THE MANHATTAN ASSOCIATION OF CABARETS

announces the Nominees and Honorees for the 40^th Annual
MAC Awards

LILLIAS WHITE and KAREN AKERS to receive LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) is pleased to announce the upcoming 40th Annual MAC Awards. The awards presentation and show will take place on Monday, March 23, 2026, at 7:00 pm, at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street in New York City.

The MAC Awards honor excellence in NYC nightlife during the 2025 calendar year. In addition to live musical performances at the show, competitive awards will be presented in multiple categories to performers, songwriters, directors, musical directors, piano bar performers, behind the scenes technical experts, and more, as well as the presentation of special honoree awards. The envelopes will be opened and the winners will be announced live at the MAC Awards show.

In addition to the previously announced presentation of Lifetime Achievement Awards to Lillias White and Karen Akers, MAC is pleased to announce additional honorees of the evening: The Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Award will be presented to THE SEASON: GOLDIE’S KIDS! A benefit for ST JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL, created and produced by GOLDIE DVER, and the NiteLife Exchange Barry Levitt Jazz Award, an award presented in partnership between MAC and NiteLifeExchange.com, will be presented to the jazz duo of VICKI BURNS and JOE ALTERMAN.

The MAC Awards show is produced by JULIE MILLER and directed by AMY WOLK. The musical director and leader of the MAC Awards Band will be JOHN FISCHER.

Tickets are available at https://www.symphonyspace.org/event/645204/Talks%20&%20More/vp-the-40th-annual-mac-awards

For more information, visit www.macnyc.com

Please forward all requests and questions to CabaretMACnyc@gmail.com

THE 2026 MAC AWARD NOMINEES ARE:

FEMALE VOCALIST

CORINNA SOWERS ADLER
All That Matters
Don’t Tell Mama

DIANE D’ANGELO
Closing Credits
Chelsea Table + Stage, The Green Room 42, The Laurie Beechman Theatre

ANN KITTREDGE
Romantic Notions, When in Love, You Sleigh Me
Chelsea Table + Stage, Act2PV (Puerta Vallarta)  

SUSAN MACK
‘Tis Autumn, The Susan Mack Quartet
Birdland, Jazz on Main

LINDA MIRONTI
Perfectly Imperfect
Don’t Tell Mama

DEBORAH STONE
String Theory
Don’t Tell Mama, The Green Room 42

EVELYN SULLIVAN
The Ev Sullivan Show
Don’t Tell Mama

MALE VOCALIST

FRANK DAIN
A Celebration 24 Years in the Making
Don’t Tell Mama

MICHAEL KIRK LANE
Right Where I Belong
The Laurie Beechman Theatre

FRANK McDONOUGH
Frank Sings Frank
Don’t Tell Mama

JOHN MENDIOLA
Are You Ready for Me?
Don’t Tell Mama

MAJOR ARTIST – FEMALE

MARIEANN MERINGOLO
Shades of Love, You Must Believe in Spring, A Century of Song: Celebrating Alan and Marilyn Bergman, In the Spirit:2025
Chelsea Table + Stage, 54 Below

CHRISTINE PEDI
Snow Bizness/With a Little Help from My Friends
The Laurie Beechman Theatre

STEPHANIE POPE
Livin’ It Up!, Simple Joys
54 Below, Josephine’s Cabaret at Club Café

MAJOR ARTIST – MALE

ARI AXELROD 
A Place for Us: A Celebration of Jewish Broadway, Now That That’s Off My Chest
54 Below, The Green Room 42

SEAN HARKNESS
Just Me
Don’t Tell Mama

CRAIG POMRANZ
Berlin to Dylan to Simon and Garfunkel: It’s All Kosher!, It’s All Kosher: Part 2!, It’s The Holidays!
Don’t Tell Mama

