Most Popular Request: Special Kaye
In January of 2019, the world lost who the New York Times referred to as “the last of the great vaudevillians”, Kaye Ballard. Her work lives on in Gretchen Reinhagen's multi-award-winning tribute to the late Ms. Ballard. The show, created in 2009 with Director Barry Kleinbort and Music Director David Gaines, celebrates the 7+ decade career of Ms. Ballard with songs from her many Broadway and Pre-Broadway Shows, songs from her long performing career, and songs from her legendary night club acts, including Ms. Ballard’s well-known special material. Just before the Pandemic began, Reinhagen wowed the crowds at the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention with a tour-de-force performance of “Maybe This Time”, written specifically for Kaye Ballard, and the heart-breaking story around the song. Don’t miss an opportunity to see the show that critics called a “triumph” and that won Reinhagen the coveted Triple Crown of Cabaret Awards.
"...the talented Gretchen Reinhagen shares not only her idol's vocal quality but adds a valuable slant on the mercurial quality of fate." - Village Voice
"As I've often said, 'It's not sufficient to do a funny song; you have to be funny.' Reinhagen is funny." - Bistro Awards
"I don't use this word often or casually, but Gretchen Reinhagen's show about Kaye Ballard is a triumph." - Cabaret Scenes
“Gretchen Reinhagen's tribute to Kaye Ballard is the kind of gift you remember after you've opened all the presents around the Christmas tree.” – The Desert Sun
Gretchen Reinhagen received the coveted triple crown of cabaret awards, The Nightlife, Bistro, and MAC Awards for her show, Special Kaye: A Tribute to the Incomparable Kaye Ballard in 2010. She also took home MAC Awards in the director category in 2013, and comedy again in 2018 for her show, #iBlamePaleo. In 2019, she released her long-awaited debut album, "Take It With Me", to packed crowds and a glowing reception at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York. The album and show earned her a Bistro Award for Outstanding Recording, a MAC Award for Major Recording, and another MAC Award for Major Female Artist.
Link to full reviews
“...something happened, something miraculous that caused every molecule in the room changed. Starting with “Love Makes The World Go Round” (Bob Merrill), and continuing through “Lazy Afternoon” (John Latouche and Jerome Moross) The room fell silent, and one could hear a pin drop, as Reinhagen so completely inhabited both the spirit of the song and her homage to Ballard that it was hard to tell them apart. This is a kind of magic that does not happen often on any stage and it was breathtaking.” - David Sabella
“The versatile Reinhagen, perhaps best remembered for a greatly respected tribute show about her idol Kaye Ballard, is much more than a funny girl influenced by the comediennes who paved the way for a woman of her individuality and natural wit, as her maiden voyage into the recording studio proves.” - Stephen Mosher
