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.

Gail Nelson-Holgate

Mark Dundas Wood
"It's About Time" Stage 72  –  March 10 Gail Nelson-Holgate has a regal, elegant bearing and a gracious rapport with her listeners. At this one-off performance, she approached her largely jazz-inflected repertoire (featuring arrangements by Danny Holgate) with seriousness, but leavened the proceedings with dashes of fun. Her patter was obviously scripted, and a little...

John Gabriel

Mark Dundas Wood
Metropolitan Room  –  March 3 John Gabriel is at least as well known as an actor (the daytime drama Ryan's Hope) and TV producer (Charles Grodin's talk shows) as he is as a singer. Grodin, himself, showed up at the Metropolitan Room to introduce Gabriel at this one-nighter, sharing with the audience a long, not-especially-amusing...

Pia Zadora

Mark Dundas Wood
"Pia Zadora – Back Again and Standing Tall" The Metropolitan Room  –  February 7-10 Pia Zadora is a trouper. On the eve of the recent snowstorm, playing to a small audience, she kept her energy level high, as though playing to a packed house. She gave special attention to each occupied table—at one point circulating...

Sharón Clark

Mark Dundas Wood
"Blame It on My Youth" Metropolitan Room  –  January 22, 28, 30, February 1, 2 "So, you're diggin' the Afro?" D.C.-based vocalist Sharón Clark asked the audience upon stepping onto the stage on the first night of her Metropolitan Room engagement. Her retro hairstyle is part of the packaging for her show "Blame It On...

Jeff Harnar

Mark Dundas Wood
"Does This Song Make Me Look Fat?" Laurie Beechman Theatre  –  January 14, 21, 28, February 8 Some cabaret performers choose to pack a show with languid ballads. Sure, they may feature the odd up-tempo number and perhaps a comic turn or two: bones thrown to the notion of variety. But mostly these singers go...

The Wonderful Wizard of Song: The Music of Harold Arlen

Mark Dundas Wood
St. Luke's Theatre  –  Mondays at 7pm, Wednesdays at 2pm, Thursdays at 8pm The songs of composer Harold Arlen—with their sophistication and mix of Jewish and African-American melodic elements—need to be approached with intelligence, care, and taste. One of Arlen's standards (co-written with Ted Koehler) famously touts the "right to sing the blues." Perhaps the...

Smile on My Face: The Songs of Richard Eisenberg

Mark Dundas Wood
Laurie Beechman Theatre: May 6; Etcetera Etcetera: October 24; Urban Stages: December 13; Don't Tell Mama: February 7 The four performers in the revue "Smile on My Face" begin with a medley of two Richard Eisenberg selections—"Hum a Song" and "They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore." These songs lament the tuneless and repetitive nature...

Joanna Strand

Mark Dundas Wood
"Fly Transatlantic" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  –  December 5 British singer Joanna Strand was supposed to have made appearances at the Metropolitan Room several weeks ago, but that engagement was thwarted by Hurricane Sandy. She was able to play New York after all with this one-nighter at Feinstein's. Her show, "Fly Transatlantic," traced an adventurous...

Jonathan Whitton

Mark Dundas Wood
"The Free Residency" Don't Tell Mama  –  October 16, November 5, 27, December 3 "My soul is as open as the sky," Jonathan Whitton sings at the top of his Don't Tell Mama show, "The Free Residency." And he's not kidding. Whitton projects a rare level of emotional accessibility throughout the evening. There is an...

T. Oliver Reid

Mark Dundas Wood
"Drop Me Off in Harlem" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  –  November 28, December 2, 3, and 9. In his new show at Feinstein's at Loews Regency, T. Oliver Reid takes the audience on a whirlwind tour of 1930s Harlem nightlife. His stops include such hot spots as the storied Cotton Club, where blacks performed for white...