It’s always great to be surprised in cabaret. Sometimes it’s one song, one story, one character that can shake you out of your club-going assumptions and expectations and genuinely enthrall you. More rare is an entire show that surprises you. That’s …Read more
Before I get into my review of Tony-winner/rocker Lena Hall’s new show, “Oh! You Pretty Things,” at the Café Carlyle, I think I need to present a few personal bona fides. I saw the first New York performance of Janis Joplin (with Big Brother and the …Read more
Barrett Foa has established a successful career in television in Los Angeles as a co-star of NCIS: Los Angeles and as a recurring character on Entourage, but he remains, in his own words, “a musical theatre addict” who’s been “jonesing” to be back in …Read more
When statuesque, platinum blonde Amy Jo Jackson entered Feinstein’s/54 Below in her new show, “I Want To Be Your Man,” she owned the stage by sheer physical force before she uttered a note. This turned out to be a very good thing because the show she …Read more
Nasty Drew & That Harder Boy: The Mystery of the Family Jewels is an homage to the childhood-favorite mystery series “Nancy Drew” and “The Hardy Boys” and at the same time the latest in a long line of campy, loose-limbed, enjoyably tasteless, env …Read more
Early on in his Café Carlyle debut, singer-songwriter Steven Page admits with sly understatement that he “was in a band for a long time.” That band was the Toronto-based Barenaked Ladies, which toured (and is still touring) the world and sold million …Read more
The sixties ushered in a number of changes in the world of music: the British invasion, folk music, Motown, and many others. One of those changes, the rise of the singer/songwriter, turned out to be a surprising double-edged sword. While it celebrat …Read more
The rough-hewn, relaxed feel of Stage 3 at Rockwood Music Hall on the Lower East Side proved the ideal setting for singer Abigail Rockwell and guitarist Sean Harkness to debut their new pairing, “Rock & Hark.” The show had a loosely structured, ” …Read more
Barbara Fasano celebrated the release of her new CD, “Busy Being Free,” at the Metropolitan Room with the disc’s arranger and music director, John di Martino, on piano. While the title comes from an early Joni Mitchell song, “Cactus Tree,” the repert …Read more
As part of its Winter Rhythms festival, Urban Stages presented “Until Now…The Songs of Ron Abel and Chuck Steffan” with a starry cast and an instrumental trio featuring Abel on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Rex Benincasa on drums. Abel has arrange …Read more
