CABARET THEATER REVIEWS

The extremely personable Cheyenne Jackson landed in Cafe Carlyle last night as if on the moon. A hardscrabble, Ohio childhood and late start in the business explain the artist's astonishment at finding himself in the prestigious nightclub. While Jackson's resume includes leading roles in Broadway mu...

Bridget Everett, performing a reprise of her one-woman cabaret show, Rock Bottom (at Joe's Pub for an limited run), has become the darling of the alt-cabaret scene because she occupies the clown/fool/buffoon space to the hilt, creating a hilarious and cathartic experience for those who can take it. ...

Frances Albert (Frank) Sinatra (1915-1998) was arguably one of the most important vocalists of 20th century. The Hoboken, New Jersey native began as a boy singer with big band leaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, became a heartthrob to bobbysoxers, a headliner in nightclubs during their heyday, and...

There's really no other way to describe Rachelle Rak other than calling her 'a living, breathing phenomenon.' Over the years she's become nationally known for her incredible work as an electricity-riddled dancer and singer on Broadway in such shows as Fosse, Cats, and Starlight Express, as well as a...

In a market dominated largely by living legends, the young and up-and-coming composers musical theatre have a hard time breaking into the scene. However, that's not keeping Drew Gasparini from sharing his music wherever and whenever he can. Gasparini invited fans and newcomers to his ongoing party w...

Last August, the 12.14 Foundation premiered Michael Unger and Eric Svejcar's A ROCKIN' Midsummer Night's Dream. This week, the new musical comes to New York City at 54 BELOW. With a ton of energy and some serious vocal talent, the kids involved with the 12.14 Foundation and the Broadway vetted adult...

Last night, I attended the thrilling opening performance of Have Faith. Entering the quaint venue, I was fairly positive that a live performance of the album would be just as electrifying, if not more so, than the recorded tracks, and I'm ecstatic to report that Mary Testa, Michael Starobin, and cel...

"Mad About the Boy?!" The rabble-rousing thespian with get down dance moves, and elastic, back-trilled voice is going to sing Noel Coward? At 54 Below? Mea Culpa. Britain's Barb Jungr performs one of the most truthful renditions of the song perhaps any Coward purist has heard. Sure, it's prefaced by...

Jane Lynch's New Year's Eve cabaret show at the Eccles Center, presented by the Park City Institute, was entertaining, subversive fun....

Life is fragile and that's the f***ing way it is. So states Sandra Bernhard in her new one-woman show, Sandra Bernhard is #blessed, playing two shows a night this week at Joe's Pub (culminating in a set on New Year's Eve). Her end-of-the-year residency-a tradition for the past several years now-is t...

Remember the anti-folk scene, born in the mid-1980s, when songwriters with guitars took the stage at little clubs and sang songs that at first seemed like folk songs, but actually turned folk on it's head, trading trademark earnestness for darker, more ironic tales? Thus was created a new direction ...

On Monday December 22 the terribly amusing song stylist Cortes Alexander presented his annual Swell Noel to an uber packed house at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Alexander has such frenetic energy and charm that, and I've said this before, you just want to wrap him up. What a joyous Christm...

Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress Liz Callaway's latest offering at 54 Below, Celebrate!, will send you into the cold night feeling better about everything. Callaway celebrates the holidays, family, and personal milestones with Disney-like buoyancy that never becomes cloying. Hallmar...

Janine Gilbert Carter and her estimable trio personify classical traditions. Jazz, Blues, and Gospel are handled with ease and authority. Nothing gets insistently loud, experimentally unmelodic, or lyrically updated. Musicians take solos in turn. Embellishment is deft, textural, and, in my opinion, ...

At The Laurie Beechman Theatre last Thursday night, the new dynamic duo of Carole J. Bufford and Eric Yves Garcia performed their fun holiday show, A Christmas Carole & New Year's Yves, to a full house of adoring family, friends, and fans. They were the very picture of the perfect holiday host and h...

Blue Saint Production's GUILTY PLEASURES, is a one woman performance, telling the murderous stories of 5 women, bought to life with a wonderful intensity by Angelique Cassimatis. Written by Josh Robson (Winner, 2014 Rob Guest Endowment Award) with music by Robert Tripolino and Lyrics by Hugo Chiare...

The month of December has always been an emotional time of the year, especially for our military families; a period to deeply reflect on family and country. Over the past few months in New York cabaret, a few performers have offered up musical testimony on wars, patriotism, and US military veterans....

On Monday, December 15 exciting singer Laura Dickinson brought her CD release party One For My Baby to Upstairs at Vitello's. It was a packed house and Dickinson, needless to say, blew the roof off the joint with her dynamic delivery, oozing charm and warmth from every pore. Not only is she beautifu...

Simply stunning!Megan Hilty, star of stage and screen, offered a good dose of holiday cheer and some fine vocals to an appreciative Kennedy Center audience this weekend. Combining musical theatre and pop selections she usually does in cabaret format with a few holiday tunes, the varied set offered a...

Celebrated solo cabaret performer Stearns Matthews recently released his debut solo album SPARK. The record serves as a wonderful introduction to his earnest and soothing lyrical baritone instrument. Each of the 11 tracks on the album is a song most already know and love, piquing interest in SPARK. ...

Two-time Tony nominee and Broadway sweetheart, Laura Osnes is charming patrons of 54 BELOW with her new cabaret show The Paths Not Taken. As she has done in the past at venues like Cafe Carlyle and even with pervious appearances at 54 BELOW, Osnes captivates audiences with her deft talent, bubbly ch...

On December 8, 2014, Houston, Texas took 54 BELOW by storm during the inaugural Cuz We're F#cking Talented cabaret concert at the esteemed venue. Nestled in the basement of the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street in New York City, this packed to capacity 11:30 p.m. on a Monday night performa...

Five years ago, Michael Feinstein approached ubiquitous producer Scott Siegel about 'coming up with a club act' for Feinstein's at the Loews Regency. The title 11 O'Clock Numbers at 11 O'Clock was Siegel's eureka moment. 'Broadway shows used to start at 8:30,' Siegel reminded us. 'The 11 o'clock num...

As a kid, I loved all things Annie. I wasn't yet born when the show premiered on Broadway, but was introduced to it - like many were in the 80s - through the cast recording and the initial movie version. I'm no longer a little kid, but I have to admit I was pretty excited to see Andrea McArdle - the...

Since their initial launch in 1993, the a cappella group The Kinsey Sicks have emerged as a cultural phenomenon within the LGBT community and far beyond. They've gone on to a multi-month run of their Off-Broadway show, seven CDs, concert appearances across the globe, and a plethora of music videos a...