River Room tonight, Karen Mason, and more!

Happy Wednesday, all!

I'm celebrating "hump day" with a performance at The River Room, which is a gorgeous room overlooking the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge. The entire north wall is windows, which allows an absolutely incredible view! I'll be joined by Fortune Esposito on guitar, Tedd Firth on piano, Bobby Sher on drums, and Doug Largent on bass. We'll be doing three sets: 7:00, 8:15, and 9:15, and the best part is it's only a $10 cover and NO minimum! The cover is not a per-set fee, so you can stay for as little or as long as you'd like. There is a full menu available, as well as wine and cocktails. Directions are available on the website - it's only about 20 minutes from midtown, and well worth the trip. If you can make it, I'd love to see you there! We'll also be back on May 7th doing the same kind of gig, so save the date!

Now, on to some shows I've seen...

Last Monday (April 7th), I had the pleasure of attending the Bistro Awards at Gotham Comedy Club. Among the winners were some favorite performers of mine, who turned in some truly outstanding performances! Arnaldo! won an award for characterization, Gabrielle Stravelli, a new friend who I met at Metrojam, won the Ira Eaker Special Achievement Award, Tony DeSare won for Major Engagement, and the fabulous Marilyn Maye won the Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award. Afterwards, I of course continued the celebration by heading over to Cast Party for my weekly singing and schmoozing!

On Wednesday night, I headed over to the aforementioned River Room to hear Joe Bachana with his band. Joe is the host of Metrojam, the monthly open mic held at the Metropolitan Room, so I usually only get to hear him do one or two songs a night - what fun to hear him doing his own show! He was accompanied by a terrific band - Pat Firth on piano, Bobby Sher on drums, and Tod Hedrick on bass.

Friday evening found me at the Metropolitan Room to see one of my all time faves, Karen Mason. Having just entered the Broadway company of "Hairspray" a few days before, she rushed in the door at 11:04 p.m. (after that evening's performance of "Hairspray") and proceeded to put on a well-sung, high-energy show! She included some of my favorite songs: "Taking A Chance On Love," "How Long Has This Been Going On?" "Just In Time," and "All That Jazz," to name a few. Accompanying her on piano was her longtime musical director, Christopher Denny. As usual, Karen was engaging and highly entertaining, singing all of her material with passion and joy.

I spent the rest of the weekend upstate, visiting my adorable nephew - see the pic!

On Monday evening, I made my usual jaunt to Cast Party, which was full of some of my favorite regulars (Christine Lavin and Ben Rauch, among others), as well as lots of Broadway people (Lisa Howard, Barret Foa, Billy Porter, and more!). And, for a special treat, Marilyn Maye came by to close the evening!

Last night I was at Broadway Baby Bistro for the MAC Song and Special Material Showcase, which allowed people to hear all 10 of this year's MAC-nominated songs live. Hosted by Sharon McNight, the showcase was well-performed all around and an enjoyable way to spend the evening.

That pretty much brings us up to date - hope to see you at the River Room tonight!!