Mark Dundas Wood is an arts/entertainment journalist and dramaturg. In addition to reviewing for BistroAwards.com, he contributes regularly to theaterscene.net and clydefitchreport.com. Other reviews and articles have appeared in American Theatre and Back Stage. As a dramaturg, he has worked with New Professional Theatre and the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #13 in this running series The lucky thirteenth installment of Cabaret Setlist centers on “When October Goes,” a short, bittersweet, and evocative ballad of love and loss. The song, which debuted in 1984, has gradually come into its own as a modern standard. It has a […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #12 in this running series Billy Strayhorn’s intricate ballad “Lush Life” has, I think, something in common with Stonehenge—England’s massive and mysterious Bronze Age monument. Both are remarkable accomplishments whose existence seems scarcely plausible. You can’t fully explain how they arrived or what inspired their creation. […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Selection #11 in this running series. There’s nothing like mixing things up a little. The format of today’s “Cabaret Setlist” differs somewhat from previous installments. Up until now, we’ve looked at specific songs and the ways in which singers have made them their own. Today, we’ll check […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #10 in this running series. Cabaret Setlist began in May of this year with a look at Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “Little Girl Blue.” I’ve been tempted to return to the Rodgers & Hart catalog before this, but thought it was too soon. Now that […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #9 in this running series Although Dar Williams’s song “When I Was a Boy” would go on to become a signature number for her, she once apparently harbored doubts about its potential. This eloquent and extremely likable story-song might well have been laid to eternal rest […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #8 in this running series. This installment of Cabaret Setlist is published on the day before what’s being called the most significant presidential election of our lifetimes. Wanting something pertinent to the occasion, we decided on a Broadway song first heard in 1976, the year of […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #7 in this running series Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn’s “Makin’ Whoopee,” first sung by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!—is a hardy comedic evergreen. While researching it, I was startled to discover that the person I would most have wanted to interview was…Sir Winston […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #6 in this running series Part of my intention when starting this series was to take a fresh look at songs from the American Songbook that have endured over several decades. Additionally, though, I wanted to examine newer songs, ones that would seem to have an […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #5 in this running series Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson’s “It Never Was You” might be better known today were it not for Walter Huston. The 54-year-old actor was slated to appear in Knickerbocker Holiday, a 1938 Broadway musical based on Washington Irving’s A History […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #4 in this running series The cable came directly from Audrey Hepburn, who was in France shooting her latest film, with director/producer Stanley Donen. “Dearest Hank, please won’t you do the music? … Can’t imagine anyone else but you scoring.” How could Henry Mancini refuse the […]