People know I see a LOT of cabaret.  Singer after singer.  When anyone has asked me, as they often do, what singer have I seen lately who really impressed me, I have one answer.  And it rhymes.  Janet Planet.

Sure, I have seen lots of singers over and over who impress me over and over.  But I had never seen Janet ‘til she had a one-night engagement here recently.  I just knew her work from having bought her on disc in the past.  Admittedly, it was her name that caught my eye, her song list that caught my interest, and soon the voice that caught my ear, so I was glad to – all this time later—catch her act in person.

On Monday, August 16, I’m proud to announce the return of The Broadway Boys at Birdland at 7pm.  This event is part of the long-running, award-winning Broadway at Birdland concert series, of course!

The Broadway Boys is a collection of the hottest tenor voices currently working on The Great White Way.  Representing shows such as Wicked, Rent, Hair, Jersey Boys, Billy Elliott, Mary Poppins, Memphis, and many more.

The main question is, "how on Earth does he do it all?" Not only is he a part-time florist, part-time host at the Metropolitan Room, Off-Broadway producer (Judy and Me) and co-producer and co-host (both with Frantz Hall) of the popular gay chat fest Q Talk, but he also manages to spend forty plus hours a week on his real passion, "Help Is On The Way Today," the foundation he created to assist NY children who are living with HIV/AIDS.

BackStage Hall of Fame inductee, The Fabulous Ms. Jo Thompson, will debut a new show - Thank You Lena!!! at Metropolitan Room, on August 7, 2010, at 7pm Thank You Lena!!! was conceived by Jo Thompson’s son, journalist Greg Dunmore, as a tribute to Ms. Horne, who befriended Jo when both young women were booked at Jack Goldman's Clover Club in Miami in 1953.

John Hoglund and Sue Matsuki will present Calling All Angels 2, with two special cabaret concerts on Fridays, August 13 and 20, both at 7pm at Metropolitan Room at Gotham. These extraordinary evenings are emergency benefits for cabaret's own Gregory Kennell, and offer some of today's most acclaimed and outstanding artists from cabaret and theatre. Hosted by John and Sue, the lineup at press time includes:

This is the 11th Season of the Midtown International Theatre Festival, which chooses and encourages theatre of all racial and sexual stripes; plays and musicals of all genres focused on an ethnic or cultural niche. The festival is the brainchild of John Chatterton, publisher and editor of OOBR (the off-off-broadway review). While the word "eclectic" has bad connotations in the academic world, it describes the artistic thrust.