Review: Brenda Braxton's STARS TONIGHT! Makes Marvelous 54 Below Debut

I’m going to tell you why you need to be going to see Brenda Braxton’s chat show STARS TONIGHT!  Surprise.  That is to say, the element of surprise… because with Brenda Braxton driving the train, anything can happen.   

Allow me to demonstrate…

Do you know what is happening in this photo?

 

That is Brenda Braxton chugging her beverage so she can give the mug to the audience member who bought it from her, during the show, for over three hundred dollars.

And this photo… what do you think is happening here?

That is Mario Cantone realizing that he saw Allison Williams Foster in the ORIGINAL production of The Wiz:  “You were the house dancer?!  You were the cyclone?!  With the tail in your hair?!  You were AMAZING!!”

And here is Brenda Braxton using a live q&a with the audience to vamp while an Uber sped special guest Mario Cantone to NYC from Boston (Mario arrived, safe and sound, forty minutes into the show, unruffled and ready to entertain.)

See?  This is Mario Cantone doing his Julia Child impression…

And here is Mario Cantone’s Paul Lynde impression…

And here is the entire cast of the July 9th performance of STARS TONIGHT! at 54 Below singing "Brand New Day."

If these few photographic representations aren’t enough to sell you on seeing the next installment of the cabaret chat show, let me do what I do best: use my words.

Brenda Braxton did her first episode of her cabaret chat show in March at The Green Room 42 (read the review HERE) and it was clear that she had something on her hands, so the Tony Award nominee announced it as a monthly show at its new home at 54 Below, and the July 9th performance was the official kick-off.  Structured like a traditional chat show, Stars Tonight! has a host (Braxton), a co-host (Allison Williams Foster), guests, a special guest, a band, a Maestro, musical numbers, chat, chat, chat, and laughs, laughs, laughs.  The chat and the laughs was in abundance on the 9th because Mario Cantone… right?  But it’s pretty clear that Brenda Braxton has chat chemistry with everyone, right down to her audience, and that’s what makes Stars Tonight! such a good show - The Braxton Chemistry.

The delayed arrival of Mr. Cantone was a real thing - he had been up in Boston on business, and when flights were being canceled, someone in a producing capacity hired an Uber to ferry the Funny Fellow back to the city in time for his Stars Tonight! appearance… and the tardiness factor actually made the evening better for everyone.  Brenda Braxton did her opening number (actually, she slayed with a Prince song titled “Baby I’m A Star”), and then she ‘fessed up about her special guest’s travel trauma, moving all of her other guests and musical numbers up on the timeline.  Allison joined her for the Prince number, and her co-stars from Cougar The Musical (Mary Mossberg and Babs Winn) performed a number from the recent production, Brenda threw in two more songs, chatted with the crowd, and asked, from time to time, “What time is it?”  That’s when an audience member asked if there was Brenda Braxton merch, like, for instance, the mug out of which she was drinking.  Brenda admitted that no such merch exists, so the audience bid on the mug off her very table!  The mug and Brenda’s book were both auctioned off for a total of five hundred dollars, to a gentleman who preferred to remain anonymous, and the excited Lady whose name is above the title proclaimed her intention to give all of the money to the newly-minted non-profit that is 54 Below, and the applause earned was thunderous.  It was all a great opening act for Mario Cantone, who entered from the back in his summery suit, ready to make his entrance to the stage.

When Mr. Cantone arrived, the three members of the coffee klatch settled into talk show time with ease, with the ladies asking all the right questions and Mario coming back with all the right answers.  Indeed, it was like putting one coin after another into a jukebox and letting it go, and even though Mario Cantone is a stellar standup comic, he is also a storyteller of sensitivity who doesn’t see the benefit in editing himself as he tells the true tales about his life, his career, his kinfolk, the struggles of being a gay comic during certain decades in show business history, and the fact that the comics who are mean presenting are really the sweetest people off of the stage.  As Brenda went through Mario Cantone’s credits with him (in person and by way of a sizzle reel) it wasn’t hard to find oneself saying, “I didn’t know he did that,” and “I forgot he was in that” … and realizing what a true treasure he is, and has been, to the entertainment industry.  Whether on Broadway or the nightclub stage, whether on screens large or small, Mario Cantone is a marvelous actor, comic, personality, and singer, which he proved with a bang-on performance of “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die.”  It was a reminder that any time Mario Cantone is on a stage is a good time to buy a ticket.

Stars Tonight! has two shows under its belt and Brenda Braxton is proving herself a right capable chat show host and a fine nightclub entertainer.  It’s a real treat, and rather a gift, that she has chosen this format as her platform because she has something to say, and she says it with real style.  It’s going to be a great deal of fun to see Brenda Braxton settle into this new artistic home and format, and this writer doesn’t intend to miss one episode of Stars Tonight!, that’s how good it is, that’s how good Brenda Braxton is.  See youse all next month at 54 Below.

The next Stars Tonight! will be August 1st and the special guest will be Seth Rudetsky.

Other upcoming Stars Tonight! episodes are scheduled for September 3rd, October 17th, and November 19th, all at 7 pm.  The Stars Tonight! Event page is HERE.

Visit the Brenda Braxton website HERE and the Mario Cantone website HERE.

The Stars Tonight! Band is Mike Rosengarten on Guitar, David Silliman on Drums, Skip Ward on Bass, and Musical Director James Woods at the Piano.

Photos by Stephen Mosher; Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

 

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