The best cabaret shows in NYC this month

Part cabaret, part piano bar and part social set, Cast Party offers a chance to hear rising and established talents step up to the microphone (backed by the slap and tickle of Steve Doyle on bass and Billy Stritch at the ivories, plus the bang of Daniel Glass on drums). The waggish Caruso presides as host.

He’s worked with Liza Minnelli, Kylie Minogue and just about every downtown act in NYC. Now composer, pianist and performer Lance Horne hosts his own wild night of singing, drinking and dancing, strip-teasing and bad behavior at the East Village nightlife hub Club Cumming. Expect advanced show-tune geekery and appearances by Broadway stars looking to get down by the piano. Plan to sleep in on Tuesday.

Mosher is one of those talents you need to see to believe: warm, funny, biting, ferociously committed. In her biweekly series—now held at the Green Room 42 after years at Birdland—she invites a gaggle of performers from Broadway and beyond to show their talents. 

The very charming Jay Armstrong Johnson has won audiences' hearts in many shows—most recently Heated Rivalry: The Unathorized Parody Musical—and for more than a decade he has also created a string of Hocus Pocus–themed shows for Halloween that have grown bigger and more elaborate every time. The massive 2026 edition, written by M Sloth Levine and directed by Heath Saunders and Mack Brown, finds the movie’s witchy Sanderson Sisters (Johnson as Winifred, flanked by Allison Godleski and Sydnie Roy) presiding over a cast that includes such Broadway types as Bowen Yang, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Isabelle McCalla, Jeanna de Waal, Hannah Solow, DeMarius R. Copes, a quartet of erstwhile Jellicle cats (Jonathan Burke, Dava Huesca, Garnet Williams and and Teddy Wilson Jr.) and Armstrong's Heated Rivalry flame Jimin Moon—plus an ensemble of more than 110 (!) dancers. An after party and costume contest follow the performance, and it's all for a good cause: Proceeds benefit the Ali Forney Center, which provides services for homeless LGBTQ+ youth. Tickets sold out nearly instantly, alas, but you might still be able to score them (at great cost) through scalper sites like StubHub or Telecharge.

Actor-musicians Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley are not only talented at playing the cello, ukulele and glockenspiel but also at performing stripped-down versions of pop songs in their underwear, with multiple Broadway guest stars sharing their talents in the flesh. This special Halloween edition at Joe's Pub is devoted to stories and songs about The Rocky Horror Show; the stacked lineup of scheduled guests includes Barrett Foa, Taylor Iman Jones, A.J. Shively, Sutton Lee Seymour, Marissa Rosen, Rob Morrison, Nora Schell, Talia Suskauer, Megan Dwinell, Jimmy Ray Bennett and Tony d’Alelio.

After many years as something of a cult musical-theater figure, pop-rock showtunesmith Iconis had a breakout year in 2019, when his teen-oriented musical Be More Chill rode viral success to a run on Broadway. His rowdy cabaret shows, often stuffed with longtime friends and collaborators, have an joyous sense of community; every year at the Beechman, he scares up some tunes for Halloween—including songs from spooky movies and musicals, fright night standards and a few originals—and with help from his usual musical-comedy enablers. Kazoos are provided for all.