Christopher Timson

Gerry Geddes
Sometimes, not often enough, the stars align and the gods of cabaret look down on a show and everything that can go right, miraculously, does and everything that can go wrong, even more miraculously, does not. That is what happened in Christoper Timson's show "#TBT: A Chubby Boy's Guide to Growing Up Normal" at Feinstein's/54...

Chita Rivera

Mark Dundas Wood
At one point during the opening night of her Café Carlyle debut show, "An Evening of My Favorite Songs," Chita Rivera noted that she has been running around for years just being her 35-year-old self, without noticing exactly how much time has elapsed. If this show is any indication, the Rivera approach to aging is...

The Quentin Tarantino Songbook

Gerry Geddes
It is a well-known fact that in addition to being an accomplished director, Quentin Tarantino is a lover of movies. His films are filled with homages and "quotes" from classic and pulp movies. Anyone who has seen his work also quickly realizes that he loves "old" music—often songs and themes from earlier films and generations....

Celia Berk

Robert Windeler
No sophomore slump here. On the contrary, Celia Berk's new Metropolitan Room show, "Manhattan Serenade," is even better than her remarkable debut outing of last season. Under the fluid direction of Jeff Harnar, Berk seems to have broadened her ability to embrace an audience while simultaneously assessing her bone-deep feelings about the subjects that concern...

Jennifer Roberts

Robert Windeler
Lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who will turn 92 on April 30, could hardly have asked for a more exuberant or heartfelt early birthday celebration than the one Jennifer Roberts threw for him in the form of her show at Don't Tell Mama, "Jennifer Roberts: She Loves…Sheldon!" Her upfront fan-girl enthusiasm for her favorite lyric writer, dating...

Midnight at the Never Get

Gerry Geddes
Midnight at the Never Get, a new musical chronicling the tumultuous birth and rise of the Gay Liberation Movement through the relationship of two men whose lives intersect with this historic moment, is being given its inaugural workshop at Don't Tell Mama. The characters are fictional, but the play manages to pack a lot of historical...

Madame Mathieu’s Soirée

Gerry Geddes
Drew Fornarola is certainly not one to rest on his laurels. His play Straight (co-written with Scott Elmegreen) is enjoying a successful, critically acclaimed run. For others, this would be more than enough for a season, but Fornarola has fashioned another ongoing entertainment to delight New York audiences: Madame Mathieu's Soirée. Its premise is that...

Gay Marshall

Mark Dundas Wood
Over the years, singer-actress Gay Marshall has made the musical repertoire of Édith Piaf something of a specialty. With the 2015 centenary of the legendary French singer's birth, she has been especially busy of late singing Piaf's material. Yet in many ways her persona doesn't seem much at all like that of the singer she celebrates. Piaf's image,...

Melissa Errico

Robert Windeler
In her recent show at Feinstein's/54 Below, directed by Robbie Rozelle and backed only by musical director Tedd Firth ("my orchestra") on piano, Melissa Errico neatly melded the two major musical strains of her performing career. Songs from Broadway (her own roles and those of others) showcased her solid and soaring "legit" soprano; her contrasting...

Monday Night Madness

Gerry Geddes
One of the most sorely missed treasures of New York cabaret life in the last century was Eighty-Eight‘s, an understated yet elegant room on 10th Street in the West Village. I saw a lot of shows there. I reviewed a lot of shows there. I directed a lot of shows there. It was one of...