2003 MAC AWARD PERFORMERS AND PRESENTERS ANNOUNCED

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) has announced some the performers and presenters who will be taking part when it presents the 2003 MAC Awards show on Monday, April 14th at The Peter Norton SYMPHONY SPACE (Broadway at 95th Street - 212-864-5400) at 7:30 pm. The MAC Awards are the culmination of a four-week celebration of Manhattan's cabarets and nightclubs and their abundance of live talent and are presented annually to honor achievements in cabaret, comedy and jazz. The Awards encompass more than two dozen categories, including vocalists and vocal groups, piano bar and jazz performers, comedy and musical performers, impersonators, writers of songs and special material, directors, musical directors and technical directors, recordings, and more. Tickets, ranging in price from $25 to $125, can be purchased at the Peter Norton Symphony Space box-office or by phone. Award-winning performers, Colette Hawley and Jay Rogers will share the stage as Master of Ceremonies. David Maiocco will serve as Musical Director.

MAC will honor master Jazz pianist Barbara Carroll with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz and International chanteuse Mary Cleere Haran will be honored with Board of Directors Awards.

The producer, Barry Levitt, and the director, Lennie Watts, will collaborate on the star-packed event to include live performances and/or appearances by Tom Andersen, Michael Barbieri, Judy Barnett, Bobby Belfry, Klea Blackhurst, Elaine Brier, Steven Brinberg, Ann Hampton Callaway, Jim Caruso, Scott Coulter, Joan Crowe, John De Marco, Gaelen English, Tommy Femia, David Friedman, Eileen Fulton, Julie Gold, Amanda Green, Michael Holland, Chelsea Hudgins, Rick Jensen, Lina Koutrakos, Poppy Kramer, Jenifer Kruskamp, Julie Corbett Leon, Jay Leonhart, Randy Lester, Susan Lucci, Karen Mack, Sharon McKnight, John McMahon, Karen Mason, Sue Matsuki, Sidney Myer, Mark Nadler, Georgia Osborne, Bobby Peaco, Christine Pedi, Eric Pickering, Ron Poole, Tracy Reynolds, Ruby Rims, Anne Runolfsson, Craig Rubano, Ann Scobie, Richard Skipper, Rick Skye, Anne Steele, Michael Stewart, Billy Stritch, Chuck Sweeney, Julie Wilson, and Christine Zbornik. Ben Vereen will be on hand to present Stephen Schwartz with his Board of Directors Award and perform with other artists in a medley of Stephen's songs.

For more information about MAC, visit the official MAC website at http://www.MACnyc.com/.

BARBARA CARROLL (Receiving the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award), first lady of jazz piano, recently returned to her jazz roots with an extended run at the legendary jazz club Birdland. She recently completed her record-breaking run at the famed Bemelman's Bar in the Carlyle Hotel, where she appeared annually for two extended engagements for 24 years. Ms. Carroll is an elegant jazz pianist, composer and vocalist who is regarded as one of the most fascinating purveyors of swinging jazz piano and expressive vocals. Her inventive piano playing and unique vocal sound insure that she will infuse her work with emotional directness and respect for the tune. After making her New York debut at the celebrated Downbeat club on 52nd Street, she went on to perform in major music rooms across the country. Her audience was regularly comprised of luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett and Dinah Washington, among many others. Her diverse musical career has encompassed appearances on Broadway in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Me and Juliet, major TV shows, concert halls, jazz festivals and clubs throughout the world. She has made over 30 recordings on labels such as Atlantic, RCA Victor, Verve, Blue Note and DRG. Fynsworth Alley released her most recent CD, "One Morning in May." This year, Ms. Carroll was personally selected by Dr. Billy Taylor to receive the Kennedy Center's prestigious "Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award" in May 2003.

MARY CLEERE HARAN (Receiving the 2003 MAC Board of Directors Award) has brought her acclaimed song styling to such venues as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Town Hall, as well as to intimate spaces like the Caf— Carlyle, the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, Rainbow & Stars, the Cinegrill in Los Angeles, San Francisco's Plush Room and London's Pizza on the Park. She has brought her writing and talents to such PBS specials as "Remembering Bing," "Irving Berlin's America," "When We Were Young: the Lives of the Child Movie Stars," "Satchmo" and "Doris Day: A Sentimental Journey." Her recent recordings include "This Funny World: Mary Cleere Haran Sings Lyrics By Hart," "Pennies From Heaven: Great Songs of the Depression," "The Memory of All That: The Songs of George Gershwin," and "Crazy Rhythm: New York in the Twenties." Last season, she was featured in a recurring role in Sidney Lumet's "One Centre Street."

STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (Receiving the 2003 MAC Board of Directors Award) has contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Personals, Rags, and Children of Eden. He collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on the English texts for Bernstein's Mass and wrote the title song for the play and movie Butterflies Are Free. For children, he has written a one-act musical, The Trip, and a picture book, "The Perfect Peach." For films, he collaborated with Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. He provided music and lyrics for the original television musical "Geppetto," seen on The Wonderful World of Disney, and has released two CDs of new songs entitled "Reluctant Pilgrim" and "Uncharted Territory." He is currently working on a new musical for the stage, Wicked. Mr. Schwartz is the recipient of three Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards, three Drama Desk Awards, and a tiny handful of tennis trophies. For more information, visit http://www.stephenschwartz.com/.

BARRY LEVITT (Producer) is now in his sixth season as Artistic Director of the 92nd Street Y's renowned "Lyrics and Lyricists" series. He has been active as a pianist, arranger, composer, and musical director in New York since 1973, when he was appointed musical director of the Plaza Hotel's Persian Room. Barry has provided musical direction, orchestrations, and vocal arrangements for two Broadway productions, Swinging on a Star (Tony Award nominee, Best Musical, 1996) and Catskills on Broadway. He has served as musical director for six off-Broadway shows, including Little Shop of Horrors and Taking My Turn. He has been musical director, arranger and pianist for numerous cabaret performers, including Carol Channing, Ben Vereen, Connie Francis, Eartha Kitt, Margaret Whiting, Nell Carter, and Sergio Franchi.

LENNIE WATTS (Director) is a multiple MAC, Bistro and most recently, a Nightlife Award winner. He has won for performing as well as directing. He has toured nationally and internationally, and has performed or directed in almost every cabaret space in New York City. He is the founder of CABLAB, a cabaret performance workshop in its third year. He will also team up with Lina Koutrakos to bring back their extremely successful "Summer In The City" cabaret workshop this summer. As a performer, he appeared on "The Rose O'Donnell Show," and his debut CD entitled "I Want ... You Want ... " is available in retail stores on Amazon.com, or through his website, http://www.lenniewatts.com/.

MANHATTAN ASSOCIATION OF CABARETS & CLUBS (MAC) was founded in 1983 to advance the art and business of live entertainment. A trade association, its activities are designed to heighten public awareness of the field's contributions and vitality, to honor its creativity, to build its current and future audiences, and to speak out as an influential voice on behalf of MAC members and the industry at large. Members of MAC include cabaret, comedy and jazz artists, directors and musical directors, technical directors, musicians, club owners and booking managers, composers and lyricists, journalists and publicists, artists' managers and agents, and friends and supporters of live entertainment.

2003 MAC AWARDS NOMINEES

 

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