We Have to Laugh! Finding Humor in Terrible Times

Jim David
“Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the show?” That famous joke was obviously not made at the time of Lincoln’s assassination but many years later, a prime example of how, as comedian Steve Allen put it, “comedy equals tragedy plus time.” It’s usually difficult to joke about tragedy while it’s happening, but...

The Evolving Genre/Gender-Bending Art Form Known as Drag is One Big Hybrid

Simi Horwitz
Latrice Royale (Wade Muir Photography) (This is Part One  of a multi-part series on alternative cabaret by Simi Horwitz.) The diva-inspired bitchy and/or adorably naughty drag queen is still with us. Hey, she’s the archetype and a few have elevated drag to high art. Think Varla Jean Merman, the self-described love...

Cabaret Setlist: “Sand” – Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #2 in this new running series. Few among us dispute the idea that Stephen Sondheim is the most important living American composer/lyricist in musical theatre. He has raised the artistic bar for songwriting so high that giants in the sky could effortlessly dance the limbo beneath...

Commentary: Getting It Right

Roy Sander
Is it my imagination, or are cabaret singers getting increasingly sloppy with lyrics? I suspect this malpractice has long existed—it's just that I've been growing increasingly impatient with it. I'm not talking about going up in a lyric; anyone can have a momentary lapse. I'm talking about learning a lyric incorrectly and repeatedly performing it...

Cabaret Setlist: Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook

Mark Dundas Wood
  Song #1 in this new running series: “Little Girl Blue” – Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart When it comes to cabaret repertoire, I can think of few other songwriters who have created the sort of treasure trove that Rodgers and Hart have given us. The appeal of their catalog was (and...

Songwriters Agree: Cabaret Is A Great Venue for Nurturing New Work

Alexis Greene
Cabaret is intimate. Or as Tovah Feldshuh says, "A good nightclub act is a bit like a date: it has a sexual factor in it, it has an entertainment factor in it, and it has the knowledge that people are eating while they're watching." In a theatre, there's an invisible wall between an actor and...

Commentary: It’s Not About You

Roy Sander
Time was when cabaret was a performing arts form in which audience members sat at tables and the people on stage had a job to do: to entertain the audience. Period. Rather simple, eh? Alas, at some point in the not-too-distant past, cabaret took a wrong turn. Today, a growing number of people, especially recent...

A Conversation with Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire

Bistro Awards
By Shellen Lubin SHELLEN Let's start with what led to Starting Here, Starting Now, and how you used cabaret to showcase your songs and get exposure for your work. RICHARD It's funny. We actually started at Upstairs at the Downstairs, with Julius Monk's and Billy Barnes's shows. That was where writers broke in, with cabaret...

2020 Bistro Awards Winners Announced

Bistro Awards
Celebrated Songwriting Team RICHARD MALTBY, JR. and DAVID SHIRE Among the Honorees at the 35th ANNUAL BISTRO AWARDS Gala Monday, March 9 at Gotham Comedy Club Charles Busch, Lorna Dallas, Michele Brourman, and Spencer Day Also Recognized Among the 19 Winners New York City, January 30, 2020 —One of the longest-running musical partnerships in Broadway...

The Bistro Awards Honored with Board of Directors Award from Manhattan Association of Cabarets

Bistro Awards
The Bistro Awards are being honored with a Board of Directors Award from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets for its 35 years of recognizing, encouraging, and nurturing cabaret and jazz artists through its insightful reviews, online articles,  and its annual awards. The presentation will take place at the annual MAC Awards on Monday, March 30.