Voltaggio was runner-up in the sixth season of Bravo’s Top Chef, finishing second to his brother, Michael, who lives in Pasadena, California. (How’s that for sibling rivalry?) Bryan Voltaggio’s Volt in Frederick, Maryland, was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2009, and consistently wins enthusiastic reviews. He opened Range in December, 2012.

For first timers, Range is not easy to find. Located on the second floor of the Chevy Chase Pavilion, the restaurant shares space with CVS, H&M, and an Embassy Suite. The restaurant itself is sweeping, bright, and BUZZING! Range is a happening place with large groups of young professionals sharing dishes and laughs, birthday celebrations, and couples enjoying more intimate dinners. Besides the dining room, there is a large bar and two counters where it’s possible to watch pizzas and dishes emerge from the blazing, red hot wood fire. There is also a private party and dining space in the rear of the restaurant.

On our most recent visit, we made a 9 p.m. reservation on a Tuesday evening, coming from a film preview across Wisconsin Avenue in the Mazza Gallerie. We arrived at 8:55 p.m. and gave our name to the hostess. “We’ll be able to seat you closer to nine,” she told us. (How much closer to nine could we get?) “Would you like to wait at the bar?” Since there were no seats at the bar, we decided to wait in the front of the restaurant. Two men in suits—assistant managers, managers?—stopped to ask us if we had been helped and then neglected to return to tell us what was happening to our table.

“Closer to nine” turned into 9:30, with no end in sight. At 9:15, we were offered seats at the counter, but upon being told it would be only a few more minutes for a table decided to wait.

The table that would soon be ours was occupied by three women, two of them in the midst of an argument, which sent one woman storming out of the restaurant, the second dissolving in tears, and the third attempting to console her friend. Not wanting to disturb the unfolding drama, we waited. And waited.

Finally, we were seated. And waited for service. We flagged down a waitress and asked for menus. To say that she was surly would be kind. We ordered drinks and when they arrived, told her we were ready to order.

Range’s menu is creative and fun. The dishes are meant to be shared allowing for more opportunity to sample Voltaggio’s seemingly boundless talents. There are numerous tempting categories—selections from a raw bar, baked goods with options like cheddar jalapeno biscuits, salumeria with numerous hams as well as pates, sausages, and terrines, and many pasta choices. The wood oven is put to good use, turning out crispy pizzas (we sampled one on our first visit), as well as juicy, smoky meats, and fish. There’s also a varied selection of pan roasted meats and fish.

We began with a salad of fennel, argula, and slices of parmesan. We were unable to get our waitress, or anyone else for that matter, to supply us with serving pieces to divide the thinly sliced and, therefore, difficult to handle, salad ingredients. A messy operation that could have been avoided.

We knew we wanted to order the wood oven beef marrow bones with pine nuts and raisins. Do we need bread? we asked our waitress (whose mood had not improved.) She recited the list of available breads. We ordered the flatbread with chickpea and roasted garlic only to discover when the bone marrow bones arrived that the dish included bread. The flatbread and chickpea spread were delicious, but the result was far more bread than we needed if we had been properly guided. The beef marrow bones were exceptional, the raisins adding sweetness and the pine nuts crunch, nice counterpoints to the meaty, silky marrow.

Range’s pan roasted chicken with lemon, garlic, and rosemary, is perfect, one of the best restaurant chicken dishes ever. The skin crispy, the meat juicy and flavorful. Don’t leave behind the lemon slices. They are both smoky and tangy.

A side order of polenta was superb, the dish both textured and creamy.

We decided to skip dessert after our waitress, reluctantly, supplied us with a dessert menu but didn’t seem inclined to make recommendations or encourage us to order. Reluctantly, we left her a 15 percent tip, which certainly was generous considering her attention. It would have been more if her service was up to the food.

Will we return? Probably. The food is too good to miss. Next time our expectations for good service will be low and, who knows, maybe we’ll be surprised.

Range
5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW
In the Chevy Chase Pavilion
202-803-8020

Alvaro Reinoso

Bullfighting Mural

Bar Area and Mural

The six-month-old restaurant is sleek, bright and inviting – divided into a bar/tapas section, the main dining area and a garden area that can be cordoned off for private parties. Andanada means the highest and liveliest section of a bullfighting arena, and wall murals carry out that theme.

