THE "D" WORD CATCH-UP ON CABARET

According to a persistent rumor, it is about to be December.  The cold, the holiday crowds, remembering the New Year's Resolutions I haven't gotten around to putting into practice...... This seems impossible and I don't even want to think about it or even say the "D" word.  I suppose that brings up the other "D" word: Denial. 

But there are other "D" words that come to mind and they might make the final month of the year more interesting and worth going out in the cold, assuming you like cabaret. In fact, my cabaret therapist, Dr. Whatsamattayou, has told me it will be easier to accept the too-soon arrival of the new month if I spell it out one letter at a time.  Well, that distracts me by making me think of certain cabaret coming attractions that begin with each letter of the word. If you don't know what I mean, I'll spell it out for you.....

If you prefer a lower case "d," and want to make a case for variety being the spice of life, here's a capital idea:  It's time for a variety show presented by and featuring the lady who's been smiling at you all month as you've entered any cabaret room in the country:  It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely, it's December, it's deRoy....Jamie deRoy, on the cover of the ubiquitous Cabaret Scenes Magazine for November.  Her next show is Thursday, 12/2, at Metropolitan Room.  Guests include Broadway's Brent Barrett, Sally Kellerman (who's also doing her own show there during the month), Bistro/MAC/Nightlife/MetroStar winner Anne Steele, Christina Bianco, comic Cory Kahaney, and a rare cabaret sighting in the form of the reunion of Weeden, Finkle and Fay.  The Finkle is David Finkle, best known to many of you as the longtime cabaret and theatre reviewer and co-judge with me on the Bistro Awards committee.  Yes, before all that, he was a performer who also wrote original material.  They all join Jamie for some holiday spirit.

How about a capital "D"?  Downtown, there's the Duplex whose calendar is full of holiday shows of all kinds.  But the month's first couple of days include two "D" shows: that's "D" as in "Debut" and "Devil" with a show called Devil with a Heart of Gold, apparently a birthday and a cabaret debut for its performer Saasha Foo....and "D" as in "Doss" for Barrett Doss and his take on songs from Jason Robert Brown's score, The Last 5 Years.  The month ends there with another "D" performer, Natalie Douglas, with her annual New Year's Eve show.

Now for those other letters in the word "December" .....

"E" "E" stands for "E-mail," of course, so let's open the cyber-mailbag and see what announcements are there on a subject that starts with the letter E.  How about eating?  Well, it seems that it will be "E"-Z to Eat with an Extra discount, if you are a MAC member: 10% off your food and drink bill at Rachel's American Bistro on Ninth Avenue between West 43 and 44 Streets, where Sheree Sano is at the keyboard on Wednesdays from 9:00 in the evening til 11:30.

"C" -- if you care -- stands for Cabaret and, to be specific, Cabaret Cares, the series of fundraisers to provide help for Help Is on the Way Today, assisting youth with HIV.  On December 13, this year's MetroStar Talent Challenge contest winner, T. Oliver Reid, hosts a show with cast-mates from the Broadway show where he's been a longtime resident:  Mary Poppins. The jolly holiday show should be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-ish and will be held at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in the West Bank Cafe on West 42 Street, just a short trip by umbrella or foot from the Broadway theatre where they normally play.

"E"  stands for...Egad, as I said before, it stands for E-mail, so let's see what other announcements are there: Oh, here's one from my NiteLifeExchange colleague, Daryl Glenn, with an E-vite about an E-vent for a performer whose last name does not start with "E," but he points out that her first name does, and that she has a total of four "E"s  in her name.  Hmmm... He builds a strong case.  It's a debut show by Eleanor Guerrero called Pretty Legs and Great Big Knockers and seems to be of the fun and audacious species.  This is December 3 and 4 at Don't Tell Mama on West 46 Street and the announcement comes from Daryl because the act marks his directorial debut.  He knows something about providing that all-important E word in a cabaret performance: Entertainment.

"M"  stands for two Marilyn M. songbirds.  First, there's Marilyn Maye, who returns to the Metropolitan Room the nights of December 5, 6, 7 -- for a return engagement of Her Own Kind of Broadway. Consider the following a mini-review with maximum recommendation quotient: This was another smash, filled with many numbers from smash hit Broadway shows like Guys and Dolls and My Fair Lady -- plus songs she was the very first to record in the 1960s, back in the record biz heyday of the Maye way of being chosen to expose songs from an incoming musical before it opened.  These included the title songs from Cabaret and Sherry! as well as a number from a show now back on Broadway again: Promises, Promises' "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."  You'll fall in love again with Marilyn's magical methodology of quickening pulses and making audiences feel involved in quick order.  "Will everyone here kindly 'Step to the Rear' and let a [MAC/ Bistro/ Nightlife/ Mabel Mercer/ Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation] winner lead the way."  This exciting singer gives 167% at every performance (this percentage has been scientifically measured).  You'll find more on Miss Maye on this website with a photo spread, an observer's report on her master class for singers which comes around again on December 11 and, oh, she's mentioned in the Sondheim article because she's being sued by Carnegie Hall for ripping the roof off the joint with one rip-roaring, soaring number that is part of the Broadway-themed act.  Act now and make reservations  ....  The other Marilyn M. is Marilyn Michaels, the singer and impressionist and a longtime favorite.  We don't see her so often these days.  But she'll be the attraction on the closing night of Urban Stages' Holiday Cabaret Nights series running at their West 30 Street venue,  12/6-15.  I'll be reporting more on this shortly, but meanwhile, you can see the schedule at www.urbanstages.org

"B" is the letter we are up to now -- a capital "B" and that rhymes with "T" and that stands for not "Trouble" but the Triad on West 72 Street --- where a music man and a Broadway music woman and you can all BE on the musical menu in "B"-named shows you can make a B-line for:  that's "B" as in Brel as the revue Jacques Brel Returns continues, Brenda Braxton with a 12/12 one-nighter and a trip to Berlin (Irving Berlin, that is) with the songwriter of "White Christmas," a natural for their choice in the series of audience sing-along nights.

"E" --- in case you forgot --- stands for E-mail, and there's one from Miss E. herself --- Jenna Esposito --- reminding us that whenever a new month begins, its first Friday is the MetroJam open mic she hosts at the Metropolitan Room.  The next day she alights in Little Italy for the outdoor Christmas tree-lighting ceremonies where she will also be singing.  And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street!

"R"stands for the first and last and middle names of Ricky Ritzel.  (His middle name is Riotous, or should be.)  R.R. is doing a duo show with S.S. who is Spider Saloff, and the date is December 20 and the place is Don't Tell Mama and 7:00 is the time.  As often happens, there's another act that got some great reviews that is there in the next room at the same time: All in Good Time -- with Deb Berman accompanied by guitarist Sean Harkness, another dynamic duo.  What a dilemma.  Maybe I should have mentioned her earlier, what with both her initials being in the letters of "December"  and the first two letters of her first name being the first two letters of "December" and the last three letters of that word being half her surname. Her other remaining date is December 6, but then this duo conflicts with a trio: Lennie Watts, Scott Coulter and Steven Ray Watkins with their songs from the 1970s.  Fortunately, I saw and loved the other two previously, all in good time, so I am not dilemma-drenched.  (The three guys have other dates, too.)  So, you see, it all spells a happy ending and we've spelled "December" .... and it doesn't seem like a month to resist after all.