Edition: U.S. / Global

Where Stardust Dreams Are, Always

Published: March 5, 1993

THE image of a Manhattan nightclub for many people will always be synonymous with the impossibly glamorous fantasies of New York nightlife imagined by Hollywood movies of the 1930's and 40's. And when Mary Cleere Haran, a singer who cultivates a sophisticated but wholesome 1940's look, performed for the first time at Rainbow and Stars recently, she evoked that mythical ambiance with a wistful good humor.

"It's not exactly what I had envisioned it would be like when I saw those movies with nightclubs," she observed of Rainbow and Stars, which represents the top of the line in New York City cabarets.

"As beautiful and romantic as this room is, it's so small compared to those vast Hollywood soundstages where they used to build those gorgeous white Art Deco nightclub sets. And for another thing, I have to sing more than one song per show.

"If you've seen any of those movies, the lights would dim, there would be a drum roll or a fanfare, a spotlight would hit the bandstand, and out would come Rita Hayworth or Veronica Lake or Lizbeth Scott, who would proceed to sing one song. Then she'd get to sit down at a ringside table with the likes of Alan Ladd or Glenn Ford, engage in some light flirtatious banter laced with double-entendres. And then our male protagonist would say something that hit a little too close to home, she'd get insulted, bolt up, and run out of the room in tears."

If the nightclub dream world that Ms. Haran conjures so wittily never existed in real life, what is surprising is how many New York clubs offer small but delicious pieces of that world, each one with its own special flavor.

New York, moreover, is the only city left in the country that offers anything resembling the old-time nightclub entertainment where the songs of Cole Porter or Richard Rodgers or George Gershwin live on. Cabaret's continued existence, despite perilous economics, owes much to the proximity of Broadway, which, while having its own problems, still draws a pool of performers to New York. Failing a show, these singers and musicians have to find some place to develop their skills and be seen by one another. What better forum than a cabaret, a crowded field in which all but a dozen performers do it more for love than money.

This March has been designated Cabaret Month by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets, an organization of performers, club owners, bookers, managers and press agents founded 10 years ago to stir up business. On March 22 at Symphony Space on Broadway, the group will distribute awards for excellence in the field. The continuance of the MAC Awards, as they are known, testifies to the spiritual hardiness of an entertainment genre that despite economic hardship and devastation from AIDS is holding its own.

During Cabaret Month, two Manhattan cabarets that had been dark have ambitious plans to reopen. The 80-seat Blue Room at the Supper Club, at 240 West 47th Street, will begin its cabaret season on March 18. Its roster of forthcoming talent includes Morgana King, Little Jimmy Scott, Rosalind Kind and Chip Zien. Club 53 at the New York Hilton Hotel in midtown will also reopen, on Thursday, with previews of "Back to Bachrach and David," a revue of songs by the famous 60's songwriting team that had a brief but successful run last year at Steve McGraw's in Manhattan.

And this October, the fourth Cabaret Convention, sponsored by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, will increase its number of gala concerts in the Town Hall series in Manhattan to a full week of events.

Here is a selective guide to Manhattan cabarets. The list omits comedy clubs and piano bars. And clubs like the Blue Note, Fat Tuesday's, J's and the newly opened Five Spot that cultivate a jazz audience but sometimes feature pop talent are also not included. A significant difference between Manhattan's jazz clubs and its cabarets is the quality of the sound. The jazz clubs, most notably the Blue Note, have much more sophisticated sound systems. While none of the city's cabarets has inadequate sound, the audio systems tend to be designed to suit a more modest, non-rock technology. Rainbow and Stars

With its spectacular view looking north over Central Park, its superb food and its comfortably lush accommodations, Rainbow and Stars, on the 65th floor of the G.E. Building, probably comes the closest of any New York club to resembling the old-time Hollywood ideal of Manhattan nightclub glamour. The club, which opened in January 1989, is one of the jewels of Rockefeller Center's handsomely refurbished Rainbow complex, which is a major New York tourist attraction.

Seating is spacious with most of the tables situated on either side of a small platform stage that silhouettes the performers in front of windows overlooking Central Park. The most dramatic views are to be had from a row of tables nestled along the curved walls directly facing the stage. A flashing fiber-optic rainbow designed by Milton Glaser blinks its reflections on the windows behind the performer. Sight lines are good, and the sound is clear and well directed. But it is a little spread out: in this case closer to the stage is better.