Sherry Eaker has been the producer of the annual Bistro Awards since the awards’ inception in 1985. She is the former editor of "Back Stage" and, during her 30-year run, produced panel discussions and workshop events on an ongoing basis, including the programming for Back Stage’s annual Actorfest. She compiled and edited four editions of the "Back Stage Handbook for Performing Artists," and compiled and edited "The Cabaret Artists Handbook." Sherry is a member of the National Theatre Conference and the American Theatre Critics Association (and produced eight of ATCA’s New York weekend conferences). She is an advisor to the boards of both the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and the Women in the Arts & Media Coalition.
Rita Gardner had so many friends who loved her, and I was lucky to be one of them. Rita’s name is quickly associated as the actor who played ‘The Girl’ (Luisa) in the original Off-Broadway cast of the long-running The Fantasticks (Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones) which opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in 1960. Rita […]
Songwriter Francesca Blumenthal had the uncanny ability to write lyrics that so many of us could easily relate to. Her well-chosen words that told a story would either make us laugh out loud or touch our hearts, and sometimes both. This past December, we lost Francesca who, aside from her wide-ranging talent and skills, was […]
Multi-Bistro Award-winning cabaret artist, Ricky Ritzel, shares with a friend his best memories of the Bistro Awards evenings.
We don’t usually like to flaunt ourselves….. For the past 36 years, the “Bistro Bits” column in Back Stage, the Bistro Awards annual event, and BistroAwards.com, has always put the spotlight on you, and we pride ourselves on that. But, how nice it is that some of you would like to now place the spotlight […]
Click here to listen to Turn It All Around Words and music by Debra Barsha and Sheilah Rae (lyrics below) Sung by Wonu Ogunfowora Harris M. Turner and Wonu Ogunfowora, backup singers Accompanied and produced by Taylor Peckham Debra Barsha and Sheilah Rae recently wrote this empowering and inspirational song, “Turn It All Around,” not […]
Click on the arrow on the left above to listen to “Machiavelli Was Right” from the musical The American Foxe, book and lyrics by Karen Gottlieb, music by Michele Brourman. (Lyrics below.) “Machiavelli Was Right” is sung by George Ball, vocal recorded by Rob Trow, and engineered and mixed by Stephan Oberhoff. In the mid 70’s, Karen […]
Watch highlights from our 33rd annual Bistro Awards show (2018) that features André De Shields (Lifetime Achievement), Sheila Jordan (Outstanding Contributions to the Art of Jazz), Marta Sanders (Consummate Cabaret Artistry), Shemekia Copeland (Producer’s Award), among 19 other individual artists. Bistro Award house band includes Daryl Kojak (piano), Ritt Henn (bass), and Rex Benincasa (drums). […]
Salty Brine is the creative force behind “The Living Record Collection,” a series of cabaret performances built around popular music albums. Recipient of the 2018 Bistro Award for Creative Artistry, here he is at the awards show performing from his show “Welcome to the Jungle” where he uses songs from Harry Nilsson’s “Nilsson Schmilsson,” woven […]
Daniel Alexander Jones, an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist, and the 2019 Bistro Awards’ recipient for Outstanding Performing Artistry. Watch as his alter-ego, Jomama Jones, along with back-up accompaniment from Trevor Bachman and Vuyo Sotashe, perform “Supernova,” written by Jones with Bobby Halverson.
New to cabaret, Elizabeth Ward Land impressed us with her tribute to Linda Ronstadt in her show Still Within the Sound of My Voice: The Songs of Linda Ronstadt. See for yourself how remarkable she is as she sings Ronstadt’s “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me.”
