Gay Marshall

Gerry Geddes
Leonard Cohen wore many coats in addition to his famous "Famous Blue Raincoat": he was a novelist, a poet, a musician, a songwriter, a singer, an actor, and for a time, a stand-up comedian. A native Canadian, he was best known in this country as a singer-songwriter, first introduced to me (and many others) by...

Broadway Sings Rihanna

Penelope Thomas
Rihanna may be to this era what Madonna was to the 1980s: a chart-topping, identity-shifting, fashion-forward, pop mogul. These days when kids bounce around their bedrooms and sing into a hairbrush, you can bet it's often Rihanna they're singing. As catchy and glossy as her superstardom is, she also has a fierce, truth-telling quality that...

Cynthia Sayer

Robert Windeler
Ever since I first heard Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susanna" on a Little Golden Record in early childhood, I've loved the sound of the banjo. I cottoned to Mickie Finn's club in San Diego and its successful 1966 TV show, with Mickie herself on the banjo. To see the Mummers' string band parade in Philadelphia, I...

Martin Landry

Gerry Geddes
The title of actor-singer-writer Martin Landry's new show at the Duplex, Screlton McNodes and His Search for Transcendence Through the Act of Putting on Musicals in the Barn with Stray Cats Amidst a Life Full of Pain, Abuse, Murder, and Insanity, may at first glance appear to be the most descriptive title in the history...

Mary Foster Conklin

Gerry Geddes
Fran Landesman is one of the quintessential 20th century lyricists. She combined the hip cool of jazz with the anti-establishment style of the beat generation and the conversational naturalism of the best pop music into a heady body of work written with some of the most influential composers of the time. In Life Is a...

Heather Villaescusa

Penelope Thomas
Heather Villaescusa took first place in last year's Mama's Next BIG Act! competition; her new show at Don't Tell Mama, The Happiness Project (A 10-week Guide), is a lively trip through the fun, angst and domestic hiccups she went through taking on a challenge that scared the pants off her…and winning. Her strong vocals support...

Cheryl Bentyne

Gerry Geddes
Singer Cheryl Bentyne, of Manhattan Transfer fame, publicized reARRANGEMENTS OF SHADOWS, her recent show at Birdland, as a celebration of her new release of Sondheim songs, but it turned out to be more a preview of the CD because fully half of the program consisted of non-Sondheim material. Although this might have been disappointing to...

Brooke Davis

Robert Windeler
In Late to the Party, her recent show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, directed by Barbara Grecki, Brooke Davis touchingly and comically re-invented the autobiographical cabaret hour by appropriating mostly familiar songs in a partly new context. She even had a somewhat non-traditional backing trio: music director, arranger and pianist Darren R. Cohen; Peter Sachon...

Emily Ellet

Mark Dundas Wood
Last summer I attended the final round of the MetroStar Talent Challenge at the Metropolitan Room, where I immediately found myself rooting for young singer Emily Ellet. She was someone I'd never previously heard—or heard of—but I was taken with the clarity of her voice, her concentration, her respect for (and ease with) lyrics, and...

Lorna Dallas

Gerry Geddes
To the best of my knowledge, February 26th is not a holiday, but perhaps it should be. That date marked the return to the New York cabaret stage, after a 20-year absence, of singer Lorna Dallas in a beautifully fashioned, exquisitely performed show called Home Again. With the invaluable assistance of director Barry Kleinbort and...