Betty Buckley

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Ah Men! The Boys of Broadway" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  –  October 4 - 29 "Ah Men! The Boys of Broadway"—it's a tasty title. Who would not find inspiration in the beautiful boys of Broadway? In her latest salute to the Great White Way, Betty Buckley remembers the songs performed by some of the greats...

Tom Gamblin

Kevin Scott Hall
"A Way Back to Then" Metropolitan Room  –  September 22, October 11  Cabaret audiences may know Tom Gamblin best for his stints as the quick-witted host of the Metropolitan Room's popular annual summer-long performance contest, the MetroStar Talent Challenge. Theatregoers may know him for his off-Broadway and tour work or perhaps his nine seasons playing...

Donald Wayne

Mark Dundas Wood
"Lost in the 40's" Don't Tell Mama  –  August 28, September 8, 10, 11, 13  With "Lost in the Forties," Donald Wayne provided a highly personal look- and listen-back at the music consumed by 1940s Americans—a generation wounded and scarred by the Second World War. Early on in the show, which was directed by Spider...

Kenneth Gartman

Mark Dundas Wood
"…not like the other cavemen" Don't Tell Mama  –  September 10 & 14, October 23 & 28, November 2 At the top of his act, Kenneth Gartman speaks about growing up listening to—and singing—Christian pop music. He actually includes a couple of numbers from that genre in his show. On the night I attended, I...

Carole Demas

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Summer Nights" Laurie Beechman Theatre  –  September 19, October 17 Summer nights are balmy rather than steamy when Carole Demas delivers her reprise of Summer Nights, a program of American songs. This is easy listening in a most engaging way. The casual Demas has a wide smile and a welcoming, laid-back demeanor, but beneath that...

Simply Streisand

Mark Dundas Wood
Laurie Beechman Theatre  –  August 10 & 24, Sept. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 2 Installments of "Simply Streisand" began playing at the Laurie Beechman Theatre this summer, and the series will continue, at least into early fall. Each performance enlists a different mix of singers to pay tribute to Barbra Streisand and sing selections from...

O Sole Trio

Roy Sander
I didn't know quite what to expect from O Sole Trio. The three members of this group (musical director/accompanist David Shenton and vocalists Erin Shields and Giuseppe Spoletini) all have classical training, so I thought they might present an evening of Italian arias, which would have been just dandy with me. But, then, the group's...

Max and Maxine: Together…AGAIN!

Kevin Scott Hall
 Don't Tell Mama  –  September 13 & 20 First presented back in 1997, "Max and Maxine" follows the careers of an aging lounge act doing its desperate best to remain relevant and hip. Theatre veterans Bryan Scott Johnson and Jennifer Perry have fun playing the over-the-top duo, along with musical director Gary Adler, during a...

Rita Gardner

Roy Sander
"Try to Remember: A Look Back at Off-Broadway" Metropolitan Room  –  September 9, 10, 16, 17, 18 Early in the opening number of her show at the Metropolitan Room, Rita Gardner sings a passage from the score of The Fantasticks that made my jaw drop: more than 50 years after she created the role of...

Storm Large

Mark Dundas Wood
"An Intimate Evening with a Woman Your Mom Warned You About" Metropolitan Room  –  August 31 The aptly named Storm Large blew through town the week after Hurricane Irene's brush with Manhattan. She touched ground at the Metropolitan Room, where she gusted for an hour or so at winds reaching at least 150 miles per...