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.

Jon Weber

Mark Dundas Wood
Anyone who has spent much time attending cabaret shows in New York City in recent years will likely be familiar with Jon Weber, who has worked as pianist and/or musical director for a number of other performers. I've come to appreciate his musical versatility, his good-natured professionalism in support of singers, his curiosity-filled smile, and...

Anna Anderson

Mark Dundas Wood
I first heard Anna Anderson—a recent arrival from Arizona—perform at the November 3 Gala show at the Duplex, where she was on the bill with a number of other performers featured at that club in 2014; that night she sang an appealingly saucy version of The Zutons' "Valerie." She was one of the performers I most...

Anthony Santelmo Jr

Mark Dundas Wood
Anthony Santelmo Jr. has a welcoming presence that can make you feel at times that he is singing especially to and for you. He's a big guy with a big voice, a big personality, and, it seems, a big heart—and his talent is certainly abundant. The title of his new show is "Sleuthy Returns!!!"—Sleuthy being...

Jon Peterson

Mark Dundas Wood
With his recent show exploring the life and career of entertainer Anthony Newley (at Stage 72 at The Triad), British singer-dancer-actor-writer Jon Peterson reminded the audience just how thrilling a well-executed tribute performance can be. In part the success of "He Wrote Good Songs" (a title inspired by Newley's chosen epitaph) can be attributed to...

Richard Holbrook

Mark Dundas Wood
Fred Astaire's relaxed grace on the dance floor spilled over into his whole onscreen persona—including his work as a singer. For Astaire, the bridge between speaking and singing was really nothing but a couple of steppingstones, over which he lightly skipped. There's nothing jarring when, in a film scene, he suddenly breaks into song—or, of...

Charlie Rosen’s Broadway Big Band

Mark Dundas Wood
In this one-off performance at 54 Below, young artists from New York's musical theatre community teamed up with director Max Friedman, bassist/bandleader Charlie Rosen, and Rosen's large ensemble of musicians (counting Rosen, 18 were listed in the program, though I somehow never managed to count that many together onstage at one time). The show offered songs from...

Teresa Eggertsen-Cooke

Mark Dundas Wood
There's a particular challenge for cabaret performers who are singer-pianists. When they come to the stage and sit down at the instrument, the very configuration can suggest a "piano bar" sort of show. Such singers face the ivories as much as they face the audience. Their hands are primarily occupied with the keyboard and are...

Jason Morris

Mark Dundas Wood
Jason Morris certainly has talent. He is blessed with a malleable singing voice with a pleasing timbre. He seems at home with the conventions of contemporary pop singing. He favors melisma, but keeps it in check. For his show "Musically Yogic" at the Metropolitan Room, Morris has surrounded himself with some top-of-the-line collaborators, including director...

Tom Andersen

Mark Dundas Wood
The closing performance of Tom Andersen's recent Don't Tell Mama show (his first solo program in almost a decade) had a casual pre-Labor Day vibe. He wore cool summer attire, befitting a box social. And he'd tucked plenty of fresh, thoughtfully prepared musical treats in his picnic hamper. He opened the show with "Gosh, It's...

Jake Mendes

Mark Dundas Wood
Although his recent Don't Tell Mama show, "Lady Songs," had more than a few rough edges, Jake Mendes is, I think, on the right path to finding out who he is as a solo performer and what his place might be in New York's cabaret community. Or, if he isn't on that path quite yet,...