BWW Reviews: You'll Be Crazy in Love With MARIEANN MERINGOLO'S New Monthly Show at the Metropolitan RoomApril 15, 2014As a young veteran of the New York cabaret scene and someone who rests comfortably in that performer's purgatory between celebrity and what the folks at the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) calls “Major Artist,” Marieann Meringolo certainly doesn't need validation from a Stevie-come-lately reviewer like me. But nobody bats 1.000—in baseball, life, or cabaret—and, frankly, I didn't cheer in print for her slightly pretentious 2013 show Orchestrated, which seemed to feature a band big enough to bust through the far wall of the Metropolitan Room and arrangements that were more than a tad overblown. But in 2011, I loved her annual holiday show, In The Spirit, and had heard nothing but great things about her 2012 tribute to the music of Michael Legrand, so I was willing to consider Orchestrated a mere hiccup—depending on what she came up with next. Well, next arrived on the afternoon of Saturday, April 5 afternoon with Meringolo's new show, Crazy Love, at the Metropolitan Room.
Competitors Announced for TUNE IN TIME, New York's Exciting New Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge at Stage 72, 4/7April 5, 2014What happens when a composer and a lyricist have to write a song from a new musical (invented on the spot), in a style determined by the spin of the dreaded Genre Wheel . . . in 20 minutes? Brain-frying fun! Brave musical theater composers and lyricists Kevin Ray, Arianna Rose, Dan Wolpow, Adam Spiegel, Andy Roninson, and Drew Fornarola will step up to the creative plate in the April 7 premiere of the exciting new songwriting competition TUNE IN TIME at Stage 72 (formerly The Triad) at 7pm. The finals will be on April 14 at 7pm.
BWW Reviews: VIVIAN REED Signs, Seals and Delivers a Soulful and Powerful Performance at 54 BelowApril 3, 2014In the late '70s, Vivian Reed captured a Tony Award nomination and won a Drama Desk Award for her work in the Broadway musical Bubbling Brown Sugar, and although Reed has delivered some critically-acclaimed work in the many years since (a Tony nomination for the 1992 musical The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club and a star turn in the revue Three Mo' Divas), during the last decade she had gone and stayed away too long, mainly to take care of her ailing mother. Last November, she dipped a toe in the New York nightclub waters, producing a one-night show at 54 Below that was highly praised and offered hints of great things to come. But this past Monday night—the first of what will ultimately be a four-show run of “An Evening With Vivian Reed” (the next three dates are April 14, May 20 and June 19)—this performing powerhouse established her return in earnest. With Reed's still expressive voice tackling musical genres ranging from R & B to Jazz to Great American Songbook standards to Gospel (even a dash of Opera), her electric and passionate show was cabaret/nightclub performing as revival meeting in more ways than one. Reed is not only reviving her singing career, she is inspiring impassioned converts at the same time.
BWW Reviews: Ambitous New Cabaret Shows From SHANA FARR and JILLIAN LAURAIN Reach High But Fall ShortMarch 31, 2014'A man's reach should exceed his grasp. Or what's a heaven for?' once wrote the poet Robert Browning. The line is about setting goals, striving, and ambition, all of which can be commendable desires. But sometimes in the world of cabaret, the desire to achieve the next level or to raise one's personal bar can be an overreach and overly ambitious. Such was the case with two shows staged this past week by two accomplished singers-Shana Farr and Jillian Laurain--who over the past couple of years have garnered mucho kudos for their vocal prowess and solid shows. Nobody could fault these lovely ladies for pushing their performance envelopes, but in both cases they fell short of their goals.
CABARET LIFE NYC: Even At a Brooklyn Church, Julie Reyburn's Award-Winning FATE IS KIND Is Enchanting Cabaret as Musical Bedtime StoryMarch 16, 2014Sometimes you can stumble into stirring, soul-enriching cabaret in the unlikeliest places. Like at an Episcopal Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, for example. On March 1 at Christ Church (Ridge Boulevard between 73rd and 74th Streets), one of New York cabaret's best and most-respected female singers Julie Reyburn, and her Musical Director Mark Janas (producer of the award-winning SALON, the open-mic held on Sunday nights at Manhattan's Etcetera, Etcetera Restaurant), resurrected Fate Is Kind, Reyburn's 2000 debut cabaret show, which earned her MAC and Bistro awards for “Best Female Debut,' and which is a magical work of cabaret art.
