Performer/producer Jim Caruso, host of Birdland's Cast Party and recently seen on Broadway singing and dancing in Liza's At The Palace! (and BroadwayWorld.com favorite), is in the running for the Genre Man of the Year Award given by Genre Magazine.
The contest is won by an online voting system, and a constantly-updated tally is on view at http://genremagazine.com/genremen2008/voting.cfm.
Jim Caruso recently made his Broadway debut alongside Liza Minnelli in the smash hit Liza's At The Palace!, singing, dancing and celebrating the music and arrangements of the late, great Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers. For his nightclub work, Caruso has won four MAC and two BackStage Bistro Awards for his sold-out New York shows at Birdland, the Algonquin Hotel, and Arci's Place; and has also performed in runs at the Gardenia and Cinegrill in Los Angeles, The Vic Theater in Chicago, Libby's in Atlanta, the Colony Palm Beach Hotel and the Connaught Room in London. He sang with the New York Pops in an all-star tribute to Kander & Ebb at Carnegie Hall, and returned to "The Hall" this year in a tribute to Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, hosted by Michael Feinstein. On the small screen, Jim was seen co-starring with Kathie Lee Gifford on Showtime Television in "Personal Assistant," and co-starred on the Nostalgia Network variety sit-com, "Café DuArt" for two seasons. Jim and his vocal trio, Wiseguys, were invited to sing at President Clinton's First State Dinner at the White House, and celebrated Bing Crosby in concert at Carnegie Hall with Rosemary Clooney. He guest-hosted "Broadway On Broadway 2000" in Times Square for a crowd of 100,000 theater fans, hosted the 2000 MAC Awards at Town Hall in Manhattan and has co-hosted the Drama Desk Awards webcasts for the past four years. He has produced celebrity segments for E! Entertainment Television, and Fox Television, and written for InStyle Magazine.
His debut recording, "Caruso Live and In Person" is available on the LML Music label. For the past six years, he has hosted a Monday night showbiz bash called "Jim Caruso's Cast Party," which was honored with a New York Nightlife Award, as was his Broadway at Birdland concert series. He was recently profiled in the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Magazine for his fund-raising and volunteer efforts.
