Cabaret Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 48

BWW Review: SEAN HARKNESS AND THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS Are Unusually Better Than Prozac at Birdland Theater
by Stephen Mosher - September 10, 2021

It was one of those nights in a club when everyone left the building with a smile on their face, a song in their heart, and oxytocin every damn where....

BWW Review: ARTURO O'FARRILL AND THE AFRO LATIN JAZZ ENSEMBLE RECORD RELEASE At Birdland Is Cause For Celebration
by Stephen Mosher - September 09, 2021

In four years it will be three decades since O'Farrill & co. started their Birdland residency. Here's hoping it never ends....

BWW Review: Overwhelming Talent Floods WORK IN PROGRESS: THE NEXT GENERATION OF WRITERS at Feinstein's/54 Below
by Stephen Mosher - September 09, 2021

With only its second episode, WORK IN PROGRESS: THE NEXT GENERATION OF WRITERS presents an impressive lineup of diverse talent that doesn't actually scream 'new work' - thank goodness....

BWW Review: SIERRA BOGGESS Makes Joyful Music at 54 Below
by Ricky Pope - September 10, 2021

The one constant in all Sierra Boggess' roles is a heavenly voice that sounds so effortless it hides the stunning technique that lies beneath. She has a lightness of tone that is completely conversational in every register and diction that is enviable. But beyond all these technical gifts, Boggess i...

BWW Review: THE LINEUP WITH SUSIE MOSHER at Birdland Should Be Your Tuesday Night Hangout
by Ricky Pope - September 08, 2021

Birdland, the world-famous jazz club, features two of these latter-day vaudeville offshoots. Jim Caruso's Cast Party has been a staple of Birdland for years, serving as Broadway's open mic experience. But every Tuesday evening, Susie Mosher presides over a somewhat more curated and far more ribald v...

BWW Review: Connie Han Acts Her Age At The Birdland Theater
by Stephen Mosher - September 07, 2021

Connie Han has looks like the bad girl of jazz... but she's really just a young woman with buckets of talent and the artistic nature to go with it....

BWW Review: Eric Comstock Makes The Audience At Birdland Beg For More ... But Does He Give It To Them?
by Stephen Mosher - September 07, 2021

Once a week, something wonderful happens at the Birdland Theater, and it involves three music-making pals with a long history....

BWW Review: RACHEL HANDMAN AND KEVE WILSON: BROADWAY MUSICIANS PLAY MUSIC FROM AROUND THE WORLD Enchants at 54 Below
by Ricky Pope - September 07, 2021

It’s a very rare thing for 54 Below to present an evening of strictly instrumental music. But violinist Rachel Handman and oboist Keve Wilson are not ordinary musicians. They have been friends since childhood, growing up in the same neighborhood upstate. Handman’s mother was Keve Wilson’s piano teac...

BWW Review: PAM ANN STAYIN ALIVE & Rita Lamar = 2 Funny Ladies Who Should Let Everyone In On The Joke @ The Triad & Don't Tell Mama
by Bobby Patrick - September 05, 2021

The people in the house who seemed able to take the entire flight with Pam were those avid fans who were more than a few drinks in, and for Rita Lamar, a good old-fashioned set up the joke, deliver the punchline comic, her A-game seemed to be eluding her....

BWW Review: MR. HARRIS AND MR. EDWARDS Are Off to a Promising Start at Don't Tell Mama
by Ricky Pope - September 03, 2021

Tonight, in their debut show at Don’t Tell Mama, Quentin Harris and Bryce Edwards added their own names to the list of performing teams who use opposition to their advantage. They bill themselves simply as MR. HARRIS AND MR. EDWARDS. If this sounds like a throwback to vaudeville days, it’s not entir...

BWW Review: Kristolyn Lloyd Debuts Heartfelt Music, Affirmations, & Admissions In CONFESSIONS OF A TOKEN BLACK GIRL At Feinstein's/54 Below
by Bobby Patrick - September 03, 2021

One can never be sure in this uncertain world - especially in show business - of how an acting career will look in hindsight; fortunately, along with all the power as a performer she packs into her slight 5’4” frame, this lady (as it turns out) is also a gifted from the gods songwriter. With more t...

BWW Review: MAC ROVING OPEN MIC Not So Open at Don't Tell Mama
by Stephen Mosher - September 01, 2021

What happens when you show up at an advertised open mic night, only to be told there are conditions for your being allowed to perform?...

