Photo Source: Stephen Sorokoff
"It's a loss so profound that it feels like I've had a box full of family photographs burn up in a fire," she said.
Gary Budge, the general manager of the history-laden West 44th Street hotel—part of the Marriott Autograph Collection brand—revealed that when innovations currently under way at the Algonquin are completed, part of the Oak Room area will have been taken to enlarge the hotel's Blue Bar. The remainder will be "repurposed" as a breakfast space for Marriott Reward Elite travelers.
The announcement has provoked sorrow and activism in the city's cabaret community and beyond. Lyricist Enid Futterman and writer Vicki Stivala started an online petition aimed to convince Marriott management to change its mind. Signers include entertainer Carol Burnett, actor Tom Conti, film director Peter Bogdanovich, and songwriters Marilyn and Alan Bergman.
One of the more pressing questions following the announcement concerned the fate of performers who have long called the Oak Room their artistic home base in New York. In addition to Marcovicci, the list includes Steve Ross, KT Sullivan, Karen Akers, and Jack Jones.
Lesley Alexander—journalist, music producer, and director of operations for Marcovicci's record label, Andreasong Recordings—believes that none of these performers will be left out in the cold. "Talent always rises," Alexander said, suggesting that some Oak Room performers would likely find a new roof at one of the city's remaining high-end cabaret spaces: the Café Carlyle and Feinstein's at Loews Regency. John Iachetti, who books talent for Feinstein's, said that Jones is set to perform at the club in June.
Deeper concerns about the overall health of the city's cabaret scene were sparked by Budge's remark that "even with terrific talent, [the Oak Room] had declining audiences." Most insiders, however, don't believe cabaret is dying. Alexander said that in the 1980s, when a number of clubs shuttered, she researched the longtime history of nightclub performance in New York. She found that interest in cabaret waxes and wanes. She believes that any reduction in audiences these days is tied to the nation's prolonged economic downturn, not to a dwindling interest in intimate, live performance.
Some in the city's cabaret community believe that the Oak Room's stringent devotion to a traditional "Great American Songbook" repertoire may have limited the kinds of customers it attracted. Writer James Gavin ("Intimate Nights") first visited the club in 1985, about four years after cabaret promoter Donald Smith revitalized the dormant room. Gavin returned approximately 100 times over the years. He appreciates that it nourished the talent of younger performers and said he will miss the venue. But he noted, "The staid model of cabaret that developed in the '80s—that of formal, sexless presentations of standards, long on manners and short on fun, and geared toward a well-to-do, older crowd—is pretty much over."
Alexander said the Oak Room had included some more-contemporary styles of music. But she said it was a tricky proposition to "expand your audience without diluting your brand." The Oak Room's brand, she said, has always been linked to elegance and sophistication, "and you're not going to get intelligence singing, 'Ooh, baby, baby.' "
Beck Lee, publicist for the Metropolitan Room on West 22nd Street in Manhattan, said that "supply" is no problem in New York's cabaret market. There are plenty of established and aspiring performers. But, he said, he wonders sometimes about "demand." Lee stressed the importance of "stirring things up artistically" to attract new and varied audiences. He cited the Metropolitan Room's sold-out run of Barb Jungr's show last fall, which featured Bob Dylan songs; the show will return for a three-week encore engagement in the spring.
Thomas Honeck, booking manager and general manager for the West Village's Duplex club, said, "People don't just 'come to the cabaret,' as the song says. They generally come to see specific performers, so there will always be an audience for that."
Shortly after the news of the Oak Room's closing came the announcement that a new club, 54 Below, will open beneath the Studio 54 theater on West 54th Street. The 160-seat space is designed to bring more performers from musical theater to the cabaret world. Patti LuPone will headline when 54 Below opens in June.
No one seems to be suggesting that 54 Below's presence will compensate for the disappearance of the Oak Room. Marcovicci said she's not sure the Marriott "higher-ups" fathom the historical and cultural loss their planned repurposing signifies. She is channeling her grief into the petition effort, hoping somehow to keep the music playing at the Algonquin. "But I'm speaking as an artist," she added, "and sometimes artists cry in the wind."
