BROADWAY THEATER REVIEWS

A grand Carnegie Hall concert featuring selections from the team's 11 collaborations....

"If I get my sh*t right, you're gonna move," Michael Garin declared from the Metropolitan Room piano, energy crackling through every fiber of his compact form as he leaned into the microphone. On September 28, Garin opened his new show, A Punch In The Mouth, banging out a muscular, unexpected boogie...

The Merton P. Simpson gallery opened its doors at 6:53pm for its 7pm show--- tireless preparation for what was to come. I followed fellow guests into a small space filled with treasures from all over Africa as well as modern interpretations of traditional art. It was with these aesthetics in mind th...

Writer/vocalist Amanda McBroom is something of a wonder. The artist manages to be both lyrical and plain spoken, urbane and universal, polished and genuine, vulnerable and gutsy. Her sharply etched songs illuminate our hearts and minds like artful x-ray. Performance is intimate. McBroom's current s...

Ninety percent of the way into her ebullient show last night at Birdland, So, As I Was Saying, Anita Gillette quotes a 1977 review of her performance in Neil Simon's Chapter Two that stated the warmth she exudes could melt glaciers. (The artist wasn't bragging, but was referring to her then difficul...

Sunday night, Mark Walter topped off a year of Herculean accomplishment in preserving his father's legacy with a concert at the Cutting Room that went off like fireworks. Somewhere, composer /lyricist/arranger/pianist Cy Walter (right in Lloyd Diaz photo), was beaming. In 2015, Mark completed his fa...

Two exhibitions show what sensitive portraiture, both old and new, can accomplish....

Visit Seamstress on 75th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues, in New York City for a distinctive dining experience....

Actor/vocalist Kristoffer Lowe has recently racked up an impressive array of awards, including the Metropolitan Room's 2014 MetroStar, the 2015 Bistro Award for Special Achievement, and the 2015 Male Debut MAC Award for his 2014 show, Waiting For the Light to Shine. Even after such kudos, however, h...

I first saw Julie Reyburn in her 2011 cabaret show Winter Songs, where she wonderfully explored in music the beauty of winter from its cool, autumnal evenings to the somber tranquility of a snow fallen night. It was a terrific act. So I was excited when Reyburn announced she would reprise her 2000 c...

Christine Lavin, prolific (and dang funny) songwriter and performer of the east coast cabaret and folk scenes, creates a hootenanny during her residency at Don't Tell Mama most Wednesday nights in September. Co-hosting the series is Don White, folk singer-songwriter and activist out of Lynhurst, MA....

For any cabaret performer, delivering an original song can be a nice touch in any show, but finding the right one can drive a singer crazy. The upside is that as well as highlighting the songwriter (which in some cases can be the singer's musical director) it gives the performer an opportunity to sh...

What qualities define a leading man? Charisma, soul-searching masculinity, and a deep, lustrous voice--once upon a time, we had entertainers who possessed them all. With his Cafe Carlyle debut show that opened last night, Plays With Music--following his Tony-Award winning Broadway performances, 12 y...

In a conscientious retrospective, the Guggenheim Museum considers the affecting art of Doris Salcedo....

Pizza Boss on the Upper East Side of New York City will delight people who enjoy delicious pizza....

Back on May 14th, native New Yorkers Rachelle Garniez and Carol Lipnik each performed her own original songs at Joe's Pub, and while it was several months ago, the show remains embossed in my mind, as meaningful works of art have a way of doing. Each woman has a distinct and wonderful voice, both li...

One of the biggest names in Peking Opera in her first performances outside of China....

Opening Tuesday night with a four show run at the Metropolitan Room, Nancy Harms masterfully sang the luxurious, the lonely, and the seductive songs of the great jazz master, Duke Ellington. With classic cameo good looks and dressed in a black cocktail dress embellished with dangling rhinestone earr...

The collaboration between Ann Hampton Callaway and lyricist William Schermerhorn on the new holiday season CD called The Hope of Christmas is, alas, unsuccessful. Though Schermerhorn's lyrics can be pleasing, some worthy of considerable play, the over-produced collection burdens them with music that...

Tony Award nominated Beth Malone, currently starring in the Tony Award winning musical Fun Home on Broadway, returned to Joe's Pub this past Monday and took it by storm with her adorable and heartwarming solo cabaret show Beth Malone: So Far. Through songs and often hilarious vignettes about her lif...

Two free-spirited exhibitions consider the intersection of high fashion and meaningful art....

Visit Burke & Wills on the Upper West Side of New York City for a delightful weekend brunch. The modern Australian bistro features delicious menu choices in a stylish, welcoming atmosphere....

A Vermont getaway, or for that matter, any getaway helps to bring perspective to the daily lives we lead. Everyone becomes myopic in time and so these trips away from ourselves are critical for grounding our views, opinions and feelings about life and art. The MET, MoMA, The Morgan Library and Chels...

The theatre/dance piece is inspired by the life of Pearl S. Buck....

Back in January, BroadwayWorld's lead cabaret reviewer Stephen Hanks announced he was giving up critiquing shows to start his own company, Cabaret Life Productions, through which he would publicize, promote, and help book cabaret performers, and also produce cabaret shows. Hanks' first major product...