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.

Cabaret Setlist: “He’s a Runner” — Music and Lyrics by Laura Nyro

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article # 16 in this ongoing series. There are auspicious recording debuts, and then there is More Than a New Discovery, an album by singer/songwriter Laura Nyro (1947-'97), recorded in 1966 and released on the Verve Folkways label the following year. The album contains compositions that would...

Return Engagements: John Lloyd Young Will Ride the Disco ‘Round in His Return to Live Performance

Mark Dundas Wood
(Article #1 in a limited series on "Return Engagements.") John Lloyd Young is ready to boogie on down. (Then again, who isn’t?) The Tony-winning singer-actor, who starred as Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons in both the Broadway and film versions of Jersey Boys, has worked diligently to remain engaged with his career and to stay...

“The Reason to Sing — A Guide to Acting While Singing”: A Chat with Craig Carnelia About His New Book

Mark Dundas Wood
Craig Carnelia (Photo: Michael Ian) Between 1992 and 2017, singer and composer/lyricist Craig Carnelia (Working, Sweet Smell of Success) taught acting classes for singers in a studio on West 71st Street in Manhattan. His students included members of the New York City theatre community. They may have been prepping for auditions...

Cabaret Setlist: “Blue Skies” — Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article #15 in this ongoing series. The simple-yet-engaging standard “Blue Skies” has the distinction of being the most successful Irving Berlin number ever to debut in a Rodgers & Hart musical. It’s not clear exactly when Berlin had begun composing the song, but, according to biographer Lawrence Bergreen, the...

Now You’ll Know: Rick Pender’s “The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia”

Mark Dundas Wood
All right, so you’ve read pretty much everything that’s ever been written about American songwriter Stephen Sondheim, and you’re thinking: Why on earth would I need to have something called The Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia? Let’s put your Sondheim knowledge to the test with three questions (no Googling allowed!): Who was originally hired to play Fredrik...

Cabaret Setlist: Springing Forward with Three Songs of Hope and Happiness

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article #14 in this ongoing series In the most recent installments of “Cabaret Setlist,” we’ve looked at the brilliant-but-dark “Lush Life” and the splendid-but sad “When October Goes.” I love these musical explorations of anguish and heartbreak, but I realize they’re not the only sorts of songs...

Cabaret Setlist: “When October Goes” – Music by Barry Manilow, lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #13 in this running series The lucky thirteenth installment of Cabaret Setlist centers on “When October Goes,” a short, bittersweet, and evocative ballad of love and loss. The song, which debuted in 1984, has gradually come into its own as a modern standard. It has a...

Cabaret Setlist: “Lush Life” – Music and Lyrics by Billy Strayhorn

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #12 in this running series Billy Strayhorn’s intricate ballad “Lush Life” has, I think, something in common with Stonehenge—England’s massive and mysterious Bronze Age monument. Both are remarkable accomplishments whose existence seems scarcely plausible. You can’t fully explain how they arrived or what inspired their creation....

Cabaret Setlist: “Sleigh Ride in July” (Music by Jimmy Van Heusen, Lyrics by Johnny Burke) and “Winter of My Discontent” (Music by Alec Wilder, Lyrics by Ben Ross Berenberg)

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Selection #11 in this running series. There’s nothing like mixing things up a little. The format of today’s “Cabaret Setlist” differs somewhat from previous installments. Up until now, we’ve looked at specific songs and the ways in which singers have made them their own. Today, we’ll check...

Cabaret Setlist: “Mountain Greenery” — Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Lorenz Hart

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #10 in this running series. Cabaret Setlist began in May of this year with a look at Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “Little Girl Blue.” I've been tempted to return to the Rodgers & Hart catalog before this, but thought it was too soon. Now that...