Mama’s Next BIG Act! 2018

Don’t Tell Mama
343 W. 46th St., NYC

Photos by Maryann Lopinto

After nine weeks (2 weeks of preliminaries; 7 weeks of competition), and starting with a field of 26 whittled down to the top five, the 2018 winner of Mama’s Next BIG Act! was revealed on Tuesday, August 28 to a filled-to-the-rafters house. And, the winner is… Lynda Rodolitz! David LaMarr was named first runner-up. The remaining top five were Taylor Beyer, Katie McManus, and Cissy Walken.

Created and hosted by Lennie Watts and sponsored by Don’t Tell Mama, the fourth year of this award-winning talent contest boasted packed houses each week. Once the preliminaries were completed, the field of contestants started with 20, with eliminations each week until the final two weeks with the top five. In addition to votes cast by the audience, a panel of permanent and guest judges also voted and provided guidance to the contestants. For the fourth year, Tanya Moberly and Frank Dain served as permanent judges. Guest judges were Doris Dear, Natalie Douglas, Sally Mayes, Ruby Rims, Tracy Stark, KT Sullivan, Stacy Sullivan, Heather Villaescusa (the 2017 winner of MNBA), and Kristine Zbornick. Steven Ray Watkins was back as music director.

The winner receives $1500 toward a 4-performance run at Don’t Tell Mama in early 2019, an article in Cabaret Scenes magazine, a poster on the “Wall of Fame” at DTM, a design package provided by Frank Dain, a scholarship to the Cabaret Retreat at Herons Landing, and… an Instant Pot! (Each season included an appliance as one of the prizes, and was a major draw for contestants!)