Roy Sander

Roy Sander has been covering cabaret and theatre for over thirty years. He’s written cabaret and theatre reviews, features, and commentary for seven print publications, most notably Back Stage, and for CitySearch on the Internet. He covered cabaret monthly on “New York Theatre Review” on PBS TV, and cabaret and theatre weekly on WLIM-FM radio. He was twice a guest instructor at the London School of Musical Theatre. A critic for BistroAwards.com, he is also the site’s Reviews Editor; in addition, he is Chairman of the Advisory Board of MAC.

Barbara Lynn Pedersen

Roy Sander
 "For the Love Along the Way"  The Duplex  -  October 10, 17, 24 There is a lot that is very, very good in Barbara Lynn Pedersen's show. For one thing, there is her multi-faceted voice: sometimes a mezzo with an attractive tight vibrato that is warm and welcoming; other times, she displays the soprano end...

Sarah Rice

Roy Sander
"Screen Gems – Songs of Old Hollywood" Laurie Beechman Theatre  -  September 13, October 10, 17, 25, 26, February 8, March 5, 7, April 2, 26, 30 Sarah Rice is part of our theatrical history, having been the original Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on Broadway. In her entertaining new cabaret show of songs from...

Raissa Katona Bennett

Roy Sander
Feinstein's at Loews Regency  -  October 19 Laurie Beechman Theatre  -  January 31  The defining moment in Raissa Katona Bennett's strong Feinstein's debut one-nighter came three-quarters of the way through her show. After she'd told us about having played a slew of ingenue roles, among them Luisa in The Fantasticks and Christine in Phantom of...

Sue Matsuki

Roy Sander
"Sue Matsuki at the Beechman" The Laurie Beechman Theatre  -  September 12, 13, 26, 27, November 9 I have seen Sue Matsuki perform many times over the past eleven years. As I've said before, and will doubtless have occasion to say again, one of the most gratifying aspects—no, make that greatest pleasures—of covering cabaret over...

Karen Akers

Roy Sander
"Akers Sings Porter: 'Anything Goes!'" Oak Room at the Algonquin  -  September 22 – October 24 No one in his right mind would challenge the assertion that Cole Porter was one of the greatest songwriters of all time. However, someone who has been around the New York nightlife scene for a while and has, therefore,...

Jennifer Sheehan

Roy Sander
"You Made Me Love You" Laurie Beechman Theatre  -  September 18, 20, 25 Jennifer Sheehan has come a long way artistically since she made her promising New York cabaret debut at Danny's Skylight Room in 2005. Though manifestly still an ingénue, she performs with considerably more authority: there is more weight to her voice, her interpretations have greater depth,...

Jack Jones

Roy Sander
Oak Room at the Algonquin  -  September 9-19 Jack Jones's current show is a tribute to the great lyricists Marilyn and Alan Bergman. When going to a Jack Jones performance, I don't think it's possible—at least not for me—not to feel something akin to awe at the man's career and accomplishments. He has been in show business...

Adam Shapiro

Roy Sander
"It Starts When We're Kids"  The Duplex - September 12, 18 I've seen Adam Shapiro perform many times, but until now, only in open mic appearances. With a solid baritone voice and the ability to be hilarious with comic material, strikingly dramatic with big ballads, and sweetly tender in gentler ones, in these performances he nearly...

Joelle Lurie

Roy Sander
"This Time Tomorrow" Metropolitan Room  -  September 10, 12 Before making this Metropolitan Room return engagement, Joelle Lurie played a principal role in Jerry Springer: The Opera at Boston's SpeakEasy Stage Company, so I assumed that she would have a good voice. She certainly does: from a gutsy alto to a lovely, limpid mezzo. She has...

KT Sullivan

Roy Sander
Kathleen Downey's Granite Room  -  August 20, 27, September 3, 10 Clad in an exquisite formal dress cut low in the back, she stands at a delicate swag railing near the edge of the stage, awash in light. With utmost poise and simplicity she sings "Kiss Me Again." The stage image is reminiscent of the balcony...