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.

Bistro Bits: From Gershwin to Booze, Broadway, Murder, and Sex, Cabaret Shows Take on a Variety of Themes

Mark Dundas Wood
We’ve now reached the point in the year when the influx of new cabaret runs may be tapering off a little, giving way to year-end holiday offerings (often one-offs), with songs about wise men, snowmen, and the occasional dreidel.  Also, bistroawards.com has been on a short hiatus that began Thanksgiving week. So, in this column,...

Bistro Bits: A New Album from D.C. Anderson and a Lina Koutrakos Trifecta

Mark Dundas Wood
In this column, I check in on an important new album from singer/songwriter/actor D.C. Anderson. Plus, I report on three recent club shows, all of which just happen to be directed by the gifted (and understandably ubiquitous) Lina Koutrakos. It's hard for outsiders to tell exactly what role any director plays in a cabaret show's...

Bistro Bits: Autumn in New York Cabaret — New Shows from Ward, Moberly, Neiheisel, and Mack

Mark Dundas Wood
Now that we're officially more than a month into the fall season, there's been a noticeable uptick in the number of new cabaret shows opening in Manhattan. This week, I report on four such shows: a solo cabaret debut from a familiar face, a set of American Songbook gems from a club stalwart, a tribute...

Bistro Bits: There Are Many Ways to Approach a Tribute Show—Here Are Two

Mark Dundas Wood
Singers preparing a tribute show, whether they’re celebrating the tune list of a songwriter or feting the career of a performer, have a number of decisions to make. Do they want to talk about the subject’s biography—perhaps telling the life story chronologically? Maybe they prefer to organize the program by looking at several components of...

Club Review: Shannon Daley—”Love and Let Die: Confessions of a Bond Girl”

Mark Dundas Wood
In her breezy yet ambitious Don’t Tell Mama show, Love and Let Die: Confessions of a Bond Girl (directed by Lennie Watts and first performed in June of this year), Shannon Daley portrays a specific James Bond love interest, Sylvia Trench—the character enacted by Eunice Gayson in the first two Bond films, Dr. No (1962)...

Bistro Bits: Special-Case Albums—New Releases by Minnock and Aloisio/Pallatto

Mark Dundas Wood
Today for Bistro Bits, I’m having a look at two recent album releases, both of which fall into the “jazz” bucket. But circumstances make these two albums a bit different from, say, the ones I discussed in the previous installment of Bistro Bits. John Minnock’s new album of David Shire music was released after Minnock’s...

Club Review: Val Hawk—”Special Material”

Mark Dundas Wood
Val Hawk is a singer with an earthy, wry presence—she’s funny, friendly and unpretentious. Shortly before she was officially called to take the stage at her recent Pangea show, Special Material, she was there in front of it: shooting the breeze with audience members—confiding that when she’d purchased the dress she was wearing, she’d assumed...

Bistro Bits: Jazz Babies 2024–New Recordings by Russell and Mason, Loar, and Levy/Vannatter

Mark Dundas Wood
A couple of weeks ago, writer Lisa Jo Sagolla discussed a number of new recordings on this site. But it's a busy time of year, and there are many more recent releases that deserve some coverage. So, for today’s Bistro Bits column, I’m taking a look at three recently released albums, all of which live...

Bistro Bits: Summertime Serenaders, Part 2 – Julie Benko and Laurin Talese

Mark Dundas Wood
No matter where singers are in their career trajectory, the potential for creating something magical is a constant. Veteran performers are obviously more qualified to look back at how they’ve gotten to where they are, while newbies tend to look with yearning toward what’s ahead on the path. But there’s no reason for singers to...

Bistro Bits: Summer Serenaders, Part 1 – Jane Scheckter and Marieann Meringolo

Mark Dundas Wood
No denying it. Summer is winding down now. Daylight hours are gone by 8pm. Technically, there are still a few weeks left in the season, but they’re flying by. There have been some terrific cabaret turns this summer—seen by some as “off season” for cabaret. This week and next, Bistro Bits will center on a...