BWW Review: Kennedy Davenport Puts Emotion on Display in Cathartic THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO KENNEDY DAVENPORTSeptember 6, 2018"There's nothing formal about this but this dress." Kennedy Davenport's aside, just several minutes into her August 23 performance of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO KENNEDY DAVENPORT at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, couldn't have been truer. And, to put it in RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE speak, that informality represented both the top and the bottom of the performance--- though, rest assured, nobody was in danger of elimination.
BWW Review: Lauren Patten + Company Raise a Glass to P!nk with 54 SINGS TributeSeptember 3, 2018Throughout her career, above all else, P!nk has proven to be something of a power ballad machine. That's why it's no surprise that, with the heightened emotion in the sound and lyrical content of much of her catalog, her music was such a natural fit for the theatrical performances of 54 SINGS P!NK at Feinstein's/54 Below.
BWW Review: Natalie Douglas Shares Her Love for Cher in Her Latest TRIBUTES at BirdlandAugust 13, 2018It's safe to say that Natalie Douglas is a little obsessed with Cher. Throughout TRIBUTES: CHER, the latest in her award-winning TRIBUTES series, Douglas made her way through the icon's life from her early career up to the present, both in song and in story. But the real focus of the July 16 show at Birdland wasn't necessarily in identifying with the woman, the myth, the legend that is Cher. (After all, how can anyone fully relate to someone for whom a phrase as simple as "Hi again" is a meme-able moment?)
BWW Review: Tovah Feldshuh Means Business as LEONA! at Feinstein's/54 BelowJuly 27, 2018Leona Helmsley shuffled back to this mortal coil for one night only---three, actually---and, as portrayed by Tovah Feldshuh, she's lost none of her bite in those intervening years. From the start, Feldshuh's Leona narrowed her eyes into a hard stare that would put Paddington to shame, never letting up for a moment.
BWW Interview: Alaska Talks ON GOLDEN GIRLS, Why RuPaul Is A Total Rose Nylund, And Her New DRAG RACE-Themed PodcastJuly 25, 2018If you know one thing about Alaska, it's that she won RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE ALL-STARS 2. If you know a second thing about her, it's probably that she's obsessed with THE GOLDEN GIRLS. So much so, in fact, that the drag queen and her partner-in-crime, Handsome Jeremy, molded that obsession into a live show, which returns to The Laurie Beechman Theatre for an encore run in August. Before Alaska kicks off the latest string of shows, we spoke with her by phone about what fans can expect from the aptly-titled show, ON GOLDEN GIRLS, which pays tribute to the musical stylings featured on the beloved sitcom.
BWW Interview: Becca Blackwell Talks THEY, THEMSELF AND SCHMERM, Mining Humor from Difficult Topics, and the Butterfly Effect of Queer ArtistsJune 20, 2018'You're never going to see yourself onstage unless you write for yourself.' That's what Becca Blackwell was told by their friend, Michelle Matlock, who had written THE MAMMY PROJECT as a solo show for herself. That idea, coupled with encouragement from Blackwell's partner and 'prolific' fellow artist, Erin Markey, led Blackwell to write THEY, THEMSELF AND SCHMERM.
BWW Feature: The BROADWAY PRINCESS PARTY Continues to Bring Magic to New York and BeyondJune 18, 2018The BROADWAY PRINCESS PARTY is having a homecoming of sorts. The brand, led by Benjamin Rauhala and Laura Osnes (Rodgers and Hammerstein's CINDERELLA), touched down at Feinstein's/54 Below (then simply 54 Below) back in August 2015, returning for four more engagements over the next three years. When the show returns to the space on June 25, it will look a bit different than what New York audiences may have come to expect.