Ricky Pope - Page 6

Norbert Leo But is an actor who is hard to pin a label on. It’s hard to believe that Jamie Wellerstein, Alfie Doolittle, Paddy Chayefsky, Agent Carl Hanratty, Freddy Benson Edward Bloom, and Fiyero all came out of the same brain space. And yet, that very chameleon-like versatility has been the hallmark of his Broadway career. Tonight, at 54 Below, in his show NORBERT LEO BUTZ SINGS TORCH SONGS FOR A PANDEMIC, he had only one character to play, a charming, if sometimes complicated actor called Norbert. It was the music itself that displayed chameleon-like versatility tonight. It was mostly rock, but it ran the gamut from Bruce Springsteen to Neil Young, Ron Sexsmith, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Fleetwood Mac, and Neil Diamond.

Chinnock and Harris are a study in contrasts. Jared Chinnock is a small, wiry, blond, tenor, guitar player with a Welsh accent. His style is percussive and dramatic. Evan Buckley Harris is a tall, dark-haired, baritone pianist. His style is more lyrical and laid-back. But for all their differences, their voices blend beautifully. It was a pleasure to hear them harmonize.  They also clearly enjoy playing together. Their onstage chemistry is very fraternal.

When it comes to the art of cabaret, no one has been more successful or more prolific than Michael Feinstein. His influence is literally everywhere you look. In three decades he has gone from a piano bar performer to one of the most driving forces in the music business, the impresario of a cabaret empire. He is an ambassador for the Great American Songbook and his work as an archivist of rare and forgotten scores is unparalleled.

Bonnie Milligan is what Broadway used to sound like: brassy, belted, and funny. Thank God, there are still women around who know how to do it. There is a huge difference between selling a song with some charm in a big voice, and 'screlting' at the top of your lungs. Ethel Merman knew the difference. So does Bonnie Milligan. She made one of the most talked-about Broadway debuts in seasons as the deliciously vain Princess Pamela in Head Over Heels. She confessed that it’s been 3 years since she last did a solo show. Tonight at Feinstein’s 54 Below, she made up for lost time, delivering a stellar, and surprisingly vulnerable self-titled show.

Onstage, Tony nominee Derek Klena has played a lot of roles that could be best described as 'heels,' well-meaning guys who go horribly wrong due to a lapse in good judgment. It comes as a pleasant surprise to find out that Derek Klena, actor, singer, cabaret performer, is in truth a genuinely affable, kind, thoughtful guy. He is also a prodigiously talented one. In the decade he has been working in New York he has racked up some impressive credits including Carrie, Dogfight, Wicked, The Bridges of Madison County, Anastasia, and Jagged Little Pill. He sang songs from several of those productions in his self-titled show which opened at 54 Below last nigh

Penny Fuller may have had the quote of the evening when she and Anita Gillette unveiled the new version of their show SIN TWISTERS. She was quoting the great Barbara Cook, who said 'I wish someone had told me I was working in The Golden Age. I would have paid attention.' That is a mouthful. Anita Gillette (Carnival, All-American, Mr. President, They're Playing Our Song, Chapter Two) and Penny Fuller (Applause, Rex, A New Brain, The Dinner Party, Anastasia) brought a bit of The Golden Age to the stage of Feinstein's 54 Below. And the audience paid attention. In fact, the audience was spellbound.

Michaeln Mott performs at 54 Below about every six months. Thanks to the pandemic it’s been nearly a year an half since he was last in the august cabaret room. But he was back tonight at last with a new edition of his showcase, MICHAEL MOTT & FRIENDS. And he had lots to show off.

Travis Moser, a full-throated musical theatre baritone, sings five songs mostly from the first half of Sondheim's career. He is joined by his longtime musical director Drew Wutke, who has created stripped-down piano-only versions of the songs. Recorded about 6 months into the pandemic, Moser has used his mini song cycle to react to the pandemic from his own point of view using Sondheim's words. The aim was to record the songs just as Sondheim wrote them, without new arrangements and without altering pronouns or genders. It is clear Travis Moser holds Sondheim in great regard and has presented his songs quite faithfully.

Lillias White (Dreamgirls, Cats, Once On This Island, How to Succeed, The Life, Fela!) is the kind of performer who engenders adoration. She serves up joy and talent in giant portions in everything she does. She won the Tony for The Life, the Obie for Romance in Hard Times, and a Daytime Emmy for her role on Sesame Street. She was also Tony-nominated for her stunning turn in Fela! Her voice is instantly recognizable. No one sings like her. The force of her voice and her presence is as elemental as air, water, earth, and fire.

