Cabaret Conversations: Lindsay Mendez

Lindsay Mendez is a 2024 Tony Award nominee for her portrayal of “Mary Flynn” in the Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along. For the Off-Broadway run at New York Theater Workshop, she earned the Outer Critics Circle Award as well as Drama Desk & Lortel nominations. Mendez won the Tony, Drama Desk and OCC awards for Carousel. Other Broadway: Significant Other, Wicked, Godspell, Everyday Rapture, Grease. Off-Broadway/regional: The Golden Apple, Dogfight (Drama Desk, Drama League, OCC nominations),The Rose Tattoo, 35mm, The Winter’s Tale. On television, Miss Mendez most recently starred in FX’s American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez from Executive Producer Ryan Murphy, and previously starred in All Rise (CBS/OWN). Other TV & film credits include: These Little Ones Perish, Station 19, Elementary, Modern Family, Murphy Brown, Smash, The Grotto. Debut album: This Time.

Michael Kirk Lane is an award-winning cabaret artist, most recently winning Manhattan Association of Cabaret Awards in both 2022 and 2020. He also was the recipient of the 2018 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Award for Best Cabaret Show. Stephen Mosher of BroadwayWorld Cabaret has called Lane “one of the most popular performers and people working in cabaret today.” Cabaret Scenes Magazine has deemed Lane’s work “musical comedy heaven.”

Beyond his own experience performing in cabaret, Lane’s experience managing two of the city’s most renowned cabaret venues (The Laurie Beechman Theatre, Don’t Tell Mama) offers him a unique vantage point and perspective on the art form.

As a teaching artist for over 20 years, Lane has taught all ages from pre-school to retirement homes. In each class he brings the same philosophy to his teaching, no matter the age of the students. “Art, Theatre, and Music are ways for us to connect with our most authentic self, and to explore the world around us.”

Yasuhiko “Yaz” Fukuoka is a Drama Desk and MAC Awards nominated pianist, film composer, arranger, and music producer based in NYC. He also music-directs new musicals and cabaret shows. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Birdland, Festival de Cannes and other venues in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.yahzy.com.