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Bistro Bits: Winter Rhythms 2024 Features Beats of Different Drums
This year’s “Winter Rhythms” series at Urban Stages (the 16th annual edition) was a mix of old and new, playful and profound, polished and loosey-goosey. Some shows focused on the...
Bistro Bits: From Gershwin to Booze, Broadway, Murder, and Sex, Cabaret Shows Take on a Variety of Themes
We’ve now reached the point in the year when the influx of new cabaret runs may be tapering off a little, giving way to year-end holiday offerings (often one-offs), with...
Bistro Bits: A New Album from D.C. Anderson and a Lina Koutrakos Trifecta
In this column, I check in on an important new album from singer/songwriter/actor D.C. Anderson. Plus, I report on three recent club shows, all of which just happen to be...
Bistro Bits: Autumn in New York Cabaret — New Shows from Ward, Moberly, Neiheisel, and Mack
Now that we're officially more than a month into the fall season, there's been a noticeable uptick in the number of new cabaret shows opening in Manhattan. This week, I...
Bistro Bits: There Are Many Ways to Approach a Tribute Show—Here Are Two
Singers preparing a tribute show, whether they’re celebrating the tune list of a songwriter or feting the career of a performer, have a number of decisions to make. Do they...
Club Review: Shannon Daley—”Love and Let Die: Confessions of a Bond Girl”
In her breezy yet ambitious Don’t Tell Mama show, Love and Let Die: Confessions of a Bond Girl (directed by Lennie Watts and first performed in June of this year),...
Bistro Bits: Special-Case Albums—New Releases by Minnock and Aloisio/Pallatto
Today for Bistro Bits, I’m having a look at two recent album releases, both of which fall into the “jazz” bucket. But circumstances make these two albums a bit different...
Club Review: Val Hawk—”Special Material”
Val Hawk is a singer with an earthy, wry presence—she’s funny, friendly and unpretentious. Shortly before she was officially called to take the stage at her recent Pangea show, Special...
Bistro Bits: Jazz Babies 2024–New Recordings by Russell and Mason, Loar, and Levy/Vannatter
A couple of weeks ago, writer Lisa Jo Sagolla discussed a number of new recordings on this site. But it's a busy time of year, and there are many more...
Bistro Bits: Summertime Serenaders, Part 2 – Julie Benko and Laurin Talese
No matter where singers are in their career trajectory, the potential for creating something magical is a constant. Veteran performers are obviously more qualified to look back at how they’ve...