HERE'S WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT ....

Cabaret Hotline Online is an independent website with more than 7,400 pages of news, information and stories on cabaret, owned and maintained by Stu Hamstra. CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE is not affiliated with any club or organization. It is totally supported through advertising and membership donations. This blog is an extension of the website and newsletter.

NOW IN OUR 26th YEAR OF PROMOTING THE ART & ARTISTS OF CABARET!

"His eye is on the sparrow...."

Thursday, September 24, 2009

NEW MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS ANNOUNCED FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25TH

Tomorrow we will announce several new MEMBERS' ONLY benefits plus another FREE CABARET COVER award for a CABARET FOR SENIORS member, plus news on our CDS FOR THE HOLIDAYS show and contest, some news about our MARCH IS CABARET MONTH promotion and gala, and a brand new BANNER SALE (for members, and especially new members). If you join as a member over the weekend, I will send you a MEMBERS' ONLY newsletter when I receive your payment.

CABARET & STU NOW ON 4 TWITTER ACCOUNTS

You can now also follow me on TWITTER in 4 places! We just started a new account for our CABARETSINGS.COM - http://twitter.com/cabaretsings where we will let songwriters and singers know about the latest updates and additions to our CABARETSINGS.COM website at http://www.CabaretSings.com/ . And we also now have a TWITTER ACCOUNT for our MARCHISCABARETMONTH.COM website - which will soon be reactivated, to keep everyone informed on cabaret events around the world that are part of this special cabaret promotion. That account is http://twitter.com/marchiscabaret . Of course the original CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE TWITTER account http://twitter.com/cabarethotline and my personal TWITTER account http://twitter.com/stuhamstra are the other two choices.

If you already belong to TWITTER just click on the TWITTER LINK above and then click on the button FOLLOW and you will be all set to receive updates. If you don't belong to TWITTER yet, a page will come up asking you to set up a free account. Just click on that JOIN button, pick a name for yourself and a password and then click on my FOLLOW button.

NYC: THE 20TH ANNUAL CABARET CONVENTION OPENS OCTOBER 7th

NYC: THE 20TH ANNUAL CABARET CONVENTION OPENS OCTOBER 7th
FEATURED CABARET FESTIVAL EVENT
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THE 20TH ANNUAL CABARET CONVENTION, presented by The Mabel Mercer Foundation on Wednesday through Friday, October 7th through 9th at FREDERICK P. ROSE HALL (Columbus Circle, Broadway at 60th Street, NYC - CenterCharge: 212-721-6500 - ).

The three-day convention, which salutes the best of New York cabaret, will kick off on Wednesday with "Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!" The evening, which will include the presentation of the Dick Gallagher Award to Eric Michael Gillett, will feature the talents of Lucie Arnaz, Barbara Carroll, Matt Cavenaugh, Simon Green, LaTanya Hall, Mary Cleere Haran, Nicolas King, Andrea Marcovicci, Karen Mason, Amanda McBroom, Sidney Myer, Marian Seldes, Elaine Stritch, Wesla Whitfield and award recipient Gillett.

"All in the Family" the title of the Thursday show will feature the talents of Adam, Batyah, Kerry and Sheera Ben-David (who will be presented the Julie Wilson Award); Ann Hampton, Liz and Shirley Callaway; Eric Comstock; Tony DeSare; Kevin Dozier; Tim Draxl; Christine Ebersole; Barbara Fasano; Nicole Henry; Beckie Menzie; Tom Michael; Mark Nadler; Will and Anthony Nunziata; Elizabeth, Stacy and KT Sullivan; and Maria Teece.

The convention will concludes on Friday with "Music Heals" which will feature the vocals of Karen Akers, Baby Jane Dexter, Natalie Douglas, Jeff Harnar, Marilyn Maye, Phillip Officer, Barbara Rosene, Craig Rubano, Catherine Russell, Daryl Sherman, Billy Stritch, Marlene VerPlanck and Julie Wilson. As with all live performances, performers subject to change without notice. All shows begin at 6:00 pm.

