“Thank you for risking your life by coming out tonight,” joked Joe Iconis, welcoming a socially distant crowd to the Feinstein’s / 54 Below cabaret reopening in Manhattan in June.
Iconis, a composer, lyricist and performer popular with young music theater fans, joked before diving into an alternately silly and poignant set with actor and singer George Salazar – a star of Iconis’ first Broadway production, “Be More Chill”. He seriously added, “It’s the most incredible thing to be able to do this show for real people, not computer screens.”
Wet-eyed meetings between artists and fans have been held across the city as Covid-19 restrictions gradually eased. “I hope you are prepared for how emotional it will be when you are on stage because it will be emotional for us to support artists we love again,” said a fan of the band Betty. In the intimate spaces that house these shows, the interaction between artists and those who love them is an integral part of what downtown Sandra Bernhard calls “the instant, visceral experience.”
Traditional eateries such as the Birdland and Blue Note jazz clubs, newer eateries such as Green Room 42 and the City Winery in Hudson River Park (both reopened in April) as well as the old cabaret oases Pangea and Club Cumming in the East Village are back with food, drink and carnal entertainment, while veterans of cabaret – along with other jazz and pop acts and drag performers – return to the work that is their bread and butter.
“Seeing people react physiologically to music again – tapping toes, shaking heads – that’s almost better than applause,” said pianist and singer Michael Garin, one of many who used social media to connect with fans during the pandemic to keep in touch, and to resume the performances for the live audience initially.
However, Garin noted, “It’s not like we flip a switch and get things back to normal.” Especially in the spring, not everyone was ready to pick up where they left off. “Some musicians were willing to book as soon as possible and others said, ‘Let me see – I don’t know if I want to be indoors now,'” said Steven Bensusan, President of Blue Note Entertainment Group.
Producer and host Scott Siegel, creator of the virtual Scott Siegel’s New York Nightclub, said some guests are still anxious: “Everyone is hopeful, but I hear people are nervous. There are also many who come from outside the Tristate area and it is more difficult to get in. “
With regulations still in flux, both vigilance and adaptability are vital. Before Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced in mid-June that the state could reopen almost entirely, Birdland had planned to return on July 1 with only 50 percent capacity. Instead, all 150 seats were accessible from the start, with Diversity show hosts Jim Caruso and Susie Mosher returning with theater and cabaret luminaries like Chita Rivera and Natalie Douglas returning in the first week. (The club’s lower room, the Birdland Theater, will remain closed until September.) The Blue Note, which reopened in mid-June with about two-thirds capacity, has since made all of its 250 seats available. Proof of vaccination against the coronavirus is not required in either club, although masks are recommended for unvaccinated in Birdland.
In contrast, a vaccination certificate is necessary at 54 Below, where a full crowd of around 150 is to be gradually built up, as the 60-seat cabaret hall in Pangea still has a capacity restriction of 80 percent. Both venues were among those developing streaming series while they were closed. “We originally tried to stay active, but it became a way to pay staff and expand the audience,” said Richard Frankel, one of the owners of 54 Below, who is responsible for the new “Live From Feinstein’s / 54” series. will start below, ”with live streams straight from the venue on July 11th. “Right now we’re focused on reopening live, but it’s definitely something we should explore further after the dust settles.”
Ryan Paternite, Director of Programming at Birdland, was similarly encouraged by the response to Radio Free Birdland, though he added, “My feeling is that people are pretty burned out watching shows on their computer or phone – especially when they did it to pay for tickets. “
Artists generally remain optimistic about what technology can do. “I’m very pro-streaming,” said Tony Award-nominated singer and actress Lilli Cooper, who will appear on 54 Below on July 28 and August 15, that’s so important. “Caruso plans to keep his” Pajamas “weekly Cast Party ”; he noted that the virtual program enabled him to explore both his audience (“It’s literally and figuratively more colorful”) and talent pool (“I’ve been looking at TikTok and Instagram and discovered some exciting new artists”) ).
Many hope that diversity and inclusivity will be emphasized even more in an art form that includes colorful artists like Mabel Mercer and Bobby Short as historical icons. “My art is often based on what I’ve been through, and being black is part of it,” said Broadway veteran Derrick Baskin, who put R&B classics on his setlist for recent 54 Below dates.
Justin Vivian Bond, slated to reopen Joe’s Pub in October, said: “The great thing about cabaret is that if you can do it, you can react to what’s going on in the world.” For Bond, the pandemic posed equally sobering challenges like that of the LGBTQ community during another plague: “When AIDS happened, even when people died, you could be with them. What we just went through was a very isolating trauma. I don’t know if I’ll get any brilliant insight on this, but hopefully what I’m saying will resonate with the audience. “
Bernhard, who will return to Joe’s Pub in December for the annual vacation engagement she missed in 2020, is still unsure of the insights she will offer. “In the headspace I’m in, I don’t even know what the next two months will bring,” she said. “I just want to perform like everyone else is doing right now.”
Artists and fans are greeted with renovations at specific venues and other enticements. Birdland cut its admission price to 99 cents in July, the fee when the club opened in 1949. 54 Below is a new menu created by “Top Chef” winner Harold Dieterle. The Laurie Beechman Theater in the West Bank Café is getting a “facelift,” said its owner Steve Olsen – fresh paint, new carpet and bar furnishings, improved sound and lighting technology – in preparation for a reopening after Labor Day. The Triad Theater also used its forced downtime to “upgrade, repaint, and get new equipment,” said Booking Director Bernie Furshpan.
But it’s the love of the performance itself and the perspective gained after a year of lost shows that drives many artists’ emotional response to returning to the stage. Michael Feinstein, the American multitasking songbook champion and namesake for clubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles and New York, believes “that everyone who is a performer comes out in a completely different place, with a deeper sense of connectedness and joy and gratitude. “
“I can’t imagine an artist taking a moment of what we’re doing for granted,” he added.
