The 2003 MAC AWARDS Show

This year's MAC AWARDS show was held at SYMPHONY SPACE (Broadway at 95th Street - 212-864-1414) on Monday, April 14th. The following is a report of that show, written by CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE Editor-in-Chief, Stu Hamstra.

It has taken an extra long time to write this report on the 17th Annual MAC AWARDS show held at SYMPHONY SPACE (Broadway at 95th Street, NYC) on Monday, April 14th. There is no way I can write a full, detailed report on this 4-hour long extravaganza. But to give just the highlights means that I am sure to read this report a few days from now and recall something additional that I should have included!

Exactly where do I start? I guess I could give you some idea of the excitement and energy of the show by mentioning that the dullest moment was a bit done by an obviously impatient Mark Nadler performing with a small child who blew his lines as well as his clarinet! To even suggest that Mr. Nadler's performance was dull only emphasizes the super-explosive action on stage the rest of the night. I have never seen a MAC AWARDS show quite like this - four hours and I still could have stayed for more!

Instead of a simple awards show, accompanied by incidental musical numbers, this show was a celebration of cabaret, interrupted occasionally by the presentation of awards. All recipients kept their remarks to a minimum, possibly fearing the threat of having cohost Colette Hawley chase them off the stage with her famous "chicken dance." Ms. Hawley, along with cohost Jay Rogers, kept the evening rolling along with such speed, I could barely catch my breath.

It started with a montage of video clips that I am told included snippets of the acts of over 100 cabaret performers. This was immediately followed a 25-minute long "Opening Number" that paid tribute to all the folks that make up a cabaret show, from booking manager to performer. Singing a specially written song by Elaine Brier and John McMahon called "Where Would Cabaret Be?" the stage was soon filled by representatives from all parts of the cabaret world, starting with the performers in the piano bar that you pass through on the way to the cabaret room, to folks that create the fliers, and work in the room itself including musical directors, directors, musicians, technical directors, bartenders, each group singing a special verse touting their contributions. I lost count, but there were at least 40 people on stage at the end of the song, including a rocking band led by musical director David Maiocco, with Joe Mowatt on drums and Sam McPherson on bass. A quartet made up of Leslie Anderson, Marnie Baumer, Jonathan Tomaselli and Steven Ray Watkins lent continuity to the show, appearing often to set up various numbers and serve at times as a sort-of Greek Chorus to the antics of Ms. Hawley and Mr. Rogers.

Director Lennie Watts, whose motto indeed is "Bigger is Better," gave stage manager Laura Kravets and technical director Michael Barbieri the almost impossible task of moving people and props on an off the stage throughout the show, using every lighting and microphone channel available in this newly refurbished theater. In fact, this show would never have worked at TOWN HALL, where the MAC AWARDS show had been held for the past few years. There was barely a glitch all night! It was an admirable feat by a team of professionals dedicated to cabaret!

Several times through the evening, the show included film clips, including a touching salute to those who have been lost to cabaret over the years, introduced by songwriter David Friedman, and shown to a recording by Nancy LaMott of David's song "We Live on Borrowed Time." Bradshaw Smith should be applauded in creating this section by including both famous and obscure artists. Some folks included are hardly known by the younger performers of today, including past icons like Bruce Hopkins, Curt Davis, and Sylvia Syms and recently departed performers like Vanessa Vickers, Arthur Kirson and Peggy Lee.

Judy Barnett was especially eloquent in berating the fact that MAC was presenting just one award this year in the jazz category (which she presented to Natalie Douglas) when in years past there have been as many as 5 awards in this area, including Male & Female, Major & Minor Vocalist awards and a Jazz Instrumentalist Award. With the fact that there are more jazz clubs in Manhattan than Cabaret Clubs (there are 15 clubs belonging to MAC alone that feature predominately jazz performance), this is especially startling. At one time there was also a category for jazz recording.

The same could be said in the comedy area, where only two awards were presented this year, for Male & Female Stand-up - in years past there have been four presented, in the Major & Minor divisions. (There are 5 comedy clubs on the MAC member list alone, and several of the member cabarets feature Stand-Up Comedy regularly as part of their schedules.)

Does this reflect a lack of interest in comedy and jazz performers in competing in the awards process, or does it reflect a lack of interest on the part of MAC in cultivating and promoting these areas in their programs? I suspect that it is a little bit of each. MAC should either shore up their relationship with these venues or consider dropping them as participants.

If you are in the NYC area and failed to attend this year's show, you missed some really special moments. For example, the awards for "Song of the Year" and "Special Material" were presented through actual performance rather than simple presentation. Georgia Osborne actually learned all five songs in the "Special Material" category, and then took the stage when the winner was announced to sing Julie Gold's "The Heartbreak Diet" gloriously and almost flawlessly. In the same way, Jenifer Kruskamp learned all 5 in the "Song of the Year" category and stepped forward to sing Carol Hall's "I Dream in Technicolor" in a show-stopping performance that was totally entrancing.

Another show-stopping moment was the delicious Anne Steele singing Rick Jensen's "I've Got to Sing" accompanied by the male vocal group Uptown Express. I am sure that somewhere in Symphony Space there is still an echo of this big, brassy belter's performance still bouncing around.

In a delightful number featuring female celebrity impersonators Rick Skye (Liza), Steven Brinberg (Barbra), Richard Skipper (Carol), Chuck Sweeney (Peggy) and Tommy Femia (Judy), the boys were soon joined by celebrity female impersonators Alison Briner (Bernadette), Kristine Zbornik (Ethel), Christine Pedi (another Liza) and Quinn Lemley (Rita). Especially funny was a little stage business between the Peters and Merman characters - when Zbornik said to Briner, regarding GYPSY: "That's my show!" to which Briner replied: "But you're dead!" to which Zbornik retorted: "Even dead, I can sing it better!"

