Now in it's 4th year, 'Judy and Liza Together Again', starring internationally acclaimed entertainers Rick Skye and Tommy Femia, named 'BEST DUO' in 2012 by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC), has been extended again at Don't Tell Mama's (343 West 46th Street).
After a successful launch with two shows / competitions in April, New York City's exciting, new musical theater songwriting challenge, TUNE IN TIME, returns to Stage 72 (The Triad) tonight, June 25 and Tuesday, July 1 at 9 pm.
Ventrioloquist April Brucker (TLC, NBC) is hosting 'I Came, I Saw, I Sang: Show and Book Event' for her book of the same title. The event will be held on July 3rd at 7:30pm at Don't Tell Mama (343 West 46th Street).
The biggest challenge in personalizing a tribute show is when the set list is structured to tell a story about the performer's life. Those songs better be good, that life better be interesting, and that storytelling patter better be clever, humorous, and self-deprecating or an audience (let alone a reviewer) will tune you out quicker than a liberal accidentally hitting FOX News on the remote. I recently saw two different shows at The Duplex from enchanting young women performers—Carly Ozard and Nikki MacCallum--who deftly managed to weave their love of a singer (Bette Midler for Ozard) or a songbook (Kander & Ebb for MacCallum) into a tale of life journey and personal growth to produce charming and entertaining shows.
Nathan Chang's critically acclaimed show "Steppin' off the Sidewalk" is being extended for three more summertime performances. This show, which garnered him a 2014 Bistro Award and a 2014 MAC Nomination, opened in February of 2013 and is continuing its run this summer on July 3rd at 7pm, July 19th at 8pm and August 6th at 7pm at Don't Tell Mama NYC. Reservations are highly encouraged and can be made by calling (212) 757-0788 after 4pm or by visiting www.donttellmamanyc.com. Tickets are $10 ($5 for MAC/AEA/SAG-AFTRA members).
Bristol Riverside Theatre presents Cooking With The Calamari Sisters, running July 30-August 3. Delphine and Carmela Calamari star in this delightfully zany comedy-cum-cooking class. Hilarity, failed dishes, and food fights ensue during this live “broadcast” of a public access cable cooking show hosted by two largerthan-life Italian sisters. They sing and dance to such beloved Italian favorites as “Volare,” “Come On A My House,” “Botcha Me,” “Que Sera Sera,” “That's Amore,” and of course, “Mambo Italiano!” as they try to make it through their final broadcast together in one piece.Performances run Wednesday, July 30 at 2:00 and 7:30, Thursday, July 31 at 7:30 PM, Friday, August 1 at 8:00 PM, Saturday, August 2 at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM, and Sunday, August 3 at 3:00 PM. Tickets starting at $30 ($15 for students) are available by visiting brtstage.org or calling the BRT Box Office at 215-785-0100. Bristol Riverside Theatre is located at 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, PA.
This week is Pride Week in Boston and what better way to support and celebrate than with a festival of plays and theatrical pieces that feature appropriate and relevant themes. Sleeping Weazel's Doubles, Demons, and Dreamers spans two weekends, each of which has its own lineup of a solo performance and a full length play that all tell touching, absurdist, revolutionary, and surrealist tales.
Peggy Eason is one of those characters who seem to have been made for the New York cabaret scene. She's a bodacious woman who is ubiquitous at the local clubs, possesses a passion for singing, and bills herself as the 'Chocolate Diva,' although on stage she's more like a Red Hot Mama. Eason opened her third solo cabaret show, I'll Show Them All, at Don't Tell Mama on Monday night (she's appearing again at the club on Sunday at 7pm) with the decidedly politically incorrect titled song written especially for her by David Conforte, 'Black, Blind and Beautiful' (Hey, 'African American, Visually Challenged and Beautiful' doesn't have the same ring to it.). But there was little that was incorrect about her fast-paced and entertaining show that was often poignant and funny at the same time.
