The Mabel Mercer Foundation, Silver Jubilee: October 20-23: October 20 – “I Love A Piano” – Hosted by Aaron Weinstein; October 21 – “Quiet Please, There’s A Lady On Stage” – A 90th Birthday Bash for Julie Wilson; October 22 – “Something Sort Of Grandish” – Hosted by Jeff Harnar & Andrea Marcovicci; October 24th – Kabarett with a “K” at The Cutting Room!; October 25th – Deborah Silver and special guests Marilyn Maye & Tom Wopat at 54 Below!; October 26th – Remembering 1914 at Urban Stages with Jon Weber

When I called and said “I have a crazy idea! I want you to host our evening called ‘I Love A Piano’,” Aaron responded, “Well, I love a piano!” Among our singing pianists are some of Donald’s favorites like Steve Ross and Barbara Carroll as well as new discoveries like Eric Yves Garcia, Matt Baker, and Liam Forde (winner of this year’s Julie Wilson Award).

This evening, hosted by Yours Truly, will be celebrated with love for Julie by old friends like Marilyn Maye and cabaret stars from Broadway like Christine Andreas, T. Oliver Reid, Tony Sheldon, Amra-Faye Wright & Carol Woods. Receiving “The Mabel”, our prestigious award for lifetime achievement, will be the extraordinary Ann Hampton Callaway.

A salute to the music of Burton Lane and the lyrics of Yip Harburg. Andrea Marcovicci and Jeff Harnar have again assembled a stellar cast which includes Karen Akers, Brent Barrett, Carole J. Bufford, Natalie Douglas, Rita Gardner, Sally Mayes, Jennifer Sheehan, and Gabrielle Stravelli.

Our closing night is devoted to the timeless classics of Irving Berlin. Crossover artists from Broadway like John Treacy Egan, Anita Gilette, and Karen Mason will be joined by jazz artists Gregory Generet and Spider Saloff. Cabaret favorites such as Nicolas King, Sidney Myer, and Karen Oberlin will be singing Berlin standards along with Celia Berk, Peggy Eason, Kristoffer Lowe, Rebekah Lowin, and Tammy McCann, among others.