The 23rd Annual Bistro Awards

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The 23^rd Annual Bistro Awards

And the Winner Is…

Rooms opened and rooms closed. Performers left the business and quite a few singers made their debuts. Broadway performers, in greater numbers, sought the intimacy of a small intimate room to sing the songs that mean something personal to them.

That, in part, sums up the New York cabaret community in 2007, a community that’s always changing, like everything else around it.

Back Stage, too, made some changes this past year: specifically as to how the 2007 recipients of its 23^rd annual Bistro Awards were going to be chosen. It had always been tradition to have Back Stage’s cabaret critics choose the winners. But this year, I decided to form an awards committee made up of not only our current critic, but to also include former Back Stage columnists and those who review for other publications, to discuss and make the selections so that we can have a broader perspective to an industry which seems to be expanding its boundaries constantly.

The committee members: Elizabeth Ahlfors (Cabaret Scenes), David Finkle (Back Stage’s “Bistro Bits” columnist), John Hoglund (former “Bistro Bits” columnist), Erv Raible (executive/artistic director of the Cabaret Conference at Yale University, and former club owner/booker), Roy Sander (former “Bistro Bits” columnist), and Chuck Taylor (Billboard), all considered, very carefully, the guidelines set up by Bob Harrington in 1985, which can be summed up as follows:

The Back Stage Bistro Awards recognize achievement in a wide variety of categories— from outstanding performances to outstanding accomplishments and contributions by members of the cabaret community. New categories can be drawn up each year as they best describe the recipients, and categories may be dropped as well.

The object is not to choose “the best,” but to congratulate those who have done something special during the year.

The Bistro categories may recognize performers who are newly arrived on the scene (Debut) as well as those who have been performing for many years. They honor performers whose artistry promises a bright future (Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award) and also those who have spent their entire careers dedicated to the art (Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award).

What makes the Bistro Awards so unique is that they are a one-time honor in each category. If Bistro winners could be considered in the same slot each year, not only would the task of choosing the honorees be nearly impossible, but it would decrease the chances of others winning in that category. So when you’re looking over the following list, if you feel that a name has been omitted in a particular category, it’s very likely because that person is a previous winner. On the other hand, if you see a performer’s name and recognize him or her as a former Bistro recipient, it’s because that person was previously honored in a different category.

So, without further ado, here are the winners of the 2008 Back Stage Bistro Awards for Outstanding Excellence in Cabaret: 

VOCALIST: Bryan Batt at the Metropolitan Room; Marianne Challis at the Metropolitan Room; Stacy Sullivan at the Metropolitan Room.

DEBUT: Jonathan Whitton at the Triad, the Duplex, and the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Café.

MAJOR ENGAGEMENT: Tony DeSare at the Oak Room at the Algonquin.

MUSICAL COMEDY PERFORMER: Christine Pedi at the Metropolitan Room.

SONG & DANCE MAN: Jeffry Denman at Birdland.

UNIQUE ARTIST: Bree Benton (Poor Baby Bree) at Don’t Tell Mama.

CHARACTERIZATION: Arnaldo! at the Duplex.

MUSICAL DUO: Pinky Winters and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett at the Metropolitan Room.

REVUE: When the Lights Go On Again, conceived, written, and directed by Bill Daugherty, produced by Max Weintraub, at the Triad.

THEME SHOW: Lavender Songs: Queer Berlin Cabaret from Weimar to Hitler, adapted and performed by Jeremy Lawrence, directed by Jason Jacobs, at the Duplex, based on an evening created by Alan Lareau; and BABALU-CY!--The Art of Desi Arnaz, conceived and performed by Greg Purnhagen, written by Purnhagen with director Leonard Peters, and musical direction by David Cook, at the Metropolitan Room.

MUSICAL COMEDY NUMBER: “Fagnet,” lyric by Melanie Adelman and Ellie Dvorkin; music by Noah Diamond and Amanda Sisk, performed by Adelman and Dvorkin in Mel & El: This Show Rhymes at the Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Café and at the Duplex.

SPECIAL MUSICAL MATERIAL: “I’m Not Doing My Cabaret,” lyric by and performed by Jason Graae, at Birdland.

SPECIAL EVENT: “Kabarett Fête,” produced by Karen and Rob Kohler at Helen’s, which served up an uncommonly rich and varied smorgasbord of European song and cabaret.

RECORDING: Linda Kosut for “Long As You’re Living: The Songs & Poetry of Oscar Brown Jr.”

SPECIAL AWARD: to Bart Greenberg for helping to develop new audiences for cabaret through his creative programming of the “Any Wednesdays” series at Barnes & Noble; and to Ronny Whyte for bringing renewed energy as producer to the weekly “Midtown Jazz at Midday” series at St. Peter’s.

IRA EAKER SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Named for my late dad, the co-founder of Back Stage and a nightclub enthusiast, the award goes to an outstanding performer on the rise, Gabrielle Stravelli.

BOB HARRINGTON LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Marilyn Maye.

The Bistro Awards gala evening will be held on Mon., April 7 at Gotham Comedy Club. Details on purchasing tickets can be found in Back Stage, or by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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