last updated Friday, 05-Mar-10 08:35:23 EST

Last Call (con't) Once upon a time, piano bars were as common as pizza and panhandlers. Today, hedge funder types along with displaced yuppies along with designer boutiques continue to change the face of what was once an idyllic, albeit avant garde village and a bastion of nightlife extending from Cafe Wha and Le Mama to poet readings in the bohemian coffee houses of the sixties to jugglers and bums co-existing like cabbages and kings in Washington Square Park. Grove Street also included legendary night spots that dotted the after dark landscape such as Arthur's, the rusty old jazz club and Marie's Crisis, another relic famous for sing-alongs located next to Rose's Turn. And, of course, there was The Five Oaks (where I once chatted with Liza Minnelli, Shirley MacLaine and Bela Abzug who all spoke at the same time about different subjects). I saw Barbara Cook dining with friends as well as frequent visitor Vladimir Horowitz scoffing down his usual steak in a quiet corner enjoying the world's favorite pianist: Marie Blake. The list of names, famous and infamous, is mind boggling. When he was running for president, Hubert Humphrey stopped in to say hello to Blake as he glad-handed his way down Grove Street with a Secret Service entourage. It was all part of an era that has been steadily slipping away that would later include another icon just a few blocks away - Eighty Eight's, which enjoyed an eleven year run like no other club. There was also a bevy of famous and infamous saloons, pastry cafe's and musty basements masquerading as restaurants that flocked to downtown nightlife from the sixties to the nineties. It was all part of the melting pot that was Grove Street. And, 55 Grove Street, whether on the boards as The Duplex or Rose's Turn had its own history on that poor man's boulevard of broken - and sometimes realized dreams. So, where is cabaret heading as clubs open and close overnight? The cabaret cartel as we have come to know it over the last two decades seems to be coming to an end. Swooping changes started to occur somewhere around the mid-eighties when a crop of new faces appeared on the horizon eclipsing more established talents who either moved on or dropped out. Today, the club "scene" has changed with mixed results. At times, it all looks like a hodge podge of dysfunctional relatives at a family picnic. But all is not lost. First of all, nightlife is not dead. But it is on life support. On the upside; the news is good - if you've already made it. Today, posh cabaret rooms known as "major" venues are in pretty good shape with well heeled denizens of the night night who can afford to frequent high end rooms with cover charges ranging from $60 to $110 per person with dinner required at most seatings. Today, these revered cabarets include: The Oak Room at The Algonquin, Cafe Carlyle and Feinstein's at the Regency. Booking managers there attract the likes of legendary artists like Judy Collins, Carol Channing and Elaine Stritch as well as Eartha Kitt and a cache` of assorted luminaries from Broadway and the concert stage like: Betty Buckley, Linda Eder, Peter Gallagher, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ben Vereen as well Michael Feinstein himself. They are all major draws and all usually sell out. This September, Steve Ross opens the fall season at The Algonquin's Oak Room with a new Sondheim show, Ashford & Simpson return to Feinstein's. Eartha Kitt will be at Cafe Carlyle as well as Woody Allen, who actually began his career at The Duplex, continues his Monday night jam session with his gospel/jazz band there. All of the aforementioned, play to sell out crowds. However, it's a different ball game in the smaller or mid-level clubs where, often, performers are lucky if they can get enough people in seats to even put on a show. Of course there are exceptions and there are many sold out shows at Don't Tell Mama, The Duplex and The Laurie Beechman Theater. Another good example of this is the run-away success of Metropolitan Room at Gotham which opened in 2006 and has presented some of today's top or rising names and many sold out shows. This room is the perfect place for proven stars from Broadway like Keith David, Mary Bond Davis, Euan Morton or Linda Lavin who do one-nighters or a short runs with great results. Marilyn Maye staged an extraordinary return to Manhattan nightlife with an extended run of sold out shows last year and will be back in September. MORE - page 3   4  5  6  prev - page 1 Back to NYC CABARET REVIEW Index Page Back to CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE Home Page

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