CABARET THEATER REVIEWS

From the moment she steps on stage and sings the entire first verse of Gloria Estefan's “Coming Out of the Dark”–-in the dark--you get the impression this is not going to be one of those usual personal journey “I've-been-everywhere-and-done-everything” kind of acts. In her debut show, Wher...

Danny Bacher has the performance ease of an artist who's spent twice his years on the circuit. His preternatural feel for swing delivers scrupulous control, hip, unfussy phrasing, nuanced inflection, and the kind of fluent, savory scat “wordless vocables” I haven't heard from a man in some time,...

Newcomer to the Cabaret stage, Rob Mills proves that he is just as suited to the intimate genre as the big musical stages and television with his cabaret ROB MILLS IS 'SURPRISINGLY GOOD'....

Bethany Simons' RECEPTION: THE MUSICAL joins Hayes Theatre Co's CABARET SEASON 2015 with this one act account of her life behind the front desk at the Classical Music Academy. Blending original music and amusing anecdotes, Simons is joined by co-creator and pianist Peter de Jager in this piece of l...

As she wends her way towards the stage at the opening of her new show at the Metropolitan Room (performances were on June 15 and 20), Corinna Sowers Adler sings the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II classic “All The Things You Are” with warm, legato phrases that surround the club like a hug. So...

Summer in New York City is always a great time to brush up on your Shakespeare. It seems there is always some novel way to (re)experience the works of William Shakespeare. Fitting into this idea, Alex Ates and Patrick Greeley's THE SHAKESPEAREAN JAZZ SHOW is a triumphant tour de force that pristinel...

With her new show His Aim Is True: The Singular Songs of Elvis Costello at Stage 72 (second show last night), you'll meet the new Karen Oberlin. Gone are the controlled vibrato, upper range, emotional translucence, femininity, and the playfulness of a purveyor of American Songbook/pop. Prepare for a...

Drawing on personal experience as a childless Aunt to her 19 nieces and nephews, Geraldine Quinn shares an honest and insightful account of her thoughts on being a MODERN DAY MAIDEN AUNT....

Luigi Lucente captures Jim Morrison's music, poetry and erratic style in KALEIDOSCOPE with a quiet reverence. Paring back rock songs to piano self-accompaniments, the lyrics and sensitivity of the songs are showcased, peppered with references to Morrison's unpredictability....

Marnie McQueen returns to the Cabaret stage with HAIR TO THE THRONE, the latest offering from the larger than life, Rosa Waxoffski, the Russian Beautician...

Damien Leith blends an Irish "Pub Gig" with a father's story of secrets, regrets and love in THE PARTING GLASS: AN IRISH JOURNEY....

Meow Meow, once again, had the audience in the palm of her hand from first to last....

Bree Langridge and her band combine copious amounts of sequins, big hair and iconic songs in LITTLE DIANA AND THE BIG FUZZ as they channel Diana Ross and The Funk Brothers for an hour of music and stories....

This year is the centennial of entertainment legends such as vocalists Billie Holliday and Edith Piaf, singer-actors Frank Sinatra and Alice Faye, composers Billy Strayhorn and Bart Howard, and pianist Cy Walter. In its annual tribute concert, The Mabel Mercer Foundation celebrated all these artists...

DEDICATIONS shares the lives and loves of 'The Love God's' listeners as they call in to a Late Night Radio program inspired by Sydney Radio personality Richard Mercer's 'Love Song Dedications'....

The Toxic Avenger, based on Lloyd Kaufman's character and film by the same name and winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical, returned to New York City on Monday night for a special one-night-only concert reunion at 54 Below. Following a critically acclaimed run at The ...

Linda Lavin's most recent show at 54 Below (which had a three-night run between June 4-6), Starting Over--"Because that's what I've done all my life"--illuminates a succession of chapters in her career. The show bears more than a little resemblance to a 2012 appearance at the same venue. There are r...

The packed audience showed their appreciation with continuous bursts of applause and laughter....

Last week, Betty Buckley returned to Joe's Pub to debut her newest cabaret concert DARK BLUE-EYED BLUES. Thrilled to have been recognized as a chanteuse in recent reviews, Buckley programmed the evening to be the "musings of a chanteuse," packing the set with standards and contemporary hits. The Bro...

Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano are in a really good mood. The infectious buoyancy of their new show at the Metropolitan Room, Shoulder Season (Don't ask me what the title means. Despite explanation, I haven't a clue.), will erase world news, ease arthritis, and make love seem possible again. Well,...

One of the joys of reviewing cabaret is being fortunate enough to discover a remarkable talent. I experienced that feeling this past Saturday night at Don't Tell Mama where Christy Frye debuted her New York cabaret show, Christy Frye: Feels Like the First Time – Things I Learned From the Car Radio...

It takes a woman of considerable wit, style, and maturity to tackle (let alone celebrate) the subject matter of men. In her new show, Celebrating Men (Bless Their Hearts), seen last Thursday night at the Metropolitan Room, happily, Charlotte Patton possesses all those traits as she leads us on her g...

In her new cabaret show Thirsty! (which returns to Joe's Pub for a second show on June 1 at 9:30), Scott regales the audience with tales of a young(ish) single woman living in New York City as an aspiring musical theater performer, whose antics tend to run toward the debauched, since she has 'no mor...

On Sunday evening, 54 Below celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the musical Grand Hotel on Broadway in high style with two performances crackling with energy and featuring a talented roster of performers including 13 from the original cast. Splendidly Directed (and Written) by Walter Willison, with M...

On Saturday May 23 actor/singer Bill A. Jones, known to thousands of cheering fans as Rod Remington of Fox TV's Glee, brought his one-man show Frank, Bobby & Me to the E-Spot Lounge at Vitello's in Studio City. This man is not only handsome with an affable charm onstage, but can truly sing thes...