The last time I saw Vivian Reed perform was at Rainbow & Stars in 1996, when she was one-third of the cast of a revue called “20th Century R&B…A Musical Celebration.” She was sensational and I wrote glowingly about her. In her recent engagement at 54 Below, she was still sensational; however, it saddens me to […]
The 2014 Bistro Awards Red Carpet, hosted by Kevin Scott Hall and Tanya Holt and recorded at Gotham Comedy Club on March 4, 2014. Enjoy these interviews with the winners, creative team, and others attending the show!
Memorable Moments Captured by Photographer Jim Baldassare. Click on photos to enlarge.
Sharon McNight: Red Hot Mama – The Sophie Tucker Farewell Tour
Those relative few of us who remember Sophie Tucker at all can recall only a stout, corseted old lady in the black-and-white days of the Ed Sullivan TV variety show, waving a white scarf and claiming to be “The Last of the Red Hot Mamas.” We knew there must be more to the story, of […]
Amy Beth Williams’s latest show is an exciting hour of risk-taking, a bravura display of artistic derring-do. She has us, in turn, fascinated, laughing delightedly, astonished, and moved to tears. In addition to being an exceptional singer and actress, she has become Amy Beth Williams the compleat entertainer and Amy Beth Williams the daredevil. The […]
When Lauren Stanford competed in last year’s MetroStar Talent Challenge, she seemed to flower as the weeks progressed: the range and depth of her skills became more and more evident, and she grew increasingly impressive. Though she appeared almost plain at the outset, she bloomed and we could see that she was actually quite lovely. […]
There is more than one way that cabaret can succeed. Some shows—Shana Farr’s recent program of Noël Coward and Cole Porter songs, for example—are carefully manicured gardens. Everything has been planted with care and set to blossom on schedule, down to the last petal. This sort of show can make for a memorable, emotionally rich […]
Ben Vereen at the 2014 Bistro Awards
Watch Lifetime Achievement Award winner Ben Vereen perform “Here’s to Life” at the 2014 Bistro Awards!
Ben Vereen interviewed by Tonya Pinkins
Multi-award-winning actress singer Tonya Pinkins interviewed Ben Vereen for the Bistro Awards. TP: You are legendary. Who do you emulate and say, “I’ll steal a little of this and a little of that?” BV: Oscar Brown Jr—I love Oscar, Little Jimmy Scott, Carmen McRae. These are my cats. Charles Aznavour! TP: I don’t think […]
Memorable Moments Captured by Photographer Jim Baldassare. Click on photos to enlarge.
2014 Bistro Awards Red Carpet Highlights
The 2014 Bistro Awards Red Carpet, hosted by Kevin Scott Hall and Tanya Holt and recorded at Gotham Comedy Club on March 4, 2014. Enjoy these interviews with the winners, creative team, and others attending the show!
In this column I discuss one show that is currently running, a handful of others that played within the past couple of months, and two that will be returning. In the process, I make a few observations that have broader relevance. Vickie Phillips A short while ago, Vickie Phillips celebrated her birthday at the […]
This is my first Bistro Bits column since June 11, 1999. I trust you’ll forgive the slight interruption. In this return column, I discuss a few shows I’ve seen in the intervening years—more precisely, during the past few months. And I comment on a lamentable practice that has become almost as commonplace as it is […]
