Sally Darling

Robert Windeler
She's done it again. Only more so this time. Over several seasons, we've come to expect the best from Sally Darling, including straight-ahead, uncluttered vocals, a profound understanding of lyrics, and an infectious sense of humor when her material requires it. But in her current cut-above show at Don't Tell Mama, with the somewhat brazen...

Gunhild Carling

Penelope Thomas
Swedish multi-instrumentalist and singer Gunhild Carling works fast, as though she were chasing the tail of some devilish swing-beast and excited as a scrappy kid to catch it. Her joy and attack on stage are absolutely infectious, and her recent set at Birdland Theater was a wild ride. The thread through the evening was a...

Dawn Derow

Penelope Thomas
In her most recent offering, award-winning vocalist Dawn Derow displayed plenty of onstage charisma and a solid legit soprano. The show, The House That Built Me, was based on her family history during her early and adolescent years. As presented, Derow's childhood with hardworking parents was a fortunate one. Stories of growing up valuing family...

Joseph Keckler

Mark Dundas Wood
Some cabaret performers are born entertainers—there to give the audience a good time. Some are interested in educating their listeners or rousing them politically, while others are adept at moving people emotionally. Then there's Joseph Keckler, who takes his listeners on rollicking adventures. You never quite know where he'll lead you after you turn that...

Hannah Reimann

Gerry Geddes
At Pangea recently, singer-instrumentalist Hannah Reimann reveled in her love of all things Joni in her show, Both Sides Now – The Music of Joni Mitchell 1966-1974. As the title indicates, she focused on the songwriter's first six albums; this was a wise choice since those recordings contain most of her "hits" and her most accessible,...

Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz

Mark Dundas Wood
Audiences seem to enjoy theatrical "back-stagers" featuring estranged couples in the entertainment world who squabble their way to a happy denouement. Think of the scrumptious love-hate relationship between Lilli Vanessi and Fred Graham in Kiss Me, Kate or the similarly tasty one between Lili Garland and Oscar Jaffee in On the Twentieth Century. Now, performers...

Luba Mason

Robert Windeler
Although, by her own reckoning, she's been a professional singer since 1987, Luba Mason postponed performing her first fully autobiographical cabaret show until Luba Mason – 5'10", her recent outing at The Green Room 42. From an audience point of view, it was well worth the wait. Apart from the expected (and delivered) powerful and wide-ranging...

Joanna Gleason

Gerry Geddes
Whenever students or singers that I'm directing adopt a personal-confession format for their performance, I am quick to point out that while there should be truth on stage, there don't necessarily have to be facts. The best singers allow the audience to experience their own moments of joy, grief, or passion through the storytelling of...

Carol McCann

Gerry Geddes
Singer Carol McCann described the theme of her new show, Music Lessons (recently seen at Pangea in an encore performance), as a collection of songs from which she has learned something. It's a simple concept, made all the more simple because she never really delved into the interesting possibilities that the title evoked. It became,...

Joanne Halev

Mark Dundas Wood
For her show Like a Perfumed Woman (directed by Lina Koutrakos), recently at Birdland Theater, Joanne Halev drew on her career experience in the world of "fragrance creation." (For years, she traveled the globe in search of exotic and intoxicating scents.) She had fun with the "fragrance" motif, noting that songs and fragrances alike are...