Noel Coward was a famed singer, director and playwright who first made his name on the New York and London cabaret scene. Coward was one of the first male tenors to perform cabaret, but he succeeded due to his sharp wit and quirky image that usually consisted of a silk dressing gown and a cigarette holder. Two of his most sucessful cabaret shows were "Sweet Potato" written 1968 and "Cowardy Custard" produced in 1972. "Cowardy Custard" still plays at the Guilford Theatre in London.
Bobby Short was a celebrated cabaret vocalist and pianist who had a residency at New York City's Cafe Carlyle for over three decades beginning in 1968. In a review of one of his shows, Variety magazine said "...he miraculously manages to maintain a convincing freshness in offering up a fast-paced, smartly rendered hour of standards that both engross and amuse." Short had a penchant for converting old jazz tunes from artists such as Cole Porter and Duke Ellington into cabaret style, and he did so right up until his death in 2005.
Steve Ross was once described by Stephen Holden of the New York Times as "...the suavest of all male cabaret performers." Ross emerged on the New York cabaret scene in the late 1970s through his regular performances at the Algonquin Hotel and Ted Hook's Backstage, where Liza Minelli and Ginger Rogers were known to rise from their seats and sing along. From that point, Ross' popularity and his musical repertoire grew immensely, and he remains one of the most renowned cabaret tenors of the day.
While you might recognize Mandy Patinkin from his acting gigs in "The Princess Bride" or the television crime drama "Criminal Minds," Patinkin began his career as a cabaret tenor and broadway performer in the mid-1970s. Patinkin has gone on to win Tony and Emmy Awards for his performances both on and off Broadway. His cabaret show "Dress Casual" and collaboration with Patti LuPone "An Evening with..." still play in sold-out venues throughout America and the United Kingdom.