Broadway Cabaret Fest to Include Lerner/Loewe Tribute, Wilkinson Evening, Broadway Originals

By Andrew Gans
July 23, 2008

The Fourth Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival, created by Scott Siegel, will be presented at Town Hall in Manhattan Oct. 17-19.

The Festival will kick off Oct. 17 at 8 PM with A Tribute to Lerner & Loewe. Those currently scheduled to perform the work of the famed songwriters include Brent Barrett, Jim Caruso, Alexander Gemignani, Celia Keean-Bolger, Sarah Jane McMahon, Euan Morton, Julia Murney, Daniel Reichard and Max von Essen. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe created the musicals Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, Gigi, Camelot and Paint Your Wagon.

The second evening of the Festival, Oct. 18 at 8 PM, is titled Colm Wilkinson Broadway & Beyond. Wilkinson, who created the role of Jean Valjean in both the London and Broadway productions of Les Misérables, will perform such theatre tunes as "Music of the Night," "Bring Him Home," "The Impossible Dream," "Hello Young Lovers" and "Some Enchanted Evening" as well as Irish classics and popular standards. He will be joined onstage by Les Miserables' Susan Gillmor. Wilkinson will be backed by a nine-piece orchestra led by music director Steve Hunter.

The Festival will conclude Oct. 19 at 3 PM with Broadway Originals. The afternoon, according to Town Hall, will feature a "dazzling array of performers reprising songs they introduced either in the original Broadway production or revival." Currently scheduled to perform are Lucie Arnaz, Stephen Mo Hanan, Karen Morrow and Pam Myers; additional performers will be announced.

Tickets, priced $50 and $55, are available by calling (212) 307-4100 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.com. Town Hall is located in Manhattan at 123 West 43rd Street. For more information go to www.the-townhall-nyc.org.