Elizabeth Ahlfors

Karen Mason

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Show Queen – Life After Wonderland" Iridium  -  July 19 Wonderland, not a popular musical last season, has left the Marquis Theatre, but Karen Mason, one of its stars, remained on Broadway, albeit on a smaller stage and for one night only. As Mason said, "I have many homes." On this night, her fans were...

Melanie Stace

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Steppin' Out"  Metropolitan Room  –  July 7, 14, 23 Tall, slim and stunning, with exotic dark eyes and a Colgate smile—that's the first thing you notice as Melanie Stace takes the stage. As she starts to sing, you hear the confidence of experience, a secure tone, long vocal lines, trained breath control and a vibrant...

Django Reinhardt Festival: Starring the Young Lions of Gypsy Jazz

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Birdland  -  June 28 - July 3 For twelve years, November has been Birdland's traditional season for celebrating the jubilant swing of Jean "Django" Reinhardt with jazz musicians from around the world. This summer, Birdland added a second festival, proving that for a jolt of pure joyful music, the spirit and sound of this legendary...

Richard Holbrook

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Richard Sings Burton: The Songs of Burton Lane" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  –  June 29 "Richard Sings Burton: The Songs of Burton Lane" has turned into one of those cabaret shows that just won't quit. The amiable Richard Holbrook is one of the hardest working singers in this business, with a creamy tenor voice, crystal-clear...

Lea Salonga

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Lea Salonga: New York in June" Café Carlyle  –  June 7 - 25 Lea Salonga—who won a Tony and every other award playing Kim in Miss Saigon, who starred as Eponine in Les Miserables and Mei Li in Flower Drum Song—yes, that girl with the radiantly youthful face and glorious voice, has grown up. Now...

Bettye LaVette

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"An Evening With Bettye LaVette" Café Carlyle  –  May 24 – June 3 This is a performer who is so riveting and unique, so indefatigable, that after two hours of nonstop singing, Bettye LaVette puts down her mike and sings her encore a cappella, Sinead O'Connor's "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," defining one...

Lonette McKee

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Can't Help Lovin'" Oak Room at the Algonquin  –  April 5 - 30 In 1986, Lonette McKee portrayed the great Billie Holiday in off-Broadway's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill. This was a solo realization of Lady Day in the 1950s shortly before she died, her voice ragged and rough but still thrillingly expressive,...

Nathan Gunn

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"An Evening with Nathan Gunn" Café Carlyle  -  March 29 - April 16 With a commanding baritone voice, GQ features, and an offhand sense of humor, Nathan Gunn is definite matinee idol material for any stage. He comes from a background of "WOO" ("World of Opera") and has appeared in opera houses, including the Metropolitan...

Kat Gang

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Rose Room at the Plaza  -  Wednesdays, from 9:00PM It's Beauty and the Beat at the Plaza Hotel's Rose Room. The Kat Gang Quartet has settled in with its jazz magic every Wednesday evening in the space that once housed the legendary Persian Room. That glamorous nightclub hosted some of the world's top performers, including...

Raquel Bitton

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"A Little Bit of Paris: The Songs of Edith Piaf and Paris in the 1930's and 1940's" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  -   February 14 There were many opportunities around town for celebrating Valentine's Day. I, unfortunately, wasted a perfectly good evening of romance going to Feinstein's at Loews Regency for Raquel Bitton's "A Little Bit of...