About The Salon

Mission

To provide a platform for singers, artists, musicians & writers to hone their craft in a safe, nurturing, non-critical environment.

Our History

May 2005

“Talk of the Town” moves into The Oak Room at The Algonquin Hotel with the following cast: Kristin Maloney as Dorothy Parker, Jeffrey Biering as George S. Kaufman, Chris Weikel as Robert Benchley, Rob Seitelman as Alexander Woollcott, Adam MacDonald as Robert Sherwood, Donna Coney Island as Edna Ferber, Stephen Wilde as Marc Connelly with Mark Janas, Music Director/Conductor, on Piano. The cast was so big and the room was so small, that The Algonquin would roll the grand piano out into the lobby and use an upright for the show. I am not sure of the exact date, but one night after the show, Mark Janas sat down at the grand piano in the lobby and played Rhapsody in Blue. Salon was born. One after another, the charter members would sing impromptu numbers, duets, trifectas, what have you. “Talk of the Town”, and the gatherings in the lobby continued through the first week in August of 2006 when the show closed.

August 20, 2006

Mark Janas moves Salon to The Rouge Bar on Bank St. It is the first time it is an independent entity outside of Talk of the Town and The Algonquin Hotel. The newsletter is started and so are the themes. It is now more than just hanging out.

March 2008

Salon moves back to The Algonquin and continues every Sunday.

June 2008

Salon adds an additional night of the week (Thursdays) in The Oak Room for the summer. We have half of the room and horrific general lighting. The Salons are 5 hours long! 5-10pm with drink specials from The Blue Bar. Jen Wren produced a bunch of these with guest pianists like Bill Zeffiro, with Raissa and Peter as guest producers, while Mark was in Hawaii,

September 2008

Peter Napolitano becomes Executive Producer and introduced the idea of co-hosts, to bring greater visibility to The Salon. We also stepped up our technical efforts for the show. First, Joan Jaffe provided an amp & mic stand, with a professional mic on loan from board member, Raissa Katona Bennett. But to our surprise (and great fortune) an anonymous donor gave us a brand new $1200 sound system.

February 2009

Tanya Moberly becomes the first Gonkette. (By June  2008, there are at least a dozen Gonkettes.)

July 2009

In addition to the now explosive, wildly successful Sundays, The Gonk approaches Mark & Peter about doing a Summer Oak Room Series, but this time "for real" with lights and sound and reservations, etc. The boys agree – Mark on the condition that we now get to roll the grand piano out into the lobby for Sundays. Tanya joins them as Associate Producer. The Oak Room Series had Co-Hosts, Special Guests and The Advisor's Spotlight (the advisor being Roy Sander). Despite the fact that The Summer Oak Room Series was also wildly successful, The Gonk (Gary Budge) wanted us to cancel it half way through, but because we had full bookings and were there by their original request, we played out the summer. The team was denied payment, so The Salon started to search for new digs.

September 15, 2009

Adam Shapiro was all set to Co-Host. Cabaret legend Richard Skipper arrived to experience Salon for the first time. As Mark Janas walked in to set up, the management refused to roll the grand piano out into the lobby, which was the final straw. Richard Skipper helped him into a cab with all of our sound equipment and it was goodbye to The Gonk.

November 2009

After a brief hiatus, Salon moves to Etcetera, Etcetera. Peter departs for other ventures and Tanya becomes Executive Producer. Classical Corner is added.

April 2010

Mark Janas receives a special Bistro Award for creating Salon. Adam McDonald and Chris Weikel performed “I Can See It” with Mark at The Awards Ceremony.

May 2010

Mark, Peter & Tanya receive the MAC Award for best open mic for The Algonquin Salon, The Oak Room Salon & The Salon at Etc Etc.

May 2011

Mark & Tanya win the MAC Award for open mic for the second year in a row.

December 18, 2011

Julie Reyburn debuts as the first cabaret artist in the Salon Presents series at Etcetera, Etcetera with shows at 7 & 9:15.

FAQs

This section will be for common questions asked about The Salon. Stay tuned!