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John Hoglund

John Hoglund John Hoglund is very proud of his lifelong passion for the performing arts which include the worlds of classical music, opera and jazz. It began the first time he met Leonard Bernstein backstage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music when he was 15 years old. Maestro Bernstein suggested he become a music professor. Destiny had other plans.

For the past 30 years, John has been a respected entertainment writer covering cabaret, theater and the recording industry through reviews, interviews and feature stories, His writings have appeared in many outlets including After Dark, Private Lives, NY Native, The Greenwich Village Press, Night & Day, The Village Voice, Cabaret Hotline, NiteLifeExchange, Theaterscene.net, Cabaret Scenes Magazine, etc. - and Back Stage where he wrote the Bistro Bits column and features consistently for over 12 years. He also served on pr moderated many panel discussions and seminars as well as several assignments teaching public relations and artists' promotion at Yale for the prestigious Cabaret Conference At Yale.

John has also produced many high-profile celebrity fundraisers in New York City. He is responsible for one of the first benefits after 9/11: “HeartSong:The Heroes' Concert” at The Bottom Line hosted by Harvey Fierstein and Julie Halston featuring 36 stars from Broadway, cabaret and television. He would later co-produce “HeartSong 2: The Heroes' Concert” (for Katrina victims) at Symphony Space, “Miracle On 35th Street” with a super star-studded lineup that included Betty Buckley, Judy Kaye, Liliane Montevecchi and Liza Minnelli. His fund raising efforts and productions include the first benefits for Broadway Cares and God's Love, We Deliver (1987-88.) John served on the Board of Directors of MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) for 12 defining years and is well known for discovering and championing rising talents. He also co-produced the MAC and the Back Stage Bistro Awards. Through the years, he has has been called on as a consultant to several major rooms in Manhattan including Tavern-on-the-Green, The Algonquin, Cafe' Carlyle, Arci's Place, Broadway Baby Cafe' and as entertainment manager for Pierre Cardin's 250 seat Maxim's. Consequently, he has booked many diverse artists' including: The Gipsy Kings, Shirley Horn, Lilias White, Morgana King, Kaye Ballard, Laurie Beechman, Jane Olivor, Sylvia Syms, B.J. Crosby, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Pat Cooper, Ruth Brown, Lainie Kazan, Linda Eder and Betty Buckley.

A native New Yorker, John worked as a part time script doctor for several major television shows when he lived in California raising his two children. He comes from an eclectic musical background and his writings also appear in several books on cabaret and music. He is also extensively quoted in Gerald Franck's best selling biography “Judy Garland.” John has also produced three albums for award winning singers Marcus Simeone, Tom Coviello and harpist Jose Luis. He now manages the listings website AfterDark-NYC.com.
Other current projects include an autobiographical work, a play and a Peter Allen project which will debut in the spring of 2015. Plans are in the works for more cabaret CD projects. John is very happy to join the prestigious Broadwayworld.com family as it expands its cabaret coverage.





MOST POPULAR ARTICLES


BWW Review: Iconic Cabaret Singer Baby Jane Dexter Keeps Raising The Bar With Her Compelling New Show IT'S PERSONAL at the Metropolitan Room
BWW Review: Iconic Cabaret Singer Baby Jane Dexter Keeps Raising The Bar With Her Compelling New Show IT'S PERSONAL at the Metropolitan Room
November 19, 2015

In her current show at the Metropolitan Room, It's Personal, Baby Jane Dexter once again reaches beyond the footlights and embraces her idolaters as only she can. In doing so, she makes them cry, laugh out loud, and view life with a different slant. After all these years, she's still packing them in and raising the bar. Her gravitas and strong self-belief make for an exciting and unique hour of cabaret. Dexter's joy at giving is evident throughout this new show. Serious minded but never preachy, this is an artist enjoying herself as much as her audience is.

BWW Review: Performing With Solid Partners--Tracy Stark and Maria Ottavia--in Separate Shows, Marcus Simeone Displays His Vocal Depth and Range
BWW Review: Performing With Solid Partners--Tracy Stark and Maria Ottavia--in Separate Shows, Marcus Simeone Displays His Vocal Depth and Range
October 28, 2015

Fourteen years since his debut at Don't Tell Mama, Marcus Simeone has evolved into a fearless singer who is able to climb inside any song and deliver it home with ease. Aside from eclectic solo work, he has also partnered with others over the years with mixed results. Currently, he has joined forces with two cabaret artists in two totally unrelated songwriter showcases running simultaneously in two different clubs. One salutes a controversial folk pioneer and the other pays homage to three Broadway icons.

