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BWW Review: Sting Fans Come To Life at Joe's Pub in Rosemary Loar's Imaginative 'STING*chronicity'
When one describes a meal or a performance as 'interesting,' it's usually a euphemism for awful, or at least deeply flawed. But Rosemary Loar's STING*chronicity, the musical theater and cabaret performer's second show devoted to Sting's songbook, is genuinely interesting---and ballsy. Featuring 13 c...
BWW Review: Jeff Harnar Dazzles A Sold-Out Metropolitan Room With An Engaging Revival of His '1959 Broadway Songbook'
When a show at the Metropolitan Room starts over thirty minutes late because the staff is frantically trying to find chairs and room for the better part of New York's cabaret community, you know you're in store for something truly special. And unless there's a chair thief on the loose in Flatiron wh...
BWW Review: Like a 'Boss,' Tony Danza Celebrates His Return from Los Angeles to New York in 'Standards & Stories' at Feinstein's/54 Below
Occasionally in cabaret, one encounters a performer with 'star power.' Other times, one sees a legitimate star in a cabaret setting---say, Patti LuPone or Ben Vereen---and knows instantly why the person is a star. But in his Feinstein's/54 Below solo debut show, Tony Danza: Standards & Stories, Tony...
BWW Review: Carmen Cusack Shares Her Remarkable Story with Feinstein's/54 Below, Showcasing the Unmatched Versatility Which Brought Her to Broadway
'At last, at last, at long last.'
These are the lyrics which ushered in the emotional climax of Broadway's Bright Star, the North Carolina-set musical which burned fast and, well, bright this past season on Broadway. So, too, did these lyrics close out the solo concert debut of the musical's inca...
BWW Review: Cynthia Von Buhler Illuminates the Obscure in the Lavish, Erotic, Yet Playful 'Illuminati Ball'
The Illuminati Ball is indeed spectacular, though without divulging details I am sworn to keep secret, I cannot do justice to an experience which began on a rainy Saturday evening at 6PM on the Upper East Side---where a luxury limousine bus picked up 30 formally-attired 'candidates' for the Illumina...
BWW Review: Norbert Leo Butz Does His 'Girls, Girls, Girls' Proud at Feinstein's/54 Below
'I hope you're not here to be entertained.'
Norbert Leo Butz was all about managing expectations as he kicked off his week-long stint at Feinstein's/54 Below on August 5, though he had no reason to be worried. The two-time Tony Award winner (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can) has alrea...
BWW Review: Andy Mientus with Teen Commandments Introduce 'Manhattan Kids' Musical at Feinstein's/54 Below, Debuting New Musical Theatre Style Along the Way
Andy Mientus won a fictional Tony Award on television before ever actually having appeared on Broadway. However, following his concert debut with Teen Commandments at Feinstein's/54 Below on August 2, the first of a two-show engagement, it became clear that his fake Tony win may very well have been ...
BWW Review: Jennifer Damiano Masterfully Showcases A Career Beyond Her Years In One-Woman Show 'Jennuinely' at Feinstein's/54 Below
In traversing her career through the songs and stories that have brought her to this point, it is clear that Jennifer Damiano's journey belies her age. Yet, through her one-woman show Jennuinely at Feinstein's/54 Below on July 29, the second of what was originally a three-performance engagement (two...
BWW Review: Singing (and Writing) Like Her Life Depends On It, MAC Winner Meg Flather Brings 'Carly & Me' to Don't Tell Mama
Fresh off her 2016 MAC Award for best original song after a successful revival of Portraits (1993) for Stephen Hanks' New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits series, Meg Flather paid tribute in Carly & Me to the 'artist who gave [her] her voice.' With her longtime musical director Paul Greenwood on piano a...
BWW Review: Beautifully Orchestrated EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ROSIE for 10th Anniversary of Sterling's Upstairs
On Sunday July 31 Michael Sterling celebrated 10 years of his cabaret supper club now called Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal with a mega-delightful show headlining the music of his mentor Rosemary Clooney called Everything's Coming Up Rosie. On the bill were two exuberantly talented singers�...
BWW Review: Jade Jones Presents JAZZED AND JADED at Creative Cauldron's 2016 Summer Cabaret Series
Let's be honest - with the state of current affairs, the political circus, the ongoing tragedies around the world - we're all feeling at least a little jaded these days. So it makes sense that DC singer Jade Jones' 'Jazzed and Jaded,' part of Creative Cauldron's 2016 Summer Cabaret Series, is exactl...
BWW Review: Blurring Boundaries in Search of Truth, Cynthia von Buhler Brings 'Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Bloody Beginning' to the Weylin
Cynthia von Buhler's Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Bloody Beginning grew out of the artist's lifelong fascination with the mysterious death of her Italian immigrant grandfather, Frank Spano, in 1935. Originally conceived as a one-night event, Speakeasy Dollhouse took on a life of its own and since 2011 h...
BWW Review: Lesli Margherita is All Brass and Belting in One-Woman Show 'Broad' at Birdland, Paying Tribute to the Women Who Never Backed Down
'Broad: A term originated in the 1930s meaning woman. Less respectable than 'lady,' but much more respectable than 'bitch.' Broad: An independent, aggressive, assertive woman, usually in show business. Broads sing loud, are sarcastic, and are in your face. Broads are generally moderately attractive ...
