The Manhattan Association of Cabarets presented their 33rd annual MAC Awards ceremony March 26 at SONY Hall. Among those taking home trophies were Tony nominee Anita Gillette and RuPaul’s Drag Race star BenDeLaCreme.
Gillette, seen recently Off-Broadway in A Parallelogram, was named winner in the Celebrity Artist category. She’s taken the stage at a host of concert halls and supper clubs in the city, including in her show Me & Mr. B, celebrating the work of Irving Berlin, at the Birdland Theater in October of last year.
BenDeLaCreme, who competed on season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race before her dramatically concluding stint on the third All Stars season, was recognized in the Major Impersonation/Characterization/Drag Artist category after bringing her Dante-inspired show Inferno a Go-Go back to the Laurie Beechman Theatre.
Read: WHAT THEATRE LEGENDS INSPIRED SOME OF RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE'S TOP BROADWAY QUEENS?
This year's ceremony also paid special tribute to Be More Chill composer Joe Iconis, Broadway veteran Karen Mason, and Broadway Sessions' Ben Cameron. The Hanson Award, given to a perennial cabaret performer not yet nominated for a MAC Award, was presented to Teresa Fischer.
See below for the full list of winners (view the full list of nominees here).
FEMALE VOCALIST
Josephine Sanges
MALE VOCALIST
Jeff Macauley
MAJOR ARTIST – FEMALE
Natalie Douglas
MAJOR ARTIST – MALE
Sidney Myer
NEW YORK DEBUT – FEMALE
Sierra Rein
NEW YORK DEBUT – MALE
Tim Cahill
CELEBRITY ARTIST
Anita Gillette
IMPERSONATION/CHARACTERIZATION/DRAG ARTIST
Doris Dear
MAJOR IMPERSONATION/CHARACTERIZATION/DRAG ARTIST
BenDeLaCreme
MUSICAL COMEDY PERFORMER
Ira Lee Collings
DUO/GROUP
Evelyn Sullivan and Jason Ellis
MAJOR DUO/GROUP
Marcus Simeone, Lina Koutrakos, Sean Harkness
RECURRING SERIES
Ricky Ritzel’s Broadway
SPECIAL PRODUCTION
Mama’s Next Big Act!
EMCEE
Bobbie Horowitz
DIRECTOR
Jeff Harnar
MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Tracy Stark
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Jean-Pierre Perreaux
ENSEMBLE INSTRUMENTALIST
Matt Scharfglass, bass
PIANO BAR/RESTAURANT INSTRUMENTALIST
Rick Jensen
PIANO BAR/RESTAURANT SINGING ENTERTAINER – MALE
Tommy J. Dose
PIANO BAR/RESTAURANT SINGING ENTERTAINER – FEMALE
Tara Martinez
RECORDING (LaMott Friedman Award)
Sheree Sano, Live Acts
MAJOR RECORDING
Marissa Mulder, Two Tickets Left
SONG
“Best As I Can”
Music by Alex Rybeck, lyrics by Bob Levy
COMEDY/NOVELTY SONG
“WTF, Disney”
Music and lyrics by Brett Kristofferson
The MAC Awards are produced by Julie Miller and directed by Lennie Watts, with musical direction by Bobby Peaco.
