By Sharon Geltner
Big Broadway stars who have played the storied 54 Below cabaret in Manhattan are performing for the first time at the Rinker Playhouse, the first arrangement of its kind in the country.
Georgina Young, vice president of marketing and programming at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, proposed the partnership at a chance meeting in a Fort Lauderdale buffet line. Now the original Below 54 want to book this successful program at small theaters across the U.S.
Young was at a conference when she spotted two of the owners of 54 Below, Richard Frankel and Tom Viertel. She knew them from managing Broadway tours for 22 years for what is now known as Broadway Across America.
She asked, “What do you think about 54 Below at the Kravis?”
“Really?” Frankel asked.
“Yes!” she said.
That led to a 90-minute lunch about profit margins, affordable tickets and the rapidly growing West Palm Beach market for sophisticated, live entertainment. The three hammered out the details over the next few months.
By December 2023, Christine Pedi (Chicago, Forbidden Broadway) inaugurated the 54 Below at The Rinker series with singing, comedy and impersonations of Joan Rivers, Liza Minelli, Angela Lansbury and Bernadette Peters. (Pedi also hosts the daily On Broadway show on Sirius XM and is doing a tribute to Sheldon Harnick, the late Fiddler on the Roof lyricist.)
Pedi was followed by Bianca Marroquin (Chicago, In the Heights) in January and Adam Pascal (Rent) in February. Tony and Grammy winner John Lloyd Young, who originated the role of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys and played him in the movie, will perform April 5 and 6.
Besides presenting major talents in a venue with only 304 seats, Young attributes the program’s popularity to Kravis’s audience, which already faithfully attends its Broadway series. “West Palm Beach is an extremely sophisticated small town and the Rinker is where you can see major Broadway entertainers in an incredible intimate setting,” she said.
54 Below at The Rinker patrons sit at rows of tables near the stage or in stadium seating. They have their own bar as well as one in the lobby. There is no drink minimum. “Our goal is to make this affordable. We are not making a fortune on this,” Young said.
She added, “We will have a second season of 54 Below and extend shows further into spring and offer table service.” Young stressed that Kravis audiences often dine out before or after performances.
The original 54 Below is at 254 W 54th St. From the 1930s onward, the space housed CBS Radio, where Pedi’s father wrote letters to Let’s Pretend, a Saturday morning children’s show. Eventually the space housed offices below the famous Studio 54 disco.
In 2012, four producers (Hairspray, The Producers) opened the 54 Below cabaret, with Patti LuPone headlining. Accessible through a side door and a steep stairway, the cabaret presented 600 shows a year and was honored with a Tony Award for Excellence in the Theater on its 10th anniversary year. The following year, 54 Below became a nonprofit.
Young got the idea to bring 54 Below 1,200 miles south because when she started at the Kravis 2 ½ years ago, “I kept hearing about The Colony.” That boutique Palm Beach hotel’s 90-seat Royal Room cabaret ran from 2000 to 2018.
54 Below is reaching the ardent fans who miss those shows. Performer Lloyd Young is a prime example of who they want to see.
“Palm Beach knows me well and I know Palm Beach. I’ve been performing under the radar at private events, including benefits for the YMCA, Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens and Children’s Rainbow Foundation. My appearance this April at 54 Below will be my first public performance in this area.”
He will be accompanied by piano, bass and drums. “I will sing in a hard, thrilling falsetto, songs from the 50s and 60s, including ‘Sherry,’ ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,’ ‘Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me,’ and ‘Unchained Melody.’”
Lloyd Young said, “There will be a surprise connection in this performance and someone from the Dreyfoos School of the Arts will be revealed.”
“I’ve invested so much in the Palm Beach community, assisting fundraisers and galas. But I truncate my song list because the music is subsumed into raising money for charity,” he said. “This is my concert at 54 Below. This is where the South Florida audience will see me in my natural environment and how I perform in New York, the city where I became famous.”
Another great feature of 54 Below is treating audiences to music not yet heard on Broadway. Marroquin, the eternal Roxie Hart, showcased a song from Destiny of Desire.
“This is a telenovela for the stage and for the first time, I get to play a villain!” It will be on Broadway in a year or less.
Childhood friends and other Miami fans, who had never been to the Kravis, came to see Marroquin perform, as did a producer who lives in Palm Beach.
“I created this show just for the Kravis. In a setting like this, there is a different energy. As a professional, this was a very, very new experience because it was so intimate. It was a really nice connection with the audience,” Marroquin said.
“I’ve played the Hollywood Bowl before 17,000, but it’s in a bubble and feels a bit detached. I know I’m being watched but can’t connect with the audience because people are seated so far away. And I’ve played the Carlyle Hotel in New York, which seats 90, where people are three feet away. I’m anticipating that 54 Below will be more of a conversation.” Lloyd Young said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
John Lloyd Young will perform at 7:30 pm Friday, April 5, and Saturday, April 6. Tickets $30- 65. Visit: Kravis.org/54Below or call: 561-832-7469.
Sharon Geltner is the author of Charity Bashed, a Palm Beach mystery and social satire, available on Amazon.