The 17th Annual MAC Awards Got it Right
The MAC Awards found its soul last Monday night at Symphony Space in a genuine celebration of its true cabaret constituency.
Forget (for the moment) who won in the 27 competitive award categories and consider instead that the event showcased the talents of an unprecedented number of “in-the-trenches” cabaret entertainers. In one production number after another, the real soldiers of cabaret were given the opportunity to display their talents — and they proved to be every bit as compelling as the “names” that have often been trotted out in the past to help sell tickets. These folks may or may not have sold seats, but they certainly sold songs. Bottom line: Reputations were made at the MAC Awards, some by virtue of awards won and other thanks to performances given in the show itself. The biggest winner of all, however, was cabaret as an art form.
Before we go any further, let’s get to the important issue: the clothes. Here are our winners for the best-dressed MAC attendees (at least, those that passed before our eyes): Michael Vaccaro, Joan Crowe, Ruby Rims, and Eileen Fulton. And, for shoes, Marnie Baumer.
Okay, now we can talk about what was wrong and right with the show. But if you think we’re going to say that the nearly four-and-a-half hour extravaganza was too long, you’re about to be disappointed. If this had been a bad show, it would have been long at 90 minutes, but the evening was consistently entertaining and the pace rarely flagged. Hey, it’s an awards show; they’re always too long! But the time flew by because we were having such a good time.
Putting on the Show
The irreverent, quick-witted co-hosts Colette Hawley and Jay Rogers started strong. In particular, Hawley’s physical comedy stood out when she gave a hilariously goofy demonstration of how she would dance winners off the stage if their speeches went on too long. As the evening wore on, however, Hawley turned increasingly (and needlessly) vulgar. Her brand of humor is very effective in her own shows in smaller rooms; but in a house this size, performing for a more upscale audience, she would have done well to be less down-and-dirty. (On another note, we simply couldn’t hear many of her asides; in this, she was a victim of the sound system.) Rogers, on the other hand, maintained a sweeter disposition.
At any rate, this was not a host-driven event. Producer Barry Levitt and director Lennie Watts put together a show so jam-packed with entertainment that it seemed as if the awards themselves were fit in between the musical numbers, rather than the other way around.
The 20-minute-long opening number, “Where Would Cabaret Be” (lyric by Elaine Brier and music by John McMahon), took the audience through a tongue-in-cheek tour of the cabaret experience, from piano bar entertainment to the hawking of CDs. It even included critics — namely, us. Our decidedly amateurish performance aside, this wonderfully inclusive sequence set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Among the subsequent production numbers, one of the most satisfying began with Jay Rogers dressed in a deliciously gaudy pink hat matched and matching pumps. The curtain then opened to reveal a stage full of female celebrity impersonators including Rick Skye (Liza Minnelli), Chuck Sweeney (Peggy Lee), Richard Skipper (Carol Channing), Steven Brinberg (Barbra Streisand), and Tommy Femia (Judy Garland). Each diva had a solo moment before the number was further enlarged to embrace same-sex celeb impersonators such as Christine Pedi (another Liza), Quinn Lemley (Rita Hayworth), Christine Zbornik (Ethel Merman), and Alison Briner (Bernadette Peters). The highlight of this spectacular number was a brief sing-off between the new Gypsy star, Bernadette Peters, and the original, Ethel Merman. Reminded by Peters/Briner that she was dead, Merman/Zbornik retorted, “Even dead, I can out-sing you!” And the house came tumbling down.
We can’t stress enough the importance and impact of this impersonator number. For far too long, these supremely talented entertainers have often been relegated to secondary status in some quarters (though, thankfully, not by MAC). The fact is they are among the most commercially and critically successful members of the cabaret community. MAC went the distance by highlighting their importance in a number full of joy and dignity that allowed them to be seen in all their feathers, beads, and glory.
Sound Off
Like so many one-night-only events, the show had its intermittent sound problems. One of these occurred during the Diva number, when the sound became diffused and muddy. (Maybe the microphones were “Diva challenged.”) Having said that, the performance of Barry Keating’s “Hard to be a Diva” by Sharon McNight, Karen Mason, Lina Koutrakos, and Ann Hampton Callaway was still the highest pinnacle in a mountain range of major moments. Not only were these women vocally thrilling, there was something fundamentally satisfying about their appearance in this show. Though they have made their marks in several areas of show business, each of them came out of cabaret and continues to work in cabaret. To put it simply, they are our divas.
