Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Long Beach-based Artists In Partnership will host “25 For 25,” a celebratory cabaret showcase at the Madison Theatre, on the campus of Molloy University in Rockville Centre, on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The showcase will actually have 26 cabaret performers — an added one for good luck, Susan James, the founder and benefit producer for AIP, explained. The show features performers who have appeared in previous AIP cabaret festivals, singing classics in tribute to AIP’s commitment to the Great American Songbook and the arts.
The featured performers include Hannah Jane, Margaret Curry, Renee Guerrero and Pamela Lewis, who is a Long Beach resident. The event will celebrate AIP’s 25 years of “cultural service” to Long Beach and surrounding communities.
“We believe it’s important to bring the community together and celebrate through art,” James said.
A Long Beach native and a passionate music and theater fan, James wanted a place where a mix of artists could come together. In 2000 she helped orchestrate the formation of AIP as a nonprofit, touting the benefits of experiencing art. “We touch our humanity when we interact with art,” James said.
It wasn’t long before James’s efforts became known in the community. Johanna Mathieson-Ellmer, AIP’s current executive director and a friend of James’s, saw a flier for an AIP-sponsored event at the Long Beach Public Library and jumped at the opportunity to get involved.
“These were not things that were happening in our community at the time,” Mathieson-Ellmer said of the musical landscape in the early 2000s.
James and Mathieson-Ellmer were both involved in the selection of performers for Sunday’s show, and its production. The performers were chosen based on 22 years of events — especially the cabaret festivals that AIP has hosted in partnership with the library. James said she sent email invitations to more than 100 performers who had taken part in previous AIP events dating back to 2003.
She noted that she was searching not only for vocal ability and professionalism, but also the “ability to bring you into their conversation through their music.”
After the performers were selected, the production process began. Mathieson-Ellmer was charged with crafting a “threadless” show, one that will ensure that each performer’s songs flow freely. She has developed an affinity for the process, she said, adding that she is “always delighted when (AIP) does a program where people feel connected.”
Part of that connection involves finding performers who share AIP’s love of cabaret. Lewis said she became enamored of the genre through a connection with her aunt, MariLyn Mallardi. Lewis would listen to performances of the songs of Cole Partner and George and Ira Gershwin, and developed a deep appreciation for cabaret.
“(I) fell in love because the performer is giving of themselves in an intimate way,” Lewis said.
Similar to Mathieson-Ellmer, Lewis discovered AIP through the cabaret festivals at the library, welcoming the chance to speak with James about getting involved. “It was exciting to have something in my hometown that represents the cabaret community,” Lewis said.
She added that she had drawn inspiration from James and Mathieson-Ellmer, and is working on a show titled “Unapologetic,” about her mother, Linda Lewis, who died 20 years ago of cancer.
“It’s an amazing creative process, (to) express yourself — music helps you heal,” Lewis said of the process of selecting songs for her show’s theme. “The beauty of cabaret is its intimacy, and your song choices stretch the boundaries.”
“25 For 25” will recognize six longtime supporters of AIP who have been influential in its long-term success, including Denise Ford, a former Nassau County legislator and a Long Beach resident, for her grant work, and Dr. Joseph Smith, executive director of Long Island Reach, who helped with insurance support. George Trepp, director of the Long Beach library, will be recognized for “making sure the programs happened,” Mathieson-Ellmer said, and the other honorees will be longtime Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, Tedd Firth and Rob Lester.
For more information on Artists in Partnership, go to AIP4arts.org.
