By Adam Cohen . . . True talent, it is said, overcomes all obstacles to shine abundantly. There were no obstacles standing in the way of Adrienne Warren (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) and her friends at Bryant Park’s Picnic Performance. The...
Music & Cabaret
Jazz in July: Dianne Reeves Meets the Bill Charlap Trio
By Marilyn Lester The experience of the second and last Jazz in July concert 2021 at 92Y was no less than magical. The celebrated jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves not only wove a spell of musical enchantment, but her very presence on stage seemed to emit a particularly...
Emily Skinner: A Broad with a Broad Broad Mind
By Brian Scott Lipton . . . Did the pandemic change you? Did it make you speak your mind more freely? Did it make you feel lonely? Did it make you watch a lot of old movies and TV? Did it make you reconsider where you live and what you do for a living? Did it make you...
Jelani Remy: This is My Moment
by Melissa Griegel . . . Jelani Remy (The Lion King, Ain’t Too Proud— the Life and Times of the Temptations) got a chance to warm up his vocal cords at his solo show at Feinstein’s/54 Below on July 27th in preparation for his return to Broadway this fall. He will be...
JASON DANIELEY
By Brian Scott Lipton . . . As Jason Danieley breaks into a grin in the middle of the timeless standard “Smile,” the first song in his superb new show “Reflections” at Feinstein’s/54 Below, one can practically hear the audience breathe a collective sigh of a relief....
Joe Iconis and Friends Light Up the 54 Below Stage
by Melissa Griegel . . . When Joe Iconis (Be More Chill, Broadway Bounty Hunter) takes the stage, buckle up because he is going to take you for a fast-paced, energetic ride. He sits down at the piano and plows through song after song, seemingly without taking a...
Adam Pascal’s Glorious Return to Feinstein’s 54 Below
by Melissa Griegel . . . Adam Pascal (Rent, Aida) took to the 54 Below stage on July 24th with his guitar and a warm smile for his fans. Pascal began the set with a beautifully emotional cover of Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees.” The one-man show was part career...
Jazz in July: Kurt Elling & Bill Charlap Standard Time
By Marilyn Lester . . . Happily demonstrating that even a pandemic can’t keep a seriously good thing down, the long-running, summer series Jazz in July at 92Y was back, even if in an abbreviated form. Kurt Elling & Bill Charlap: Standard Time, was full of...
Beth Leavel ‘After the 27 Year Pandemic’
Review by Melissa Griegel . . . The incomparable Beth Leavel (The Prom, The Drowsy Chaperone) jubilantly returned to the stage at Feinstein’s/54 Below on July 22nd and July 23rd. She bounced up on the stage talking about how much she “missed it all” during the last...
Allons Enfants! (Let’s Go Kids)
“The French are the ones who made sadness- -chic.” Steve Ross . . . By Bailey Van Schepen. . . This was my first show coming back from the restricted world . . . a theatre-less world. I was beyond nervous and a bit overwhelmed by the nostalgia of the space at Pangea-...
Paulo Szot at Feinstein’s/54 Below
By Marilyn Lester There may not be enough superlatives to describe the talent of Paulo Szot, the award-winning baritone (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Theater World) who possesses an almost supernatural ability to deliver an evening full of nothing but...
Lee Roy Reams Remembers Jerry Herman
Oh, What Sweet Memories . . . By Sandi Durell Where do I begin? Lee Roy Reams is, by far, Mr. ShowBiz . . . Mr. song, dance, actor . . . the epitome of what a Broadway musical star is when we look at the history of when musicals were musicals! He was also very...
THE SKIVVIES: LITTLE SHOP OF ROCKY HORRORS
By Ron Fassler If you have never seen the Skivvies (and what are you waiting for?), the recent show at Feinstein’s/54 Below was among their very best. Created by Nick Cearley and Lauren Molina, the two friends and fellow actor-singer-musicians score repeatedly with...
Andrew Barth Feldman
Sings His Way Through Disneyworld by Melissa Griegel with Photos by Melissa Griegel Photography Nineteen-year-old Andrew Barth Feldman, of Dear Evan Hansen fame, was such a delight at his solo performance on July 9th at Feinstein’s/54 Below. His show Park Map takes...
A Marilyn Maye Surge
Expect the Unexpected by Sandi Durell. . . https://youtu.be/ykaJup15j7E Here I am in Hudson, NY on a rainy July 1, 2021 evening to see the Queen of Cabaret - Marvelous Marilyn Maye - at the historic Hudson Hall Opera House where she is scheduled to perform two...