CABARET LIFE NYC: Jim Brochu's CHARACTER MAN Transforms From Compelling Cabaret Show Into Triumphant Musical Theater PieceMarch 5, 2014If you do believe in spooks, to paraphrase the character actor Burt Lahr as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, then you'd probably gather that the spirits of our dear departed greats of Broadway are likely denizens of the theaters where they achieved their greatest successes, perhaps at the Neil Simon Theatre (formerly The Alvin), for example. But if the late, great character actors of 20th century musical theater are haunting any house these days it is most definitely the intimate and quaint theater space at Urban Stages on West 30th Street. This is where veteran actor/singer Jim Brochu has just started his run (until March 30) as a magical musical medium in a nightly one-man-show-as-seance that conjures these performing poltergeists, who are assuredly more Beetlejuice than Jacob Marley.
Cabaret Chanteuse BARB JUNGR's New CD Celebrating the Songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen Being Released on 3/24March 2, 2014Barb Jungr has been called the UK's finest interpreter of song, especially the songs of singer/songwriting icons Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Jungr has also taken the New York cabaret scene by storm the last few years, having performed her celebrated Dylan tribute show, Man In the Long Black Coat (also available as a CD and called "the most significant vocal album of the 21st century thus far," by the Wall Street Journal) at the Metropolitan Room in 2011 and 2012. Now, Barb Jungr returns to the songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen with the release on March 24 of her new CD, Hard Rain (from Kristalyn Records and distributed by Absolute via Universal), which will also be available for download.
BWW Reviews: MAUDE MAGGART is a Delightfully Dreamy Enchantress at Café CarlyleMarch 1, 2014This past Tuesday evening Maude Maggart, a celebrated young veteran of the cabaret scene, started her debut run at the Cafe Carlyle (which ends tonight with shows at 8:45 pm and 10:45 pm) and her new show certainly didn't disappoint, at least not in the singing department. Throughout a 16-song set, this attractive and willowy brunette from a performing family that now spans three generations was a delightfully dreamy enchantress conveying retro-romantic songs she delivered with the ethereal mezzo soprano style of an early Disney movie heroine of pre-Little Mermaid vintage, only one more worldly wise and seductive.
TV: Watch Highlights from the 2013 BroadwayWorld New York Cabaret Awards at Joe's Pub!March 1, 2014On Sunday February 23 at Joe's Pub, BroadwayWorld.com celebrated the best New York cabaret performers, performances and shows during 2013 as voted on by more than 7,500 fans at the end of last year. With BroadwayWorld's lead New York cabaret columnist and reviewer Stephen Hanks as the host, many of the Award winners appeared to perform, and as you'll see in these videos they put on an amazingly entertaining show.
BWW Reviews: JANE MONHEIT & CLINT HOLMES Dazzlingly Deliver the Songs of Frank Wildhorn at Cafe CarlyleJanuary 31, 2014Before the finale of Tuesday night's Café Carlyle show celebrating the varied compositions of Frank Wildhorn, the Grammy and Tony Award-winning composer quoted his frequent collaborator, lyricist Jack Murphy, as once offering that “Great singers are a songwriter's best friends.” Even though Murphy's thought is hardly original, no words could be more true after listening to the scintillating songstress Jane Monheit and the performing powerhouse Clint Holmes deliver 16 solid songs that but wouldn't exactly be called classic examples of what passes for the late 20th century Great American Songbook.
Alice Ripley, Jackie Hoffman and Special Honorees Carole J. Bufford and Marissa Mulder Set to Appear at BWW Cabaret Awards Show at Joe's Pub, 2/23January 30, 2014The star-studded list of Broadway stars and A-list cabaret performers keeps growing for the 2013 BroadwayWorld New York Cabaret Awards Show, to be staged at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan) on February 23 from 6:30-8:40 pm. Added to a stellar group that includes Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Terri White, Jane Monheit and Jason Robert Brown, are Tony Award Winner (now also a cabaret performer) Alice Ripley (photo left), who will perform representing Sondheim Unplugged at 54 Below, which won the BWW Cabaret Award for Best Variety Show or Recurring Series. Broadway favorite Jackie Hoffman (Hairspray, Xanadu, Adams Family) will appear to perform and accept her BWW Award for Best Musical Comedy Performance for her show at 54 Below.
