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.

Hal Linden

Roy Sander
In his Café Carlyle debut show, Hal Linden celebrates nostalgia and commemorates his six-decades-and-counting career in show business. At age 83, he still has a sturdy baritone, and the evening has many first-rate moments. Linden's big Broadway break came in 1957, when he understudied and then replaced Sydney Chaplin in Bells are Ringing, and he...

A Few Shows and a Pet Peeve

Roy Sander
This is my first Bistro Bits column since June 11, 1999. I trust you'll forgive the slight interruption. In this return column, I discuss a few shows I've seen in the intervening years—more precisely, during the past few months. And I comment on a lamentable practice that has become almost as commonplace as it is...

Steve Tyrell

Roy Sander
"Wordsmiths: Lyricists of the Great American Song" Café Carlyle  -  November 26 – December 31 Singer Steve Tyrell has arrived for his ninth holiday-season engagement at the Café Carlyle—the slot in which Bobby Short previously held forth. For the life of me, I can't explain the longevity of Tyrell's residency at this prestigious venue. Well,...

The Vaudevillians

Roy Sander
Laurie Beechman Theatre - through November 19 Starting as a one-night-only event, the two-character revue/theatre piece The Vaudevillians has gone on to play to sold-out houses at the Laurie Beechman Theatre for several months now, and a sixth and final extension, to November 19, was recently announced. Quite an accomplishment. The show's two stars, Jinkx...

Twentieth Century Girl: The Lois Morton Songbook

Roy Sander
Don't Tell Mama - June 8, 15; The Duplex - September 19; Don't Tell Mama - December 8 Lois Morton is an interesting and uncommonly gifted songwriter. If you heard only her comic pieces, you'd swear her birthparents were Tom Lehrer and Gilbert & Sullivan, and she the beneficiary of the mischievous wit of Lehrer...

Billie Roe

Roy Sander
"1978 NYC Underground" Metropolitan Room - May 15 - 18 During the closing remarks in her latest offering, Billie Roe tells us that she's wanted to do a Tom Waits show for a long time. Well, the gestation period may have been long, but the baby is beautiful and healthy. While all of the musical...

Marnie Klar

Roy Sander
"Accidental Happiness" Don't Tell Mama - April 13, 26, May 8, 21, July 16, 24 Marnie Klar's new show, "Accidental Happiness," is all about struggling with the hurdles that life throws in our path, and overcoming them. With the exception of her personal account of one such challenge and how she dealt with it, the...

Lianne Marie Dobbs

Roy Sander
"Everything Old Is New Again" Metropolitan Room  -  April 7, 8, 14, 21 Like figure skaters, cabaret artists can be judged on their technical skills and their artistic merit. Lianne Marie Dobbs has both of these bases covered: Her voice is an attractive and unfailingly sure instrument, and she has considerable acting chops; what's more,...

Adam Shapiro

Roy Sander
"Guide to the Perfect Breakup" The Duplex  –  November 8, 15, December 30, January 30 Comedy is a funny business—and in this instance I don't mean funny-haha. It is extremely difficult to do well. (Yes, I'm stating the obvious, something we are all well aware of.) In the everyday civilian world, when we say that...

Mark Nadler

Roy Sander
"I'm a Stranger Here Myself" 54 Below  –  October 7, 21, 28, November 4, 11 Over the years, singer-pianist Mark Nadler has devised and performed several exceptional, even unforgettable shows: his evening about Russian composers, his tribute to Ira Gershwin, his program of songs of the 1920s—as well as duo shows he co-developed with KT...