Studio 54/Below celebrates Hanukkah Jewish Festival of lights
Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
New York, 16th Dec. 54 Below, the performance space beneath the old “Studio 54” discotheque of the 1980s, has a dual identity—a showcase of promising new talent as well as a place for established performers to strut their stuff. This was never more vibrantly on display than the past few weeks, when the brilliant singer Marilyn Maye performed to a sell-out crowd, and more recently during its annual Hannukah celebration, which showcased brilliant new writers, singers and performers.
Marilyn Maye was an utter delight. The veteran singer and raconteur, now 95, performed with gusto and showed the kind of mastery over both he material and the audience that was really a thing to behold. She performed songs from the great songwriter of the American Songbook—Lerner and Lowe, Johnny Mercer, Dietz and Schwartz and Harold Arlen.
One can tell that this was a supreme performer as she began her set, walking in from the rear and dazzling the audience. Her voice could not ever been stronger—the power of a performer five decades younger.
It’s not often that one can enjoy a performance by someone who has been active since 1946, and still performs with the gusto of youth, and brilliantly.
The performers at the Hanukah celebration are just at the cusp of their careers, and it’s clear that they have a bountiful future. The opening performance was by a supremely talented eight-year-old boy, performing a ditty called Eight Nights of Presents.
Probably the highlight of the evening was “Kid’s Table,” a comic tune peformed in hilarious fashion by Samantha Hahn.
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