06/05/2026
Hamptons Summer Songbook By the Sea returned to New York City for its 3rd Annual NYC “Friendraiser,” an evening of live performance and celebration benefiting LTV Studios and building anticipation for the acclaimed East End concert series’ 2026 summer season at The Triad Theatre.
Hosted by Donna Rubin and LTV Creative Director Josh Gladstone, the annual friendraiser brings together leading cabaret artists and supporters for a musical preview of the season ahead. The evening served as a prelude to Hamptons Summer Songbook by the Sea, the celebrated concert series presented at LTV’s Studio Three Theater in Wainscott slated to run from Sunday, June 28th through Saturday, August 29th.
The program opened with award-winning Barbara Fasano, whose “A Swell-egant, Elegant Party” set the tone with warmth, wit and polished musicality, before Laurence Maslon, host and producer of WLIW-FM’s Broadway to Main Street, continued the Broadway-centered celebration. Journalist and broadcaster David Alpern then introduced Eric Yves Garcia, the acclaimed singer-pianist and cabaret favorite, who performed a Rodgers and Hart tribute. and lifestyle personality Pamela Morgan for a culinary-minded turn with “I Can Cook Too.”
The evening continued with cabaret icon KT Sullivan, artistic director of The Mabel Mercer Foundation, who spoke about the foundation’s enduring mission before joining Mark Nadler and Stephanie Pope for a high-energy closing sequence. Nadler, the award-winning entertainer and pianist, and Pope, the Broadway veteran whose credits include Chicago, Fosse and Kiss of the Spider Woman, helped bring the night to a festive finish with selections spanning Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Lerner and Loewe, and classic American songbook favorites. Following closing remarks from Rubin and Gladstone, the cast gathered for a group photo before guests continued the celebration at a post-show reception downstairs. .
