This year’s “Winter Rhythms” series at Urban Stages (the 16th annual edition) was a mix of old and new, playful and profound, polished and loosey-goosey. Some shows focused on the winter holidays, Others referred to them very little, if at all. The best of them had those elements of innovation and surprise that I’ve been lauding and applauding in this column during the past twelve months.

Here are some of the highlights from among the many shows I caught at the festival, starting with the cream of the crop: whole shows that I found invigorating and memorable.

Jamming with Jon

I was all set for an hour of pianist Jon Weber playing an array of musical delights at his show (An Evening with Jon Weber), knowing from experience just how fantastic such an hour would likely be. And that was indeed the hour I got. But it was not all that I got. It seems that Weber had the notion that it would be great to have a clarinetist joining him on this song, and a percussionist onstage on that one. And, as if by magic, such talents just happened to be in the audience, just happened to have their instruments with them, and just happened to be game for a jam session. The upshot? The richest, most exciting program in this year’s Winter Rhythms series—a show with a “flash mob” sensibility that clearly works best as a one-off. The roster of musicians—performing songs by Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, and others—included Davide Segarra on clarinet; singer Lauren Frazza (Weber’s partner); consummate showman Jordan “the Ninja” Smith, playing drum and foot cymbal as well as singing and whistling; and a pair of glam young scat singers, June Cavlan and Lucy Wayjaus, who riffed like mischievous angels. Gloria in excelcis deo!

Lucille in the Sky with Diamonds

Eight Days a Week: 60 Years of Beatles Music was Lucille Carr-Kaffashan’s most recent incarnation of a show that originated back in 2004, when she marked the 40^th anniversary of the Beatles’ famous Shea Stadium concert—a truly legendary event she was lucky enough to attend while in her early teens. She didn’t just perform covers of the Fab Four’s hits here. She put her own smart and imaginative spin on them, reimagining the most familiar songs (including a big, sweeping, moving iteration of “Let It Be”) and reminding us of some of the group’s lesser-known titles—my favorite being “For No One,” a beauty from the Revolver album, which Carr-Kaffashan sang with simplicity and straightforwardness. David Hilder directed this polished show. Pianist and musical director Jeff Cubeta and bassist Matt Scharfglass ably supported the singer, who wisely retained some David Brunetti arrangements from earlier editions of the show.

Looking for the Light with Beth and Ritt

Beth Falcone and Ritt Henn brought their ninth edition of Beth & Ritt’s Holiday Survival Kit to Urban Stages. Super-ecumenical, the show traced winter festivals celebrating light and life all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia. Starting out by masquerading as a solemn chant, the opening cradle-of-civilization number morphed into a more contemporary (and upbeat) hymn: Jerry Herman’s “We Need a Little Zagmuk.” There were plenty of gags like that one in the show, but also some warm and wistful songs and sentiments plus engaging arrangements of celebratory music from across the globe. We heard original songs, too: Falcone’s funny “Holiday Funk” and Henn’s romantic “Union Square.” Joining the pair in their revels were the talented Roosevelt André Credit and Christine de Frece. Among their best moments: Credit taking the lead on the gospel favorite “This Little Light of Mine” and de Frece introducing us to the culinary wonders of “Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake.”

An Audience Fave from Michael Colby

All but one show in this year’s Winter Rhythms series was a one-nighter. The exception was Michael Colby’s Holiday Regards (directed by Sara Louise Lazarus; musical direction by Michael Lavine), which was scheduled for two performances. Then, further demand led to a third show. I went to this final, encore performance on Monday, December 16, and found an ambitious program with a lot of energy. Lyricist Colby had created a revue with old and new songs of his co-creation, featuring melodies by an array of composers, plus a gifted ensemble (Celia Berk, Nikita Burshteyn, Eric Michael Gillett, Christina Sajous, and Megan Styrna) who–in the spirit of the Holiday Inn film and stage show–spotlighted key holidays throughout the calendar year. I don’t mean just the ones you’d expect, like Valenteine’s Day and Halloween, but also things like Martin Luther King Day, All Fools Day, and Earth Day. (I wondered, though, why Labor Day didn’t get its moment.) My very favorite turn was an ensemble number near the end of the show called “This Minute,” which suggested that, if you pay attention and stay “in the moment,” any day of the year can be special. Colby’s lyrics were particularly bright on this song, and Alex Rybeck’s melody sparkled. Each performance of this show had special guests. At the version I saw, they were Robert Cuccioli and Carole Demas.

Unlatching the Gate

Winter Rhythms producer Sue Matsuki appeared in The Village Gate Reunion, along with Gregory Toroian at the piano (playing with bassist Skip Ward and drummer/percussionist David Silliman). The show was dedicated to three senior members of the “family” that a collection of performers formed when playing at the legendary Greenwich Village club in the 1980s/1990s. This fondly recalled trio included the tribe’s mother figure, the late singer Trudi Mann, along with emcee Stan Edwards and musical director Gary Pace. Pace’s daughter, Jennifer Pace (whom Matsuki described–perfectly–as “kinetic”), was in the house and on the stage for this enjoyable look back, performing three songs, including a particularly open-hearted “Old Devil Moon.” Also on the bill: big-voiced Greg Calderone; low-key but rich-toned Ian Daizey (who sang some holiday selections, including a charming original, “Yule Carol”); and Susan Saar, a late edition to the proceedings, who added more musical memories to the mix. I thoroughly enjoyed this nostalgic, affectionate remembrance of a fervent time and a welcoming place, in which jazz and cabaret singers honed their craft and gained assurance and poise.