Although Anita Gillette & Penny Fuller have been in show business for a very long time, their close friendship is not even a decade old yet. Fans frequently mistake them for each other. This is the premise of their show SIN TWISTERS which will open at 54 Below Monday, August 16. The title, of course, is a Spoonerism.  Fuller and Gillette explain that, and the mystery of their mistaken identities in the show. They also sing lots of fantastic numbers from the many stages of their careers. I recently caught up with Anita and Penny on Zoom. It was a chatty, delightful afternoon. 

Amber Iman rises to new heights in cabaret with her show at Feinstein's/54 Below.

Somewhere in the middle of her show COMIN’ AROUND AGAIN, which opened tonight at 54 Below, Liz Callaway casually mentioned that this year Merrily We Roll Along will celebrate its 40th anniversary. How is it possible that Liz Callaway (Baby, Cats, Miss Saigon, The Three Musketeers, The Look of Love) has been entertaining Broadway audiences for 40 years? Her voice is as fresh and supple as it was all those years ago. She has always had a remarkable instrument, always squarely in the center of the pitch, with perfect diction. She has the ability to belt and still sound like she’s just talking. She has amazing technique that never calls attention to itself. It is a voice you never grow tired of listening to.

Billy Stritch has always embodied a suave elegance that evokes another era before tuxedos were replaced by ripped jeans and before cocktail hour was replaced by Netflix binges. His encyclopedic knowledge of The Great American Songbook is prodigious. He not only knows all the songs, he knows the history of them all. He is as stylish as the great pianists of that era: Oscar Peterson, Marion McPartland, Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum, and Dave Grusin. He is the upholder of a tradition that includes Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Doris Day, and Mel Tormé.

Cabaret is the most elusive of art forms. Even those who are regular cabaret performers are unable to give you a unified definition. It frequently crosses paths with musical theatre in material and personnel, and yet it is not technically theatre. And although it resembles concertizing, it's not strictly music either. It can encompass, songs, poetry, prose, dance, standup, monologues, sketches, and performance art. Although it is frequently regarded as the repository of The Great American Songbook, it can also feature any style of music one can imagine from opera to country to hip-hop. And while solo performances are most common, cabaret can also feature groups, both small and large. Anyone who sets out to write a guidebook on the art of cabaret is taking on a handful.

Jason Danieley does not disappoint in his new show at Feinstein's/54 Below.

Kendra Cunnigham is what would occur if Terri Garr and Mae West had a love child. She’s the first person in her family to leave her home in Boston since her grandmother immigrated from Lithuania. Cunningham doesn’t have to tell you she’s from Boston. Her accent tells the whole story. Her show is an hour of expert standup, that details what happened once she left her family in Massachusetts to make her way in the Big Rotten Apple. It’s a story of bad dates, terrible therapists, and a lot of retail therapy. And those affirmations. It’s a story about a decade of searching for happiness and a decent man. Spoiler alert, she seems to have found both.

Many women, when they are 8 months pregnant are beginning to think about curtailing their strenuous work activities, concentrating on decorating a nursery, or buying baby clothes and supplies. Not Tony nominee, Lilli Cooper (Tootsie, Spongebob Squarepants, Spring Awakening, Wicked.) Her idea of “taking it easy” involves putting on a pretty dress, and heels, yet, and opening a show at 54 Below. That show, ALL THE FEELS is about this particular transformational moment in her life. Her show is about all the things she loves, which have now taken on new significance because shortly she will get to share them all with a brand new baby boy. After so many bittersweet shows about surviving the pandemic, it is a breath of fresh air to see a show that is so full of hope and joy.

New York nightlife is making a slow and steady return to the City that Never Sleeps. One of the city's most famous jazz institutions, Birdland is making a long-anticipated return to live performances next week with one of New York's most elegant and beloved piano men, Billy Stritch. Birdland has been Stritch's artistic home base for nearly two decades. He has played for some of the biggest names in show business and has been a staple of Monday nights at Jim Caruso's CAST PARTY.

Before the end of the first song, there was thunderous applause at the return of SONDHEIM UNPLUGGED to 54 Below after having been absent, in fact, all of last year. For those of you, like me, who have never been to a SONDHEIM UNPLUGGED show, it is the creation of impresario Phil Geoffrey Bond. It is a simple concept. It is a monthly event at which he gathers a group of guest stars who sing songs by Stephen Sondheim, accompanied only by a piano. The entire evening is hosted and curated by Mr. Bond who also provides tidbits of history and trivia about the songs we are hearing. The series is in its eleventh season. Tonight’s show was number 93.

Adam Pascal is a Broadway star who struggles with Broadway because he is, in his very soul a rock star. That dichotomy has always been the appeal of Pascal’s work. He walks in the Broadway world, but he’s not quite OF it. His show was a no-frills tour through his unexpected career. Just him, a guitar, his stories, and that voice. It is an entirely unique instrument. No one else sounds like him. His voice is as thrilling at 50 as it was when he played Roger Davis at 25.