The 2007 Nightlife Awards show, held on Monday, January 29 at The Town Hall, delighted the audience by presenting the winners and special guests in performance rather than giving acceptance speeches. A clear favorite of the crowd was Grey Gardens star Christine Ebersole, honored for the cabaret act In Your Dreams, which she performed with the fabulous Billy Stritch.
Among the other performers were Daniel Reichard, one of Broadway’s Jersey Boys, whose shows at Joe’s Pub and The Metropolitan Room were among the major nightlife events of 2006…
…the gorgeous Melissa Errico, who will be part of the American Songbook tribute to Alan and Marilyn Bergman at the Allen Room on Friday…
…country music superstar Larry Gatlin, who also performed later on Monday night in the Rockers on Broadway benefit at BB King…
…Paula West, this year’s Nightlife Award winner in the Female Jazz Vocalist category, who will begin a month-long engagement at San Francisco’s Plush Room next week…
…Broadway, TV, and cabaret favorite Tom Wopat, who has recently been performing in the national tour of Chicago…
…and the amazing husband-and-wife team of John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey, each honored separately in the male and female categories as Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist in a Major Engagement. (They will come together for a new act at the Café Carlyle later this year.)
Two more of the show’s highlights were TheaterMania contributor Jim Caruso receiving his award for the Broadway at Birdland series from his good pal Liza Minnelli…
…and a stunning vocal turn by Maureen McGovern, who received the 2007 Nightlife Legend Award and is slated to perform with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall on February 9.
Who’s afraid of opera? Certainly not Barbara Cook! The Broadway, cabaret, and concert legend presented a distinguished achievement award to the hot, hot, hot soprano Deborah Voigt at this year’s Opera News Awards ceremony on Sunday, January 28 at the Hotel Pierre.
Also on hand for the awards were two great sopranos of two different generations: honoree Renata Scotto (left) and Patricia Racette…
…and honoree Ben Heppner (left), seen here with baritone Thomas Hampson, the event’s co-host.
One of the hottest tickets in NYC right now is the City Center Encores! series production of the Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical Follies, to be presented February 8-12. Pictured here during a break in a recent rehearsal are five of the show’s stars (left to right): Victoria Clark, Michael McGrath, Donna Murphy, Victor Garber, and Christine Baranski.
Last evening, in celebration of Kids’ Night on Broadway, the legendary Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton — co-authors of many childrens’ books, including their latest, The Great American Mousical — were among those chosen from the audience to participate in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Andrews had just jetted in from Los Angeles, where she received the Screen Actors’ Guild Life Achievement Award; she was eliminated from the bee when she failed to correctly spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. (Wait till Disney hears about this!)
Spelling Bee company and Charlotte St. Martin (lower left), executive director of the League of American Theatres and Producers.