A big salute to the folks in the audience who held back from expressing their true feelings regarding TIME OUT NY's abandonment of special cabaret coverage when the editor, Joe Angio, was introduced, along with cabaret editor H. Scott Jolley to present their Special Achievement Award to THE DUPLEX. (This week's TONY continues their record of ignoring the MAC community: No photos of MAC cabaret artists and a feature about Ute Lemper at the Bottom Line (not a member club). No cabaret mentions in the Best of the Rest. Will they be possibly mentioning the MAC Awards in the next issue?).

Congratulations to THE DUPLEX, which under the direction of booking manager Phil Bond has been turned into a real power on the NYC cabaret scene. Congratulations to owner Rick Panson and general manager Tony DeCicco for giving Phil their full backing and support.

Special performances by Barbara Carroll (recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award) and Mary Cleere Haran (Board of Director Award) were calmly elegant additions to the production - with just one request to Ms. Haran to cut the patter and sing the song. Once she began singing, I was lost in the tonal beauty of this wonderful ladies's vocals. Ms. Carroll continues as one of my two favorites in her genre, along with Audrey Morris in Chicago (MAC Board, take note, possibly for next year).

Julie Gold was given the rather difficult task of presenting the CD awards - there were four categories with three entries in each. Again, as with the other song awards, presentation and acceptance speeches were skipped, and instead, CD covers were projected on the screen centerstage and sound clips from each CD were played (the nominated CDs also served as background music before and after the show and during the "10-minute" intermission). While this procedure did result in speeding up the show, it was a bit awkward for Ms. Gold to shuffle through the stack of envelopes and read all the nominations.

Line of the night:

Craig Rubano to Klea Blackhurst, as they presented awards late in the evening, near the end of the show, "Congratulations on the award you got (for Female Vocalist Recording) yesterday."

Big winners:

Michael Holland, who won for his show "Mikey Writes It" as well as a co-winner with Karen Mack for their "Gashole" show.

Lennie Watts, who won the Male Vocalist and Director categories, and saw several performers he directed (Michael Vaccaro, Georga Osborne, Eric Pickering) also win awards.

Tommy Femia, who won the Impersonation Award, as well as the Musical Comedy Duo award with Christine Pedi.

Phil Bond, who not only was part of the TONY Award to THE DUPLEX, but also accepted the Variety Production award on behalf of his Storefront Theater group for the "New Mondays" series at THE DUPLEX.

Big surprise:

Jazz singer/instrumentalist Billy Stritch mispronouncing jazz singer/instrumentalist Peter Cincotti's name when presenting the Major Male Vocalist award.

Inspired acceptance speech:

Michael Vaccaro, who has been nominated for Male Musical Comedy annually, and never winning, and has presented a show each year during MAC voting time, called "Who Do I Have To 'Bleep' To Win a MAC" admitting that he had spent all day trying to choose his wardrobe for the evening and thus he forgot to write an acceptance speech, and then realizing, as he came down the aisle to accept the award, that he no longer had an act!

But hold on, we're not finished yet! For me, the most memorable part of the evening was the 15-minute performance of Barry Keating's "Hard to be a Diva" by four of the reigning divas of cabaret: Karen Mason, Ann Hampton Callaway, Lina Koutrakos and Sharon McNight. First, each diva sang the song through in progression, and then, to the cry "Let The Games Begin" they each took center stage in a belting competition that was a wildly ear-splitting demonstration of their prowess in the diva department. I am sure that Mr. Keating, who was in the audience, never heard his song sung with quite the power and gusto of this performance. I will go down in cabaret history as one of the most exciting, memorable moments in cabaret and MAC Award history!

And that's not all. To close the show, Ben Vereen stepped on stage to present Stephen Schwartz with his Board of Directors Award and perform with other artists in a medley of Stephen's songs. The curtains parted to reveal a stage filled with performers, including two pianos, and for the next 15 minutes each person took the spotlight to sing a portion of some of Mr. Schwartz' greatest hits, ending with Mr. Schwartz taking the microphone, with Scott Coulter at the piano (who knew?) to sing "Forgiveness' Embrace." It was a soothing dessert to a feast of a show.

As I left the theater, again and again performers came up to me, with faces beaming, to tell me how proud they were to be a part of the cabaret community, and how this show renewed their spirits in an era of closing performance spaces, and the difficulty of attracting audiences in time of wartime stress and terrorist threats. I could only agree.

Congratulations to winners and non-winners (there were no losers) alike. Congratulations to the producers, performers and back-room presenters of this memorable show. There have been folks out there causing divisiveness and poisoning the cabaret waters for the past several months, and it was great to see everyone toss aside these nay-sayers and rumormongers to celebrate an art form that is alive and well and united in spirit here in NYC.

I know I could only give you a small idea of what a great evening it was - and I know that as soon as this goes out, I will realize several great moments in the show that I overlooked. It was that powerful an evening - my head is still spinning two days later!

I was asked to pass along one correction to the MAC program: Maria Gentile wrote the lyrics for the nominated song "If I Was a Boy," with Ms. Gentile and Caren Cole writing the music.

And that is just about the way it was.

Hugs & Stuff,

STU

2003 MAC AWARDS PHOTO REPORT

2003 MAC AWARD WINNERS

2003 MAC AWARD NOMINEES

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