ANDREA MARCOVICCI and MAUDE MAGGART

Sun., October 6 at 8 p.m.  (Door opens and dinner service begins at 6 p.m.)   ANDREA MARCOVICCI and MAUDE MAGGART host a Gardenia reunion of sorts in “Great Gals and More,” with guests Amanda McBroom, Michele Brourman, and Babbie Green, each a singer-songwriter, cabaret, and stage luminary in her own right, and each of whom starred at The Gardenia back in the ‘80’s and thereafter.

Frequently introduced as “the Queen of Cabaret,” Ms. Marcovicci transformed the “cabaret genre,” has created over 35 nightclub acts at The Gardenia, and holds the record—an unprecedented 25 seasons—at the legendary Oak Room of The Algonquin Hotel—as well as the distinction of being the Oak Room’s final performer before its closing.  She combines forces with Maude Maggart, considered by many to be Marcovicci’s heir apparent, who can boast her own cabaret beginnings at The Gardenia a half generation later.  Our favorite endorsement of Ms. Maggart comes from Jim Bruce:  “If you have not yet heard Maude Maggart sing, I envy you the moment of discovery because there is nothing quite like the very first time you realize what a talent she is.  Then again there is also nothing quite like every single time after.”  Musical Director is Gerald Sternbach.

Miss McBroom, an “urban poet who writes like an angel and has a voice to match,” first became well known when Bette Midler’s recording of her song, “The Rose,” hit number one all over the world in 1979.  She has since had her songs recorded by artists from Barbara Cook to Donny Osmond—and from The Manhattan Transfer to The Chipmunks—and she herself has sung in venues from Carnegie Hall to The Kennedy Center; from Angel Recital Hall in Sydney to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taiwan; and from Rainbow & Stars in Manhattan to Pizza on the Park in London.

In addition to Amanda McBroom, Miss Brourman has supplied musical direction/piano accompaniment for such diverse talents as Dixie Carter, Tovah Feldshuh, Bernadette Peters, and Bob Dylan.  She continues to present her own cabaret shows—solo and with others—and has had her own songs recorded by such celebrated performers as Michael Feinstein, Margaret Whiting, and Cleo Laine.

The daughter of legendary tunesmith Johnny Green, who wrote “Body and Soul,”  Miss Green is a formidable songsmith herself and graced the Gardenia stage both as a solo performer and with others “back in the day.” Her first CD, In Nobody’s Shadow, has been called “a contemporary cabaret treasure chest” by Drama-Logue; and her second CD, Soldiers of the Heart, received a MAC nomination for Multiple Artist Recording of the Year in 2001.  She herself was the winner of the first Johnny Mercer Songwriting Award and the 1994 Backstage Bistro Award for Outstanding Songwriter.  Her songs have been recorded and/or performed by Andrea Marcovicci, Michael Feinstein, Margaret Whiting, and Amanda McBroom, to name a few, and she has performed her songs herself at Carnegie Hall, the 92^nd Street Y, Town Hall, The Chicago Humanities Festival, and up and down the West Coast.  Michael Feinstein adds, “The songs of Babbie Green are wonderfully crafted miniatures, brimming with wit and wonder. She is a great talent with a rare and keen interpretive ability. In short, I love her work.”