CABARET THEATER REVIEWS

Any visit by celebrated chanteuse Barb Jungr to a New York cabaret stage or theatre is a cause for jubilation. Slightly less than a year since she rocked 59E59 with her week long run of Dancing In the Dark, Jungr was back on that stage with a new show based on her recently released, highly-acclaimed...

Polished and engaging, this cabaret proved one to remember....

Well-Strung is impressing audiences with their brilliant mash-ups of classical hits and modern pop standards. Touring their latest show POPSSICAL, Well-Strung visited New York City's 54 BELOW last night and left the assembled audience both awestruck and invigorated. Their pulled from the pages of a ...

On Sunday October 26, Clifford Bell presented the first Rick Starr Scholarship Fund Benefit Concert, entitled Starr Bucks, at Upstairs at Vitello's in Studio City. The beloved Starr, who passed away about a year ago, worked at Hollywood Sheet Music and served the Los Angeles musical theatre communit...

Natalie Arneson and her husband, without securing jobs before landing in the city that never sleeps, packed their bags in the middle of the Great Recession and embarked on the Texas to Empire State journey. The duo came with the soul purpose of allowing Natalie Arneson to chase her dreams and auditi...

Having written extensively about skyrocketing-to-stardom singer Carole J. Bufford over the past three years (a January/February cover story for Cabaret Scenes Magazine, and rave reviews of her past three major show runs (here, here, and here), I felt as if I had exhausted my entire repertoire of des...

New York cabaret audiences have for years been blessed with extremely entertaining performing marrieds like John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molasky, Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, and Michael Garin and Mardie Millett. But after experiencing the thoroughly enchanting October 8 performance from Amanda ...

Actor/singer John Lloyd Young, best known for his Tony-winning portrayal of Frankie Valli in the original Broadway Jersey Boys and for his performance in the 2014 film, has performed three cabaret concerts at the Cafe Carlisle in New York since 2013. He felt it was high time to bring the act home to...

For 90 solid minutes, Tony Award-winning Broadway icon Brian Stokes Mitchell---under the guise of a showtunes-centric cabaret concert themed around his most recent studio album Simply Broadway---provided his enthralled Costa Mesa audience a virtual master class in musical theater performance. Not on...

Every year, there are a couple of young performers who seem to skyrocket up the cabaret charts and one of this season's emerging stars is Maxine Linehan. She came to the States from Ireland just a dozen years ago, performed her debut cabaret show in 2006, and then three years later staged a Petula C...

With the arrival of a two-disc studio recording of the complete Kander & Ebb score of And The World Goes Round from Kritzerland Records, there's reason to shout and sing out loud.Starring powerhouse vocalists Brent Barrett, Jason Graae, Christiane Noll, Kristin Towers-Rowles, Kyra DaCosta and musica...

In support of his upcoming album, LA CASA AZUL, Migguel Anggelo took the stage at Joe's Pub last night to share his BETWEEN DREAMS/ENTRE SUEÑOS concert with audiences. The Venezuelan-born singer brings boundless energy and larger-than-life, charismatic performances to the stage. In concert, he thri...

Actors/singers David Burnham and Valerie Perri were critically acclaimed costars of Musical Theatre West's (MTW) Sunset Boulevard last season, but they have never sung together in cabaret until now. Together Again For the First Time premiered at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal on Sunday September...

Actress/lawyer Allison Brush made her very well-received cabaret debut at Upstairs at Vitello's Sunday September 14 with her show entitled For This You Went to Law School? Once an actress/singer, Brush, discouraged by rejection like many, left the profession and studied law, passing the bar exam on ...

On August 28, 2014, the Shapiro Sisters took the 54 BELOW stage for the fourth time and sang many tunes from the album and a few surprises as well, entertaining the audience with their brand of cuteness, charisma, and poised talent. Their debut release from Broadway Records was recorded across their...

On Sunday September 7, at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal, due to an advance sell-out crowd for the 7 pm show, an additional matinee show was performed for the Fourth Anniversary of Kritzerland. Needless to say, both matinee and evening performances were sold out, making the monthly Kritzerland t...

Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are you have heard of the New York based cabaret act The Skivvies. Made up of Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley, this energetic duo has a loyal fan following and a reputation for being absurdly fun. I got to check out one of their concerts, and I'm afraid...

Actor/singer Dan Callaway has been revered over the last decade in New York and Los Angeles for his fine tenor/baritone voice, and so it is with mixed feelings that we say goodbye to him as he leaves to assume a teaching position in his home state of Elon, North Carolina. We are indeed happy that th...

On Friday August 15 singer/actress Rebecca Spencer made her Los Angles concert debut with Fair Warning at Upstairs at Vitello's with her long-time collaborator Philip Fortenberry as musical director, also making his LA debut....

FRANÇOISE HARDY & BREL, SO ALIVE, SO WELL! locates itself within the tradition of popular entertainment in cabaret, an unassuming compilation of songs made famous by Francoise Hardy and Jacques Brel, threaded together by the slightest suggestion of a narrative concept in which the two meet in a Par...

Before Courtney Act was an absolute sensation on LOGO's RuPaul's Drag Race's sixth season, she was shaking things up in her native Australia. With decadent vocal talent, mesmerizing stage presence, charisma, charm, and looks for days, Courtney Act is touring her torrid, one-woman tell-all BOYS LIKE ...

On Sunday July 27 powerhouse vocalist Jeanne Page made a stylish return to Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal for a marvelous evening of standards done her way, entitled Reboot. This lady has a unique brand of humor that is intoxicating and infuses every song she sings with the true colors they dese...

Under the musical direction of Mathew Frank, Whelan-Browne lets Britney's songs reveal telling stories often lost within their pop/heavily auto-tuned original versions. Familiar songs, from Out from Under, to Toxic to Lucky are suddenly interesting, and often achingly autobiographical in content....

The current Stephen Sondheim tribute show, Our Time, starring KT Sullivan and Jeff Harnar at the Laurie Beechman (which I attended on July 9 and 16; there are two more Wednesday performances at 6pm on August 6, 13), is a charming, classy, and entertaining affair. But it also includes enough flaws in...

Steve Ross and Karen Oberlin's recent duo effort at 54 Below, Cheek to Cheek, was a show oozing charm, class, charisma, and chemistry, but most of all they conveyed their love for these legendary performers and the classic tunes associated with them....