36th MAC Awards

The 36th Annual Manhattan Association of Cabaret Awards.

Honoring the best in Cabaret from 2021. This evening features live performances and the presentation of awards in over 25 competitive categories.

Special honors include:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Chita Rivera

Lifetime Achievement Award: Marta Sanders

Board of Director’s Award: Lennie Watts

Board of Director’s Award: The Mabel Mercer Foundation

Show of The Year: Jim Caruso’s Cast Party/Pajama Cast Party

Ruth Kurtzman Benefit Series Award: Cabaret on the Couch

Hanson Award: AARON LEE BATTLE

The show is produced by MICHAEL KIRK LANE, directed by LENNIE WATTS, with musical direction by YASUHIKO FUKUOKA and stage managed by Amy Wolk

Lifetime Achievement Recipient Chita Rivera:

A theatrical icon and one of Broadway’s greatest triple-threat talents, Chita Rivera is one of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history having earned 10 nominations, won twice, and received the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. A versatile actress/singer/dancer, her most recent starring roles include The Visit, the final John Kander/Fred Ebb/Terrence McNally musical directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Graciela Daniele on Broadway; the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood; the Broadway and touring productions of The Dancer’s Life, a dazzling musical celebrating her spectacular career, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele and the revival of the Broadway musical Nine with Antonio Banderas. She trained as a ballerina (from age nine) before receiving a scholarship to the School of American Ballet from the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Chita’s first appearance (age 17) was as a principal dancer in Call Me Madam. Her electric performance as Anita in the original Broadway premiere of West Side Story brought her stardom, which she repeated in London. Her career is highlighted by starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, The Rink (Tony Award), Chicago, Jerry’s Girls, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Tony Award), and the original Broadway casts of Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seventh Heaven, and Mr. Wonderful. On tour: Born Yesterday, The Rose Tattoo, Call Me Madam, Threepenny Opera, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Zorba, Can-Can with The Rockettes. Chita was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009 and received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in 2002. In 2019, Chita performed her solo concert at London’s Cadogan Hall; in 2018 she was honored as a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy; in 2016 she headlined at Carnegie Hall and in 2015, Great Performances aired their special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin’ to Do, a retrospective of her extraordinary life and career nationally on PBS. Her current solo CD is entitled And Now I Swing. Her most treasured production is her daughter, singer/dancer/choreographer Lisa Mordente.

Lifetime Achievement Recipient Marta Sanders:

In a career spanning decades, Marta Sanders continues to draw on her mastery of the American nightclub style with her bold and brassy personality. After arriving in Manhattan, her career led her to the New York cabaret circuit and making her Broadway Debut in the original company of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Marta set the standard for cabaret in New York City and is one of the original winners of Bistro and MAC Award “Outstanding Female Vocalist” and recently Bistro Award for “Consummate Cabaret Artistry.” She has performed in New York’s prestigious venues: Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, Carnegie Hall; New York Nightclubs: Feinstein’s/54 Below, Laurie Beechman, and Birdland. She has performed in many of the historic Manhattan showrooms in their heyday: Rainbow & Stars, Upstairs at Greene Street, Maxim’s, Reno Sweeney’s, Les Mouches, The Ballroom, Eighty Eights, Freddie’s Supper Club, Onstage, and Metropolitan Room. Marta continues to travel, performing in nightclubs and abroad with her one-woman cabaret shows. Her first CD, Corazon del Alma, was a sumptuously orchestrated compilation of standard Latin ballads sung in Spanish, and Panache, which includes original comedy songs by John McMahon, lyricist Jay Jeffries, and was named one of 2012’s top ten CDs, alongside those of Stacy Sullivan and Barbara Cook.