Andrea McArdle

Robert Windeler
Nostalgia can cover a multitude of sins or situations. Even better if the nostalgia is shared. In the case of Andrea McArdle's recent new show at Feinstein's/54 Below, the happy remembrance of things past was needed to leaven only one ongoing hiccup. And this particular glitch her audience's group nostalgia overcame very nicely indeed. "I'm...

Corinna Sowers Adler

Robert Windeler
Somewhat as a sequel to Stories, her New York cabaret debut nearly a decade ago, Corinna Sowers Adler recently offered Second Stories at the Triad Theater. But this stunning, hour-long set proved to be so much more than a mere follow-up to a prior clutch of story songs. This time out, in a wide-ranging selection...

Steve Dorff

Gerry Geddes
There is a particular pleasure to be had in listening to good pop songs sung by their creators. Whether it's Jimmy Webb or Sheldon Harnick or Paul Williams or Harold Arlen, there's a palpable connection to the material, obviously, but there's also a more gentle, conversational delivery of both lyric and melody that sets each...

Andrea Axelrod

Mark Dundas Wood
For every "We'll love each other madly forever" anthem, it seems that there are at least a couple of "Waaah!—we're through" songs. At Don't Tell Mama, the talented Andrea Axelrod investigates the latter category in After the Bawl (Recovery from Hearthache), with musical director John Cook at the piano. I'm mentioning Cook at the outset...

Lucille Carr-Kaffashan

Robert Windeler
Having created and performed two prior shows that featured the work of female composers, in her recent offering at Don't Tell Mama, Lucille Carr-Kaffashan focused exclusively on the output of male songwriters. Unlike her 2017 Bistro Award-winning theme show celebrating 21st century women singer-songwriters, this new show, How the Light Gets In, reached back to...

New York Old Friend

Mark Dundas Wood
Sometimes it seems that songs about New York City are as plentiful as songs about affairs of the heart and the blessings of the good God above. But if there's a glut of music about the big burg, it hasn't dissuaded songwriter Kenneth Laub. He has fashioned not just one new New York anthem, but...

Everybody Rise: A Resistance Cabaret

Mark Dundas Wood
The art of political song parody has been reinvigorated in the era of Donald Trump. You can find this in the online videos of the clever, intrepidly campy Randy Rainbow, also famed for his spoof interviews. A less-visible practitioner of the genre—at least until now—has been Joe Keenan, formerly a writer and producer on TV's...

Marissa Mulder

Penelope Thomas
The opening night of Marissa Mulder's I'll Follow the Sun: The John Lennon and Paul McCartney Songbooks at Feinstein's/54 Below provided a much-needed infusion of brightness in a week full of rain. It's unusual that sweetness would be such a compelling and interesting quality in a singer, but Mulder knew exactly what to do with...

Broadway’s Next Hit Musical

Robert Windeler
Satirical improvisation based on audience suggestions is tricky enough when it merely involves words and actions in unrelated set pieces. But add impromptu music, lyrics, and a quirky overarching theme to the mix, and you really have a challenge. It's one that, by and large, this cast of four composer-performers was well up to the...

Mark Nadler

David Sabella
Mark Nadler recently regaled the audience at the Laurie Beechman Theatre with his new show, The Old Razzle Dazzle – an Evening of Lies, Lying and Liars. Appearing dapper at the piano in a vested suit and black Bowler hat, he assured the audience that "Everything I am going to tell you tonight is a lie."...