Anne Steele, a Diva-in-Training, works at Don’t Tell Mama. She spends a lot of her time serving beer on tap but, at the MAC Awards, her talent was on tap. Rather than having a big-name performer send the audience off to intermission, this Levitt/Watts production gave a relative unknown the opportunity — no, the honor — of closing the first act, and it turned out to be yet another MAC Awards success story. Steele performed Rick Jensen’s “I’ve Got to Sing,” backed by the 10-member vocal group Uptown Express, and she stormed the ramparts of stardom as if it were BaSteele Day. (She made her mark despite the fact that the sound system did her no favors.)
Jenifer Kruskamp, also from Don’t Tell Mama’s piano bar, gave a gorgeously textured performance of the Song of the Year award winner, Carol Hall’s “I Dream in Technicolor.” A bigtime belter, Kruskamp displayed a winning delicacy in her rendition of this worthy winner.
And speaking of worthy winners, a Board of Directors Award went to Mary Cleere Haran and a Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Barbara Carroll. Both gave the ceremony a dash of class with their elegant performances. Stephen Schwartz, another Board of Directors Award winner, was the biggest name at the MAC Awards, having won multiple Oscars, Grammys, and Drama Desk Awards. But, even here, MAC did not reach out beyond the boundaries of its community: Schwartz has been a hugely generous force in cabaret, lending his name, his time, and his talents to MAC and being extremely supportive of its members. His performance (with singer Scott Coulter surprising many by accompanying him on the piano) of his own composition, “Forgiveness’s Embrace,” was a healing salve to a community buffeted in recent months by lots of bad news.
Almost — But Not Quite — Perfect
One example of that bad news was Time Out NY‘s decision not to maintain a separate Cabaret Section in the magazine. Give Time Out editor Joe Angio credit for taking on the issue during the MAC awards show before having cabaret editor H. Scott Jolley present a special award to the Duplex for its standout work this past year. Angio made every attempt to give the change a positive spin; how many people he convinced is questionable, but the audience listened respectfully.
The one aspect of the MAC Awards that was not live was the video program. You can usually count on some technical snafu when video is added to a live event, but all of the clips went smoothly. Bradshaw Smith did an excellent job in putting them together, particularly the segment devoted to folks we’ve lost in recent years. Having the late Nancy LaMott’s recording of David Friedman’s “We Live on Borrowed Time” accompany the montage was an inspired choice. Our only recommendation is that such montages should identify the people in the clips; we may live in a cabaret fishbowl, but the truth is that not everyone recognizes every face. Names printed below the faces would be helpful and very much appreciated.
Kudos to Many
Helping everyone do their job on stage at Symphony Space was musical director/pianist David Maiocco. He not only led a three-piece combo but also worked with the MACettes; this deliciously versatile foursome (Leslie Anderson, Marnie Baumer, Jonathan Tomaselli, and Steven Ray Watkins) provided backup vocals throughout the show.
Perhaps the best performance by a presenter was given by the smartly sarcastic Judy Barnett, who chided both the jazz world for abandoning its stalwarts in favor of ever-younger entertainers and MAC itself for presenting only one Jazz Award (for Outstanding Jazz Vocalist), which she then graciously bestowed upon Natalie Douglas.
Don’t Tell Mama truly dominated the show, in terms of both award winners and participants. Principal among those involved was director Lennie Watts: Not only did he pick up two awards during the evening (Male Vocalist and Director), he further enhanced his already impressive directorial résumé by virtue of his stunning achievement in guiding the show at Symphony Space on Monday night.
Phil Bond also came away a big winner, when you consider how many of his Storefront folks and Duplex bookings walked off with MAC Awards. Among the other notable honorees were Julie Reyburn (Female Vocalist) and, for the second year in a row, Karen Mack & Michael Holland (Vocal Duo/Group). The award-winning debut artists were Lorinda Lisitza and Brandon Cutrell; both honors were richly deserved.
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For a complete list of this year’s MAC Award winners, click here.