Wine bottle – Tobelos Tempranillo Rioja 08

At the suggestion of our server, Alexias, we ordered a glass of Rioja ($12) that turned out to be amazing – smooth, light and a perfect accompaniment to dinner. Then, courtesy of the house, we sampled a succession of signature dishes that made us eager to return.

Bread Plate

It should be noted at the outset that the beautiful serving dishes, silverware and, above all, food presentation, ranged from beautiful to exquisite, beginning with the bread plate and ending with dessert.

For me, a meal of Tapas with a glass of wine is an ideal dinner. The beauty of a Tapas menu is that you can match your choices to your mood, appetite and pocketbook. My dining companion and I agreed on a number of clear winners that we’d happily return to again.

Beef and Pork Meatballs with cilantro and picon sauce, and aioli mayo $14 (Albondigas en mojo de cilantro y mojo de picon)

Aioli Mayonaisse and Picon Sauce

Number one was the beef and pork meatballs dipped in aioli mayo: a sinfully rich taste treat. The meatballs are addictive.

Octopus with olive oil, pimenton under mashed potato puree $16 (Pulpo a la Gallega)

Next came the Octopus, boiled with pimento, giving it a smoky taste, bathed in a mashed potato puree so delicate, it could have doubled as a béchamel.

Mini potatoes with a mix of salsa brava and garlic mayonnaise in black olive earth $13 (Patatas Andanada)

Roasted eggplant with red wine vinegar reduction, hazlenuts and chives $12 (Berenjenas Asadas)

Sauteed artichokes with grated Manchego Cheese $12 (Alcachofas ons Queso Manchego)

Most imaginative and utterly gorgeous was the bowl of mini potatoes with garlic mayo nestled in an “earth” of black olives. The snap of surprise came with what I can only describe as black-olive “crumbs” that conveyed the essence of olives (not an easy trick), and elevated a simple dish to something altogether memorable.

I also adored the roasted eggplant with hazelnuts. Again, the dish was beautifully presented and deliciously smoky, although for the price, the portion was a bit on the small side. And since I am an artichoke nut, I also enjoyed the chef’s understated take on artichokes draped in grated Manchego cheese. Simple and satisfying.

Sauteed shrimp in spicy garlic sauce $15 (Gambas Al Ajillo)

Scallop tartar with hazlenut oil and citronelle $15 (Tartar de Vieras)

Oddly enough, the two biggest disappointments were among the most expensive Tapas: Sauteed shrimp and Scallop Tartare. The sautéed shrimp lacked any hint of garlic. When I voiced my disappointment, I was told that Americans don’t like overtly garlicky food. Here, I think, the restaurant is making a mistake. One goes to a Spanish restaurant to get authentically spiced dishes. Perhaps, if one asks for extra garlic, they will do the honors. Similarly, the scallops, naturally sweet, came across as bland, perhaps overpowered by the Citronelle sauce, a mix of orange, lime and lemon. Though the plating was exquisite, the dish wasn’t.

Goat cheesecake with tangy orange juice, blueberries and almond poof $9 (Tarta de Queso)

Chocolate mousse with spiced bread and berries marinated in olive oil and vanilla $9 (Cremoso de Chocolate)

Girls Night Out, in bar section

Stuffed as we were, we miraculously revived when the desserts arrived. The goat cheesecake bore no resemblance to its name and was nothing short of fabulous – melting ovals of goat cream in a lemony sauce with what tasted like almond crumbs: an amazingly delicate and refined show-stopper. By contrast, the chocolate ovals — topped with slivers of fresh mint — were dense and divine.

All in all, Andanada is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood, and I can’t think of a more perfect pre-theatre or post-theatre place to drop in, meet friends and enjoy everything from a glass of wine to a full meal. My advice would be to head first for the Tapas and Desserts though, in fairness, there are a host of dishes, including more Tapas, Main Courses and Paellas, that I haven’t tried. A plate of thinly sliced Jamon Iberico at the table next to ours looked wonderful, for example, and the couple – who live in the neighborhood and visit the restaurant often – heartily endorsed it.

There are also special Pre-Theater, Lunch and Brunch Menus.

I look forward to returning to Andanada, with friends, to continue sampling from the full menu. Check it out the next time you are in the area.

Photos by Eleanor Foa Dienstag

Andanada
141 West 69th Street
646-692-8762
Lunch hours are from 11.30 p.m.-2.30.p.m.
Dinner hours are from 5 p.m.-11 p.m.
Brunch hours are from 11.30 a.m.-3 p.m.

