Gerry Geddes has conceived and directed a number of musical revues—including the Bistro- and MAC Award-winning "Monday in the Dark with George" and "Put On Your Saturday Suit-Words & Music by Jimmy Webb"—and directed many cabaret artists, including André De Shields, Helen Baldassare, Darius de Haas, and drag artist Julia Van Cartier. He directs "The David Drumgold Variety Show," currently in residence at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, and has produced a number of recordings, including two Bistro-winning CDs. He’s taught vocal performance at The New School, NYU, and London’s Goldsmith’s College and continues to conduct private workshops and master classes. As a writer and critic, he has covered New York’s performing arts scene for over 40 years in both local and national publications; his lyrics have been sung by several cabaret and recording artists. Gerry is an artist in residence at Pangea, and a regular contributor to the podcast “Troubadours & Raconteurs.” He just completed a memoir of his life in NYC called “Didn’t I Ever Tell You This?”
When you are singing a song, you are telling a story. You may be narrating the story to the audience, you may be a participant in the story, or simply observing or perhaps reacting to the story, but in each case, the words matter. The more connected to the song you are, the more personal […]
I first reviewed Karen Mason back in the “golden days” of NYC cabaret, at the Duplex, just after she moved from Chicago to NYC and then, a bit later, at the opening night of the cabaret room at Don’t Tell Mama. She was an electrifying vocalist, a spellbinding and open-hearted storyteller, and a star. She […]
As the first notes of Chopin’s “Prelude in C Minor” (which is the basis of Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic”) slid easily into “It’s A Miracle” (Manilow, Marty Panzer), it was already apparent that singer Dorian Woodruff holds a special affection for and appreciation of the legendary singer/songwriter; there would be no camp and […]
Mason Alexander Park’s The Pansy Craze at Chelsea Table + Stage was part TED talk on non-binary history, part hard rock cabaret show, and part showcase for Park’s obvious talents. They played Hedwig in the first national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and regionally in I Am My Own Wife, Cabaret, and The […]
On the eve of Halloween 2021, I ventured into Club Cumming in the East Village. It was festooned with cobwebs and an errant skull here and there; hanging from the ceiling throughout the bar were multiple close-up photos of Janet Leigh’s head just as she is about to take her legendary shower. It set the […]
I recently visited The Blue Room, a new (or at least new to me) cabaret upstairs from Good Judy, a friendly and comfortable gay bar on Fifth Ave in Brooklyn. The show room is a tiny, bare bones space with an upright piano on the stage, decent lights, and excellent sound. It’s a throwback in […]
If It Only Even Runs a Minute, which recently returned to Feinstein’s/ 54 Below, is the brainchild of Jennifer Ashley Tepper and Kevin Michael Murphy who serve as genial, enthusiastic, informative hosts for a show dedicated to samples from and stories about the flops of Broadway history. It is not a new idea, but this […]
In their new CD, What to Wear in the Dark, the Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz Ensemble have fashioned a musically intriguing and emotionally satisfying response, not only to the pandemic but to the last decade or two of public and private wounds and monstrous elections. Kate McGarry has long been one of the brightest lights in […]
When I am teaching a vocal performance class, I always stress that just because a singer loves to listen to a song doesn’t mean that the singer should sing it. In the case of Susan Mack’s Music in the Air at Birdland, I would expand that to include if a singer loves a genre of […]
Jane Bruce and TUCKER are such charismatic, charming performers that it goes a long way towards forgiveness of the flaws that pepper their new show, Jane & TUCKER: Stripped, at Feinstein’s/54 Below. Bruce, fresh from a Tony Awards performance with Jagged Little Pill, and cabaret veteran TUCKER have good voices, infectious energy, and winning personalities. […]