NEW YORK DEBUT – FEMALE

BILLIE BROUSE
Thinking Out Loud
Don’t Tell Mama

TERRI DANNENBERG
Everything!
Don’t Tell Mama

JANICE McCUNE
Let’s Start Tomorrow Tonight!
Don’t Tell Mama

GRACE PEÑA          
Heartstrings!
54 Below, Don’t Tell Mama, The Green Room 42

DEBI TONI
Double Trouble
Don’t Tell Mama

NEW YORK DEBUT – MALE

ETHAN MATHIAS
Outside the Lines
Don’t Tell Mama

MACON PRICKETT
Macon: His Own Way
54 Below

CELEBRITY ARTIST

ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY
The Best of Ann Hampton Callaway
54 Below, Crazy Coqs, many more

LIZ CALLAWAY
Liz Callaway Sings Stephen Schwartz
54 Below

NATALIE DOUGLAS
Sammy at 100, Juneteenth Jubilee 2025 The Nat Pack: Sammy & Nat & Stevie & Joe, Tributes: The ‘70s
Birdland

CHRISTINE EBERSOLE WITH BILLY STRITCH
54 Below

NORM LEWIS
54 Below

DUO/GROUP

MARIA CORSARO AND LESLIE VINCENT
Jazz à Deux
Chelsea Table + Stage, Josephine’s Cabaret at Club Café, Jazz on Main, Deer Head Inn

JENNIE LITT AND MIRABELLE ALPHER
Relatively Singing!
Don’t Tell Mama

CHRISSY AND DAN PARDO
Dreams Don’t Come True in Pennsylvania, Christmastide for Empire State Ride, Wine Hour at the Hotel Edison
Chelsea Table + Stage, The Stonewall Inn, The Hotel Edison

THE RANDY ANDYS
Vintage Valentines, Spring Swing, Holiday Spectacular
Pangea, The Green Room 42

MAJOR DUO/GROUP

LAURA AND LINDA BENANTI
Mothers Know Best
54 Below

JIM CARUSO, BILLY STRITCH and KLEA BLACKHURST
A Swinging Birdland Christmas
Birdland

ERIC COMSTOCK AND BARBARA FASANO
Spring Swing, 20 For 20, Painting the Town, So Nice to Come Home To
Birdland, Don’t Tell Mama, Brownville Concert Series

RECURRING SERIES

THE AMERICAN POPULAR SONG SOCIETY SERIES
Created, produced, and hosted by Linda Amiel Burns
Don’t Tell Mama

BARBARINO’S BIG NITE OUT
Produced by Scott Barbarino
Lips Drag Queen Show Palace

JIM CARUSO’S CAST PARTY
Created, produced, and hosted by Jim Caruso
Birdland

THE LINEUP
Created and hosted by Susie Mosher, produced by Hope Royaltey
The Green Room 42

SCAT SCHOOL
Created and hosted by Kelly Wohlford
Don’t Tell Mama

SONDHEIM UNPLUGGED
Created by Phil Geoffrey Bond, produced by Lucia Spina and Rob Maitner
54 Below

SPOTLIGHT ON YOU OPEN MIC
Produced and hosted by Natasha Castillo, co-created with John Koprowski
53AboveBroadway

EMCEE

JIM CARUSO
Jim Caruso’s Cast Party
Birdland

GOLDIE DVER
Sneak Peek
Don’t Tell Mama

LENA MOY-BORGEN
Mama’s Next Big Act
Don’t Tell Mama

JUSTIN DYLAN NASTRO
Singnasium Game-A-Palooza, The Season: Goldie’s Kids, BSP Holiday Playlist
AMDA Studios, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, Chelsea Table + Stage

TRIBUTE SHOW

LUCILLE CARR-KAFFASHAN
8 Days A Week – 60 Years of Beatles Music
Don’t Tell Mama

DAWN DEROW
Sing Happy: The Wonderful Women of Kander and Ebb
The Triad, The Post Office Cafe

MARNIE KLAR
Karen Carpenter Covers
Don’t Tell Mama

LIORA MICHELLE
Songbirds of the Silver Screen
Don’t Tell Mama

SPECIAL PRODUCTION

JOE ICONIS AND FAMILY
Created, written, and directed by Joe Iconis
54 Below

MAMA’S NEXT BIG ACT
Produced by Don’t Tell Mama and Lennie Watts, created by Lennie Watts, musical direction by Yasuhiko Fukuoka
Don’t Tell Mama

