CABARET THEATER REVIEWS

In SNOWFALL at Birdland, Christine Ebersole and Billy Stritch offered up a holiday show that was equal parts holly-jolly and melancholy. Through it all, though, there was an undercurrent of warm insularity, each bolstered by the other's presence, even when one would sit a number out and simply watch...

The holidays are all about excess, and what's more extra than a drag queen named Alaska Thunderfuck 5000?...

With a beaming smile, a ton of energy, his dazzling vocal instrument, and even delighting audiences with his clarinet, Benjamin Eakeley's debut of BROADWAY SWINGER, VOL. 2: ALL OF ME is a true celebration of the sings of the 1930s....

Endlessly imaginative and full of bravado, with his new show, HOMME FATALE, Sven Ratzke set out to ensure that femme fatales don't get to have all the fun....

Early on in her Cafe Carlyle debut this past month, Mandy Gonzalez remarked on how excited she was to be uptown, though, while the HAMILTON star was at the mic, it was anything but quiet....

The art of illusion meets the art of fine dining. The McKittrick Hotel, the home of Sleep No More is now presenting the New York City premiere of At The Illusionist's Table, an all-new intimate magic and dining experience that comes straight from Scotland....

Bubbly and charming as all hell, from the moment Rita Wilson took the stage at Cafe Carlyle, it was as if there was nowhere else she'd rather be....

During an evening when Mabel Mercer Foundation President and New York Cabaret Convention Producer KT Sullivan devoted a number of opening night spots in the 28th year of the four-day extravaganza (October 16-19 at Rose Hall at Jazz at Lincoln Center) to a younger generation of singers and a few vete...

An extraordinary talent is currently onstage at Gate69, Cape Town's 'Purple Palace', which continues to deliver on its aim of being a complete sensory experience and South Africa's premiere cabaret theatre. This time, Cathy and her Trolley Dollies present the phenomenal Christina Bianco....

Betty Buckley's STORY SONGS #2, the artist's new show at Joe's Pub running through Sunday night, was initially supposed to have another, darker title. She won't divulge the original choice, but one can certainly imagine. Making a sequel to the original, which, as a mixtape of numbers rich to the cor...

A unique queen in the pantheon of RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE queens, in just a few years' time, Trixie Mattel has risen from promising also-ran to cult fave to full-blown drag superstar (with a number one folk album, to boot). Fans coming in expecting to hear tracks off of that album, TWO BIRDS, during M...

A.J. Lambert, as the granddaughter of Frank Sinatra, is not intimidated at all in singing through the entirety of IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS, a pioneering concept album released by Sinatra in 1955 exploring heartbreak (including a torturous breakup with his second wife, Ava Gardner) with all songs han...

Over the course of the September 19 performance, Agron split her time between a whole host of male-fronted acts of the '70s, though, technically, many of the songs did hail from the decade prior....

Bart Shatto is a star performer. I first heard Bart with the famed theatrical-rock group The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He's sung on a couple of their recordings, but toured the country with them for many years, notably singing the songs Old Town Bar seen below. Then I first saw Bart while he playe...

Raja's debut one-woman show, RAJA: GAWDESS, was an exercise in charisma, in the best possible sense of the phrase....

There is something about today's political climate that demands acknowledgment in almost every setting. Provided you can be certain that your opinion will be shared by most of the room, you will probably bring up something related to our president, his tweets, or your own concerns about one or both....

SADONNA: THE SAD SONGS OF MADONNA. Such a title for Miguel Gutierrez's first full evening at Joe's Pub begs the question: why sad songs, and why Madonna? Gutierrez admitted early on that he came up with the name before he came up with anything else, but also that hatching this plan for a show had gi...

From the minute BLAKE SINGS BARBRA: THE CONCERT began, Blake McIver truly tapped into-and never lost-the magic in Barbra Streisand's music....

Welcome to CAMP KWEEN, where Sutton Lee Seymour is devoted to teaching the mystical art of drag. At the Laurie Beechman Theatre on August 11, the drag queen's methods were a little unconventional-just look at the list of scheduled activities, which include 'throwing shade' and 'water sports'-and,...

Cristin Milioti's career has spanned film, television, theater, and music. Though I, personally, know her work solely from her season on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, I had heard of the roles she originated in both ONCE on Broadway, as well as David Bowie & Enda Walsh's LAZARUS at New York Theatre Workshop...

This past weekend, as the Isle of Man's Samantha Barks made her much-anticipated United States solo debut, I saw a performer whose presence and voice created a thrill....

Part coming-of-age story and part lighthearted Hollywood expose, one thing you can't say about Leslie Jordan's latest show is that the star is lacking in material....

As singer-songwriter gina Breedlove took the stage at Joe's Pub, an audience member exclaimed, 'Welcome home, gina.' This roused a warm applause and a chorus of audiences members verbally welcoming the Brooklyn native home to the venue....

'These songs are fucking great, even if you don't like me.' Seth Sikes was right, and humility aside, during SETH SIKES SINGS JUDY, LIZA, BARBRA, ETC. at Feinstein's/54 Below, he was pretty great, too....

June 28 at Feinstein's/54 Below was one of contrasts, honesty, and raw emotion. When Alexandra Socha took to the stage in FINDING HOME, her venue debut, at 9:30 at night, the house was already noticeably buzzing with a remarkable energy from her friends and fans....