From the best new Broadway shows to groundbreaking downtown experiments, it was a very good year for New York theater.
It was a year of change in the cabaret world. Two of New York's most prestigious venues, the Oak Room and Feinstein's, closed for good in 2012, leaving other nightclubs to fill the vacuum. The offerings were, as always, highly varied: from old-school Great American Songbook collections to bawdy rock & roll comedy, from octogenarian masters to whippersnappers with attitude. As the dust settles, two venues have emerged as the pounding hearts of the cabaret scene: midtown's 54 Below, which leans toward high-grade theater talent, and Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, which emphasizes downtown invention. Here are my choices for the top ten cabaret shows of 2013. Honorable mentions: Judy Collins (Café Carlyle), Edward Hibbert (54 Below), Julie Klausner (Joe’s Pub), Ute Lemper (54 Below), The Meeting* with Justin Sayre (Duplex and 54 Below).
