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.

Lauren Fox and Ritt Henn

Mark Dundas Wood
The idea of building a cabaret show around music from the eerie and surreal filmography of David Lynch would not likely be a good one for many in New York's cabaret community. It takes a certain kind of grit and a love of risk that many performers simply lack. Luckily, Lauren Fox and Ritt Henn...

Eric Yves Garcia Trio

Mark Dundas Wood
Vocalist and pianist Eric Yves Garcia is in jazz mode in his current gig at Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel, and it suits him. Backed by two talented and playful musicians—guitarist Nick Russo and bassist Ritt Henn—he sings some of the most familiar titles from the Great American Songbook with an obvious enthusiasm for...

Christine Reisner and Don Rebic

Mark Dundas Wood
The extent to which you'll enjoy "Look Who's in Love"—a musical celebration of romance from newlyweds Christine Reisner and Don Rebic (conceived by Reisner, directed by Michael Bush, and co-written by Reisner and Bush)—might best be gauged by how well you tolerate Valentine's Day cards with frilly hearts and adorably mischievous Cupids. Having been married...

Bistro winner Euan Morton launches new cabaret series at Players Club

Mark Dundas Wood
photo: Walter McBride On January 27, actor and singer (and 2009 Bistro Award winner) Euan Morton performed two shows in the ballroom of the Players Club at Gramercy Park. Accompanied by the brass jazz band Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators, Morton sang a collection of vintage 1920s and 1930s popular music,...

Sally Darling

Mark Dundas Wood
Imagine finding a vintage 78 rpm record in a thrift store, taking it home and discovering it to be remarkably free of hissing sounds, crackling noises or skips. That may help to explain what you get with Sally Darling. You don't hear a sound like hers often these days, but it's as welcome as the sharp...

Mae West’s “Diamond Lil”

Mark Dundas Wood
Don't Tell Mama – September 15, 22, October 27, November 3, 10, 17, 24 If today's audiences know about Diamond Lil, it's likely because of the 1933 film She Done Him Wrong, in which Mae West played a character named not "Diamond Lil" but rather "Lady Lou." But West and her playwright collaborator, Adeline Leitzbach,...

David Ballard

Mark Dundas Wood
"Having It All" Don't Tell Mama  –  September 24, 25, October 11, 12 In his show "Having It All," David Ballard and his director, Tanya Moberly, count on the musical selections to carry their narrative. After the opening song, Kate Bush's inscrutable "Suspended in Gaffa," Ballard informs us that the show is about a character...

Evangelia Kingsley

Mark Dundas Wood
"Dance Me to the End of Love" Metropolitan Room  –  September 22, 30   "Dance Me to the End of Love," Evangelia Kingsley's show at the Metropolitan Room (directed by Eliza Beckwith), brought to my mind the familiar image of the twin masks of comedy and tragedy, one paralyzed with hilarity, the other frozen in...

Tonia Tecce

Mark Dundas Wood
"A Cockeyed Optimist: Why We Believe the Songs of Richard Rodgers" Metropolitan Room  –  September 15, 26 Tonia Tecce Tonia Tecce, whose background includes performances with symphony and "pops" orchestras, makes her New York cabaret debut with her show at the Metropolitan Room. Her voice has a "legit" sound, which may...

Shida

Mark Dundas Wood
Ars Nova – July 19 - August 28 The one-woman musical Shida—with book, music and lyrics by Jeannette Bayardelle, who also stars—might well be subtitled Daughter of Job. The title character of this 70-minute show seems to be a poster child for bad things happening to good people. (Spoiler alert: This review reveals the nature...