After a successful launch with two shows/competitions in April, New York City's exciting, new musical theater songwriting challenge, TUNE IN TIME, returns to Stage 72 (The Triad) on Wednesday, June 25 and Tuesday, July 1 at 9 pm. A new roster of great up and coming musical theater--six composers and six lyricists-is ready to take on the challenge of writing a song from a musical whose title is, literally, picked from a hat in the style determined by a spin of The Dreaded Genre Wheel. Will it be a historical epic? Something a la Rodgers & Hammerstein? Experimental? Or even [insert name of large theme-park owning mega-corporation-turned-Broadway-megalopolis here]? Oh . . . and they have just 20 minutes to do it.
Richmond Triangle Players closes its season with the Sam Mendes revival of Kander and Ebb's CABARET, which has returned to Broadway for a limited engagement at Studio 54. While it would be a real treat to see Alan Cumming, Michelle Williams and company, the Triangle Players' production stands well on its own.
Jennie Litt and David Alpher, Brooklyn's own married songwriting duo, celebrate the May release of their debut recording, TWO APPLES, with an appearance at New York's Metropolitan Room tonight, June 5 at 7pm.
The Bitchy Waiter Show, starring Darron Cardosa makes its debut at Metropolitan Room 34 W. 22nd St. (between 5th and 6th Aves.), NYC. Sunday June 22 at 7:00 PM.
Barnyard Follies is a new musical intended for young performers, written by Sam Carner of the Carner & Gregor team (Unlock'd, Island Song). Directing the reading is David Alpert (Associate Director of If/Then, The Best Man, A Trip to Bountiful) and musical direction is provided by Jason Wetzel (Assistant Conductor for After Midnight and numerous touring credits including Young Frankenstein, The Drowsy Chaperone). The cast features 24 young performers ranging in age from seven to nineteen and includes Sebastian Hedges Thomas, currently on Broadway as Young Charlie in Kinky Boots. The reading will take place at 6pm on May 28th at The Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons.
As part of South Bend Civic Theatre's Firehouse Cabaret, a concert of music by the famed composers John Kander and Fred Ebb will be presented this weekend, May 16-17.
An afternoon of good music, memories & even some laughs as I perform my original/first-ever One-Man Show. I'll be accompanied by the excellent Pianist and Musical Director, Daryl Kojak, and you'll hear me perform some great old 'Lounge Songs'....including my own versions of a few songs that NOBODY ever thought of-or even had the courage to try to do-before!
PAN ASIAN REPERTORY THEATRE will present a special limited run of NO-NO BOY by Ken Narasaki, directed by Ron Nakahara and based on the novel by John Okada, set in the aftermath of WWII as Japanese Americans return to the West Coast. Called 'eloquent...elegant and searing' by LA Weekly, NO-NO BOY will run from today, May 14-18, 2014 at the Studio Theatre at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street), with official opening on May 15 at 7:30PM.
If you are even a semi-regular reader of this column of reviews, you know that about every three or four months, I post a compilation of observations of shows from the previous quarter of the year. This cabaret critiquing mash up happens for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I admittedly see too many cabaret shows for the amount of time I have to promptly review them (and then, of course, the usual writer's procrastination sets in). So I have to prioritize the timeliness of the reviews based on the prestige of the performer, the length of a show run, the strength (or lack thereof) of the performance, etc. The quality of the shows in these compilations—which can range from a half dozen to a dozen reviews in one shot—are usually a mixed bag of outright raves, qualified positives, and constructive pans (I'm not a fan of the word “negative” in the reviewer lexicon). With that in mind here are a collection of cabaret show reviews going back to the start of a very harsh winter.
Following on from the successful run of "Ordinary Days" (which has been nominated for an Off West End Theatre Award for Best Musical Production), and the London revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" London Theatre Workshop is delighted to announce its next show will be the first London run of a new evening celebration of Stephen Sondheim's love songs, "Just Another Love Story".
Peggy Eason will bring "I'll Show Them All!" to "Don't Tell Mama" on June 9th, 15th, 2014.
As of this May, Seth Bisen-Hersh will have produced, emceed and accompanied 300 showcases. To celebrate he is putting on the 300th Showcase Extravaganza consisting of six concerts of his work with 84 showcase alumni Tuesdays, beginning tonight, May 6th and continuing the 13th, 20th and 27th; Friday, May 9th; and Thursday, May 22nd, at 7PM.
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