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.

Judy Collins

Gerry Geddes
Somewhere, in a Victorian mansion, on the very top floor, in the attic, behind a wall hanging, is a small closet, and locked in that closet is an early recording that is growing older and decaying. This Wilde/Dorian Gray explanation is the only one I can come up with for the miracle that is Judy...

Spider Saloff

Gerry Geddes
"The Spider Saloff Party" at Cafe Noctambulo at Pangea marked the return of the singer-comedian to the New York cabaret scene, where she once thrived and has always belonged. Since leaving here, she has been living in Chicago and touring the world, mostly as a jazz singer. While jazz was certainly an element of this...

Bill Solly

Gerry Geddes
Back in the '70s, when Broadway began to embrace the sounds of rock and pop at the expense of more traditional legit scores, there were a number of composers, clearly enamored of the older styles, who began to see Off Broadway as an artistic and economical alternative for creating shows that celebrated the classic form....

Magnus Martensson

Gerry Geddes
Magnus Martensson was born in Sweden and studied piano, composition, and conducting in both Sweden and the U.S. He came by his easy, off-the-wall humor as naturally as he came by the frizzy mop of blond hair on his head. That hair might well be an outward symbol of the wacky thoughts that are obviously...

I Sort Of Enjoyed It

Gerry Geddes
When one comes across a show entitled I Sort Of Enjoyed It, which played recently at the Metropolitan Room, a lot of things come to mind before the show actually begins. Are the creators providing the first or last line of a potential review? Are they setting themselves up for a fall? Are they trying...

Jeff Macauley

Gerry Geddes
In Le Grand Tour, which debuted recently at the Metropolitan Room, singer Jeff Macauley completes his trilogy of shows about classic Hollywood songwriters. Having previously paid tribute to Henry Mancini and Norman Gimbel, he focused this time on Michel Legrand, a true master of film music, with over 200 film and TV scores to his...

Lindsey Brett Carothers

Gerry Geddes
Lindsey Brett Carothers has been in a number of musicals, among them the off-Broadway hit Mad Libs, and she has guest-starred in a number of cabaret reviews and tributes. (I first saw her at the Duplex in the ongoing series Madame Mathieu's Soirée; she was one of the reasons I liked that show so much.)...

BenDeLaCreme

Gerry Geddes
There has been a lot of talk recently about living in a "post-racial" time (by those who refuse to acknowledge the persistent, systemic racism in American society) or in a "post-gay" time (by those who consider marriage equality to be the end of the civil rights battle). I have noticed in a number of shows in...

Matt Alber

Gerry Geddes
Singer-songwriter Matt Alber's "The End of the World" has become a staple in New York cabaret, which is not surprising considering its soaring melody and dramatic, poetic lyrics charting the break-up of a love affair. But as Alber showed in his recent show at Joe's Pub, he is far from a "one hit wonder." He...

Lady Rizo

Gerry Geddes
Since her early days of "diva-dom" at the legendary Continental Baths, to her triumphs on Broadway and in Vegas, to her decades of touring and recording and filming, Bette Midler has influenced generations of performers hoping to capture her uniquely entertaining combination of broad, risqué humor, solid musicianship, and consummate showmanship. Often, particularly in the...