We began this article with the hypothesis that cabaret artists must have learned at least something from their virtual presentations that they were then able to bring bring back to their new and live performances. So, we reached out to six cabaret performers—Eric Comstock, Carole Demas, Barbara Fasano, Ann Kittredge, Michael McAssey, and Billy Stritch—to find out […]
As the first notes of Chopin’s “Prelude in C Minor” (which is the basis of Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic”) slid easily into “It’s A Miracle” (Manilow, Marty Panzer), it was already apparent that singer Dorian Woodruff holds a special affection for and appreciation of the legendary singer/songwriter; there would be no camp and […]
A highly theatrical production, singer Quinn Lemley’s thrilling “Rita Hayworth: The Heat is On!” is an extravagant look at the life of the eponymous Hollywood sex symbol, the glamorous World War II pin-up girl dubbed the “Love Goddess.” Sporting stunning costumes (by Wendall Goings and Michael Louis) and backed by a slick four-piece band, […]
Mason Alexander Park’s The Pansy Craze at Chelsea Table + Stage was part TED talk on non-binary history, part hard rock cabaret show, and part showcase for Park’s obvious talents. They played Hedwig in the first national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and regionally in I Am My Own Wife, Cabaret, and The […]
On the eve of Halloween 2021, I ventured into Club Cumming in the East Village. It was festooned with cobwebs and an errant skull here and there; hanging from the ceiling throughout the bar were multiple close-up photos of Janet Leigh’s head just as she is about to take her legendary shower. It set the […]
I recently visited The Blue Room, a new (or at least new to me) cabaret upstairs from Good Judy, a friendly and comfortable gay bar on Fifth Ave in Brooklyn. The show room is a tiny, bare bones space with an upright piano on the stage, decent lights, and excellent sound. It’s a throwback in […]
If It Only Even Runs a Minute, which recently returned to Feinstein’s/ 54 Below, is the brainchild of Jennifer Ashley Tepper and Kevin Michael Murphy who serve as genial, enthusiastic, informative hosts for a show dedicated to samples from and stories about the flops of Broadway history. It is not a new idea, but this […]
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article # 18 in this ongoing series. With richer-than-God entrepreneurs—Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson—pioneering commercial flights into space these days, the rocket-ship dreams that people harbored back in the early days of the international Space Race have been reignited. (Such fantasies will seem more attainable, […]
In their new CD, What to Wear in the Dark, the Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz Ensemble have fashioned a musically intriguing and emotionally satisfying response, not only to the pandemic but to the last decade or two of public and private wounds and monstrous elections. Kate McGarry has long been one of the brightest lights in […]
The skilled storyteller Rian Keating‘s Time Stamps—Life Fragments in Story and Song is a series of personal stories with music. The show took its structure from the assignments in a memoir writing class Rian attended. The device worked well, the stories time-stamped and full of dry and arresting intelligent humor, observations, sadness, and common ground. They were linked by […]