The Lullaby of Broadway

The lullaby of Broadway is heard at New York’s choicest cabarets this month, and there could be no better way to celebrate the merry month than by attending Marin Mazzie’s debut her new show, Yes! It’s Today: The Music of Kander & Ebb and Jerry Herman at Feinstein’s at the Regency on May 1 and 15. Then one of the club’s favorite performers, jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli (who starred on Broadway in Dream), and his trio make a brief visit, May 2-6. Up next is one of Broadway’s loveliest leading ladies, Rebecca Luker, in a return engagement (May 9-20) of the show that earned her well-deserved raves last December. Last but not least, two-time Tony Award winner James Naughton debuts his new show Looking for the Heart of Saturday Night at Feinstein’s, May 30-June 10.

While it had been announced that the Café Carlyle would close its doors for good last month and that cabaret entertainment at the Carlyle would henceforth take place in another part of the hotel, the room will in fact remain open through the spring. British musical theater star Maria Friedman, who recently appeared on Broadway in The Woman in White, will return May 2-June 3 with a show devoted to the songs of her good friend Stephen Sondheim. This engagement, her third at the fabled boite, also coincides with the release of her new CD, Now and Then.

Over at the Algonquin Hotel’s Oak Room, there’s a rare spring appearance by the room’s queen bee, Andrea Marcovicci; she’ll perform her new show, just… love, by request, from May 16 through June 10. In addition to a set program of romantic standards and contemporary songs, Marcovicci will offer one extra number from her vast repertoire each night, chosen by the audience. She is preceded at the Oak Room by the equally divine Karen Akers, whose dazzling tribute to the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb continues through May 13.

The Spring Season at Birdland wraps up with performances by guitarist David Ippolito, a.k.a. Central Park’s “guitar man” (May 1); Thoroughly Modern Millie co-author Dick Scanlan (May 8); and Euan Morton of Taboo fame (May 15). The series will conclude with Maria Friedman, Leslie Uggams, Norm Lewis, Jeff Harnar, Eric Comstock, Johnny Rodgers, Klea Blackhurst, and Sara Zahn performing selections from the upcoming PS Classics recording Jule Styne in Hollywood (May 22).

Over at Joe’s Pub, the eclectic line-up includes Sweeney Todd star Manoel Felciano (May 7); BECOME: The Music of Pasek and Paul (May 14); Threepenny Opera star Ana Gasteyer, with Julian Fleisher (May 22); the one-and-only Laurie Anderson (May 24, 31), and jazz great Howard Fishman’s salute to Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes (May 26-28).

Ars Nova has more than its fair share of top-notch talent on board, including The Petersons (May 6); another Sweeney Todd star, Donna Lynne Champlin (May 8); the award-winning comedy group Creation Nation (May 7, 13, 20, 25), and a special variety show co-hosted by author Jonathan Ames and musician Moby (May 30).

Elsewhere around town, the timeless troubadour Steve Ross salutes Fred Astaire at Iridium (May 7, 14, 28); former Bare star John Hill moves into The Duplex (May 15, 22, 29); Steven Brinberg and Tommy Femia reunite for Judy Garland & Barbra Streisand Live! At Don’t Tell Mama (May 6, 13, 20, 27); and Helen’s Hideaway showcases MAC Award winner Jeanne McDonald (May 5 & 6) as well as female impersonator Jimmy James (May 19, 20, 26, 27).

On the West Coast, Heather MacRae presents her beloved tribute to her late father, Gordon MacRae, at the Multi-Cultural Arts Center in Merced, California (May 6), and former Phantom of the Opera star Davis Gaines plays the Orange County Performing Arts Center (May 9-13). In San Francisco, Lypsinka brings her hit show The Passion of the Crawford to the Empire Plush Room (May 10-21); Ann Hampton Callaway appears at the Marines Memorial Club (May 14); and opera star Patricia Racette sings in Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel (May 20).