Q&A with Nightlife Award Winner Jessica Molaskey

Jessica Molaskey has bridged the worlds of Cabaret and Musical Theatre with impressive success, performing at such venues as Feinstein's and the Algonquin's Oak Room. Molaskey and her husband, legendary jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli, are both Nightlife Award Winners this year.

How do you plan to continue dividing your time and talents between the theatre and cabaret worlds?   

I just keep moving forward, doing readings of new shows, hoping for a part that excites me. I just finished my new CD that will be out in late spring. John and I are so excited about playing the Carlye hotel for a month this spring!

What do you feel the Nightlife Awards mean to the Cabaret community, as opposed to other awards? 

It is sort of like the tree falling in the forest theory. I think the great part about the awards is they run the gamut of performance...there are people all over Manhattan on any given night singing their hearts out...working it out... finding their voice. And this proves that even in the smallest club off the radar someone is out there listening. 

So what do you think can be done to encourage more people to go out and discover the people just "finding their voices"? 

I don't know how you encourage people to go out and spend their hard earned money to hear a set of music other than trying to deliver a quality evening; an experience that feels worth it.

What does the award mean to you, personally? 

I have never felt so welcomed! I am really "the new girl" on the block. I have paid my dues in other ways, but this time I got one of those monopoly cards that said go directly to go and collect your two hundred dollars. I have a new job after decades in the business!... I feel like I am just starting out and I am very grateful for the support!!

Why, after several years, three CDs, and numerous accolades, do you still consider yourself the "new girl on the block?"

I feel like the new kid on the block in that I haven't worked that much in the Cabaret world nor have I even seen much cabaret in my life. I totally feel like I am just finding my way and that I am just starting to feel comfortable sitting and being myself in front of an audience instead of a character.