BIRDLAND THEATER will present Tony Award-winning actress and singer Cady Huffman and Jazz and Broadway bass player Mary Ann McSweeney in “Just Play” on Thursday, August 31 at 8:30 PM. Cady and Mary Ann are two veteran performers who love playing music. “Just Play” explains their need to come together and perform together during the pandemic, and what they discovered along the way. Combining voice with bass, and whatever else strikes their fancy, the duo will pirouette from Peggy Lee to Jimi Hendrix, with a promise that nothing is off-limits. There is a $40 music charge. Birdland is located at 315 West 44th Street in New York.

Cady Huffman started playing the euphonium in third grade, eventually putting it aside in favor of high kicks and belting out show tunes. In recent years she has taught herself the ukulele, couching the high kicks and refining her vocals to include her softer side. Influenced by Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Blossom Dearie, she infuses her music with a huge heart, humor and megawatt smile. Ms. Huffman won the 2001 Tony Award as “Best Featured Actress in a Musical” for playing “Ulla” in The Producers on Broadway. She was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for “Best Featured Actress in a Play “for The Nance, and nominated for a Tony Award for “Best Featured Actress in a Musical” for The Will Rogers Follies. She also appeared on Broadway in La Cage Aux FollesSteel PierDame Edna: The Royal Tour, and Big Deal, which was the final show directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. 

Mary Ann McSweeney has played bass with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Joanne Brackeen, Lee Konitz, Gil Goldstein, and Bucky Pizzarelli. She has also played for famous conductors, Leonard Bernstein, Lalo Schifrin, and John Williams. As a freelance bassist she has played 45 different Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. She continues to compose and arrange music for her Urban Fado Project and is looking forward to recording her Urban Fado Project II.

BIRDLAND THEATER will present Cady Huffman and Mary Ann McSweeney in “Just Play” on Thursday, August 31 at 8:30 PM. There is a $40 music charge and a $20 food and beverage minimum. Birdland is located at 315 West 44th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) in Manhattan.For reservations, please call (212) 581-3080 or visit www.BirdlandJazz.com