The year is 1937. It is the golden age of Hollywood and Snow White is raking in the dollars and the devotees. Millions flock beneath the glittering movie house marquees to witness the spectacle of movie magic first-hand. Fiorello LaGuardia is presiding over the unsleeping city of New York and the New Deal is attempting to restore the United States to its former glory and prosperity. It is a heady time to be alive and well in the Big City. Well, as long as you’re not a commie pinko, chorus girl or queer. Unfortunately, almost every character in The Nance is at least one of the above. In an attempt to cleanse the city of its less wholesome elements, to keep the lowlifes and their “corrupting moral influence” from the helpless innocents on the city streets, LaGuardia has sent his attack dog, the well-dressed eternal bachelor (suspicious, no?) Paul Moss, to close down the burlesque houses, the city’s last bastions of good, old-fashioned sleaze.

The on-stage employees at the Irving Place burlesque theater are hucksters and strip teasers, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad people. They go out night after night in the face of the oncoming morality storm and bare it all on stage. I mean that literally and figuratively. Their most controversial—and thereby most popular—act is the “nance” played by Chauncey Miles played by Nathan Lane.

There are some actors who are able to construct a character and then disappear so completely into the role that when you see them it’s almost preposterous to think of them as anything other than who they are at that moment in time. Then there are actors who, no matter the role, always retain the spark that makes them so identifiably them. You never forget who they are, especially in character. Nathan Lane is the latter kind; whatever the situation, whoever the character, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that it’s him. While this may be a detractor in another role, in the case of The Nance, Lane’s solid, undeniably him presence is nothing short of a blessing.

It’s a blessing because Chauncey isn’t an easy character to understand. He’s all contradiction, but all confidence in those contradictions. He’s an old-guard Republican by birth and upbringing trying to ignore rather than come to terms with the fact that he is also everything his party despises and wants to snuff out. He skates between two worlds—the one where he is himself and comfortable and accepted for who he is and the one where he can’t be himself and as a result lives in a constant state of heightened alert. When pushed too hard, however, when things get touchy and his act (and his lifestyle) is put on trial, he puts down his head and charges like a bull in a china shop toward his own undoing.

With his nasal voice and the familiar ebb and flow of his cadence, there was nothing particularly unique on the surface to separate Lane’s Chauncey Miles from any number of his other performances. The thing that made this one special, however, was that it felt personal, like the historical pain was being wrenched right out of his own heart rather than his character’s. It makes sense, too. He’s an openly gay man playing a secretly gay man playing an overtly campy gay man. (As Miles says early in the second act, it’s like “a negro putting on blackface.”) The angst and the worry, the conflict between desire to love and desire to be accepted; I can’t imagine these are things that Lane himself hasn’t faced in his life, though we are fortunate not to live in a time when just being gay would make you, in the eyes of the law, a social deviant and threat to public safety. You can’t live through that kind of persecution and emerge unscathed.

The Nance is a very cerebral play, surprisingly so considering how silly it seems on the surface. Silly costumes, silly voices, silly songs and silly sketches—it makes the lightness of the touch that much more impressive when you take into consideration the weight of the issues addressed. Even at the point of breaking, when the characters’ hopes of a united front with their performing peers comes crashing down around them, Miles will only dance. Dance and pretend like the world as he knows it isn’t about to meet a sad, unspectacular end.

Dancing is a major theme running through the show, not just on the surface with the burlesque bits that break up the scenes. What it seems more concerned with is the interplay between each character and their motivations, the “dance” they go through day after day to willfully ignore or deny the life and one another’s place in their underbelly of the performing arts. From the “quadrille” in the automat, when suited-up men silently size each other up and arrange their after-dark flings, to the way Miles dances around the issues of morality in comedy and the nature of a carefully composed play on words, there is hardly a moment that doesn’t require the audience to do at least a little brainwork.

The interesting thing about The Nance is how it forces introspection. The vaudevillian-style jokes bring us to laughter, then we think about why we’re laughing, and then we feel almost guilty for the chuckles, wondering if the Avenue Q ditty, “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist” is right on the mark. The historical context isn’t quite enough to allow for conscienceless mirth. As Chauncey says, the role of a performer, especially one who tells jokes, is to set up the premise and let the audience’s brain fill in the details to make the connection. There can be insinuation and double-entendres, but without the audience’s cooperation and participation there’s no place for the joke to go. When the jokes are all based on collective prejudices and (mostly) outdated ways of thinking, we have to wonder what it is about us that would respond to that kind of humor. Laughter became groans became disappointed sighs in a matter of seconds. If it happened once, it happened a dozen times.

