The great Stephen Holden (a fave writer of mine for decades) has an excellent overview of the next generation purveyors of the American Songbook: “Kelli O’Hara, Maude Maggart, Nellie McKay, Johnny Rodgers and Sutton Foster”.
The big three, Feinstein’s, Cafe Carlyle and the Oak Room (Feinstein’s is the best) has come out of the recession on its feet.
The rest of the biz seems to be, well, graying a little and has been seen Bobby Short died.
Holden sees the art form as artistically alive but financially wobbly. Some of its greatest practitioners, the great Elaine Stritch for instance, are in their 80s.
If you care about cabaret as i do, give Holden’s NYT article a read: