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.

Jen Fellman

Mark Dundas Wood
In her recent show "Frenchy," at Don't Tell Mama, Jen Fellman told of her three-year stint living in Paris, striving to transform herself into a Parisian. The show was a striking piece of cabaret theatre, graced by the sharp direction of John-Richard Thompson and the sensitivity and show-woman-ship of Fellman herself. The evening was not...

Tune in Time

Mark Dundas Wood
Presented by Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields, the musical-theatre game show "Tune in Time" has been playing in New York City for a couple of years now. Currently it appears regularly at the York Theatre Company. This rollicking show pits three composer/lyricist teams against one another as they strive to write coherent and entertaining songs...

Carol Woods

Mark Dundas Wood
Carol Woods's show at The Metropolitan Room, "Ain't We Got Fun: The Music of Richard Whiting" (directed by Scott Coulter) marked the 125th anniversary of Whiting's birth. But the show on November 12 was a double celebration, as it was also Woods's birthday eve. And the singer was in a particularly sassy mood during this performance,...

Madelaine Warren

Mark Dundas Wood
According to online biographical notes, Madelaine Warren started her performing career as an opera singer. Later she transitioned into the pop-music arena, performing in concert halls and clubs, as well as on cruise ships (often teamed with her husband, Arthur Warren). Now she's finding her footing in the world of New York cabaret. After seeing...

Karen Luschar

Mark Dundas Wood
In singing music associated with Judy Garland, Karen Luschar has clearly found her métier as a performer. In her current show at Don't Tell Mama—"Chasing Rainbows: Songs of Judy Garland"—the singer doesn't exactly impersonate the late star, although many of the musical arrangements are reminiscent of (if not virtually identical to) the originals. Mainly, she...

Cake & Comedy

Mark Dundas Wood
The conventions of the comedy club differ significantly from those of the cabaret room. Cabaret, understandably, tends to be more on the polished, formal, and polite side, while the world of stand-up and sketch comedy seems looser and more freewheeling. Female performers have traditionally had a strong voice in cabaret, but not so much in...

Dora Rubin

Mark Dundas Wood
Dora Rubin understands the usefulness of surprise in a cabaret set. This singer—who in years past would have been described as "offbeat"—takes risks that performers far more experienced than she might avoid. And while the surprises she hatches may land with varying degrees of precision, she never fails to hold the audience's attention. I found...

Todd Murray

Mark Dundas Wood
Todd Murray brought a new iteration of his show “Croon” to The Triad for a few performances in August. It was both a cabaret show and a history lesson in American popular music. Between numbers, Murray talked about men's approaches to romantic pop singing—beginning with Rudy Vallee in the 1920s; proceeding through the eras of...

Joe Gulla

Mark Dundas Wood
Joe Gulla's monologue The Bronx Queen is the first installment of a trilogy that was originally presented on Manhattan's Theatre Row a few years ago. Earlier this year it was restaged in the cabaret setting of Joe's Pub, and on August 20 it had an encore performance there. The work explores themes that have become...

Barbra Streisand

Mark Dundas Wood
It's been several decades since Barbra Streisand had any real connection to the world of New York cabaret. But that, of course, is how her career began—in such small clubs as the Bon Soir and the Blue Angel, where she became a sensation while en route to becoming a legend. In 2009, she gave a...