The rest of the cast, including Lane’s former Producers co-star Cady Huffman, nicely take up the ethos of the time, even if their neighborhood accents don’t quite hit home all the time. They make up a nice motley crew of gypsies, kindly and a little kinky. They put on their brave faces and face the stage night after night knowing that any one could be their last.

As for The Nance’s stage, it is a thing of unabashed beauty, a rotating quadrangle of sub-sets accommodating a Horn & Hardart, a basement apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, a theater’s ever-changing stage and the same theater’s backstage wing and dressing room. It’s even functional, with one character preparing a huge pan of scrambled eggs while simultaneously delivering his dialogue. Even with the four scenery options, there was still plenty of set changing from scene to scene. There’s even an impressive little move in which the main theater stage set moves away to reveal the backstage action. The show within the show continues even when the stage swings mostly out of view; the actor who’s on continues playing to the imaginary crowd at Irving Place, undisturbed by what’s going on in the now-foremost backstage setting. It’s a nifty trick, and one that only half of the theater can even see.

The lighting scheme was brilliant and subtle, the standout there being a scene in the second act when Lane’s character enters his apartment in the dark and reaches into the refrigerator for a drink. The various arranged set pieces light the way through the apartment and into the scene. Levels of depth become apparent as decorative lights are turned on or sets of feet are seen descending into Chauncey’s little underground domicile.

The show ends on an ambiguous note, so I won’t discuss what I took away from it. What I can say is that it sparked a lengthy and lively debate about life, love, identity, psychology and the consequences of a person’s placement in history. Like I said, heady stuff for a Sunday afternoon. That doesn’t mean it’s not a nice time.

Photos by Joan Marcus:
1. Nathan Lane
2. Nathan Lane and Lewis J. Stadlen
3. Jonny Orsini and Nathan Lane
4. Cady Huffman

The Nance
Written by Douglas Carter Beane
Directed by Jack O’Brien
Starring Nathan Lane, Jonny Orsini, Lewis J. Stadlen, Cady Huffman, Andrea Burns, Jenni Barber, Mylinda Hull and Geoffrey Allen Murphy
Lincoln Center Theater
Through August 11, 2013

Conceptualized by Fred Ho and co-written by him with Ruth Margraff, Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon! is a joyfully innovative homage to Japanimation, cinematic tropes, and elegant choreography.

The first stroke of genius lies in the use of disturbingly talented Marina Celander as The Narrator for all characters. Presenting the inner thoughts and speeches of each character in this way mimics the dramatic style of an animated show. Celander’s virtuosity is disturbing because of her range: she conveys the snakelike hiss of evil mastermind Iyagu (pronounced Iago, of course, and gleefully played by Perry Yung) with equal alacrity as the plaintively innocent Boy who represents the bright hope of the future in a world populated by highly-skilled cold-blooded killers. Even his heroic father, the hunted lone wolf, is known as The Rogue Assassin.

Against this backdrop, the titular deadly She-Wolf (portrayed with lethal grace by Ai Ikeda) serves as a moral vibrato, wavering between assassin and innocent child, as she dances with deadly intent through each scene.

It is interesting that the She-Wolf’s weapons of choice are a fan and a long red swath of fabric that flows through the air like a river of fresh blood, while the male warriors all wield traditional weapons. Her poetic instruments of death symbolize the secret of her power: destruction disguised in delicacy.

Another interesting choice for this production is the use of a live jazz band to punctuate scenes and provide a rousing soundtrack to the fight sequences that sounded, at once, nostalgic and thoroughly modern. Not only did the juxtaposition of martial arts choreography and thoroughly American music work, it produced an effect that was pleasantly novel, as if a conclave of beatniks had opened a subterranean club in shogun-era Japan.

In a flurry of samurai sword-fighting, Matrix-like slow-mo maneuvering, and simple but universal exposition, director Sonoko Kawahara and choreographers Emmanuel Brown and Yoshi Amao (who also plays The Rogue Assassin with mesmerizing gravitas) bring Fred Ho’s artistic vision to ferociously fun life.