PENZANCE-ISH
Book and music adapted by Jason Ellis and Ted Stafford, directed by Jason Ellis, musical direction by Ted Stafford
53AboveBroadway

THE BEAT OF A WANDERING HEART: THE SONGS OF MARTY SILVESTRI AND JOEL HIGGINS
Directed by Mark Nadler, score by Marty Silvestri and Joel Higgins
The Laurie Beechman Theatre

DIRECTOR

JAMES BEAMAN
Dan and Chrissy Pardo/Dreams Don’t Come True in Pennsylvania (Chelsea Table + Stage), Richard Skipper Celebrates (The Laurie Beechman Theatre), Goldie Dver/Sneak Peek (Don’t Tell Mama), Alex DeSuze/Nina & Sarah & Aretha & Alex (The Green Room 42), The Season: Goldie’s Kids (The Laurie Beechman Theatre)

JEFF HARNAR
Celia Berk/For the Record (54 Below), Christy Trapp/The Tender Trapp (Don’t Tell Mama), Renee Katz/Lost in His Arms (54 Below), Judi Mark/Merely Marvelous (The Triad)

BARRY KLEINBORT
Ann Kittredge/When in Love, Romantic Notions, You Sleigh Me (Act2PV Theater, Chelsea Table + Stage), Karen Mason/Encore-Nucopia, SPF, Just in Styne (Birdland, Don’t Tell Mama), Madelaine Warren/Warren Sings Fields (Don’t Tell Mama), Lorna Dallas/Snapshots (Chelsea Table + Stage), The Kleinbort Collection (Birdland)

LINA KOUTRAKOS
Deborah Stone/String Theory (Don’t Tell Mama, The Green Room 42), Diane D’Angelo/Closing Credits (The Laurie Beechman Theatre, Chelsea Table + Stage, The Green Room 42), Dorian Woodruff/Forever Me with Love (Chelsea Table + Stage), Terri Dannenberg/Everything! (Don’t Tell Mama), Juliet Ewing/Simply ‘S Wonderful: The Magic of Gershwin (Chelsea Table + Stage)

TANYA MOBERLY
Frank McDonough/Frank Sings Frank (Don’t Tell Mama), Becca Kidwell/Love Songs (Don’t Tell Mama), Dan Thaler/Life in 3D (Pangea), Steve Magnussen/That Happy Feeling (Don’t Tell Mama), Michelle Della Fave/Diggin’ Life (Don’t Tell Mama)

MUSICAL DIRECTOR

CHRISTOPHER DENNY
Ann Kittredge/When in Love, Romantic Notions, You Sleigh Me (Act 2PV, Chelsea Table + Stage), Karen Mason/Encore-Nucopia, SPF, Just in Styne (Birdland, Don’t Tell Mama), Madelaine Warren/Warren Sings Fields (Don’t Tell Mama), Lorna Dallas/Snapshots (Chelsea Table + Stage), The Kleinbort Collection (Birdland)

YASUHIKO FUKUOKA
Michael Kirk Lane/Right Where I Belong (The Laurie Beechman Theatre), Mama’s Next Big Act (Don’t Tell Mama), Robbie Rozelle (54 Below), Anthony Nunziata/Christmas and You (The Laurie Beechman Theatre), Anne-Marie Kavula/Songs for a Midlife Crisis (The Laurie Beechman Theatre)

SEAN HARKNESS
String Theory (The Green Room 42, Don’t Tell Mama), Kumara (West Side Community Garden), Sophia Ramos/No Parental Guidance (Pangea), New York Irish Center Christmas (New York Irish Center), Broadway by Guitar (54 Below)

