In 1956, Monk left that establishment for San Francisco's the hungry i, where he did duty as master of ceremonies.
Soon, Murray Grand, new manager of the Downstairs Room (formerly the Purple Onion), recalled Monk to Manhattan.
[1]) At the new venue (Upstairs At The Downstairs on West 56th Street), Monk then staged a succession of revues by writers such as Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (later collaborators on The Fantasticks), Sheldon Harnick, Louis Botto, Herb Hartig, Gerry Matthews, John Meyer, and Tom Poston.
Monk's annual revues established the standard for New York cabaret over the following decade: Take Five (1957), Demi-Dozen (1958), Four Below Strikes Back (1959), Pieces of Eight (1959), Dressed to the Nines (1960) and 7 Come 11 (1961).
[2] (^ lyric by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt; ^^music and lyric by Harvey Schmidt) Cecil Cabot, Gordon Connell, Bill Hinnant, Gerry Matthews, Pat Ruhr, Mary Louise Wilson with William Roy and Carl Norman at the Plural Pianos