Danielle Grabianowski

Kevin Scott Hall
The Duplex  –  May 30, June 19, August 28, then monthly In her latest offering, an untitled show at The Duplex, sly and subversive songbird Danielle Grabianowski ignores the "rules" of cabaret (and gently pokes fun at them in her patter). Opening with a humorous French ditty, "Sympathique" (by Pink Martini's China Forbes and Thomas...

Jillian Laurain

Kevin Scott Hall
"My Broadway – 100 Years of the Great White Way" Metropolitan Room  –  March 2, June 16, November 23 It's hard to find the right superlative for Jillian Laurain, a class act whose talent runs as deep and wide as a mighty river. Here is a woman who trained and worked as an opera singer...

Devin Bing

Kevin Scott Hall
"Devin Bing and the Secret Service" Metropolitan Room  –  June 13, July 18, August 15 A party atmosphere filled the room as young Devin Bing, grooving to the driving intro music, danced onto the stage of the Metropolitan Room, kissing and patting the backs of people in the audience along the way, his band, the...

Cynthia Farrell

Mark Dundas Wood
"Cynthia Farrell for Real" Don't Tell Mama – July 23, 25, 31 With her smooth, controlled, powerful voice, her deep concentration, and her diligent attention to enunciation and phrasing, Cynthia Farrell, now making her cabaret debut at Don't Tell Mama, is a talent to keep a sharp eye on. The emotional intensity she can bring...

Julie Budd

Mark Dundas Wood
An Evening with Julie Budd" Metropolitan Room – June 12, 13 Talk about your elephant in the room. I suppose it is possible to write about a Julie Budd performance without mentioning the name Barbra Streisand. But it's sort of like describing Colby cheese without using the word "cheddar." Why give yourself the aggravation? The...
Julie Budd

Tales from the Jazz Age: An F. Scott Fitzgerald Songbook

Robert Windeler
Café Carlyle  -  June 13, 20, 21 This revue of songs truly linked to the life and works of F. Scott Fitzgerald is a good idea, if only to provide a cleansing antidote to the late, unlamented, musically anachronistic Baz Luhrman movie version of The Great Gatsby. Co-creators Will Friedwald, who conceived the show, and...

Billie Roe

Roy Sander
"1978 NYC Underground" Metropolitan Room - May 15 - 18 During the closing remarks in her latest offering, Billie Roe tells us that she's wanted to do a Tom Waits show for a long time. Well, the gestation period may have been long, but the baby is beautiful and healthy. While all of the musical...

Annie Kozuch

Mark Dundas Wood
"Mostly Jobim" Stage 72 – May 29, June 6 Bossa nova music has always ambled gently along the line in the sand between jazz and pop, like some tall, tanned girl sauntering down an Ipanema beach. In his 1979 book The Latin Tinge, music critic John Storm Roberts identified bossa nova as a "fusion of...

Marnie Klar

Roy Sander
"Accidental Happiness" Don't Tell Mama - April 13, 26, May 8, 21, July 16, 24 Marnie Klar's new show, "Accidental Happiness," is all about struggling with the hurdles that life throws in our path, and overcoming them. With the exception of her personal account of one such challenge and how she dealt with it, the...

Lianne Marie Dobbs

Roy Sander
"Everything Old Is New Again" Metropolitan Room  -  April 7, 8, 14, 21 Like figure skaters, cabaret artists can be judged on their technical skills and their artistic merit. Lianne Marie Dobbs has both of these bases covered: Her voice is an attractive and unfailingly sure instrument, and she has considerable acting chops; what's more,...