Perfect for all lovers of swashbuckling adventure with exotic flair (even children, ages 10 and up!), this exhilarating fusion of genres and cultures is both cutting edge and highly enjoyable.

Photos by Kenji Mori

Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon!
La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre 
66 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue & the Bowery
212-475-7710
Through June 2, 2013
Performances are Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $30 / $25  for students and seniors
Appropriate for ages 10 and up

So says the lively young Mead ensemble in their debut production of See Saw at the Kogod Cradle, as part of Arena Stage’s Voices of Now Festival. The Voices of Now festival is a unique community theatre experience where young artists get to share their voices and write their own shows. It began eleven years ago with one small ensemble out of Jefferson Middle School to grow into a program active in DC/Maryland/Virginia spanning eight schools, multiple community groups, two self-selected groups of students, and over 175 young artists ranging from ages 11-22. (That’s not counting the eight schools in as many cities in India who participated this year for the first time and who watched Saturday night’s performance live via streaming video.)

Since the beginning of the school year, the artists are given a title (such as Face Off, Security Blanket, Take Away, Building Blocks, or See Saw) and they devise an original production based entirely on their own brainstorming around the concept. See Saw is concerned with perspective and along the way addresses such issues as divorce, sexual identity, peer pressure, and why everyone assumes that tall people are good at sports, and more all in the space of thirty minutes. Security Blanket discusses sadly topical issues of safety and what responsibilities we bear for other’s security and in Power Play its acknowledged how even childhood games reinforce lessons about manipulation and hierarchy.

This program garners a lot of community support; not only were a number of the artists relatives in the audience that night but also just families and neighbors of Jefferson Middle School, including Aidan who at five months old was the youngest member of the audience and in another 10 and a half years might well be performing on stage himself.

Top photo by Stan Barouh. Students perform in the 2012 Voices of Now Festival at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater May 9-12, 2012. 

The year is 1948. An impressive assemblage of Russian émigrés has gathered at a Westport, Connecticut farmhouse over a spring weekend. They are there to honor the name day of their elderly friend, set designer Sergey Sudeikin (Alvin Epstein), who is in extremely poor health. Included in the group are a Who’s Who of Russians living in American exile: choreographer George Balanchine (Michael Cerveris), the adored linchpin; composer Igor Stravinsky (John Glover) and his wife, Vera (Blair Brown), former wife of Sudeikin; composer Nikolai Nabokov (Stephen Kunken), who now works for the American government; Nikolai’s first wife, Natasha (Kathryn Erbe), and her fiancé, the somewhat unappealing piano teacher Aleksi Karpov (Anthony Cochrane); actor Vladimer Sokoloff (John Procaccino) and his wife, Lisa (Betsy Aidem). Lucia Davidova (Haviland Morris) is a close confident of Balanchine’s, and it is her house in which the tight knit and admittedly incestuous gathering takes place.

Think you need a scorecard to keep track of all the personae? Just like any good Russian novel, things are complicated. Into the mix is added conductor Serge Koussevitsky (Dale Place), who brings the “former” American State Department official who speaks fluent Russian, Chip Bohlen (Gareth Saxe). Ballerina Maria Tallchief (Natalia Alonso), Balanchine’s third and current wife, arrives with her dance partner, Nicholas Magallanes (Michael Rosen).

Stravinsky and Balanchine are collaborating on the ballet “Orpheus.” Tallchief and Magallanes dance the Pas de Deux which is the highlight of Act One. There’s plenty of eating, a dance in itself as staged by director David Cromer, who also includes brilliant touches like having what would normally be offstage business occurring in the shadows outside the main framework of the house. I don’t know whether to credit author Richard Nelson or Cromer for having the characters speak without accents when they’re conversing among themselves in their mother tongue, and with accents when they are addressing the outsiders in English, but the device works very well to emphasize that English is not their language of easiest communication.

The major problem with the play is that it’s just plain too long, and at times, it’s boring. The plethora of characters is confusing, and some are noticeably given less thought than others. Why is the magnificent prima ballerina Maria Tallchief portrayed as a sullen opportunist? The second act is nearly superfluous, and detracts from the engaging mysteries which are strewn throughout the plotline. What does Maria suspect has gone on in the barn between Balanchine and Anna (Lauren Culpepper), the young would-be ballerina who is Lucia’s niece? What exactly is the title character’s job; he helps other Russians get out of jams with the State Department, but to what end? Why is Chip Bohlen really at this party?

