Sue’s Muse: An Interview with Terri Dannenberg

Photo by Helane Blumfield

WELCOME to Sue’s Muse 2026! This is our 3rd year producing this on-line video column, with a continuing promise to introduce you to even more interesting people joining our cabaret, jazz and theater communities!

I am happy to start off 2026 with this lady. She and I go way back to performing in community theater in the Bronx some 30+ years ago. She was a great singer and dancer then, and she’s even better now—if you do the work, you continue to grow. But for some time she really didn’t know what cabaret was until she finally saw a show and asked me to help her produce a benefit for the American Cancer Society. That show is where she finally got back on stage, much to the delight of her friends and family. And with that success I referred her to Lina Koutrakos’ class, which she still takes to this day. Performing her first solo show last year, Everything!, was quite the journey for her, and what a spectacular journey it continues to be. Please meet someone that I hope will be on the MAC ballot this year for outstanding debut…the lovely and sweet Terri (never met a dog I didn’t like) Dannenberg

For more information on the Friday, February 20 encore of Everything! and for tickets, click here

Here’s what the critics have said: reviews from NLE’s own Bart Greenberg and  BroadwayWorld’s Stephen Mosher.

 

 

 

About Sue Matsuki 75 Articles
SUE MATSUKI is an award-winning singer and songwriter, producer, open mic host, educator, columnist and the author of So You Want to Sing Cabaret. She is a Bistro Award winner for Outstanding Collaboration with her Musical Director, Gregory Toroian; she is the very first recipient of the Julie Wilson Award given by the Mabel Mercer Foundation; and she is a multi-award-winning MAC Award winner (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) for Jazz Vocalist, Special Events, and Songwriter and has been nominated 11 times in 8 different categories. Matsuki is a Cabaret/Jazz singing veteran who has played every NYC Cabaret room including: Feinstein’s at the Regency, 54 Below, Town Hall, and several major Jazz Clubs including: the legendary Village Gate, Birdland, The Iridium and Sweet Rhythm. She’s even played Carnegie Hall and appeared in five seasons as a Diva Double at the Metropolitan Opera. She plays many theaters across the country and has appeared at Crazy Coqs in London. As an educator she has taught Cabaret and performance/business classes at: Mac-to-School, Cabaret Hotspot! Cabaret U, The Ridgefield Theater Barn, Peddie Town School (Town Heights, NJ), UCONN’s Osher’s Lifelong Learning Institute, the Vancouver School of Performing Arts and at Fordham University at Lincoln Center. Matsuki is the Producer of the annual Urban Stages’ Winter Rhythms series, NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singers) NMTC National Musical Theater Competition as well as many other benefits and shows. Sue’s Views has been an on-going Cabaret advice column that has appeared in Cabaret Hotline On-Line, NiteLife Exchange and Cabaret Hotspot, It now lives on her website. Sue’s Muse comes back to the NiteLife Exchange family in May. For more information please visit: www.SueMatsuki.com
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