DARYL KOJAK
Laurie Krauz/Sets (Don’t Tell Mama), Audrey Appleby/A Seduction Tour (Gardenia, Pangea), Deborah Stone/String Theory (Don’t Tell Mama), Jo Walker and Vayle/Two for the Road (Don’t Tell Mama), Carolyn Montgomery/Girl Singer (Long Beach Public Library)

ALEX RYBECK
Jeff Harnar/Confessions of a New Yorker (54 Below), Lee Roy Reams/Me and Betty (54 Below), Liz Callaway/The Wizard and I (54 Below), Karen Akers/Come with Me to Paris (Birdland), Lee Roy Reams/42^nd Street (54 Below)

TRACY STARK
Meg Flather/Walk Home (Don’t Tell Mama), Kim David Smith/Comme Un Folle (Post Office Café, Joe’s Pub), Justin Dylan Nastro/Live and In Person Whether You Like It or Not (Don’t Tell Mama), Ethan Mathias/Outside the Lines (Don’t Tell Mama), Linda Mironti/Perfectly Imperfect (Don’t Tell Mama)

BILLY STRITCH
Jim Caruso’s Cast Party (Birdland), A Swinging Birdland Christmas (Birdland), Christine Ebersole (54 Below)

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

ADAM DeCARLO
Janice McCune/Let's Start Tomorrow Tonight (Don't Tell Mama), Evelyn Sullivan/The Ev Sullivan Show (Don't Tell Mama), Corinna Sowers Adler/All That Matters (Don't Tell Mama), Gloria Bangiola/I Dreamed Last Night (Don't Tell Mama), Bruno Giraldi/Love or Death (Don't Tell Mama)

GIAN RAFFAELE DiCOSTANZO
The Inkwell Singers (Don’t Tell Mama), Taylor Beyer/Pride 2: The Pridening (Don’t Tell Mama), Meri Ziev/From 8 Tracks to Live Streams (Don’t Tell Mama), Steve Magnussen/That Happy Feeling (Don’t Tell Mama), Liora Michelle/Songbirds of the Silver Screen (Don’t Tell Mama)

SHERIDAN GLOVER
Eva Noblezada & Reeve Carney/An Evening with Eva Noblezada & Reeve Carney (The Green Room 42), Mark William/Technicolor Dreams 2.0 (The Green Room 42), Karen Mason/Christmas! Christmas! Christmas! (The Green Room 42), Leslie Carrara-Rudolph/Bizarre Brunch (The Green Room 42), Marilu Henner/Memory Girl (The Green Room 42)

AMANDA RAYMOND

Lee Roy Reams/Me and Betty (54 Below), Marilyn Maye (54 Below), Charles Busch/My Leading Ladies (54 Below), Lorna Luft & Andrea McArdle/Two of a Kind (54 Below), Liz Callaway/The Wizard and I (54 Below)

KELLY WOHLFORD
Frank Dain/A Celebration 24 Years in the Making (Don’t Tell Mama), Karen Mason/More SPF! (Don’t Tell Mama), American Popular Song Society (Don’t Tell Mama), Terri Dannenberg/Everything! (Don’t Tell Mama), Billy Brouse/Thinking Out Loud (Don’t Tell Mama)

ENSEMBLE INSTRUMENTALIST

STEVE DOYLE, bass
Jim Caruso’s Cast Party (Birdland

DON KELLY, drums & percussion
Lucille Carr-Kaffashan/8 Days a Week (Don’t Tell Mama), Marnie Klar/Karen Carpenter Covers (Don't Tell Mama), Bennett Silverstein/Just Sing (Don't Tell Mama), Chad Peterson/Late Bloomer (Don't Tell Mama)

MATT SCHARFGLASS, bass
Billie Brouse/Thinking Out Loud (Don't Tell Mama), Lucille Carr-Kaffashan/8 Days a Week (Don't Tell Mama), Scott Coulter & Friends/Silly Love Songs: 50 Years of #1 Hits (54 Below), Can Yasar/Turkish Rhapsody (Don’t Tell Mama)

