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, among them André De Shields, Helen Baldassare, Darius de Haas, and drag artist Julia Van Cartier. He directs The David Drumgold Variety Show at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center monthly, 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 cabaret and recording artists. Gerry is currently an artist in residence at Pangea, presenting a monthly variety show called Fabulous First Fridays.
Whenever students or singers that I’m directing adopt a personal-confession format for their performance, I am quick to point out that while there should be truth on stage, there don’t necessarily have to be facts. The best singers allow the audience to experience their own moments of joy, grief, or passion through the storytelling of […]
Singer Carol McCann described the theme of her new show, Music Lessons (recently seen at Pangea in an encore performance), as a collection of songs from which she has learned something. It’s a simple concept, made all the more simple because she never really delved into the interesting possibilities that the title evoked. It became, […]
There is a particular pleasure to be had in listening to good pop songs sung by their creators. Whether it’s Jimmy Webb or Sheldon Harnick or Paul Williams or Harold Arlen, there’s a palpable connection to the material, obviously, but there’s also a more gentle, conversational delivery of both lyric and melody that sets each […]
Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear—the days of Charles Ludlum and the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, the days of Charles Busch and Psycho Beach Party. With Ravenswood Manor, directed by Ellie Heyman and recently seen at Joe’s Pub over two evenings, with three “episodes” each evening, writer/star Justin Sayre makes his bid […]
Anyone fortunate enough to have seen Tommy J. Dose, Brian Kalinowski, Paul Pilcz, or Jon Satrom perform in the piano bar at Don’t Tell Mama, or at Brandy’s or some other open mic room, knew before Mama’s Boys started that there would be lots of good singing—and there was. What there wasn’t, was lots of cabaret. […]
Reeve Carney has enjoyed a number of successes both on television (in the series Penny Dreadful and in Fox’s remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show) and on Broadway (with Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark and, currently, Hadestown). It is clear from his new show at The Green Room 42 that the first among his […]
In her new show, Ballad of a Broadway Twenty-Something, Eva Noblezada gives us a glimpse into the wild ride she’s been on since being cast (in her teens and still in high school) in Cameron Mackintosh’s epic remounting of Miss Saigon in London. She went on to receive a Tony nomination for the role on […]
Back in the heyday of New York City cabaret (or at least back in one of the heydays of New York City cabaret) I can remember wandering into a club and hearing Marc Shaiman accompany André De Shields or Ellen Greene or Annie Golden. I would go to see a hot new singer like Annie Hughes […]
Charles Busch long ago conquered the stages of Off and Off-Off Broadway, often resplendent in gowns recalling the heyday of Hollywood leading ladies and delivering sparkling, campy, stinging, funny, dramatic words of his own devising. On occasion, over the years, he has explored the naked intimacy of the cabaret stage, frequently forgoing his womanly attire—although […]
For some time now, Thomas Honeck and Lisa Moss of the Duplex have been regularly providing a showcase for new and little-known composers and lyricists in a series called In The Works. One pair of songwriters who have taken advantage of this terrific opportunity, Lauren Gundrum and Brandon Lambert, has decided to move on from […]