CABARET LIFE NYC: Lauren Fox & Ritt Henn Successfully Expand Definition of Cabaret With Surreal David Lynch ShowJanuary 26, 2014Lauren Fox, one of the more multifaceted and ambitious young stars of the New York cabaret scene, seems intent on redefining what is already a pretty open-ended art form. The recent run of her new duo show at Stage 72 with bass player Ritt Henn, Ghosts of Love: Songs from the Reel World of David Lynch (January 9, 18, 23, and 24) was the most recent example of Ms. Fox's unconventional approach to a 70-80 minute nightclub show and the result was operatic film noir--cabaret style.
Manhattan Musical Theatre Lab Presents Tracy Sallows' CURIOUS & RARE at Snapple Theatre Center, 2/20January 24, 2014Manhattan Musical Theatre Lab's Co-Producing Artistic Directors Frank Evans and Stephen Hanks are proud to announce that the final production of the 2013-14 season from the not-for-profit musical theater development is CURIOUS & RARE, written by Broadway, film, and TV actress and playwright Tracy Sallows (who has also appeared in previous MMTL productions). The presentation will be on Thursday, February 20 at 6:30 PM at The Snapple Theatre Center on Broadway and 50th Street. 3rd Floor, Jerry Orbach Theatre. Reservations at 212-989-6706 or MusicalMondays@aol.com. Regular Admission: $18. Students/Seniors $13.
Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks (with Conductor Maurice Peress) Celebrate 90th Anniversary of George Gershwin's RHAPSODY IN BLUE at Town Hall, 2/12January 22, 2014It may be one of the greatest combinations of classical music with jazz and pop ever created by an American-born composer, and this February 12 it will be 90 years since the immortal George Gershwin first played his 'Rhapsody in Blue' for an audience. Bandleader Vince Giordano and Conductor Maurice Peress, who share a love for American music, have joined forces to honor Paul Whiteman's historic Aeolian Hall concert on the same day and the same block where Gershwin's amazing piece was introduced nine decades ago. This concert will be on Wednesday, February 12th, at The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, NYC, at 8:00pm for a one-time-only performance. Tickets are modestly priced ranging from $25 to $40 and will be available at www.ticketmaster.com or at The Town Hall box office.
Manhattan Musical Theatre Lab Presents Rosemary Loar's WATER FROM THE MOON at Snapple Theatre TonightJanuary 16, 2014The not-for-profit musical theater development group Manhattan Musical Theatre Lab (formerly Musical Mondays Theatre Lab) has announced that the third presentation of its 2013-2014 season is the new musical, WATER FROM THE MOON, written by MAC Award Winning Cabaret Performer Rosemary Loar and her husband Robert W. Atwood. In fall 2011, MMTL presented the Loar/Atwood musical Spoolie Girl, which was subsequently nominated for 11 'Best of the Fest' awards at the 2012 Midtown International Theatre Festival, including winning the award for 'Outstanding Music and Lyrics' and a nomination for 'Best Production of a Musical.'
CABARET LIFE NYC: Brochu & Schalchlin Shows at the Met Room on 1/15 Should Hit a Grand Slam As Cabaret DoubleheaderJanuary 14, 2014As a cabaret reviewer, my role is to observe, muse, opine, critique, judge, and otherwise hobnob with all the thoughts in my fevered brain during and after a show. I don't believe it's appropriate for reviewers to promote specific shows—especially before they've reviewed them—so I don't write a “Pick of the Week or Month” column or advise readers on what or whom they should see. But here I'll break my own policy and urge you to go to the Metropolitan Room on Wednesday night, January 15 to see the shows of Steve Schalchlin (7pm) and Jim Brochu (9pm). Believe me, you'll thank me.
Callaway Sisters and Bway Stars LuPone, Benanti, Hoffman, and White Among Winners of 2013 BWW NYC Cabaret AwardsJanuary 7, 2014It's finally official. After more than a month of voting--following a month-long nomination process--approximately 7,000 voters have selected the winners of the BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Awards for 2013. Self-proclaimed cabaret “Diva” Ann Hampton Callaway and her Broadway baby sister Liz Callaway are either the principals or connected to four awards out of this year's 18 categories, including “Best Duo or Group Show” for the return after 18 years of their critically-acclaimed sister act Sibling Revelry, and “Best Tribute Show” to Ann for her exciting homage to Sarah Vaughan, From Sassy to Divine. Ann's musicians for her Sarah Vaughan show at Dizzy's Jazz Club at Lincoln Center took the Award for “Best Band or Orchestra,” and Alex Rybeck received the most votes as “Best Musical Director” for Sibling Revelry, which was staged in August at 54 Below.