The strategic placing of the weekend in between the end of World War II and the beginning of the McCarthy era adds desperation and intrigue to the proceedings. Walking the tightrope of being nostalgic for home, yet not appearing in any way to lean toward the Communist regime takes a toll on all who fear for their place in the West.

Not everyone is as culturally well versed as the audience is made to feel it should be to properly appreciate the presentation. Never mind; the real joy of this production is watching the ensemble of skilled actors working seamlessly together. Cerveris is perfect as Balanchine; the posture, intensity, and charm let us see both the artist and the manipulator. Brown is warm and beautiful as the loving, caring Vera. Glover is clearly incapable of giving anything less than a flawless performance. It’s a special treat to see Morris in all her mature glory; this is an actor who is seen all to rarely, and praised not nearly enough. The other players, in turn, are equally impressive.

Therefore, I feel comfortable recommending this show, flawed though it may be. While it’s interesting to see Balanchine, Stravinsky, and their set in a play about creativity and political uncertainty, it’s far more rewarding to behold the fine company of actors illuminating the theater at the Newhouse. Who knows when we shall see such a superb cast, working in impeccable harmony, again?

Photos by Paul Kolnik:
1. Natalia Alonso and Michael Cerveris
2. Michael Cerveris, John Glover, John Procaccino, and Stephen Kunken
3. Kathryn Erbe and Stephen Kunken
4. Blair Brown and Stephen Kunken

Nikolai And The Others
Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse
Through June 16, 2013

Michall Jeffers is an accomplished Cultural Journalist. She writes extensively, both in print and online. Her eponymous cable TV show is syndicated throughout the tri-state area, and features celebrity interviews, reviews, and commentary. She is a voting member of Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association, and International Association of Theatre Critics. 

Kt Sullivan, Rex Reed, Mark Hummel and Julie Wilson

Some of the 23! performers spoke of being highly influenced by Mercer and Short, others were fortunate to have actually met or known them. Rex Reed, who wrote the liner notes to recordings made of the concerts, regaled us at length with firsthand experience of the artists, waxing nostalgic for an era when cabaret was robust and panache appreciated. Reed aptly commented that Mercer and Short “turned the songs into little plays.” Musical selections, some iconic, others eclectic, were most often associated with the honorees. Our enthusiastic audience included George Wein, who produced the original concerts and Jan Wallman at whose club so many got started. Herein highlights of the evening:

Marissa Mulder, Karen Oberlin, Clint Holmes

The eminent Julie Wilson made “But Beautiful” sound like a Shakespearean sonnet in dramatic rendering that brimmed with feeling bringing the house to its feet. Mercer would’ve loved it. Marissa Mulder gave us an utterly charming “Chase Me Charlie.” As polished as she’s ever been, the young vocalist exuded the freshness and innocence of Noel Coward’s lyric, her tongue wisely not in cheek. A beautifully subdued version of “Time Heals Everything” was performed by Karen Mason with intensity of emotion achieved through expressive vocals, not volume or gesture (young singers take note.)

Catherine Russell offered “I’ve Got Your Number” with refined ease and the kind of authenticity that would be toasted should she find herself back in time. Karen Oberlin, winner of the second Donald Smith Award, performed an intoxicating rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s “Something to Live For” as if she cut her teeth on smooth jazz. It was creamy. Clint Holmes, fresh from his own Bobby Short tribute at Café Carlyle, artfully coupled “It Never Entered My Mind” (Rodgers & Hart) with “I Think I’m Losing My Mind” (Stephen Sondheim) embodying puzzlement and pain. The unfamiliar Lumiri Tubo made captivating musical choices with her elegant interpretation of “I’ll Be Easy to Find.”

Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, Steve Ross

Eric Comstock’s musical arrangements for “Remind Me” (beautifully rendered by Barbara Fasano) and “All of Me” (performed by Comstock with heart and nuance) which almost becomes a tango, were two of the most original and appealing of an evening filled with personal takes. I close with Steve Ross whose “How Do You Say Auf Wiedersehen?” and “Black and White Baby” were perfection. The incomparable Ross, like tonight’s celebrants, achieves something on stage that simply cannot be duplicated. His understanding of, and ability to exude sophistication, insouciance, wit, charm, or world weary despair with impeccable phrasing and skilled musicianship make him unequaled in the presentation of some of the best classic material in cabaret. How would one even teach such a thing?!

