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.

Brittney Lee Hamilton

Gerry Geddes
In spite of her diminutive size, red hair, and brassy delivery, Brittney Lee Hamilton has never played Annie, but has been cast as a child well after her teens. Her love/hate response to this situation inspired her New York cabaret debut, "No, I've Never Played Annie," which recently ended its run at the Laurie Beechman...

Tim Connell

Gerry Geddes
Tim Connell's "Here's The Thing," which recently completed a run at Don't Tell Mama, is an example of a good, old-fashioned cabaret show: a singer, a pianist, some good songs, some intelligent patter and a microphone. No frills, no pretensions—just solid entertainment. Accompanied by his talented music director, James Followell, Connell gives us a glimpse...

Kelli Rabke

Gerry Geddes
Thanks to her big expressive voice and sparkling personality, Kelli Rabke has developed a good Broadway/musical theatre resume. She draws from it for much of her show at the Metropolitan Room, putting the material in more or less chronological order and offering each song or section as a chapter in the book of her life....

Tedd Firth, Julian Fleisher, and Leon Fleisher

Gerry Geddes
Tedd Firth has been one of the brightest lights in cabaret and jazz in New York City for a while, but he is usually found supporting vocalists, brilliantly. So imagine my surprise to find his name in the title of this new show, "Firth, Fleisher and Fleisher in Concert." A friend turned me on to...

Rain Pryor

Gerry Geddes
Jazz and comedy rarely work together as well as they do in Rain Pryor's "Divorced, Dangerous, Diva-licious" at the Iridium. Carrying on the tradition of her father, legendary comic Richard Pryor, she is hilarious in her self-deprecating survey of her life, romantic and otherwise. But the soundtrack she chooses for this story is what makes...

Jimmy Webb

Gerry Geddes
Jimmy Webb, the man responsible for "Up, Up and Away", "Didn't We", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "MacArthur Park," and on and on, is such an iconic songwriter that he could easily rest on his laurels and just present his hits in their original form and let the audience be satisfied and excited...

Jarrod Spector and Kelli Barrett

Gerry Geddes
First, I have a confession to make. I have a soft spot for the "Vegas side" of cabaret when done well. I have such lasting memories of Ann-Margret, Peter Allen, Petula Clark and others doing big, brassy, flashy shows that at the same time managed moments of heart and intimacy. At Feinstein's/54 Below, Jarrod Spector and...

Alexa Ray Joel

Gerry Geddes
The Café Carlyle is one of the last of its kind in New York City—a genuine night club, an elegantly appointed room harkening back to the days of the Empire Room, the Persian Room and the Maisonette, where legendary stars and promising newcomers would ply their craft before a room full of equally elegant diners...

Andrea Bell Wolff

Gerry Geddes
Sometimes when a show goes wrong, it goes wrong in every way. Sad to say, Andrea Bell Wolff's "Bad Girls Do Cry," which is dedicated to the girl-group sounds of the 1960s, is one of those shows—from little things like misspelling the names of Lesley Gore and Carole King (repeatedly) in the song list, to...

Meg Flather

Gerry Geddes
I last saw Meg Flather at Don't Tell Mama in the mid-'80s and I remember being highly entertained by her voice and her show. Seeing her again at that venerable performance space in 2015 in her new show, "Carly & Me," I am happy to report that her wit, her charm and her singing are as...