BWW Review: Cabaret Artist JEANNE PAGE Heats Up the Federal
One thing you may be sure of in attending a Jeanne Page concert: you will have a good time. The lady is a dynamic singer, giving it everything she's got and really enjoys doing it. She has such fun...
BWW Review: Lady Rizo Reports From the Fuzzy Dreamscape of New Motherhood in Her Terrific New Show 'Multiplied' at Joe's Pub
Alt-cabaret star Lady Rizo (aka Amelia Zirin-Brown) made her way to the stage to join her multi-instrumental accompanist, Yair Evnine. Threading regally through the audience, she held a translucent umbrella over her head, singing (my favorite Prince song) 'The Beautiful Ones' to Evnine's cello in a ...
BWW Review: Dani Stoller Presents AWKWARD at Creative Cauldron's 2016 Summer Cabaret Series
In an evening featuring classic musical favorites and unexpected gems, longtime DC performer Dani Stoller presents 'Awkward: A Musical Ode to the Funny Best Friend' as part of Creative Cauldron's 2016 Summer Cabaret Series....
BWW Review: Maureen Taylor Celebrates Unheralded Composer Bob Merrill in New York Cabaret's Greatest Hits at Metropolitan Room
In her A-line black and white polka dot dress with petticoats, a lively (and lithe!) Maureen Taylor delivered an entertaining tribute to lyricist Bob Merrill at the Metropolitan Room (on July 13). Originally directed by Peter Napolitano when the show debuted in 2008-09, Taylor Made is the latest ins...
BWW Review: Michael Griffiths Channels Cole Porter In His Latest Biographical Cabaret, COLE
In the year that celebrates 125 years since Cole Porter's birth, cabaret favourite Michael Griffiths channels the famous composer with his one man show COLE....
BWW Review: Top Notch Cabaret DANI & THE LION Reinvigorates the Genre at #NAF16's Albany Cabaret Club
DANI & THE LION is cabaret as it was meant to be. Created by Daneel van der Walt, who performs original songs and stories with a cameo appearance by a few unexpected classic tunes, this show sets the gold standard for this trickiest of theatre genres....
BWW Review: Lorna Luft Celebrates Gay Pride and Mom Judy Garland Through Jubilant and Poignant Standards at Feinstein's/54 Below
When preparing to watch Lorna Luft perform in concert, it is impossible not to feel nostalgic about her late mother, the legendary Judy Garland. Perhaps no one is more aware of this conundrum than Luft herself. And yet, at her return engagement to Feinstein's/54 Below on June 22 (the opening of a th...
BWW Review: Political and Social Satirist Katie Goodman Definitely Doesn't 'F*ck It Up' In Her Hilarious Show at Stage 72
If Lorelai Gilmore, with her lightning fast speech, did political satire while rapping and playing both the piano and acoustic guitar, it would look something like Katie Goodman's hybrid comedy and cabaret act. Her latest show, I Didn't F*ck It Up, ran at Stage 72 (The Triad) on June 17, her cabaret...
BWW Review: DREAM SUITE: SONGS IN BLUES & JAZZ Is An Exceptional Evening at Birdland
Though somewhat familiar with and already an admirer of actor/vocalists Carpathia Jenkins and Alton Fitzgerald White, I was, until tonight, unaware of the apparently prolific musician, songwriter, librettist, and educator Louis Rosen. Rosen's Dream Suite, which occupied the second part of this June ...
BWW Review: Left To Her Own Devices, AMY ENGELHARDT Charms Don't Tell Mama With Comical and Emotional Original Songs
A longtime member of the Grammy-nominated a cappella band, the Bobs, LA-based composer/vocalist Amy Engelhardt delivered a riotously funny hour of song at Don't Tell Mama on what she conceded was a “shvitzy” Sunday in June (the 19th to be exact). Three o'clock on Father's Day may not be the b...
BWW Review: Laughs And Latino Stereotypes Abound In ¡HISPANIC ATTACK!
The stories and snipes of a Latino 'superstar' are shared over 70 minutes of high energy dance and song in ¡HISPANIC ATTACK!...
BWW Review: Paula Dione Ingram Shines Brightly Celebrating 'Black Broadway' in New York Cabaret Debut at Feinstein's/54 Below
2016 is one of Broadway's most diverse seasons, so much so it spawned a Twitter trending hashtag #TonysSoDiverse following the nominations for this past weekend's awards ceremony. 12 Black and non-Black actors of color were nominated for a Tony Award. For the first time in the Tonys' history, all fo...
Videos
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Finding Their Voice: Broadway Stars Unite to Support Israel's Youth The Jerry Orbach Theatre (6/15-6/15) |
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Cherry Bomb: A Redhead Cabaret 54 Below (9/03-9/03) |
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Sondheim Unplugged: The Final Season 54 Below (6/28-6/28) |
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The Scarlet Pimpernel in Concert 54 Below (7/14-7/14) |
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The Cast of MJ The Musical Presents: The Jam 54 Below (6/08-6/08) |
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Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp: In Resonance 54 Below (8/20-8/20) |
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REAL Black: A Juneteenth Celebration with Crystal Monee Hall and Friends 54 Below (6/19-6/19) |
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Filipinos on Broadway, feat. Isa Briones & more! 54 Below (5/25-5/25) |
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Liberace & Liza: A Tribute 54 Below (7/08-7/08) |
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54 Sings Broadway's Greatest Hits! 54 Below (9/05-9/05) |
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