Edward Eliscu News

MAC Award Nominee and Broadway World Cabaret Award Winner, Becca Kidwell shares her experiences as an introvert during lockdown and post-lockdown in her new show, “Together Inside,” on April 30th & May 22nd at 4pm to Don't Tell Mama.  Becca brings her struggles and joys to life with the assistance of music director, Matt Baker, and her director, Jeff Harnar. 

Composers Concordance presents Tin Pan Allegiances on Saturday, May 15th at 6pm at Michiko Studios in New York City. The concert commemorates and pays tribute to NYC's Tin Pan Alley, where publishers of zillions of popular songs had their offices. Songwriters associated with Tin Pan Alley included George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Jerome Kern, among many others.

The second of a six-part, decade-by-decade video series sampling the legendary artist's performances of musical theatre classics.

Lauren Stanford (who won the MetroStar Singing Competition at the Metropolitan Room in 2013) has convincingly done herself up to look like the legendary Helen Morgan in her new show, More Than You Know, which she introduced at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in late October and brought to 54 Below this past Friday night. Stanford's presentation is 2/3 singing and 1/3 biography. Research is evident; specific adds color. The use of framed photographs and several conjectured telephone calls is effective (the actress listens). Vocals don't emulate Morgan's controlled vibrato, but Stanford has sufficient musical feel for the period to make mimicry unnecessary. Her uneven contralto can add feeling to a song rather than diminishing it. There are, however, other issues.

Norm Lewis makes his eagerly anticipated solo debut at American Songbook on Saturday night at 8:30pm. The show is SOLD OUT, and has been for weeks, and he has been in what he calls 'training' for the last few months. His musical director is Joseph Joubert (Motown, The Color Purple, Violet, Leap of Faith) and the evening is directed by Richard Jay-Alexander., for whom Norm did 'Javert' along with Hugh Panaro as 'Valjean' in last summer's blockbuster success of LES MISERABLES at The Muny in St. Louis.

If the Broadway revival of a few years back demonstrated the deadly results that can occur when overthinking and underplaying a quality farce, the new Paper Mill mounting is a fast a furious example of Ken Ludwig's madcap Lend Me A Tenor done right.  Director Don Stephenson doesn't throw any fancy curveballs with the material, but he and his perfectly cast company of Broadway vets nail every door slam and verbal ping-pong volley with hilarious aplomb.

Tonight, January 6 between 8 PM-12 midnight The Big Broadcast celebrates forty years on WFUV (90.7 FM/wfuv.org). Host Rich Conaty will mark the occasion by airing excerpts of an historic interview with Connie Boswell of the Boswell Sisters which hasn't been heard since 1974.

On Sunday, January 6 between 8 PM-12 midnight The Big Broadcast celebrates forty years on WFUV (90.7 FM/wfuv.org). Host Rich Conaty will mark the occasion by airing excerpts of an historic interview with Connie Boswell of the Boswell Sisters which hasn't been heard since 1974.

On Sunday, January 6 between 8 PM-12 midnight The Big Broadcast celebrates forty years on WFUV (90.7 FM/wfuv.org). Host Rich Conaty will mark the occasion by airing excerpts of an historic interview with Connie Boswell of the Boswell Sisters which hasn't been heard since 1974.

Jenna gives a rundown of where she's been and what's coming up in the world of cabaret (and sometimes beyond!) Today's column features the marvelous Marilyn Maye and her new show 'The Happiest Sound In Town' at Feinstein's at Loews Regency.