Danya Katok

Mark Dundas Wood
Lyric soprano Danya Katok is a young, fresh-faced performer with a sweet onstage demeanor. She has trained for—and launched—a career as an opera and classical concert singer, experience she gave evidence of during her recent Don't Tell Mama engagement. But she is able to play chameleon—adjusting her singing style to perform numbers with a folk-pop...

Rita Wilson

Gerry Geddes
The sixties ushered in a number of changes in the world of music: the British invasion, folk music, Motown, and many others.  One of those changes, the rise of the singer/songwriter, turned out to be a surprising double-edged sword. While it celebrated artists like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Webb, James Taylor, Elton John and...

Abigail Rockwell & Sean Harkness

Gerry Geddes
The rough-hewn, relaxed feel of Stage 3 at Rockwood Music Hall on the Lower East Side proved the ideal setting for singer Abigail Rockwell and guitarist Sean Harkness to debut their new pairing, "Rock & Hark." The show had a loosely structured, "what shall we do next?" feel that for the most part worked well. The two...

Liliane Montevecchi

Mark Dundas Wood
When she takes the cabaret stage, Liliane Montevecchi is not just regal. She's an entire royal court. At center is the monarch herself, with her imposing demeanor and effortless power to keep all eyes on her person. But she's also her own jester—throwing mischievous, sometimes naughty quips to the audience. Likewise, she's her own bodyguard....

Brandon James Gwinn

Gerry Geddes
Brandon James Gwinn is a pianist at Marie's Crisis piano bar. He is a Dramatists Guild Fellow and a Richard Rodgers Award finalist. He has been artist-in-residence at Ars Nova. He is a popular music director in cabaret and theatre and a composer of numerous shows and songs. He has been performing a series of...

Jason Kravits

Gerry Geddes
Jason Kravits is one of those good, reliable television character actors whose name might escape you, but whose face has you saying, "Oh yeah, that's the long-suffering district attorney from The Practice," or "I remember that guy from Grey's Anatomy" or from one of the seemingly endless list of shows on which he has co-starred...

Marcus Goldhaber

Gerry Geddes
First, let's talk a bit about Frank Sinatra. A musical icon (maybe THE musical icon), he has influenced a few generations of male vocalists. There are some who want to do his songs, some who want to emulate his style, some who want to capture that "Rat Pack" cool of a bygone era, and some...

John Epperson

Mark Dundas Wood
You might think that John Epperson, having been for decades in the employ of the glamorous and imposing stage sensation Lypsinka, would have picked up some of his mistress's grand manner. But that's clearly not the case. The eponymous star of "John 'Lypsinka' Epperson: An Evening with Lypsinka's Maid" (at Feinstein's/54 Below) isn't exactly mousy....

Barbara Fasano

Gerry Geddes
Barbara Fasano celebrated the release of her new CD, "Busy Being Free," at the Metropolitan Room with the disc's arranger and music director, John di Martino, on piano. While the title comes from an early Joni Mitchell song, "Cactus Tree," the repertoire is primarily from the Great American Songbook and includes both familiar warhorses and rare...

Amanda Yesnowitz

Gerry Geddes
Lyricist Amanda Yesnowitz has been developing a name for herself in cabaret circles in New York City, with multiple nominations for various "Song of the Year" awards and, as she put it in her recent show at the Duplex, "Mercury Rising: The Sultry, Sassy Lyrics of Amanda Yesnowitz," she has also "won some sh*t as...