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.

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...

Gay Marshall

Gerry Geddes
Leonard Cohen wore many coats in addition to his famous "Famous Blue Raincoat": he was a novelist, a poet, a musician, a songwriter, a singer, an actor, and for a time, a stand-up comedian. A native Canadian, he was best known in this country as a singer-songwriter, first introduced to me (and many others) by...

Martin Landry

Gerry Geddes
The title of actor-singer-writer Martin Landry's new show at the Duplex, Screlton McNodes and His Search for Transcendence Through the Act of Putting on Musicals in the Barn with Stray Cats Amidst a Life Full of Pain, Abuse, Murder, and Insanity, may at first glance appear to be the most descriptive title in the history...

Mary Foster Conklin

Gerry Geddes
Fran Landesman is one of the quintessential 20th century lyricists. She combined the hip cool of jazz with the anti-establishment style of the beat generation and the conversational naturalism of the best pop music into a heady body of work written with some of the most influential composers of the time. In Life Is a...

Cheryl Bentyne

Gerry Geddes
Singer Cheryl Bentyne, of Manhattan Transfer fame, publicized reARRANGEMENTS OF SHADOWS, her recent show at Birdland, as a celebration of her new release of Sondheim songs, but it turned out to be more a preview of the CD because fully half of the program consisted of non-Sondheim material. Although this might have been disappointing to...

Lorna Dallas

Gerry Geddes
To the best of my knowledge, February 26th is not a holiday, but perhaps it should be. That date marked the return to the New York cabaret stage, after a 20-year absence, of singer Lorna Dallas in a beautifully fashioned, exquisitely performed show called Home Again. With the invaluable assistance of director Barry Kleinbort and...