Tickets are priced $20, $50 and $100. Tickets are available for all shows.

CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE ANNOUNCES 2009 CD CONTEST

Did you release a new CD in 2009 (between November 1st, 2008 and November 1st, 2009)? Well, you might want to enter it in our 2nd Annual CABARET CD contest. This year we have three judges, a performer, a reviewer and a cabaret maven. So we need for you to submit 3 copies of your CD (non returnable) to CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE, 676A Ninth Avenue #120, New York, NY 10036. The contest is free for members of CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE - if you're not a member, a SILVER membership is just $20 and comes with a host of benefits. Top three winners will be announced at our 2nd Annual CABARET CDs FOR THE HOLIDAYS event in November (date to be announced). More details going out tomorrow in the Friday MEMBERS' ONLY newsletter, including deadlines, names of judges, submission rules, etc.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

TOWNHOUSE HAS TALENT CONTEST SERIES II STARTS OCTOBER 5th

THE TOWNHOUSE OF NYC (236 East 58th Street, NYC - 212-754-4649) will be holding a Talent Contest for Singers - THE TOWNHOUSE HAS TALENT - hosted by David Pelegrene and held every Monday night starting on October 5th through the 26th. Musical directors are Steve Bocchino and David Pelegrene. 1st prize is $500, 2nd place: $250 and 3rd place $100. All the rules and more information are on the CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE website - just click on the SIDE-BAR banner in the right column on the opening (home) page, or click on the SUPERSIZE banner that will appear at random at the top of every page.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Celebration of Hal Blankenship's Life

There will be a Celebration of Hal Blankenship's Life Monday October 19 from 7-9 PM Actors' Equity Association 165 W. 46th St., 2nd fl. NYC

WEST COAST NEWS AND PUBLICITY AVAILABLE FROM LES MICHAELS

WEST COAST NEWS AND PUBLICITY AVAILABLE FROM LES MICHAELS
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Les Michaels publishes a weekly newsletter covering events on the West Coast - check out http://lesmichaels.com/lifeisacabaret/newsletter - and has sponsored recent shows in Palm Springs featuring L.A. area cabaret artists and also heads up a weekly open-mic show in the area. The newsletter is free and instructions for submitting your West Coast news are right on the site. Don't forget to also send your release us at CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE. Les also assists in all areas of publicity for West Coast cabaret events.

"THE LEADING MEN IV" DVD SOLD AT B'WAY FLEA MARKET

"THE LEADING MEN IV" DVD SOLD AT B'WAY FLEA MARKET
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A DVD of "The Leading Men IV", a benefit concert for Broadway Cares, will be sold exclusively at the Broadway Flea Market in Shubert Alley (between 44th and 45th Streets, NYC) on Sunday, September 27th. Filmed on May 11, 2009 at BIRDLAND, the sold-out event was a celebration of outstanding male performers from Broadway, Off-Broadway and cabaret. John Tartaglia hosted a lineup that consisted of: Nick Adams, Tom Andersen, James Barbour, Jim Caruso, Mickey Conlon, Michael Kadin Craig, Jack Donahue, Kevin Earley, Cody Green, Jonathan Groff, Norm Lewis, Paolo Montalban, Graham Phillips, Tom Postilio, Zak Resnick, Nicholas Rodriguez and Tony Yazbeck. With musical direction by Seth Rudetsky and direction by Alan Muraoka, the benefit raised more than $10,000 for BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS. It was produced by Wayman Wong, who edits entertainment for the NY Daily News and wrote "The Leading Men" column for Playbill.com from 2003-06. The DVDs will be sold for $25 each at the Flea Market. After September 28th, it will be only available through Applause Video for $35.