BWW Review: Kim David Smith Takes Alt-Cabaret to a Fantasia Level With His Electro-Show At Joe's Pub
BWW Review: Kim David Smith Takes Alt-Cabaret to a Fantasia Level With His Electro-Show At Joe's Pub
October 20, 2015

Some performers push the envelope. In the case of Kim David Smith, no avant-garde, gender-bending, or mainstream artist dancing in the cabaret arena today takes more risks. Never was this more in evidence than in his brand new show, Stargazing at Joe's Pub on October 8. Few artists work harder to express themselves through the increasingly visible alt-cabaret genre than Smith. He doesn't just break glass ceilings he crashes them with a jackhammer. To accomplish this, he seamlessly re-imagines Weimar-era, neo-classicism and Berlin-channeling cabaret at every turn the likes of which have not been seen since Marlene Dietrich in the 1930 film, The Blue Angel.

BWW Review: At Metropolitan Room, Gary Crawford is Dreamy Singing the BARRY LEVITT SONGBOOK Which Is No Longer a Secret
BWW Review: At Metropolitan Room, Gary Crawford is Dreamy Singing the BARRY LEVITT SONGBOOK Which Is No Longer a Secret
September 18, 2015

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 show what they can do with unfamiliar material. The combination of the two can be effective and memorable. Such was the case recently with singer Gary Crawford who along with musical director, arranger and songwriter Barry Levitt delivered a very compelling evening of songs on September 2 at the Metropolitan Room. Crawford is a lovable singer who highlighted the somewhat under-the-radar talent of one of cabaret's most respected musicians. After producing a MAC Award-winning show (for "Best Debut") in 2013-In Love With Love-and recording a subsequent CD, it was inevitable that Crawford and Levitt team up again, this time for Secret Dreams: Gary Crawford Sings The Barry Levitt Songbook.

BWW Reviews: With His Intimate Frank Sinatra Tribute Show at the Metropolitan Room, RICHARD MALAVET Raises His Vocal Game
BWW Reviews: With His Intimate Frank Sinatra Tribute Show at the Metropolitan Room, RICHARD MALAVET Raises His Vocal Game
July 19, 2015

Near the end of his exceptional new show, Very Good Years: The Intimate Sinatra at the Metropolitan Room, Richard Malavet recalls famed radio personality William B. Williams who once said: "Frank Sinatra is the most imitated, most listened to, most recognized voice of the 20th century." Williams did not exaggerate. Consequently, in this centennial year of Sinatra's birth, there will be many observations of the man known as "The Voice." For his tribute to Sinatra, Malavet did his homework. In this meticulously researched, respectful homage, he turns his talents to the more personalized aspects of the pop star's recording years, from 1939-1968, when musically, Sinatra became synonymous with songs of heartache and loneliness.

BWW Reviews: YANNA AVIS is Again Beguiling and Enticing as She Makes Some Sensual Musical Magic at 54 Below
BWW Reviews: YANNA AVIS is Again Beguiling and Enticing as She Makes Some Sensual Musical Magic at 54 Below
July 7, 2015

Since her cabaret debut at Eighty Eight's in 1992, Yanna Avis has played every major room in New York and has become one of the most popular international artists, with a fan base that continues to grow. With her new show at 54 Below (on June 18), Make Some Magic, Avis demonstrated why she is so unique and renowned for classy interpretations of songs from the 1930s to 1940s. Singing in German, Spanish, English and French, Avis sauntered through an hour of what she called "my cabaret," which included her old-world deconstruction of seductive songs recalling an intimate boite style made famous by legendary divas famed for erudite and sexy ditties from a world we'll never see again.