Three plus hours later (some editing would not have harmed), our audience staggered out into a temperate Manhattan evening all the richer both for remembering and coming together as a body determined to support and nurture the next talented generation of cabaret.

This evening could not have been mounted without the Herculean work of Foundation Artistic Director, KT Sullivan, Managing Director, Rick Meadows and Co-Directors Alyce Finell, Bill Lanese, Jason Martin, and the freshly minted Board of Trustees.

Photos:
1. Finale-Stephen Sorokoff
2. KT Sullivan-by Stephen Sorokoff, Rex Reed-by Maryann Lopinto, Julie Wilson-by Stephen Sorokoff
3. Marissa Mulder-by Maryann Lopinto, Karen Oberlin-by Stephen Sorokoff, Clint Holmes-by Stephen Sorokoff
4. Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano-by Russ Weatherford, Steve Ross-by Russ Weatherford

Remembering Mabel & Bobby
The 45th Anniversary of the Legendary Concert
of Mabel Mercer & Bobby Short at the Town Hall
Produced and Sponsored by The Mabel Mercer Foundation
Host KT Sullivan
Featuring Vocalists: Joyce Breach, Eric Comstock, Natalie Douglas, Barbara Fasano,
Lauren Fox, Eric Yves Garcia, Clint Holmes, Tanya Holt, Andrea Marcovicci,
Karen Mason, Marissa Mulder, Karen Oberlin, Rex Reed, T. Oliver Reid,
Ricky Ritzel, Steve Ross, Catherine Russell, Spider Saloff, Lumiri Tubo,
Tamara Tuni, Iris Williams, Larry Woodard; Special Guest Julie Wilson
Musicians: Peter Calo, Muchael Coriter, James Fallowell, Mark Hartman, Ritt Henn,
Mark Hummel, Rick Jensen, Jeffrey Neiman, Mike Renzi, Jon Weber, Art Weiss, Bill Zeffiro
May 16, 2013
The Town Hall
The invaluable Mabel Mercer Foundation

From its inception, Woman Around Town’s purpose has been to bring intelligent, well-written stories to its audience not only in New York, but also in Washington, D.C. The site now has readers all over the world who come to read about people and events in two cities that epitomize the excitement and passion in many different areas—theater, fashion, food, tourism, sports, politics, publishing, and much more.

Alix Cohen, who has been honored by the Press Club all four years, won her two awards for stories in the Entertainment News and Feature Reporting categories. Ropes, Whips and Songs About Cows – Definitely Not Just for Kids, was a review of Chris McDaniel’s show at the Canal Park Playhouse. As an eight year-old, McDaniel longed to be a cowboy. “Attracted to the life, not its shoot’m-up depiction, he sang country western songs at The Grand Olde Opry and studied trick roping, garnering a world championship, playing the rodeo circuit. Equally as fine an actor, he toured in both The Will Rogers Follies and Annie Get Your Gun.” As Alix recounted in her story, McDaniel, “not a one trick pony,” now captivates audiences with his skills and songs.

Alix’s second story profiled Rita McMahon, co-founder and director of The Wild Bird Fund, her West Side apartment filled with “perhaps twenty birds in various sized cat carriers.” Alix’s interview revealed a “lover of creatures,” who as a teen wanted to be a veterinarian and ultimately found her calling caring for a wide variety of injured birds, including pigeons, sparrows, even a Great Horned Owl, and a Great Blue Heron.

Woman Around Town’s editor, Charlene Giannetti, was recognized in the Sports News category for her profile Rachel Stratton-Mills – The Coach Behind the Olympic Swimmer. Rachel, a swim coach at Manhattan’s Asphalt Green, coached Lia Neal, who went on to win a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Neal, only the second African-American female swimmer to make an Olympic team, was backed up by a coach who was also breaking barriers, one of only three female coaches who placed a swimmer on the 2012 Olympic swim team. “For me, that’s something that I’m very proud of,” Rachel said. “I want younger coaches to be able to say, `hey, if she can do it, I can do it.’ At the same time, it’s important for someone like Lia to be able to have that same influence on young girls.”

The awards will be presented at the New York Press Club’s Annual Dinner, Monday, June 10, at the Water Club.