Darrell Henline Award
The Green Room 42, NYC, June 21, 2025
Reviewed by Jacqueline Parker
Photo by James Gavin
In one of the most heartfelt and loving tributes I’ve ever seen, the cabaret community gathered to honor “The Crown Prince of New York Cabaret” Steve Ross, sponsored by Cabaret Scenes and the American Songbook Association (ASA) Carolyn Montgomery, executive director of the ASA introduced the performers with their personal tribute to Ross, and Cabaret Scenes editor-in-chief Frank Dain presented him with this year’s Darrell Henline Award, which is given annually in recognition of someone’s lifetime achievement in cabaret.
The Green Room 42 was jammed with luminaries from this rarified world, and the room was abuzz with people who know Ross, have been taught and worked with him, have learned from him, or who simply hold him in the highest regard. An evening like this deserved a magnificent opening number, and it was provided nimbly and unexpectedly by Ron Spivak and Hechter Ubarry. Spivak announced in his gorgeous deep voice “I shall impersonate a man” as he transformed himself with false facial hair into one of the most beloved and enduring characters in the Broadway canon, Don Quixote. He sang the title song from Man of La Mancha (Mitch Leigh/Joe Darion) with Ubarry by his side as Sancho Panza, and Michael Lavine at the piano. It felt like being back in the 1960s, when Man of La Mancha and this glorious song inspired a generation to dream “The Impossible Dream.” Jazz pianist Judy Carmichael changed the pace a bit with a rousing “Honeysuckle Rose” (Andy Razaf/Thomas “Fats” Waller); her fingers seemed to dance across all the keys during her stride-piano rendition.
A highlight of the evening was provided by Tom Andersen, who gave one of the gorgeous numbers from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella a different twist. “Ten Minutes Ago” is usually done in an upbeat, rather jubilant way; Anderson chose to make it his own by putting the spotlight on the lyric. He captured all the marvel and awe of that moment when one first sees someone destined to be very significant in one’s life. The song was slowed down a bit, as it should be when one is awestruck. This approach revealed each aspect of the emotion as it developed. It was a truly effective interpretation, sweet, tentative, and Gene Kelly-esque as it effectively depicted the song’s emotions.
A beloved female nonagenarian of the cabaret world, Dorothy Wiggins, sang a duet with Ross on one of Cole Porter’s list songs from High Society “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” She was totally adorable as she kept answering Ross with “I don’t!” She is a familiar face at notable cabaret shows around town. This number attested to the fact that Ross is indeed the quintessential interpreter of Cole Porter; Ron Spivak earlier called him “Cole Porter reincarnated.” Pianist Peter Mintun, who can make two hands sound like four when he caresses the ivories, performed “The Waltz in Swing Time” (Dorothy Fields/Jerome Kern). There was no room for us to swing, or waltz, but many of us did indeed sway.
Bearing a striking resemblance to both Grace Kelly and Marjorie Merriweather Post, Shana Farr, accompanied by Lavine, delivered a heartbreaking rendition of the Jerome Kern/Hammerstein “Why Was I Born.” The evening wouldn’t have been complete without a Noël Coward number, and Eric Michael Gillett stepped in with a lovely interpretation of “Come the Wild, Wild Weather.”
Appropriately, Ross, who wore a green velvet jacket that had been owned by Sir Noël himself, closed the evening singing “Time” (Barry Kleinbort/Joseph Thalkin) and “Old Friend” (Gretchen Cryer/Nancy Ford). He was most gracious in thanking everyone by quoting his “old friend” Marcus Aurelius: “When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love” and added his own coda, “To breathe, to exist, to create, to imagine, to make music, and to laugh.”
Some in the audience remember Steve Ross from his early days in New York when he played at the white piano at Ted Hook’s Backstage. Others knew him from his time at the venerable Oak Room in the Algonquin Hotel. Still others recalled seeing him perform at many of the boîtes about town that are sadly gone now, as well as at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and venues worldwide. He has been a mentor and an inspiration to many, and most importantly, a friend to all.
