Piano Bar Live! continues tonight, Tuesday, June 30th at 7:15 pm ET, following New York City’s 7 O’Clock Cheer. This week’s guests will be John Bronston, Kathy “Babe” Robinson, Ruby Rims, Katie Dunne McGrath, Rick Jensen, Michael Kirk Lane, Riley Yates, Collin Yates, Scott Barbarino, Tony Javed and our weekly mystery guest .
PBL! is the 2020 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets) Award winner for “Show of the Year for excellence in getting the word out about Cabaret and Piano Bar†through live-streams from The Duplex Cabaret and Piano Bar and Brandy’s Piano Bar in 2019.
Join us this TUESDAY, June 30 at www.facebook.com/PianoBarLive or on PBL!’s new streaming outlet, BroadwayOnDemand.com& on YouTube.
The Piano Bar is that special place where we can gather, entertain, support and create as we connect with live music.
John Bronston travels throughout North America as an actor/musician, piano bar entertainer and conductor (including the National Tour of Hair) and is currently the musical director of Bounce: the Basketball Opera.  His musical Fairy Tale ran at the 14th Street Theatre after a developmental production at NYMF. He has worked at the Duplex, Stonewall Inn and Don’t Tell Mama and currently works Saturday nights at Brandy’s Piano Bar.
Kathy “Babe†Robinson starred as “Mrs. Cherrywinkle†for “PBS/Kids-TV,” was a cast member of the “Saturday Night Dead†sketches on “Conan O’Brien†and is an accomplished actress in National, Off-Broadway and Regional theatres. NYC Bistro Award-winner Robinson continues her singing career with appearances in Philadelphia, NYC, New Hope, Key West, St. Thomas, Moscow and for the last 13 seasons, at Montparnasse in Mykonos, Greece. Her repertoire includes soulful renditions of everything from standards, jazz, Broadway, classic rock and contemporary. Area appearances have included The Sugar House Casino w/ Eddie Bruce and Tom Adams Trio, Resorts Star Ballroom in Atlantic City, Bob Egan’s Supper Club with Bobby Peaco, Ocean Grove Arts Center with Mark Hartman and Julia Scotti and current dates at Croton Creek, NY and Paris Bistro Cafe in Philadelphia. Her current CDs, Piano Barred and Both Sides Now, are available at www.kathybaberobinson.com
Ruby Rims is an award-winning performer and drag artist, first performing in drag in 1973 in Newark NJ. He has been seen on the “Phil Donahue Show†as well as “Mid-Day Live†with Bill Boggs and “The Geraldo Rivera Show.†He is the founder of Teddy Cares and Ruby Rims and Friends Do the Can-Can. Rims was the recipient of the NY-1 “New Yorker of the Week†accolade as well as The Manhattan Association of Cabaret’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a 27-year AIDS survivor.
Katie Dunne McGrath moved to New York City in 2016 after retiring from her career in advertising. Her first show as a New Yorker, Significant Others, won the 2017 Bistro Award for best debut. She started working with NiteLife Exchange in 2018 on her video blog, “Cabaret Katie,†previewing the shows and artists she wants to see in the coming months, gaining 60,000 unique video views from New York entertainment seekers.
Singer-songwriter Rick Jensen’s compositions have become standards on the New York City club circuit, garnering him critical praise and an impressive collection of awards. He has been seen in venues as diverse as the Duplex cabaret to the stage of Carnegie Hall. Other solo appearances include Washington DC’s Source Theatre, The Roslyn Spectrum Theatre in Arlington, VA, The Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Cabaret Convention at Town Hall, Symphony Space and The Metropolitan Room. The Advocate said of Spring Harvest, the debut CD on which he performs his original material, “there’s a new genius in the room… Cole Porter, Peter Allen, Tom Lehrer and Nancy Lamott must be beaming down on their collective progeny.†Lee Lessack, Lina Koutrakos and the late Nancy Lamott are just a few of the well known artists to have recorded a Rick Jensen tune.
Michael Kirk Lane is an award-winning cabaret artist, having won the 2020 Manhattan Association of Cabaret Award for Male Musical Comedy Performer. Along with three previous MAC nominations, Lane has been nominated for three BroadwayWorld Cabaret Awards, winning in 2018 for Best Show. BroadwayWorld Cabaret has called Lane “one of the most popular performers and people working in cabaret today.” He is known to cabaret artists for his solo shows, as well as his position as House Manager at The Laurie Beechman Theatre. He is now leading online cabaret courses for the 92Y School of Music, including the new “Cabaret Conversations” series that hosts important persons from the world of cabaret in discussion, as well as “Cabaret History and Great Performances.”
Riley Yates is very excited about her first performance on Piano Bar Live! She just completed her freshman year at East Carolina University as a Musical Theatre and Theatre Education double major. She says, “Scott Barbarino is a very close family friend, and the first time I went to Brandy’s my older brother Collin was performing. Now we’re performing together! Thank you, Scott, for this opportunity to share her passion for music and theatre in these hard times.”
Collin Yates is thrilled to return to Piano Bar Live! In 2019 he graduated from East Carolina University with a BFA in Musical Theatre and attended the Tepper Semester in New York City through Syracuse University. Since then he has performed all over the United States. “One of my favorite things to do in musical theatre is break the 4th wall and talk directly to the audience,” he says. “Seeing as that’s all I’m doing in the piano bar scene. I think it’s a perfect match!â€
Scott Barbarino, publisher of NiteLife Exchange is also the creator of Piano Bar Live!, with a long history of proactive involvement in the cabaret and piano bar culture. Back in 1980, Barbarino walked into the Duplex Piano Bar for the first time; his heart never left. Since that day, he and his band of merry-makers have been keeping the Piano Bar scene alive. Inspired by songwriting legend John Wallowich and his public access show, which featured John at the piano singing to the TV audience, the idea of using social media and the Internet to bring this special art form to people around the world, seemed a natural way to take the piano bar experience into the 21st century. Barbarino says, “One of the greatest joys for all of us at PBL! is the the chance to see veteran performers pass the torch to the next generation of merry-makers, while witnessing young talent blossom. As much as times change, they also stay the same.” Barbarino has worn many hats in his career. He’s also a performer and a promoter, managing and producing shows in live entertainment venues. His career began at the original Duplex Cabaret, where he became the Manager and Entertainment Coordinator and the Host of “Stars of Tomorrow,†one of the first competition shows in cabaret. He is currently the Artistic Director of Ellen’s Stardust Diner on Broadway. Barbarino, an ASCAP member, served on the Board of Directors of the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs as Member-at-Large (1997-2000) and as President (2004).
Yes! Finally something about betberry.