Mark Dundas Wood is an arts/entertainment journalist and dramaturg. He began writing reviews for BistroAwards.com in 2011. More recently he has contributed "Cabaret Setlist" articles about cabaret repertoire. Other reviews and articles have appeared in theaterscene.net and clydefitchreport.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.
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article #17 in this ongoing series We learned recently that Beanie Feldstein will headline next year in a Broadway revival of 1964’s Funny Girl. Once again, the name of that musical’s central character, real-life entertainer Fanny Brice (1891-1951), will be on people’s minds and lips. Brice’s career […]
(Third and final installment of a limited series on Return Engagements.) On February 21, 2020, singer-songwriter Meg Flather performed her first-ever gig at Manhattan’s Beach Café. She was, at the time, about to put into gear another, more focused show—about Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The Beach engagement was called A Cockeyed Optimist, after […]
(Article #2 in a limited series on “Return Engagements.”) “You do all this stuff to build momentum,” says monologist and playwright Joe Gulla, “and when you get some, you kind of want to ride it for a little bit.” Indeed, Gulla’s career seemed to be on a roll during the earliest weeks of 2020. For […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article # 16 in this ongoing series. There are auspicious recording debuts, and then there is More Than a New Discovery, an album by singer/songwriter Laura Nyro (1947-’97), recorded in 1966 and released on the Verve Folkways label the following year. The album contains compositions that would […]
(Article #1 in a limited series on “Return Engagements.”) John Lloyd Young is ready to boogie on down. (Then again, who isn’t?) The Tony-winning singer-actor, who starred as Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons in both the Broadway and film versions of Jersey Boys, has worked diligently to remain engaged with his career and to stay […]
Between 1992 and 2017, singer and composer/lyricist Craig Carnelia (Working, Sweet Smell of Success) taught acting classes for singers in a studio on West 71st Street in Manhattan. His students included members of the New York City theatre community. They may have been prepping for auditions or working on a particular role or song. Sutton […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article #15 in this ongoing series. The simple-yet-engaging standard “Blue Skies” has the distinction of being the most successful Irving Berlin number ever to debut in a Rodgers & Hart musical. It’s not clear exactly when Berlin had begun composing the song, but, according to biographer Lawrence Bergreen, the […]
All right, so you’ve read pretty much everything that’s ever been written about American songwriter Stephen Sondheim, and you’re thinking: Why on earth would I need to have something called The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia? Let’s put your Sondheim knowledge to the test with three questions (no Googling allowed!): Who was originally hired to play Fredrik […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article #14 in this ongoing series In the most recent installments of “Cabaret Setlist,” we’ve looked at the brilliant-but-dark “Lush Life” and the splendid-but sad “When October Goes.” I love these musical explorations of anguish and heartbreak, but I realize they’re not the only sorts of songs […]
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 […]
