Cabaret singer Marilyn Maye in her dressing room at Lincoln Center. Allison Michael Orenstein for The Wall Street Journal
Music

A Cabaret Star’s Comeback

Marilyn Maye, a ‘Tonight Show’ regular in the 1960s, is performing at Jazz at Lincoln Center and hopes Broadway is next

Cabaret singer Marilyn Maye in her dressing room at Lincoln Center. Allison Michael Orenstein for The Wall Street Journal

Marilyn Maye never expected a career resurgence in her 80s.

But after a nearly two-decade break from the big stage in New York, the cabaret star known in the 1960s for her jazz performances, hit singles and regular “Tonight Show” appearances is experiencing a comeback, playing popular jazz-cabaret venues such as the Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola and Feinstein’s/54 Below. In February, she will perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center, a major venue in New York, with signature songs that include, fittingly, Jerry Herman’s “It’s Today”...