BWW Review: Eric Michael Gillett Rises To The Occasion With WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE On MetropolitanZoom
by Stephen Mosher - August 31, 2021

There may not have been any cake, but Eric Michael Gillett brought all the sweetness himself in this perfect presentation of what cabaret could be, if everyone let it....

BWW Review: Anthony Rapp Is A Mild-Manner Rock Singer In UNPLUGGED At Feinstein's/54 Below
by Stephen Mosher - August 30, 2021

The guy-next-door apparel belies the rock and roll vocals Anthony Rapp is serving up these days at 54 Below....

BWW Review: ADAM GWON Touches the Heart at 54 Below
by Ricky Pope - August 30, 2021

Adam Gwon has very devoted fans. His songs have been recorded by Audra Macdonald and Liz Callaway, among others, and are frequently heard performed in cabaret shows by hundreds of artists. But for all of the acclaim Gwon has received over the past decade or so, he has yet to write the show that will...

BWW Review: The Out Of Towners Are Outta Sight When Meghan Kirk and Carolyn German Play DON'T TELL MAMA In The Same Day
by Stephen Mosher - August 29, 2021

By accident, a St. Louis Woman and a Nashville Nightengale play the same New York City nightclub within hours of each other, and prove that Manhattan has no copyright on cabaret talent....

BWW Review: With MUSIC OF MY LIFE At The Green Room 42 Richard H. Blake Returns To The Stage, Where He Belongs
by Stephen Mosher - August 28, 2021

Richard H. Blake was scheduled to play his club act at The Green Room 42 before the pandemic. Finally, he fans, friends, and family got to see his dream realized... and it's really good....

BWW Review: MICHAEL FEINSTEIN: SUMMERTIME SWING! Is a Lesson in Showmanship at Feinstein's 54 Below
by Ricky Pope - August 28, 2021

I’m happy to report that SUMMERTIME SWING! is perfectly on-brand. Mr. Feinstein delivers some finely crafted gems from the Great American Songbook with his trademark energy and showmanship. I have seen Feinstein mostly in larger venues, and so the surprising element in this show was to see how i...

BWW Review: Ellen Marlow Stuns in SILVER LININGS at The Green Room 42
by Karis Rogerson - August 28, 2021

In a dark, mauve-curtained room, on the fourth floor of a hotel, around 7:15 p.m. on August 26th, the lights began to dim, and a scattered audience of socially distanced cabaret goers erupted into cheers and applause as Ellen Marlow bounded onto the stage. Marlow was at The Green Room 42 performing ...

BWW Review: Amy Beth Williams Transcends Her Own Simplicity To Deliver A BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY At Don't Tell Mama
by Bobby Patrick - August 27, 2021

The beauty of the ABW experience. So simple and so nuanced was each tale she told, weaving them into a larger story portrait song after song of a brave woman who had been there and back again standing on stage telling us things we ought to know in order to get by....

BWW Review: ELIZABETH WARD LAND: STILL WITHIN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE Tells the Story of Two Artists at The Green Room 42
by Ricky Pope - August 26, 2021

In 2020, Elizabeth Ward Land (Amazing Grace, Scandalous, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Memphis, City of Angels) won the Bistro Award for Outstanding Tribute Show for her work on STILL WITHIN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE: THE SONGS OF LINDA RONSTADT. Tonight she gave a repeat performance of that award-winning show...

BWW Review: THE BOY BAND PROJECT Makes A Dazzling Debut At Feinstein's/54 Below
by Stephen Mosher - August 24, 2021

The Boy Band Project made their 54 Below debut Sunday night, and it's about time....

BWW Review: SALON Throws a Sweet Sixteen Party at Don't Tell Mama
by Ricky Pope - August 23, 2021

Tonight, SALON performed for the first time after sixteen months off. Even the threat of a tropical storm outside didn’t deter a good number of people from celebrating its return. This evening’s theme was threefold: “Welcome Back!,” “Sweet Sixteen” in honor of Salon’s 16th anniversary, and “Bernstei...

BWW Review: NORBERT LEO BUTZ SINGS TORCH SONGS FOR A PANDEMIC Is a Tonic For the Soul at 54 Below
by Ricky Pope - August 22, 2021

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 hallm...

BWW Review: JARED CHINNOCK & EVAN BUCKLEY HARRIS: OLD SOULS Strikes Just the Right Chord at Don't Tell Mama
by Ricky Pope - August 19, 2021

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, ...