BWW Reviews: Piano Girl ROBYN McCORQUODALE's Cabaret Debut Alternates Between Smooth Sailing and Choppy Seas at the Laurie Beechman
BWW Reviews: Piano Girl ROBYN McCORQUODALE's Cabaret Debut Alternates Between Smooth Sailing and Choppy Seas at the Laurie Beechman
May 18, 2015

To paraphrase a Peter Allen song, she could have been a sailor. Instead, she chose to sail the open seas. And now she's singing about it. It all made for a promising theme for the Manhattan cabaret debut of Robyn McCorquodale and her series of four April shows, Diary Of A Piano Girl, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Pert, lively and totally likable, she shared her stories fused with original songs about wanderlust in which all roads eventually lead back home. From the opening number to closing with "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," her only familiar entry, she took a circuitous route with visits to numerous ports of call. New to our local cabaret shores, but no stranger to entertaining, she's made her mark in the Big Apple with this outing.

BWW Reviews: ROSLYN KIND Returns To 54 Below With Another Sold-Out Show That Is Simply Sublime
BWW Reviews: ROSLYN KIND Returns To 54 Below With Another Sold-Out Show That Is Simply Sublime
May 5, 2015

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 famously included her nephew Jason Gould, acclaimed jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, and half sister Barbra Streisand with whom she sang some duets. The Brooklyn native returned to 54 Below for the first three days in May and again her show was a hit under the masterful direction of Broadway's Richard Jay-Alexander

BWW Reviews: TOMMY FEMIA and RICK SKYE Are Still Magically Campy as Judy and Liza at Don't Tell Mama
BWW Reviews: TOMMY FEMIA and RICK SKYE Are Still Magically Campy as Judy and Liza at Don't Tell Mama
April 25, 2015

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 Judy and Liza: Together Again show at Don't Tell Mama (now in its fourth year) starring Tommy Femia and Rick Skye.

BWW Reviews: BEN RIMALOWER Is Back at The Duplex Dramatically and Humorously Dealing With the Personal Demons of His Past
BWW Reviews: BEN RIMALOWER Is Back at The Duplex Dramatically and Humorously Dealing With the Personal Demons of His Past
March 4, 2015

Ben Rimalower just might be heading a revival of downtown theater. Following the wild success of his popular cabaret-theater piece, Patti Issues, which ran forever (and is still going strong), he's back with his latest entry into obsessive-compulsive issues, Bad With Money, running at The Duplex Cabaret Theatre through April. This is a profoundly darker work, laced with campy humor and his trademark spitfire delivery. It is more serious and thought provoking as he expounds on his neurotic spending habits and substance addictions.

BWW Reviews: CELIA BERK Launches Belated Cabaret Career With a Solid CD Release and Impressive Debut Show
BWW Reviews: CELIA BERK Launches Belated Cabaret Career With a Solid CD Release and Impressive Debut Show
December 7, 2014

Watching a singer like Celia Berk, who brings a heartwarming balance, a subtle good humor, originality, and a lot of affection to everything she sings, makes one realize the crucial role good instincts play in the self-conscious, self-absorbed world of cabaret. Right at the top of her recent debut run of shows titled You Can't Rush Spring (the title of her recently released excellent debut CD) at the Metropolitan Room, this New Yorker from the business world ingratiated herself with the audience by admitting she was fulfilling a lifelong dream. Berk had already built a following with a few excellent guest performances (most notably at this past October's Cabaret Convention at Lincoln Center) and in this auspicious debut she proved she easily puts her personal stamp on an eclectic mix of songs. Such ability springs directly from who she is and not from someone's idea of who she should be.

BWW Reviews: Baby Jane Dexter's Rules Of The Road (Part 3) at the Metropolitan Room Is a Life-Affirming Mix of Shattering Realities
BWW Reviews: Baby Jane Dexter's Rules Of The Road (Part 3) at the Metropolitan Room Is a Life-Affirming Mix of Shattering Realities
December 3, 2014

In a show business world of frauds and air kisses, Baby Jane Dexter is the ultimate survivor . . . the real thing . . . a true New York cabaret legend. Accolades, awards, great press, and life-altering shows have been her calling card over the last 25 years since she returned to cabaret after a decade long absence. She has shared her life experiences through laughter and tears in song and through good times and bad. Regardless of the situation, she has ferociously plowed forward with a vengeance and never let her fans down. Her new show, Rules of the Road (Part 3), running at the Metropolitan Room on weekends through December 27, is another life-affirming mix of shattering realities fused with the promise of better days.






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