Kevin Scott Hall performed in cabaret clubs for many years and recorded three CDs, including “New Light Dawning” in 1998, which received national airplay. He also worked at the legendary piano bar, Rose’s Turn, and has taught cabaret workshops and directed shows since 1995. Kevin earned his MFA in Creative Writing at City College of New York. He is an adjunct professor in the Theatre and English departments at City College and Borough of Manhattan Community College. His novel, “Off the Charts!” was published in 2010, and his memoir, “A Quarter Inch from My Heart” (Wisdom Moon), in 2014. Kevin writes a monthly column and entertainment features for Edge Media Network, writes reviews for BistroAwards.com, and freelances for other publications.
Tim Di Pasqua, a veteran singer/songwriter in New York’s cabaret scene for over two decades (by way of his origins in San Francisco), took to the small stage in Don’t Tell Mama’s brick room to deliver a show consisting solely of his own compositions. Remarkably, he informed us that it was the first time he had […]
Newly minted American citizen Karen Jacobsen (born and raised in Australia) celebrated by bringing her pared-down but classy act to Stage 72 recently. Effortlessly charming, Jacobsen is an accomplished singer, pianist, and songwriter, and on this particular night it was just she, playing and singing and sharing colorful stories. One such story was how, as a […]
Drag performer Hedda Lettuce has become somewhat of a legend around town, having hosted screenings of camp classics at Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas on Thursdays (and sometimes Saturdays and holidays) for many years. The multi-talented entertainer has also hosted her Christmas special (formerly “Lettuce Rejoice,” this year billed simply as her Christmas Special) for many […]
Entering through the house wearing a bonnet full of sunflowers and a long black coat over a black catsuit and boots, Sandra Bargman knew how to make an entrance and you got the feeling you were in for a very different kind of cabaret show. On that score, Bargman, a theatre veteran as well as […]
In his recent two-night return engagement, this time at The Duplex, the amiable Jim Speake once again gave himself the prodigious task of presenting the music of Cy Coleman, one of the most prolific and challenging composers of Broadway and jazz music. Although Speake was a little tentative and stiff in his opening number, a […]
On opening night of her new show, “back,” beloved cabaret singer and comedienne Georga Osborne was greeted like a rock star as she made her way to the stage through a packed room at Don’t Tell Mama—she was “back” for her first solo outing in ten years, and fans and well-known cabaret scene-makers hadn’t forgotten. […]
There could hardly be a more appropriate song for Ira Lee Collings to open his show “Off the Charts!” with than “I Want to Be Happy” (Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans), which he performs with a childlike energy and joy, even inviting his audience to share in his enthusiasm. Now 79, Collings immediately gives the impression […]
It is rather surprising that until now nobody has done a stage show or film about the life of Sylvester, a flamboyant African-American singer whose flame burned brightly and memorably during the disco years. (A documentary is apparently in the works.) Years before Boy George, Sylvester was cross-dressing (although he rejected the label “drag queen”), […]
A versatile veteran of New York’s cabaret scene, Patrick DeGennaro has become known not only for the many hats he wears (singer in many styles, musical director, songwriter, and vocal coach), but also for the way he has transformed his look over the years. Now a tattooed (he admitted an addiction), muscular, mustached rocker in […]
Gabrielle Stravelli returned to the New York cabaret stage this month, her first multi-night solo New York cabaret engagement since winning a Bistro award in 2008. In the intervening years, she has toured extensively, headlined a jazz brunch in Soho for three years, and recorded the well-received CD “Waiting in Vain.” If her opening night […]