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.

Heather Mac Rae

Gerry Geddes
Early on in her new show, Use Your Imagination, recently at the Beach Cafe, Heather Mac Rae revealed, with no hesitation, that she is 70 years old. In fact, she seemed downright gleeful about it—and why not? It has been nearly 50 years since she first set foot on a Broadway stage in Here's Where I...

Inner City Reunion Concert

Gerry Geddes
Directed by Tom O'Horgan, Inner City opened in late 1971 and ran just under 100 performances. The passionate following it and its cast album have attracted since then makes it the quintessential cult musical. There are a few possible reasons for its initial failure. It was the fourth O'Horgan show running concurrently on Broadway; the...

It Always Feels Like the World Is Ending

Gerry Geddes
It Always Feels Like the World Is Ending, a new revue that played recently at Don't Tell Mama, celebrated the work of composer Benny Gammerman and lyricist Dylan Hartwell, both of whom appeared in the show along with Amanda Savan, Cortney Wolfson, Melissa Rose Hirsch, and Greg Sullivan. As the title implies, most of the...

Shaina Taub

Gerry Geddes
At a time when most pop composers seem to have forgotten what melody is, let alone how to write a coherent, inventive lyric, it is cause for both hope and celebration that singer-songwriter Shaina Taub is carrying on the great tradition of Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Rickie Lee Jones, and other iconic women...

Leslie Jordan

Gerry Geddes
Leslie Jordan is probably best known as Beverley Leslie, the tart-tongued, flamingly fey foil to Megan Mullally's Karen in Will & Grace. Though a recurring character, his performance was so immediate, so funny, and so memorable that it seemed as though he were a regular. In his first season, he won an Emmy for the...

Penny Arcade

Gerry Geddes
Susana Ventura grew up in Connecticut. At the age of 13 she ran away to Provincetown and quickly became the darling of the gay mecca, and a particular favorite of the "older queens" because she "took an interest" in them. The girl had no ulterior motive; she was legitimately curious and interested, and she soaked...

Anthony Wayne

Gerry Geddes
Anthony Wayne is a singular talent. He has a strong, yet insinuating, voice, and his supple movements reveal his dancer past to great effect, particularly in the limited space at the Metropolitan Room where he chose to celebrate his birthday on stage in The Evolution of Anthony Wayne. Most recently lauded for his work in...

Renee Katz

Gerry Geddes
Renee Katz's story is indeed remarkable. On June 7, 1979, a crazed person threw the 17 yr old flutist in front of an E train. She managed to survive by rolling off the track at the last minute, but her hand was severed. Doctors succeeded in reattaching the hand, and over time, with much media attention...

Luke Babylon, Christian Magician

Gerry Geddes
Luke Babylon, Christian Magician is the satiric/spiritual alter ego of out gay comic Zach Zimmerman, who recently left a career-on-the-rise in Chicago to move to New York City. At the Duplex a week or so ago, he made his Manhattan cabaret debut as a New Yorker with this zany show. I've followed him with interest...

Salty Brine

Gerry Geddes
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, the album Nilsson Schmilsson by Harry Nilsson, and memories of time spent at a boys' camp in New Hampshire combine in the kaleidoscopic dreamscape called Welcome to the Jungle, currently on display at Pangea. This is the latest in a series called The Living Record Collection written and performed...