NEW MAC BOARD MEMBERS ELECTED - ANNUAL MEETING DATE SET

Congratulations to the new members who were elected recently to the Board of Directors of MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets): Eric Michael Gillett, Thomas Honeck, Sue Matsuki and Julie Reyburn, who will join existing Board members Scott Barbarino, Hector Coris, Jenna Esposito, Ruth Kurtzman, Sidney Myer, Eric Pickering, Ricky Ritzel and Lennie Watts. Interestingly, out of 688 ballots that were mailed to the members, only 147 were returned in the election. For many current MAC members, memberships will expire December 31, 2009. MAC extended all memberships with 2009 expiration dates through December 31, 2009. The annual membership meeding of MAC will be held at THE METROPOLITAN ROOM on Saturday, October 24th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

MESSAGE BOARD ON WEBSITE FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND PLUGS

And we often forget to promote the CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE MESSAGE BOARD - the longest running cabaret message board on the internet - active since 1997. Anyone is free to post - if they follow the rules. You must use your own name - which is intended to eliminate those nasty personal comments you might see on other message boards where folks can post anonymously. My rule is that if you can't put your name on it, it isn't worth writing (or reading)!

We're always looking for more ways to grow our benefits for all members. Please send in your suggestions and comments. Every day in every way, we're promoting cabaret!

MORE MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

We're trying our best to make CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE memberships more valuable - and not simply for performers. We have had the member discount program in effect since the start of the membership system in 2001, and this year we added "Cabaret for Seniors" - where senior members get a 2-year membership for the same cost as one year, and can get extra senior discounts, free covers for select shows, and their own special section of the website and a monthly newsletter.

We have added our TWITTER account postings - http://twitter.com/cabarethotline - to the front page of the CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE website, which lists our cabaret picks every day as well as special bulletins and notices of fast moving stories. In addition, my personal TWITTER ACCOUNT - http://twitter.com/stuhamstra - which mainly covers thoughts, ideas, comments and jokes - can now be found on the CABARET HOTLINE ONLINE BLOG - the last 5 comments are listed. I am able to post quickly to both TWITTER accounts even while I am away from my computer, using my iPod Touch (I can also read my e-mail and answer important ones on the go).

HOT MESS IN MANHATTAN

If you are in Manhattan for the next few days, leave your car parked somewhere - traffic will be a mess at least through Thursday morning. All the big mucky-mucks from around the world are in town for some shindig on the East Side which will be big on noise but probably small on accomplishment. It is a once-a-year chance for a bunch of non-important people to feel important by arranging motorcades to zoom around the city, running red lights, chasing all other cars to the curbs and generally causing gridlock and mayhem along their routes. Stay away from the areas between First & Park Avenues and 42nd to 50th Street because there will be a constant shuttle between that area hotels and the East River debating society's building. Even the theater district and the major shopping areas will be affected as wives and girlfriends of the delegates (most of the delegates are male) spend the aid dollars the US gives their countries at the fancy shops and for expensive theater seats - all the time accompanied by several carloads of police and secret service agents.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

ONLY 14 MORE MEMBERS NEEDED TO REACH 300!

SONGWRITERS & SONGSEEKERS: THIS ONE'S FOR YOU

You can see some of the top songwriters who specialize in "cabaret songs" at http://www.cabaretsings.com - check it out!

ON RADIO: "EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW": BILLIE HOLIDAY

ON RADIO: "EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW": BILLIE HOLIDAY
CABARET ON THE RADIO - TV - WEB
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On Sunday, September 20th, EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, on the Radio over WBAI 99.5 FM and on the Internet at http://www.wbai.org/, usually heard from 9:00 to 11:00 pm and hosted by David Kenney, will feature the music of Billie Holiday - the Early Years. David will also have an in-studio interview with Laurie Krauz prior to her performance of TAPESTRY REWOVEN at BB KING Blues Club in NYC on Tuesday, September 29th. (For more information, see http://www.oldisnew.org/ .) Each week David presents the usual blend of big-band jazz, swing, standards, showtunes, contemporary cabaret and celebrity interviews plus MEGA-MEDLEY MADNESS. For more information contact: oldisnew@earthlink.net. You are also invited to e-mail your comments and suggestions for future shows. You can listen to past shows at any time by going to the WBAI Archives at http://www.archive.wbai.org/ .