nominated series NEW YORK CABARET'S GREATEST HITS at the Metropolitan Room on February 13 at 7 pm.

Stephen Hanks, the BroadwayWorld Award-Nominated producer of the recurring monthly variety show series at the Metropolitan Room, New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits, has announced that he is bringing the third installment of his newest variety series to the venerable cabaret room Don't Tell Mama (343 W 46th St, New York, NY) on January 26 at 7 pm. Stephen's Vixens will star Meg Flather, Rosemary Loar, Laurie Krauz, Barbara Porteus, Charlotte Patton, and Raissa Katona Bennett, with Daryl Kojak as Musical Director.

As a musical theater librettist, lyricist and lifelong connoisseur of Broadway and Hollywood musicals, Frank Evans would have been extremely sad to learn about the passing of screen legend Debbie Reynolds on December 28. But given his sense of humor and ability for self-deprecation, Evans might have also gotten a perverse kick out of knowing he died on the same day as one of his film favorites. Franklin G. Evans, 70, died last Wednesday evening at Methodist Hospital in Park Slope, Brooklyn, due to complications from multiple strokes that ravaged his brain over the last couple of months of 2016. Evans, who also suffered from Parkinson's-related dementia and diabetes, had spent the last year rehabilitating from a serious concussion sustained last December.

Cabaret Life Productions Owner Stephen Hanks has announced that NEW YORK CABARET'S GREATEST HITS, the BroadwayWorld.com Award Nominated monthly series at New York's Metropolitan Room (34 West 22nd Street) he launched (with Associate Producer Fr. Jeffrey Hamblin, MD) in August, 2105, will present productions of eight Award-winning or critically acclaimed shows of the past during 2017. The series' new season will open on Monday, February 13 at 7 pm with Jenna Esposito's MAC Award-Nominated 2009 Connie Francis Tribute Show, Jenna Esposito Sings Connie Francis , followed by Adam Shapiro's 2013 MAC Award-Winning Guide to the Perfect Breakup on Wednesday, March 15 at 7 pm.

Urban Stages has confirmed the line-up for this year's award-winning series, WINTER RHYTHMS 2016, which will begin tomorrow, Thursday, December 1, and will feature some of New York's best musical performances through Sunday, December 11, 2016 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, just East of 8th Avenue).

BroadwayWorld Cabaret is pleased to announce the nominees in 14 categories for the 2016 BWW New York Cabaret Awards.

Urban Stages and Stephen Hanks' Cabaret Life Productions has announced that on Saturday, December 3 at 7 pm, the 2016 Urban Stages Winter Rhythms Festival (December 1-11 at 259 West 30th Street, NYC) will present highlights from seven of the 16 shows that have been presented at Hanks' highly praised monthly series at the Metropolitan Room--New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits (Associate Producer, Fr. Jeffrey Hamblin, MD)--and two shows that will be featured in the series in 2017.  

Urban Stages has announced the line-up for this year's Award Winning series, WINTER RHYTHMS 2016, which will begin Thursday, December 1 and will feature some of New York's best musical performances through Sunday, December 11, 2016 at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street, just East of 8th Avenue).