Derrick Baskin – Feinstein’s/54 Below
By Brian Scott Lipton Joy. Gratitude. Love. Not only are these the overwhelming themes of Broadway favorite Derrick Baskin’s superb cabaret show at Feinstein’s/54 Below (through July 3), but these are the same emotions you’ll likely feel if you’re re-entering this...
Ricky Ritzel Back in the Saddle
By Sandi Durell The Cast (L-R) Aaron Morishita, Tara Martinez, Eadie Scott, Tanya Moberly, Jon Satrom, Laura Pavles, Kelly Wholford . . . How can life at Don’t Tell Mama ever be the same if it wouldn’t include award winning Ricky Ritzel’s Broadway? Well . . . it can’t...
Nicole Henry: Feeling Good!
By Marilyn Lester Although she's technically defined as a jazz singer, Nicole Henry is much more than that. Categories can’t contain her. Henry is a very polished entertainer who capably handles jazz standards, Broadway hits, and songbook and popular music equally...
Two Player Game
Review by Cooper Lawrence . . . Leave it to quirky composer, lyricist and playwright, JOE ICONIS to be at the cutting edge of getting audiences off their zoom meetings, out of their COVID sweatpants and onto their feet. While we can’t declare the pandemic officially...
Broadway at Little Island
By Sandi Durell . . . What a treat to spend my first evening June 19th at the newest and most unique site in Manhattan! Not only is it built out in the Hudson River (a remarkable thing to view and walk about on), but luckily the evening I attended was the very first...
Dave Konig with Elliot Finkel
It was Magda Katz’ first time back to see a live show at Don’t Tell Mama where comic Dave Konig and pianist Elliot Finkel took the stage on June 13 and entertained a crowd that was hungry for live entertainment. Dave Konig . . . Elliot Finkel . . . Elliot Finkel...
Artemisia LeFay: Ghosts of Weimar Past
Review By Marilyn Lester . . . One of the most delightful and enjoyable elements of Artemisia LeFay’s cabaret show Ghosts of Weimar Past, was the sheer excitement and enthusiasm the singer brought to the program. Le Fay is young––and very far distanced from 1920s...
SETH SIKES’ “RUNNIN’ WILD”
The Return of New York City Cabaret . . . By Ron Fassler . . . When Seth Sikes took the stage on June 3 at The Green Room 42, the first words he sang were “So long sad time, so long bad time,” the opening lines of the nearly one-hundred-year-old “Happy Days Are Here...
Broadway By The Year
Scott Siegel’s renowned Broadway By The Year Series celebrated The Kander & Ebb Years virtually . . . by Linda Amiel Burns . . . For the past 20 years, Scott Siegel has created, written, and hosted the Series Broadway By The Year at The Town...
Avery Sommers Dazzles
by Lynn DiMenna . . . A veteran of TV, stage and screen, after numerous engagements at the Colony Hotel’s Royal Room in Palm Beach, Avery Sommers continues to dazzle an adoring crowd at The Arts Garage in Delray Beach. As a native Floridian and longtime local...
Jeremy Jordan Carries On
By Myra Chanin. . . The first time I watched Jeremy Jordan perform, he was a mesmerizing 27-year-old Broadway star-in-waiting, playing Clyde Barrow in Broadway Musical, Bonnie and Clyde. Audiences, including the one that surrounded me, loved it. They stood up, cheered...
Marilyn Maye – 70 Minutes of Joy
By Sandi Durell . . . She can’t reach out and touch you literally but Marvelous Marilyn Maye, coming straight from 54 Below to your living room beginning May 8 (and live for VIP meet/greet on opening night) thru May 29 on demand, touches every emotion imaginable....
ANAÏS RENO Lovesome Thing
Vocalists are often wary of making their debut CD a tribute album, especially covering artists as iconic as Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. There is a lot of history associated with those titans of the jazz world, and their songs have been covered by hundreds of...
Holmes is where the heart is…
Clint Holmes - Lynn DiMenna Review by Lynn DiMenna. . . Full of heart and a whole lot more! Wick Cabaret, after proudly presenting a challenging yet wildly successful season of top notch performers in their theater’s dazzling, spacious, safe and sanitary lobby, ended...
Here’s To Her! Who’s Like Her? Damn Few!
By Lynn DiMenna . . . (Photo: Magda Katz) . . . The Maye Magic continues! You didn’t think a little ‘ole thing like a worldwide pandemic or reaching the ripe, young age of ninety-three would put a crimp in this ubiquitous, national treasure’s style, did you? Not a...