DAVID SILLIMAN, drums & percussion
Carol Sue Gershman/Carol Sue Gershman at 90! (Don't Tell Mama), Kati Neiheisel/London by Night (Pangea), Eve Steinberg/All Blues (Pangea), Sidney Myer/Sidney Myer Rides Again! (Pangea), Terri Dannenberg/Everything! (Don't Tell Mama)

SKIP WARD, bass
Sue Matsuki/Sue Matsuki & The Gregory Toroian Trio (The Cutting Room), Terri Dannenberg/Everything! (Don't Tell Mama), Sidney Myer/Sidney Myer Rides Again!/(Pangea)

PIANO BAR SINGING ENTERTAINER – UPTOWN

ELAINE BRIER
Don’t Tell Mama

TARA MARTINEZ
Don’t Tell Mama

LAUREN MUFSON
Brandy’s

JENNIFER PACE
Brandy’s

JON SATROM
Don’t Tell Mama, Brandy’s

PIANO BAR SINGING ENTERTAINER – DOWNTOWN

SUSAN CAMPANARO
The Stonewall Inn

YVETTE MONIQUE CLARK
Marie’s Crisis

MARIA GENTILE
The Stonewall Inn, The Duplex

TYLER KENT
Marie’s Crisis

MADDIE McCLOUSKEY
Marie’s Crisis

MILES WHITTAKER
The Stonewall Inn

PIANO BAR INSTRUMENTALIST – UPTOWN

NATE BUCCIERI
Don’t Tell Mama

GERRY DIEFFENBACH
Don’t Tell Mama

DAN PARDO
The Townhouse, Don’t Tell Mama, Brandy’s

BILL ZEFFIRO
Da Marino, Tudor City Steakhouse

PIANO BAR INSTRUMENTALIST–DOWNTOWN

DAN DALY
Marie’s Crisis

BRANDO(N) JAMES GWINN
Marie’s Crisis

KENNEY GREEN-TILFORD
Marie’s Crisis

FRANCA VERCELLONI
Marie’s Crisis

SONG

A SOFT PLACE TO LAND
Music by Ned Paul Ginsburg, Lyrics by Hillary Rollins

I COULD BE A HERO
Music by Peter Millrose, Lyrics by Michael Colby

I USED TO BE YOU
Music by Maria Gentile and Lynn Portas, Lyrics by Maria Gentile

IT’S ALWAYS TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Music by Drew Paralic, Lyrics by Bob Levy

MISSING A SCREW
Music and Lyrics by Ava Nicole Frances

SWEET LOVE’S EMBRACE
Music and Lyrics by Paul Rolnick

TWO AT A TIME
Music and Lyrics by Marcus Goldhaber

COMEDY/NOVELTY SONG

A BUTT CALL
Music and Lyrics by John Forster

AUTUMN OF MY LIFE BLUES
Music and Lyrics by Ted Georgaklis

HEATHER
Music and Lyrics by Tom Toce

IT’S SUNNY
Music by Amy Engelhardt, Lyrics by Seth Christenfeld

ODE TO A CODE
Music and Lyrics by Marc Segan

TOO MUCH LOVE
Music by Tracy Stark, Lyrics by Mark Dundas Wood

RECORDING (LaMott Friedman Recording Award)

MARIA CORSARO
Love Makes the Changes

FRANK DAIN
I’ve Had a Love

BRIAN DE LORENZO
Toast of the Town, Vol 1

AVA NICOLE FRANCES
The Dream That I See

BOB LEVY (Featuring Various Artists)
Live, Love & Laugh: The Ronny Whyte and Bob Levy Collaborations

MAJOR RECORDING

D.C. ANDERSON
Songs Stay Sung

ARI AXELROD
A Place for Us: A Celebration of Jewish Broadway

ERIC COMSTOCK AND BARBARA FASANO
Painting the Town

CHIP DEFFAA AND FRIENDS
Chip Deffaa and Friends: Down in Honkey Tonk Town

PHILLIP OFFICER
You Fascinate Me So – Phillip Officer Salutes Mabel Mercer

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