If Rosie O'Donnell had really wanted a successful, entertaining, and fast-moving variety show, she would have put producer Scott Siegel and director Noah Racey in charge. A savvy and sophisticated audience filled The Town Hall on Monday evening, January 26, for the 2009 Nightlife Awards. They rewarded the winners and others with the kind of enthusiastic response they deserved. Despite lasting a solid three and a half hours including an intermission, there was ample evidence that the 27 judges who had selected the winners know and cherish this celebrated and specialized field of entertainment.
As the only award show that I know in which the winners do not give thank you speeches but simply come out and entertain us, we have to commend the evening's hilarious baleboosteh/host Judy Gold for keeping us in stitches between the all-singing-all-dancing-all-comedy acts. Many of the winners were given introductions by such luminaries in the world of entertainment as Keith Carradine, Christine Andreas, Larry Gatlin and Tovah Feldshuh, who also performed.
Acknowledged as a "legend" by presenter Tommy Tune, Karen Akers rapturously sang "I Had a Dream About You," and "I Was Here" (as adapted for her by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty from their score for The Glorious Ones.
Roars of approval greeted Carradine (with guitar) "I'm Easy," and Feldshuh who floored us a Borscht-Belt style monologue "Mourning in the Morning," and as Sophie Tucker ("I Don't Want to Get Thin").
Andreas gave the Town Hall-ers a bewitchingly alternative (to the one being sung by Stockard Channing on Broadway in the current revival of Pal Joey) "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered."
Among the winners designated as Outstanding in the thirteen categories were a mixture of veterans and relative newcomers. Soaring to stardom via her Tony Award-winning performance in Grey Gardens was the luminous Christine Ebersole. She joined forces with celebrated jazz pianist Billy Stritch to win Outstanding Cabaret Duo to show us how it's done with their collaboratively thrilling medley of "Devil May Care," "Let's Face the Music" and "How Are Things in GloccaMorra?"
Red hot mommas of the evening included Baby Jane Dexter (Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist) and Marilyn Maye (Outstanding Vocalist in a major engagement) who informed the "young-uns" what it takes to wow an audience.
Other multi-person acts that delivered big time were Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra (Outstanding Jazz Combo), Nashville (Outstanding Cabaret Group) and The Improvised Shakespeare Company (Outstanding Comic Group).
Dance couldn't have been better represented than by the phenomenal The New York Tap Ensemble (four men and one drop-dead gorgeous woman), a special added attraction (as stage shows used to advertise).
Soloists including Allan Harris (Outstanding Jazz Vocalist), Brandon Cutrell (Outstanding Piano Bar Entertainer), Helen Baldassare (Outstanding Cabaret Comedy), Freddy Cole (Outstanding Jazz Vocalist in a Major Engagement) and Mike Birbiglia (Outstanding Comedian in a Major Engagement), who delivered five funny minutes from his terrific one-man show (currently running Off Broadway), Sleepwalk With Me.
The show began with the smart musical advice of Stephanie J. Block for everyone to "Sing Happy." They did.
Christine Ebersole
