CABARET THEATER REVIEWS

Adam Gwon has very devoted fans. His songs have been recorded by Audra Macdonald and Liz Callaway, among others, and are frequently heard performed in cabaret shows by hundreds of artists. But for all of the acclaim Gwon has received over the past decade or so, he has yet to write the show that will...

By accident, a St. Louis Woman and a Nashville Nightengale play the same New York City nightclub within hours of each other, and prove that Manhattan has no copyright on cabaret talent....

Richard H. Blake was scheduled to play his club act at The Green Room 42 before the pandemic. Finally, he fans, friends, and family got to see his dream realized... and it's really good....

I’m happy to report that SUMMERTIME SWING! is perfectly on-brand. Mr. Feinstein delivers some finely crafted gems from the Great American Songbook with his trademark energy and showmanship. I have seen Feinstein mostly in larger venues, and so the surprising element in this show was to see how...

In a dark, mauve-curtained room, on the fourth floor of a hotel, around 7:15 p.m. on August 26th, the lights began to dim, and a scattered audience of socially distanced cabaret goers erupted into cheers and applause as Ellen Marlow bounded onto the stage. Marlow was at The Green Room 42 performing ...

The beauty of the ABW experience. So simple and so nuanced was each tale she told, weaving them into a larger story portrait song after song of a brave woman who had been there and back again standing on stage telling us things we ought to know in order to get by....

In 2020, Elizabeth Ward Land (Amazing Grace, Scandalous, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Memphis, City of Angels) won the Bistro Award for Outstanding Tribute Show for her work on STILL WITHIN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE: THE SONGS OF LINDA RONSTADT. Tonight she gave a repeat performance of that award-winning show...

The Boy Band Project made their 54 Below debut Sunday night, and it's about time....

Tonight, SALON performed for the first time after sixteen months off. Even the threat of a tropical storm outside didn’t deter a good number of people from celebrating its return. This evening’s theme was threefold: “Welcome Back!,” “Sweet Sixteen” in honor of Salon’s 16th anniversary...

Norbert Leo But is an actor who is hard to pin a label on. It’s hard to believe that Jamie Wellerstein, Alfie Doolittle, Paddy Chayefsky, Agent Carl Hanratty, Freddy Benson Edward Bloom, and Fiyero all came out of the same brain space. And yet, that very chameleon-like versatility has been the hal...

Chinnock and Harris are a study in contrasts. Jared Chinnock is a small, wiry, blond, tenor, guitar player with a Welsh accent. His style is percussive and dramatic. Evan Buckley Harris is a tall, dark-haired, baritone pianist. His style is more lyrical and laid-back. But for all their differences,...

Bonnie Milligan is what Broadway used to sound like: brassy, belted, and funny. Thank God, there are still women around who know how to do it. There is a huge difference between selling a song with some charm in a big voice, and 'screlting' at the top of your lungs. Ethel Merman knew the difference...

Onstage, Tony nominee Derek Klena has played a lot of roles that could be best described as 'heels,' well-meaning guys who go horribly wrong due to a lapse in good judgment. It comes as a pleasant surprise to find out that Derek Klena, actor, singer, cabaret performer, is in truth a genuinely affab...

Penny Fuller may have had the quote of the evening when she and Anita Gillette unveiled the new version of their show SIN TWISTERS. She was quoting the great Barbara Cook, who said 'I wish someone had told me I was working in The Golden Age. I would have paid attention.' That is a mouthful. Anita Gi...

Michaeln Mott performs at 54 Below about every six months. Thanks to the pandemic it’s been nearly a year an half since he was last in the august cabaret room. But he was back tonight at last with a new edition of his showcase, MICHAEL MOTT & FRIENDS. And he had lots to show off....

Travis Moser, a full-throated musical theatre baritone, sings five songs mostly from the first half of Sondheim's career. He is joined by his longtime musical director Drew Wutke, who has created stripped-down piano-only versions of the songs. Recorded about 6 months into the pandemic, Moser has use...

Lillias White (Dreamgirls, Cats, Once On This Island, How to Succeed, The Life, Fela!) is the kind of performer who engenders adoration. She serves up joy and talent in giant portions in everything she does. She won the Tony for The Life, the Obie for Romance in Hard Times, and a Daytime Emmy for he...

Amber Iman rises to new heights in cabaret with her show at Feinstein's/54 Below....

A popular New York City stage actress goes out on a limb and finds it is just where she belongs....

Ari Axelrod's recent dinner music set at The Westbank Cafe yielded great fun for the audience... and for future audiences as well....

It's always fabulous to find something to see that is completely new and outside of the lines - and Wikka is certainly all of that and more....

The effect of his Rock/Jazz/Blues hybrid music on his attendees was incalculable. Unable to stand and scream and shout and wave lit cigarette lighters about, watching the audience physically and emotionally react from their chairs left one with an almost sacred feeling....

The Green Room 42's most popular act is back on the boards, and the club is back at maximum capacity....

Charlotte Libov, a winner of MetropolitanZoom's 2021 giveaway contest, delivered a fun and pleasant collection of songs from the Broadway, film, and pop repertoires....

In October 2020 Billy Stritch released an album inspired by his virtual piano lounge. Now, he has released a lush 46-instrument orchestration of a Streisand classic... all the while doing his virtual show and starting back to live performances. No rest for the truly talented....