Other Memorable Moments

The inimitable KT Sullivan headlined in the series’ gala opener with My Piano & Me. The theme of this segment was world travel, and Sullivan took us on a grand musical tour through Ireland (“Cockles and Mussels”), Mexico (“Solamente una Vez”), and the Paris of Jacques Offenbach (“Barcarolle”). In her patter, Sullivan spoke of singing to gondoliers in Venice and of duetting on “Far Away Places” with her mother in a spice market in Istanbul. It was KT to the Nth Degree, and a smart way to begin the series.

Acclaimed for his comedy songs and his songs for kids, John Forster went über-festive with his holiday-themed show, The Bi-Polar Express. One of the best songs in this program was a collaboration between Forster and one of his guests for the evening, Tom Chapin. Called “Hymns,” the song humorously but poignantly brought to light the sacred elements in a slew of songs from the soundtracks of our lives, from “Hey, Jude” to “My Funny Valentine” to “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” This singular song with its thought-inspiring premise deserves to be more widely known.

In Simply Barbra: The Holiday Show, Steven Brinberg’s Barbra Streisand gave her Winter Rhythms audience a mix of her hits, some new-to-her songs, and numbers from her two holiday albums. (Incidentally, Ms. S announced at this show an upcoming third album in the series: Christmas ’Til You Plotz.) I personally like Brinberg’s inclusion of songs Streisand has never sung. He knows her phrasings and vocal mannerisms so well that I imagine she would unwittingly follow his examples to a T if she decided to sing them. And the real Malibu Barbra should record two songs that Brinberg (and pianist Michael Lavine) gave us here: Maltby and Shire’s “I Don’t Remember Christmas” and Scott Frankel and Michael Korie’s “Another Winter in a Summer Town” (from the musical Grey Gardens).

Producer Matsuki chose four singers (along with pianist Ian Herman) for Singers You Should Know. All of these vocalists had shown up on her radar recently. They included energetic Grace Flavin, tongue-in-cheek lounge lizard Anthony Flett, and last-minute substitute Ellis Gage (a young Irving Berlin specialist!). The fourth performer was someone who’s already known to many cabaret aficionados: Elvira Tortora. She gave us four beautifully rendered numbers, demonstrating once again how deeply she understands all that cabaret can be.

Broadway Blockbusters (directed by Sara Louise Lazarus and music-directed by Joe Baker), was another anthology show, this one featuring young artists from Circle in the Square Theatre School, performing a collection of boisterous show tunes. This show had a hugely supportive and vociferous audience. (It seemed at moments that I had time-traveled back to Shea Stadium with Lucille Carr-Kaffashan and those scream-inducing mop tops). I particularly enjoyed the numbers performed by Jaylie Barnes, Savion Gates, and Sean Crothers, who brought not only excitement to their material but also some subtler, not-so-rambunctious choices. It occurred to me that singers with this particular approach may become not only accomplished musical theatre performers but also first-rate cabaret singers. I hope so!

Lady Singer-Songwriter Nite featured three quite diverse singer-songwriters: Laurie Krauz, whose “My Dream” painted a dramatic slumber-scape filled with cascading streams of imagery; Nancy Winston, a buoyant singer-pianist remembered for her longtime engagement at the Hotel Pierre; and Lina Koutrakos, a performer-director who evoked the spirit of 1970s singer-songwriters in this show, especially with the award-winning gospel ballad “Bury Me Deep.”

JAZZ Nite, another lineup featuring women singers only (with the exception of the show’s emcee, vocalist Marion Cowings), included Jeannette Miller, Wendy Luck (and her flute), Elizabeth Hayden-Passero, Mary Foster Conklin, and Saundra Silliman. The highlight of the show for me was Conklin’s artfully sculpted and sung “Violets for [My] Furs.”

My writing colleague at Bistroawards.com, Gerry Geddes, created and directed Someone Else’s Hat: A Sondheim Wishlist, which featured singers performing selections that Stephen Sondheim famously listed (in a New York Times Magazine back in 2000) as songs he wished he’d written. Standouts from among the fine lineup of talent here included Dana Aber (delivering“Vanilla Ice Cream”) and George Winters (fantasizing about a “Real Live Girl”).

The closing show of the series (if you don’t count the Michael Colby encore) was Tom Toce’s annual “Songs of Hope” show, this time concocted with co-producer D.C. Anderson. (John Delfin was musical director). A large group of performers here embraced the theme of optimism to one degree or another, but the two who gave me the biggest “hope fix” were Julie Reyburn and Elizabeth Ward Land. Reyburn’s version of the Paul Simon favorite “An American Tune”–and, specifically, its lyric about the Statue of Liberty–took on new significance as the shadows of 2025 approach. And Land’s take on Susan Werner’s “May I Suggest”–with the lyric “May I suggest this is the best part of your life”–seemed to me a bold challenge to find bravery and rise to the occasion in troubled times.

A big thank-you to Urban Stages’ artistic director, Frances Hill, and to the series producer, Sue Matsuki, for welcoming me each night to this lively and thoughtful collection of late-year cabaret programs. ‘Til next December. (Clink!)

Happy new year, everyone!

Winter Rhythms at Urban Stages, 259 W. 30th Street, NYC. December 4-16, 2024.

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