BROADWAY THEATER REVIEWS

Tribute shows to iconic entertainers celebrating a centennial birthday in 2015 seem to be all the rage this year. But nobody has been celebrated more in cabaret variety shows than Frank Sinatra—and rightly so. Wall Street Journal entertainment columnist Will Friedwald, also a producer and author w...

In December of 2013, stage veterans Gabe Bowling and Michelle Vezilj released their first EP as Drink Me Up. Pulling from the traditions of singer-songwriters and indie rock, the duo's eponymous debut release quickly became an album I couldn't get enough of. Today, Drink Me Up is releasing a video f...

A dazzling display of Broadway stars come out to celebrate the careers of one of the theatre's most successful brother/sister dance combos....

James Snyder got this week off to a great start when he brought James Snyder: Prince Charming to Birdland as part of the venue's ongoing Broadway at Birdland concert series. Existing partly as a way to promote the upcoming production of Ever After at Paper Mill Playhouse, this intimate cabaret conce...

Four recent shows at Don't Tell Mama featured performers either making their debuts on the New York cabaret scene (Evelyn Sullivan and Erin McCracken) or who returned this spring in hopeful anticipation of sharing their artistic vision with audiences (Rob Sutton and Eve Eaton). They no doubt experie...

Judy Collins, who celebrated her 76th birthday on May 1, has been entertaining us for 56 years "not including childhood." A formidable contributor to the soundtrack of Boomer lives, her transcendent voice conjures memories like few others of any generation. Collins' current show at Cafe Carlyle (whi...

After a 20-year absence from Manhattan cabaret, Roslyn Kind resurfaced last year with a sold out run at 54 Below. The show was a hit and audiences so adored her, she probably could have extended a month. At the time, she was fresh off a world tour that that began at Brooklyn's Barclays Center and fa...

Somewhere In This Song: The Music and Lyrics of Nicholas Levin, which premiered this past Saturday afternoon at Metropolitan Room is a hit show that will undoubtedly find its legs for a much-deserved extended run there, or possibly on an Off-Broadway stage. Levin, a prodigious songwriter, has never...

Evoking Rita Hayworth, a spot lit Jennifer Sheehan weaves through 54 Below towards the stage, long dark hair cascading above a body-skimming white gown replete with twinkling sequins. “I'll build a stairway to the stars . . .,” (Mitchell Parish/Matt Malneck/Frank Signorelli) she sings with stunn...

Yes, interactive Off-Broadway shows are a thing, and they can be really entertaining. The latest offering in the genre is THAT BACHLORETTE SHOW, which is a flirtatiously fun 90 minute dance party from the creator of THE AWESOME 80S PROM. More party than theatre, this frivolous concoction packs in th...

To celebrate the release of his debut solo album ALL THAT'S AHEAD, Brian Gallagher performed an intimate set in Birdland's ongoing Broadway at Birdland concert series on Monday, April 27. Joined by Megan Hilty, he and his robustly talented band brought music from the album to dazzling life. With exu...

It wasn't so much watching a performance as it was bearing witness to an interior exploration, the chrysalis-busting conjuring of an artist stepping out of the shadows to claim her own territory. Lisa Fischer, the extraordinarily gifted vocalist featured in the 2014 Academy Award-winning documentary...

For actors looking for work in New York City and for audiences looking to see some of Broadway's biggest hits in an intimate venue at extremely affordable prices, Brooklyn's Gallery Players consistently provides those opportunities. This past weekend they opened a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber a...

Any seasoned entertainment pro will tell you that the key to success on a stage is keeping your audience happy. It also helps to throw in a bevy of show-stopping songs, parodies, and raucous tongue-in-cheek laughter along the way. Those make up only a few of the ingredients offered in the ongoing Ju...

These days at Birdland, trying to channel Dolly Parton's bigger-than-life-persona is the sultry Natalie Douglas, a seven-time MAC Award, Nightlife, and Backstage Bistro Award winner, who (on April 20) brought her own hip, quick-witted, earth-mother persona--along with her smokin' hot vocals--in a j...

Attending a multilingual performance at Cafe Sabarsky in The Neue Galerie (86th Street and Fifth Avenue) is like stepping back in time. The room speaks to an era of higher refinement, not stuffy, but encouraging pedigree and brio. Few artists epitomize this more than celebrated cabaret veteran singe...

Long after the Waldos coined the term '420,' composer Dan Studney, lyricist Kevin Murphy, and actor/producer Christian Campbell decided that it was time to test the waters in New York City for the return of the hit cult musical REEFER MADNESS. Lighting up at 54 Below, they wanted to see just how hig...

Nestled in the cozy, subterranean concert space that is Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3, Seth Glier celebrated the release of his latest album on Friday, April 17 in New York City. In the intimate venue, he treated the packed to capacity room of fans with charismatic performances of songs from previous ...

Mark McCombs is one of those madcap Thespians offering one of the best examples of “character work” on the current New York cabaret scene. Having studied and performed with the New York Gotham City Improv Company, it's little wonder McCombs's first solo show, Ten Jumps Ahead of a Fit, earned him...

“Lover, when I'm near you . . .” sings the debonair Todd Murray this past Monday night at Birdland, mere feet away from rapt eyes into which he pours himself. He's performing the waltzy song acoustically, voice full out in opposition to lyric mood. The back of the house undoubtedly finds sound m...

Songwriter, performer, producer, and now activist, Bobby Horowitz, has put yet another spin on the series/variety show, with her refreshing take on the subject of 'ageism' in America. Called It's Just a Number (starting with six dates running from April to October at The Metropolitan Room), Horowitz...

You probably know Gloria Reuben from the 1990s TV medical drama ER (in which she played Jeanie Boulet, an HIV-positive physician assistant on the hospital's staff). Or you may know her from playing the slave Elizabeth Keckley in the Steven Spielberg movie Lincoln. Or if you are super-cultured, you m...

THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE is a glittering example of a musical that captures and is imbued with that magic in every perfectly cast note and each keenly written lyric. Celebrating Ghostlight Records' release of the original cast recording, members of the cast and creative team came together at Joe's P...

It was more than fitting that the New York cabaret community should honor the late Jerry Scott last Saturday night at Parnell's--the last piano bar that Jerry played before he died in April, 2013 at 67. To honor Jerry's memory and his lifetime of achievements, three devoted friends, cabaret reviewer...

With warmer weather and sunny days, New York City is ready to shake off the doldrums of winter. Luckily for the city that never sleeps, Canadian superstar Gregory Charles is bringing his revered piano man skills and keen ear for music to a truly unique concert experience. In a mindboggling pop-up on...