For listeners like me with fond memories of Janis Siegel’s soaring, raucous gospel-jive vocals on Manhattan Transfer’s big 1975 hit “Operator,” the prospect of hearing her in an intimate setting like Jazz at Kitano was enticing. She did not disappoin …Read more

For a decade Kimberly Faye Greenberg has been channeling the spirit and music of the great comedy icon Fanny Brice. With two successful recordings and three separate productions based on Brice’s life to her credit, it is easy to see how Greenberg is …Read more

These days the worlds of stand-up comedy and cabaret in New York City may occasionally intersect, but mostly, it seems, they just sort of brush up against one another. The Duplex, however, is one cabaret venue where stand-up shows crop up fairly ofte …Read more

Newly minted American citizen Karen Jacobsen (born and raised in Australia) celebrated by bringing her pared-down but classy act to Stage 72 recently. Effortlessly charming, Jacobsen is an accomplished singer, pianist, and songwriter, and on this par …Read more

Two Cheyenne Jacksons are making their Café Carlyle debut: Cheyenne Jackson the handsome actor-singer of stage, film, and television; and Cheyenne Jackson the man, who has faced a number of personal challenges and tells us about them. Headliners at t …Read more

The temperature is a frigid 10 degrees as I make my way to midtown to meet with journeymen actors and Broadway funny-men Michael Kostroff (The Nance, HBO’s The Wire) and Eric Leviton (Kinky Boots, The Full Monty) to talk about their upcoming show A L …Read more

The Weimar Republic was created shortly after the end of World War I, giving Germany the first democratically elected parliamentary government in its history. After only fourteen years, this period of unprecedented political, personal, and artistic f …Read more

“The Boy Who Loved Bassey,” the crisp, hour-long show Alan Winner performed (and co-wrote with Ben Cameron, who directed) at the Metropolitan Room (and earlier this year at the Laurie Beechman Theatre), was so much more than a tribute to a great sing …Read more

There was much to like in Adam B.Shapiro’s newest show, “Nothing Normal,” seen at Urban Stages for one night as part of the theatre’s annual Winter Rhythms series (and previously at 54 Below and the Metropolitan Room): the jazzy piano playing by musi …Read more

For ten glorious years, from 1938 to 1948, Greenwich Village nightclub Café Society was the place to be for jazz musicians, comics and lovers alike. Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Zero Mostel, Sid Caesar and many others got t …Read more