Ricky Pope - Page 2

It is safe to say that Carnegie Hall has been the premiere showcase for what is great in American Art and Culture for over 130 years. It is not hyperbole to say that the concert given Monday night by Broadway and television star Lea Michele will be remembered as one of those defining zeitgeist events. Her two-hour intermission-less journey through her career so far was the kind of powerhouse performance that people talk about for years. For the young Millennial set, it is their Judy Garland moment, the thing they will reminisce over cocktails “I was there for…”

A THOUSAND SWEET KISSES is a very emotional homecoming. It has been 17 years since Jai Rodriguez has trod the NY boards and his excitement about being home was palpable last night at 54 Below. His show frankly and hysterically recounts the many adventures he’s had along the way, particularly focusing on the sex, love, and relationships that spiced it all up.

When Ari Axelrod was putting together his show, A PLACE FOR US: A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH BROADWAY, he couldn’t foresee that it would open at a time of mourning for Jews around the world. The horrendous attacks in Israel have made any sort of celebration hard to bear. But as Axelrod points out that is precisely the reason it is imperative to celebrate the achievements of Jewish Americans. And nowhere is that influence felt more strongly than on Broadway in the musical theatre.

TIME TRAVELER was a fascinating look at the life of an extremely versatile artist.

It is a brave artist indeed who tries to capture the complex nature of the career of Carly Simon. That is the task that Marnie Klar sets for herself in her show MARNIE KLAR SINGS CARLY SIMON, which had an encore performance Monday evening at Don’t Tell Mama. It is clear that Ms. Klar has great respect for Carly Simon and possesses a great deal of knowledge about how her songs came to be. Like Simon, she is quite a beauty and has a great dexterity with language. She also shares with Simon a wide emotional range.

Martinez (On Your Feet) presents an eclectic evening of Broadway classics and modern fare presented as a series of self-tapes. Mauricio Martinez is a performer of great range. His work has been seen on Broadway, in London, in Mexico City, and even in his early career, in telenovelas. He is one of the great crooners with a talent for smart phrasing. Everything he does is infused with passion. He is equally adept at heartfelt ballads and sly comedic numbers. In another era, he would have felt right at home among the Rat Pack.

It is not surprising that playwright and spoken-word artist, reg e gaines and legendary tap dancer Savion Glover chose Coltrane to create a show around. Both gaines and Glover have pushed their art forms into brave new territory like Coltrane did

Classical Theatre of Harlem is to be congratulated for presenting this wonderful play. Langston in Harlem is a piece that absolutely deserves a second look, and this company delivered a first-rate production.

Tou are missing out on one of the last vestiges of what the golden age of cabaret was like.

SETH SIKES & NICOLAS KING; THE NEW BELTERS is a high-energy, well-honed entertainment that has its audience buzzing with excitement and tapping its toes with joy.

Christine Andreas has one of the finest of Broadway voices, an instrument with a huge expressive range capable of belting to the rafters and pliable enough to sing the gentlest lullaby.

It would be hard to think of a Broadway pairing who are capable of such bravura singing and are so at ease in each other's company. The evening they have created is a casual party in cocktail attire. It feels like a throwback to the days of after-show supper clubs where the elite came to meet and mingle with mere mortals. Baldwin and Lazar do serious work with the lightest touch.

COME CELEBRATE WITH MARILYN MAYE,  is ostensibly a celebration of her upcoming birthday. But it is so much more than that. It is a celebration of all the fans who have made Maye as loved and respected as she is. It is a two-way avenue of gratitude between an entertainer and those she entertains. It’s hard to say which is more delightful, the songs themselves, which are beautifully sung and acted, or the banter that feels as unscripted as a cocktail party. And Marilyn Maye is the most charming host of her own fête. Two weeks ago she performed with 80 musicians at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. But is this Marilyn, with only herself and her trio, that I prefer. An intimate evening of great songs and good-spirited bonhomie.

The self-proclaimed 'senior citizen, redneck, lesbian, diva' brought her post-modern talk show to the Green Room 42 last night. It was, as we say in the South, a 'ring-tail tooter' of an evening.

From the moment she appeared in the audience singing “One Night Only from Dreamgirls, sliding down a banister like a wacky Mame, you knew you were in for a comedic master class. She is an excellent mimic, a powerhouse singer, and in the end a sensitive and truthful actor. She is living proof of Elaine Stritch’s maxim, “To play comedy you have to be real.” Jennifer Simard is absolutely the real deal.

A dynamic concert graced the stage of 92NY this past weekend.

Last week, it was with great joy that I went to 54 Below to see the TCU Department of Theatre Senior and Alumni Showcase. As about half of the performers were graduating seniors, it isn't really fair to review the evening, but there was so much talent on the stage it is an event that should be noted. These are performers we will definitely be seeing in New York again, and soon.

We all love to reminisce. A trip down memory lane is highly satisfying. In fact, for those of us who are devotees of The American Songbook, reminiscing is sort of our gig. Susan Mack has made it the theme of her evening, SUSAN MACK: YESTERDAYS, which opened yesterday at Birdland. And Ms. Mack is, indeed a singer worth remembering. She has a voice as full-bodied as honey, with impeccable pitch and delicious taste in music. She put together a program of classy, often rueful tunes about days gone by, both hers and ours. As she points out, the beauty of calling a show YESTERDAYS is that you can sing anything written before today.

There is one place on the modern East Side where that world of NY cognoscenti is as alive and vibrant as it ever was. Café Carlyle is the perfect setting for John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey’s show EAST SIDE AFTER DARK. They serve up tune after tune from that 50s and 60s scene where life didn’t begin until after sunset and jazz was the currency of the smart set. Pizzarelli, son of jazz great Bucky Pizzarelli, is a world-class guitarist who has worked with a long list of luminaries including Rosemary Clooney, James Taylor, and Paul McCartney. He has recorded 20 solo albums and has appeared on at least twice that number for other artists. Jessica Molaskey, a Broadway baby if ever there was one, has appeared in a dozen or more hit shows including Sunday in the Park With George, Cats, Crazy For You, Chess, Oklahoma!, City of Angels, Parade, A Man of No Importance, and Songs For a New World to name only a few.

Ms. Dver looks great, sounds, great, and breezes through her treatise on gratitude with a light and confident touch. She is, as Cole Porter would say The Hostess With the Mostess’ on the Ball.