New York City’s The Metropolitan Room jazz club, which is closing its doors at the end of September prior to a move, is going out with a bang 9 PM September 24 through 9 PM September 25 when it stages a Cabaret 24-Hour Marathon Extravaganza.
The club is promising appearances by 150 of its longtime headliner music and variety acts, and other guests, including Billy Stritch, Christine Pedi, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Julie Budd, K.T. Sullivan, and Baby Jane Dexter.
The club, which has hosted many Broadway stars in its 11 years of existence, is closing its doors at its longtime 34 West 22nd Street location on September 30, with plans to move into a bigger new midtown New York location TBA in 2018.
Also among the scheduled performers: Jeff Harnar, Jim Brochu, Bill Boggs, Dorothy Bishop, Doreen Montalvo, Jon Weber, Marissa Mulder, Harrison Greenbaum, Celia Berk, Billy Roe, Adam Shapiro, Rosemary Loar, Doris Dear, David Baida, Devin Bing, Charlie Romo, Richard Holbrook, Corinna Sowers Adler, Eddie Brill, Lennie Watts, Lina Koutrakos, Ricky Ritzel, Warren Schein, Naked Cowgirl Sandy Kane, Stearns Matthews, Pamela Lewis, Too Blondes, Vivian Reed, Randie Levine-Miller, 2017 MetroStar Emily Ellet, and master whistler Steve Herbst. For the entire line-up and schedule, visit Metropolitanroom.com.
Tickets for the Extravaganza cost $15, good for the entire 24-hour marathon. No minimum. The first drink is free with purchase. For reservations call (212) 206-0440 or order online.
As a special offer, the audience member who attends the event for the most hours reportedly will be offered a free no-cover pass to all Met Room shows in its new location (TBA) for one year. The first and second runners-up will receive VIP Passes (for two) to any show of their choice.
Metropolitan Room management told Playbill it is in final negotiations to move to an unspecified West 29th Street location near Penn Station/Madison Square Garden that will more than double the seating capacity in two showrooms (which can be combined for bigger headliners), plus a restaurant and a piano bar.
The final performance at its longtime 110-seat 22nd Street home will be September 30. The club will then move its producing operations to temporary digs at the Triad on West 72nd Street. The new club is expected to open at a date TBA in early spring 2018, according to spokesperson Beck Lee. The current cabaret opened in 2006 on the site of the former Gotham Comedy Club.
Lee said the two main reasons for the move were to increase seating capacity and to relocate to a neighborhood with greater walk-up traffic.
“We're designing our future Metropolitan Room in midtown to be a bigger, better and more flexible venue,” said managing partner Bernie Furshpan, “but the extensive renovations will take several months to complete. Happily, when we bid farewell to our current home on September 30, the Metropolitan Room will partner with The Triad on West 72nd Street, sharing its venue until our new spot is ready to open. This will allow us to present most of our scheduled shows and continue to serve our longtime performers.”
The club’s last bookings at 34 West 22nd Street will be on Saturday September 30 with a full evening of performances beginning at 4 PM. Click here for a complete schedule of remaining bookings.
Known as a launchpad for emerging talents in jazz and cabaret, as well as a showplace for established artists in the theatre, film, and television, The Metropolitan Room has recently hosted appearances by Ed Asner, Liz Callaway, Vivian Reed, Linda Lavin, Baby Jane Dexter, and Euan Morton. Sheryl Lee Ralph concluded a sold-out run at the room July 30. Nightclub legend Marilyn Maye chose The Metropolitan Room as the venue to relaunch her singing career after a 15-year hiatus.
Christine Pedi, has been a special guest performer on three of Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are available for Broadway on the Danube River with Michael Feinstein for November 3–13, 2017, also featuring Rachel Bay Jones, Julia Murney, Christopher Fitzgerald, Marc Kudisch, Christopher Sieber, Brandon Uranowitz, and Seth Rudetsky, as well as other exciting talent to be announced.
Tickets are also now on sale for Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas July 2018 cruise to Iceland, accompanied by Judy Kuhn, Christine Ebersole, Rob McClure, Jarrod Spector, Carmen Cusack, and Sierra Boggess. Visit PlaybillTravel.com for booking and information.
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