Mark Dundas Wood

"Does This Song Make Me Look Fat?" Laurie Beechman Theatre  –  January 14, 21, 28, February 8 Some cabaret performers choose to pack a show with languid ballads. Sure, they may feature the odd up-tempo number and perhaps a comic turn or two: bones thrown to the notion of variety. But mostly these singers go...

D4vidFinkle

The Metropolitan Room  -  January 4, 11, 17 18 Usually a pianist playing behind or alongside a featured singer is considered an accompanist. But not always. When Kenny Werner plays for Betty Buckley, what occurs is a collaboration between equal partners. This is often the case as well with Rick Jensen and whomever he's partnering....

Mark Dundas Wood

St. Luke's Theatre  –  Mondays at 7pm, Wednesdays at 2pm, Thursdays at 8pm The songs of composer Harold Arlen—with their sophistication and mix of Jewish and African-American melodic elements—need to be approached with intelligence, care, and taste. One of Arlen's standards (co-written with Ted Koehler) famously touts the "right to sing the blues." Perhaps the...

Mark Dundas Wood

Laurie Beechman Theatre: May 6; Etcetera Etcetera: October 24; Urban Stages: December 13; Don't Tell Mama: February 7 The four performers in the revue "Smile on My Face" begin with a medley of two Richard Eisenberg selections—"Hum a Song" and "They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore." These songs lament the tuneless and repetitive nature...

Roy Sander

"Guide to the Perfect Breakup" The Duplex  –  November 8, 15, December 30, January 30 Comedy is a funny business—and in this instance I don't mean funny-haha. It is extremely difficult to do well. (Yes, I'm stating the obvious, something we are all well aware of.) In the everyday civilian world, when we say that...

Robert Windeler

Urban Stages  -  December 12 Just a few blocks away, rock-and-roll royalty of the past 50 years were blasting their 12‑12‑12 concert, raising millions for Hurricane Sandy victims. While at Urban Stages, this quieter evening's amiable host, Bill Boggs, was suggesting that if Frank were in the room he'd say something like, "Let's get the...

Kevin Scott Hall

"The Importance of Being STEARNSest" Don't Tell Mama: November 19, December 16;  Duplex: January 26, February 23 It's hard to know where to begin with Stearns Matthews, a young man blessed with talent, but who is perhaps still trying to figure out who he is as an artist. Or maybe he knows, and I'm trying...

Elizabeth Ahlfors

"The Kid From Paris – Jean Brassard Sings Yves Montand" The Triad – November 9, 23, December 7 Tributes can be a risky business. Of course, we've seen tribute shows that were carelessly sloughed off with a song list and dates. Serious artists, however, should delve through books, recordings, memoirs, available interviews to develop a...

Robert Windeler

59E59 Theaters  -  December 4 - 30 Is this cabaret? Is it theatre? Does it matter? This hour-long piece by Barry Kleinbort (based on a short play by Jeffrey Hatcher) is being presented in the cabaret space of a multi-theatre complex. Penny Fuller, who has been both stage actress and cabaret singer over her long...

Mark Dundas Wood

"Fly Transatlantic" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  –  December 5 British singer Joanna Strand was supposed to have made appearances at the Metropolitan Room several weeks ago, but that engagement was thwarted by Hurricane Sandy. She was able to play New York after all with this one-nighter at Feinstein's. Her show, "Fly Transatlantic," traced an adventurous...