Ryan James Monroe

Mark Dundas Wood
Ryan James Monroe is a big singer in many ways. He’s physically imposing—someone you wouldn’t mind accompanying you if you were planning on navigating some dark alleys. As far as his wardrobe and styling choices go, he seems dedicated to flair and flamboyance. (At the show I saw he wore a heavy-looking, floor-length black skirt...

Spotlighting New Faces (for this author anyway) at This Season’s “Winter Rhythms”

Mark Dundas Wood
Last year, I made it to almost every offering at the Winter Rhythms series at Urban Stages. This year, I mixed things up a little. I elected to see shows only from performers whose work and talents I was unfamiliar with, and to write about them in greater detail.  As usual Winter Rhythms was presided...

Nellie McKay

Mark Dundas Wood
For her opening number at her recent show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, Nellie McKay chose a hit song from 1967: the Doors’ “People Are Strange” (John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison). Accompanying herself at the piano, she sang, in a wee voice but an incredibly intense one: “People are strange when you’re...

“The Beat of a Wandering Heart—The Songs of Marty Silvestri and Joel Higgins”

Gerry Geddes
A revue is a curious inhabitant in the world of cabaret, often existing in a limbo between theatre and cabaret which at its best can benefit from the advantages of both, but can also suffer from the limitations. When it works, a revue can reimagine and showcase the musical and narrative strengths of the material in...

Bill Russell’s “Has Anyone Seen My Mind?”

Gerry Geddes
When lyricist/librettist Bill Russell is not busy writing influential, iconic musicals like the Tony-nominated Side Show and Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens he does not put down the pen (or the keyboard) but rather keeps busy with an endless stream of poems and observations, rants and raves. He culls his favorites from the...

Anya Turner & Robert Grusecki —”Joy & Love”

Mark Dundas Wood
Songwriters, performers, and devoted spouses Anya Turner and Robert Grusecki have been making music together for three decades—something they celebrated recently in the last of a three-performance run of a show called Joy & Love. In it, they presented original songs from several of their recorded albums, but—especially—their two most recent ones: Secret Lovers (2024)...

Nic & Desi – “Dance Another Day”

Mark Dundas Wood
The European tradition of cabaret—bohemian and sophisticated (and frequently cerebral, political, satirical, and angsty)—continues to be a major influence on contemporary American cabaret.  But wait…. Don’t forget about the variety tradition: the commercial American entertainment genre that dominated pop culture over many decades, turning up in vaudeville, in casino showrooms, in Catskills resorts, in long-gone...

Maureen Kelley Stewart— “This Is Always”

Gerry Geddes
If likability were quantifiable, say on a scale of one to 10, singer Maureen Kelley Stewart would probably rate a 12. Her new show, and return to cabaret, This Is Always, was filled with beguiling charm and her ingratiating joy in singing. From her debut in 1991 she has always partnered with some of New...

Kim David Smith’s “Comme Une Folle: torch songs for tough times because gay”

Gerry Geddes
With his new show, at Joe's Pub, Comme Une Folle: torch songs for tough times because gay, singer Kim David Smith stepped out from the shadow of Marlene Dietrich and claimed the spotlight as his own, without an assist from the legendary diva.  Not that being in her shadow was in any way a detriment...

“The Best of Ann Hampton Callaway”

Penelope Thomas
The Best of Ann Hampton Callaway show, similarly to the last time I saw her at 54 Below in 2023, was somewhat cobbled together from Callaway’s other performances. Not that a “best of” cabaret necessarily needs an additional theme, but I felt like I was missing out on the other projects she frequently referenced in...