Lisa Viggiano

Robert Windeler
In her latest show, From Lady Day to The Boss (at Don't Tell Mama, smoothly directed by Tanya Moberly), Lisa Viggiano justly and joyously celebrated the nearly five-decade career at Columbia Records of John Henry Hammond—from his supervision of the last recordings of Bessie Smith to his signing and launching of Bruce Springsteen. In between...

Gretchen Reinhagen

Gerry Geddes
Lately it seems that singer Gretchen Reinhagen's name pops up most often with the word "director" attached, but in her continuing residency at Pangea the words "host" and "star" are more to the point. Using her most recent night as a celebration of her new CD, Take It With Me, Reinhagen focused on a number...

Mark William

David Sabella
With Feeling Good, his new show at The Green Room 42, vocalist Mark William celebrated the release of his debut CD, Mark William: Come Croon With Me. The recording is billed as his "critically acclaimed nightclub act"; accordingly, the show was a hybrid of nightclub- and cabaret-style performance. This is sometimes the case with a...

Lorna Dallas

Mark Dundas Wood
Lorna Dallas—an American who made a name for herself as a young singer in London, and then decided to make a life there—returned to New York City's Birdland Theater recently with an encore performance of the show she debuted there in February. Stages, directed by Barry Kleinbort, with musical direction by pianist Chris Denny, gave...

Bruno Giraldi

Mark Dundas Wood
There are cabaret singers who have years of experience under their belts, a warm rapport with their audiences, refined acting and singing skills, and a solid understanding of the club-singer's repertoire. And then there are those with far less experience, whose relationship with listeners is hit or miss, and whose fluency with the cabaret catalog...

Mary Ellen Ryan

Penelope Thomas
Mary Ellen Ryan's debut cabaret, No Apologies, started with a satirical Ted Talk-inspired Women's Studies lecture, complete with Ryan in reading glasses as "Professor Feminista." The performance alternated between this professor as our guide, and a variety of alter-egos who performed the mostly comic or ironic song list. Directed by Eadie Scott, with musical direction...

Ari Axelrod

Robert Windeler
Editor's note: This review has been updated to correct factual errors in the original version published on December 10. We apologize for the errors and sincerely regret any misunderstanding they caused. At the beginning of A Celebration of Jewish Broadway (directed by Lina Koutrakos), which he recently brought back to Birdland Theater, Ari Axelrod cheerfully...

Regina Zona

Mark Dundas Wood
A friend of mine enjoys musical theatre and songs from the American Songbook, but cannot abide anyone singing such music who has an "operatic" voice. Even someone like Audra McDonald or Kelli O'Hara is a no-go for him. I thought about this friend during the opening sequence of Regina Zona's cabaret act at the Triad,...

Klea Blackhurst

Gerry Geddes
In One of the Girls – The Words and Music of Jerry Herman at Birdland, singer Klea Blackhurst leaves no doubt about her affection for the famed Broadway composer and his songs. Using a program of mostly familiar material, she takes us on a dual journey through Herman's career and through her connections to it. Her...

Meg Flather

Robert Windeler
At this time of her life ("now post-menopausal and proud of it"), Meg Flather is clearly reassessing her past mistakes and triumphs along with her current and future options. In her dazzling recent (and future) show at Don't Tell Mama, Outbound Plane (directed by Lennie Watts), she not only repurposed 14 songs of wide variety...