Mark Dundas Wood

Mark Dundas Wood is an arts/entertainment journalist and dramaturg. He began writing for BistroAwards.com in 2011. Currently, he writes the "Bistro Bits" column for the site. Other reviews and articles have appeared at theaterscene.net and talkinbroadway.com, as well as in American Theatre and Back Stage. As a dramaturg, he has worked with New Professional Theatre and the New York Musical Theatre Festival. He is currently literary manager for Broad Horizons Theatre Company.

“You Fascinate Me So: Phillip Officer Salutes Mabel Mercer”

Mark Dundas Wood
I never had the good fortune to hear Mabel Mercer sing live, so I’ve had to rely on recordings to understand why she is such an inspiration to the cabaret singers who have followed in her footsteps. Mercer admitted to changing her way of singing late in her career. Her New York Times obituary from...

Ryan James Monroe

Mark Dundas Wood
Ryan James Monroe is a big singer in many ways. He’s physically imposing—someone you wouldn’t mind accompanying you if you were planning on navigating some dark alleys. As far as his wardrobe and styling choices go, he seems dedicated to flair and flamboyance. (At the show I saw he wore a heavy-looking, floor-length black skirt...

Spotlighting New Faces (for this author anyway) at This Season’s “Winter Rhythms”

Mark Dundas Wood
Last year, I made it to almost every offering at the Winter Rhythms series at Urban Stages. This year, I mixed things up a little. I elected to see shows only from performers whose work and talents I was unfamiliar with, and to write about them in greater detail.  As usual Winter Rhythms was presided...

La Tanya Hall —”If Not Now, When…”

Mark Dundas Wood
La Tanya Hall’s recent album, If Not Now, When…, is her first since she recovered her voice after having lost it for a while in a bout with COVID. The album has a short song list—a mere eight tracks. And while the collection may not inspire a lightning flash on a single listening, repeat visits...

Mark William— “If I Can Dream”

Mark Dundas Wood
On his live album, If I Can Dream, recorded at The Green Room 42 in May of this year, Mark William is heard doing journeyman work on the first several numbers. His opening mash-up of “It’s You Again” (Walter Marks) and “Love Is in the Air” (Harry Vanda, George Young) is spirited, but he seems...

Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano— “Painting the Town”

Mark Dundas Wood
For some reason, I had the mistaken idea that the recent recording Painting the Town, from the singing-spouses team of Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, was a live album, perhaps captured at one of their appearances at NYC’s Birdland. As someone who enjoys their club work, I thought that such a recording was a great...

Nellie McKay

Mark Dundas Wood
For her opening number at her recent show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, Nellie McKay chose a hit song from 1967: the Doors’ “People Are Strange” (John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison). Accompanying herself at the piano, she sang, in a wee voice but an incredibly intense one: “People are strange when you’re...

Anya Turner & Robert Grusecki —”Joy & Love”

Mark Dundas Wood
Songwriters, performers, and devoted spouses Anya Turner and Robert Grusecki have been making music together for three decades—something they celebrated recently in the last of a three-performance run of a show called Joy & Love. In it, they presented original songs from several of their recorded albums, but—especially—their two most recent ones: Secret Lovers (2024)...

Nic & Desi – “Dance Another Day”

Mark Dundas Wood
The European tradition of cabaret—bohemian and sophisticated (and frequently cerebral, political, satirical, and angsty)—continues to be a major influence on contemporary American cabaret.  But wait…. Don’t forget about the variety tradition: the commercial American entertainment genre that dominated pop culture over many decades, turning up in vaudeville, in casino showrooms, in Catskills resorts, in long-gone...

Corinna Sowers Adler—”All That Matters”

Mark Dundas Wood
Having rapport with an audience is an immeasurably valuable thing for a cabaret singer—arguably more important than musical virtuosity or construction of the perfect song list. We know many of the ingredients that help singers stay in good graces with their listeners:  confidence, a bright (and possibly devilish) sense of humor, a dash of vulnerability,...