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.

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,...

Judith Owen at Django

Mark Dundas Wood
“This is about sex and filth and good music,” Judith Owen declared, early in the first set of the evening at Django. We were warned. This was the second time I’d seen Owen play at this club, the first being in February of this year. I didn’t write about her back then. I wasn’t sure...

Bill and Dee Dee’s Extemporaneous Adventures: How Two Jazz Pros Formed an Unlikely Team

Mark Dundas Wood
Elemental, an album of jazz standards featuring the combined talents of jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and jazz pianist Bill Charlap, has generated considerable excitement since its release this June. The Wall Street Journal called the album “exuberantly original,” while Lisa Jo Sagolla, writing for BistroAwards.com, praised the artists’ success in “conjuring a vast spectrum...

Anaïs Reno Quartet: Selections from “Lady of the Lavender Mist” (plus more)

Mark Dundas Wood
When Anaïs Reno took to the stage at Dizzy’s on a recent late-summer evening, she seemed enveloped in an aura of grace and goodwill. She’s a mere 21, but she began singing jazz when she was single-digit age, so she’s been around for some time now. She won the Julie Wilson Award in 2020 and...

Helping Rare Birds Take Flight: Choosing Neglected Songs for a Setlist

Mark Dundas Wood
Cole Porter wrote approximately 800 songs, according to Robert Kimball, who compiled their lyrics in a hefty tome. How many of Porter’s titles are widely remembered today? Thirty? Fifty?  Yes, the American Songbook is filled with also-rans from Porter and other major songwriters. Undoubtedly, there are still “hidden gems” to be found in such songwriters’...

Teri Wade Quintet

Mark Dundas Wood
Jazz vocalist Teri Wade took on the role of cooling, soothing zephyr at Pangea recently, on an intensely hot and humid Manhattan night. Her resonant and rather deep voice was suited to the no-nonsense approach she took with her musicians, her material, and her audience. There was not a lot of high drama in her...

Ethan Mathias — “Outside the Lines”

Mark Dundas Wood
Considering that cabaret has a reputation for being an entertainment genre peopled with…let’s say seasoned performers and audiences, it’s always a terrific surprise when someone in the blush of youth shows up to take a dip in the talent pool. But when it’s someone who can navigate the cabaret stage with an abundance of energy,...

Clint Holmes— “Icons Reimagined”

Mark Dundas Wood
It’s the real thing. Coca Cola made that slogan (and an accompanying jingle) widespread at the beginning of the 1970s, although the phrase has been part of American culture at least as far back as 1892, when it was the title of a short story by Henry James.  How, exactly, can we be sure we’ve...

Color Her Celebrated: A Conversation with Our 2025 ASCAP-Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Recipient, Sandy Stewart

Mark Dundas Wood
Hesitation was never something that could hold singer Sandy Stewart back—not when it came to her career. The 2025 recipient of the ASCAP-Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Bistro Award knew, even as a kid growing up in Philadelphia, just what her life’s vocation should be. I recently had the honor of meeting with Stewart at her...