Gerry Geddes

Gerry Geddes, critic for BistroAwards.com, is an award-winning director, writer, teacher, performer, lyricist, and a contributor to the podcast Troubadours and Raconteurs. He conceived and directed the acclaimed musical revues Monday in the Dark with George (Bistro and MAC Award winner), Put on Your Saturday Suit—Words & Music by Jimmy Webb, and Gerry Geddes & Company (in its five-year residency at Pangea). He has directed singers André De Shields, Darius de Haas, Helen Baldassare, and Lisa Viggiano. He has been active in the cabaret world for over five decades and has produced numerous CDs; his lyrics have been performed and recorded here and in Europe. Gerry’s workshop, The Art of Vocal Performance, is regularly offered to singers of all levels. His memoir of life in NYC, Didn’t I Ever Tell You This?, was recently published and is available at barnesandnoble.com. He is currently at work on his first novel.

Dr. Bradley’s Fabulous Functional Narcissism

Gerry Geddes
At Don't Tell Mama, Dr. Bradley Jones tells a familiar cabaret story in his show Dr. Bradley's Fabulous Functional Narcissism: Young man with troubled childhood dreams of being a performer, follows those dreams to New York City, works his way up to Broadway but fails—in spite of a decade long run in the original Broadway...

Max von Essen

Gerry Geddes
Max von Essen has built a laudable New York theatre career over a number of years in such shows as Death Takes a Holiday, Dance of the Vampires, An American in Paris, and, currently, Anastasia. He recently brought his talents to the stage at Birdland, a club that he confessed he had dreamed of playing...

Karen Oberlin

Gerry Geddes
Singer Karen Oberlin recently brought her new show, Confound Me: Songs in Search of Something, to The Triad. The Triad's stage can be tricky. It is quite high compared with other clubs in the city, which means that a singer's focus has to be set a couple of inches lower than what might otherwise be...

Alan Cumming

Gerry Geddes
Alan Cumming is a Broadway star, a movie star, a television star, and an author, but seeing him at Joe's Pub in his new show, Legal Alien, it is apparent that the cabaret stage is where his myriad talents really shine. Immigration, strong women, and aging are the trio of themes revealed as the evening...

Joyce Lyons

Gerry Geddes
Joyce Lyons titled her welcome return to Don't Tell Mama The Music of the '60s…Jazz Style, but after delivering a fiery "Yesterdays" (Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach) she admitted that it was a lie. As she started to put the show together, she realized that little if any of the material was from that decade—but when...

Mark Anthony Lee

Gerry Geddes
For his debut at The Triad, singer Mark Anthony Lee chose a tried-and-true staple of cabaret: songs sung by his favorite singers and recording artists. But this was by no means a run-of-the-mill soul/R&B concert. He didn't sing the usual hits, but instead made unexpected choices from deep in these artists' repertoires—album tracks that had...

Spencer Day

Gerry Geddes
Singer-songwriter Spencer Day has begun a once-a-month residency at The Green Room 42 in celebration of his new CD, Angel City, which, as you might guess, is a tribute to and contemplation of Los Angeles. Given that premise, it is fitting that the overall feel of the show is very '60s/'70s West Coast jazz. The...

The Circus Is Cancelled

Gerry Geddes
One of the rare joys of cabaret reviewing (and cabaret going, for that matter) is coming upon a show that is unlike anything else that’s out there—a new and unexpected experience. The Circus Is Cancelled, which played recently at the Duplex, is one such show. It featured a clown, a mime, a magician, a pianist,...

Michael Kirk Lane

Gerry Geddes
Singer Michael Kirk Lane decided to celebrate his birthday by presenting a new show at Don't Tell Mama called Glass Half Full. The optimism and positive energy implied by that title came to quite entertaining life on stage throughout the evening, even when he was addressing some rather dire and depressing aspects of our current...

Lisa Viggiano

Gerry Geddes
Singer Lisa Viggiano lives in New Jersey, so it is de rigueur that she be a Bruce Springsteen fan. But she feels a closer kinship to "the boss" than many others do, a kinship she celebrates in her new show, Lisa Viggiano Sings Bruce. She enlists the aid of Matt Scharfglass on guitar; he is usually...