‘Master of Ceremonies: A Memoir,’ by Joel Grey

This event has past. For upcoming events please click here.

June 11
at 5:00pm

The evening will include Joel Grey reading selections from his memoir, ‘Master of Ceremonies’. Bay Street Artistic Director Scott Schwartz will also lead a conversation with the legendary actor about his distinguished life and career.

 

Joel Grey, the Tony and Academy Award-winning Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret, finally tells his remarkable life story. Born Joel David Katz to a wild and wooly Jewish American family in Cleveland, Ohio in 1932, Joel began his life in the theater at the age of 9, starting in children’s theater and then moving to the main stage. He was hooked, and his seven decades long career charts the evolution of American entertainment - from Vaudeville performances with his father, Mickey Katz, to the seedy gangster filled nightclubs of the forties, the bright lights of Broadway and dizzying glamour of Hollywood, to juggernaut musicals like Cabaret, Chicago, and Wicked.

 

Master of Ceremonies is a memoir of a life lived in and out of the limelight, but it is also the story of the man behind the stage makeup. Coming of age in a time when being yourself tended to be not only difficult but also dangerous, Joel has to act both on and off the stage. He spends his high school years sleeping with the girls-next-door while carrying on a scandalous affair with an older man. Romances with to-die-for Vegas Showgirls are balanced with late night liaisons with like-minded guys, until finally Joel falls in love and marries a talented and beautiful woman, starts a family, and has a pretty much picture perfect life. But 24 years later when the marriage dissolves, Joel has to once again find his place in a world that has radically changed.

 

Drawing back the curtain on a career filled with show-stopping numbers, larger-than-life stars and even singing in the shower with Bjork, Master of Ceremonies deftly captures the joy of performing as well as the pain and secrets of an era we have only just started to leave behind. Joel’s story is one of love, loss, hard-won honesty, redemption, and success.

The book is for sale now at Canio's Books in Sag Harbor and will also be available in the theater lobby on the day of the event before and after the talkback.

 

Other Shows

The Absolute Adele Tribute
Category: Events April 20 at 8:00pm

The Absolute Adele Tribute, delivers a stunningly accurate portrayal of the British songstress and pop icon, an artist.

Info & Tickets
Live Taping - Half Hard Half Soft
Category: Events April 27 at 8:00pm

Live Taping of a one-hour comedy special with Joe Vecsey.

Info & Tickets
Waiting in the Wings book discussion with Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton
Category: Events April 28 at 3:00pm

Beloved icon Julie Andrews and her daughter, bestselling author Emma Walton Hamilton, have written a charming celebration of the arts born from a true story in WAITING IN THE WINGS. One spring, outside of the Bay Street Theater on Long Island, NY, a family of ducks nested and hatched in a nearby planter and paraded down to the water while theater staff looked on. As co-founder of the theater, Emma was front and center that day, and WAITING IN THE WINGS takes that inspiration to depict a fun, kid-friendly story that highlights the wonders of theater – co-written by one of the greatest icons of stage and screen.

Info & Tickets
Met Opera Live in HD 2024 Season
Category: Events October 21 through May 11

Bay Street Theater will be screening the Metropolitan Opera’s 2023–2024 season through the Met Opera: Live in HD Audiences will be able to experience spectacular productions, transmitted directly from the Met’s stage in New York City. With a mix of company premieres, new productions, and classic repertory favorites the season is set to deliver incredible performances at Bay Street.

Info & Tickets
10th Annual New Works Festival
Category: Events May 17 through May 19

The 10th annual Title Wave: 2024 New Works Festival returns to the stage at Bay Street Theater bringing with it four bold and exciting new plays currently in development. Dutch Masters - A Musical Music and Lyrics by Jeffrey Stock Book by Marc Acito; House of India by Deepak Kumar; The Ordeal of Water by Stephanie Alison Walker; and Polar Bears, Black Boys, & Prairie Fringed Orchids by Vincent Terrell Durham.

Info & Tickets
The Subject Was Roses
Category: Events May 28 through June 16

Like roses, family relationships are beautiful but thorny. This Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award-winning play is a poignant drama set in The Bronx in 1946 about the emotional struggles and hidden tensions within a family as their son returns from service in WWII. As they confront their past and present, this timeless play explores enduring themes of reconciliation and the fragility of love.

Info & Tickets
Summer Sunday Tea Dances
Category: Events June 9 through August 25

The mixers will be the perfect casual antidote for wrapping up a weekend on the East End! Plus, attendees are invited to come early or stay after to catch a show on Bay Street's Mainstage, with Sunday matinee performances at 2 p.m. and evening performances at 7 pm. The series of events will offer creative cocktail specials, light bites, theme days, fabulous music, and LOTS OF DANCING.

Info & Tickets
Music Mondays Patti LuPone: A Life in Notes
Category: Events July 8 at 8:00pm

Music Mondays Return! The hit summer concert series that invites artists to perform for audiences and share stories of their time on and off the stage is held Mondays through July and August starting with Patti LuPone on July 8; The Harlem Gospel Choir on August 5; Erich Bergen on August 12; and finishing with a performance of Ari Axelrod on August 19.

Info & Tickets
Mike Birbiglia: Please Stop the Ride
Category: Events July 25 through July 28

Mike Birbiglia for four nights this Summer: Thursday, July 25th @ 6 pm, Friday, July 26th @ 7 pm, Saturday, July 27th @ 6 pm, Saturday, July 27th @ 8:30 pm and Sunday, July 28th @ 2PM, to perform his newest show "Mike Birbiglia: Please Stop the Ride". Birbiglia returns to Bay Street Theater, by popular demand, on the heels of his DOUBLE SOLD-OUT performances last summer of "The Old Man and the Pool" which debuted at Bay Street Theater and went on to be a hit Broadway show and Netflix comedy special.

Info & Tickets
Music Mondays with The Harlem Gospel Choir, Erich Bergen, and Ari Axelrod
Category: Events August 5 through August 19

Music Mondays Return! The hit summer concert series that invites artists to perform for audiences and share stories of their time on and off the stage is held Mondays through July and August starting with Patti LuPone on July 8; The Harlem Gospel Choir on August 5; Erich Bergen on August 12; and finishing with a performance of Ari Axelrod on August 19.

Info & Tickets