Heading into the last week of May, it only seemed as if the monsoon season in New York would never end. But then along came Raissa Katona Bennett (pictured) like a Good Witch of the East Side to wave her magic hostess wand and the clouds all rolled away. Raissa, winner of the 2011 MAC Award (Host: Variety Show, Series, or Open Mic), was raising the roof on the fourth season of free Concerts at Tudor City Greens, which has a unique dual mission: Generating funds to support and protect privately maintained green spaces in New York, and exposing a new and diverse audience to local cabaret and jazz performers. With such altruism in the air, the gods wouldn’t dare rain on Raissa’s parade.

Before Act 2, Raissa announced collecting more than $800 in audience donations for the night, but reaching the second goal seemed even more impressive. More than 300 neighborhood folks of every age dotted the outdoor area of Tudor City Place (41st Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues) and experienced the stylings of some talented cabaret performers, probably for the first time. As Katona Bennett has performed at almost every cabaret venue in New York, she has built a large Friends of Raissa network she can draw from to perform gratis at the Greens. The inaugural show featured three 2011 MAC Award winners—Sean Harkness (Male Debut), Tracy Stark (Song; shared with lyricists Marcus Simeone), and Tanya Moberly (Producer, Open Mic)— former Bistro Award winners D.C. Anderson and Terese Genecco (who has also won a MAC), Father John Sheehan, The Howard Sisters, and Bill Zeffiro (with Jeff Cubeta and Cindy Gooden supporting on piano and bass, respectively).

With a reasonably well-behaved sound system supplied by Raissa’s husband Dr. Garrett Bennett (who served as a one-man roadie crew), potential new cabaret fans heard Anderson (singing his own lyrics), Stark (accompanying herself on piano) and Harkness (guitar instrumental) deliver some solid original songs, but they might be booking seats at Iridium now that they’ve heard Terese Genecco sing Zeffiro’s swinging and Sinatra-esque “Universal Truth,” a song about what a guy goes through when he’s “just a schmuck in love.” (Genecco performs with her Little Big Band on the last Tuesday of each month.)

Other highlights included Moberly’s powerful voice on “Chelsea Morning,” and Raissa and Father John Sheehan teaming up for a cheeky parody of “A Little Priest” from Sweeney Todd, which served as Sheehan’s introduction before he sang “Bring Him Home” from Les Misérables. Sheehan later converted to the role of a Jewish milkman and they could probably hear his “If I Were a Rich Man” all the way to Zabar’s. But the revelation of the evening (at least for this reviewer) was The Howard Sisters (Jessica, Joanna and Siri), a trio of lovelies with harmonies that hark back to the Andrews Sisters in the late 1930s and ‘40s. The Howards charmed the audience with Irving Berlin’s “Sisters” (natch) and Rodgers and Hart’s “Sing for Your Supper” (from The Boys from Syracuse). As the song reminds, “Songbirds always eat / If their song is sweet to hear.” If the Howards keep sounding like this, they’ll never again have to pick up a restaurant check.

Dates for the remaining 2011 Concerts at Tudor City Greens are: June 22, Aug. 3, and Sept. 7, with rain dates for each show the day after the announced dates. There is a possible additional concert—weather and schedules permitting— on Oct. 5.

Stephen Hanks
Cabaret Scenes
May 25, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org