Articles by this Author:
Bistro Bits: Kazan Shazam! With Re-Released Albums, the World Gets a Burst of Vintage Lainie
On February 3, 1965, singer-actor Lainie Kazan stepped onto the stage of Manhattan’s Winter Garden Theatre for the first time as Fanny Brice in the Broadway production of Funny Girl,...
Bistro Bits: Rolling Back the Years—with Mary Hopkin, Dory Previn, and Eydie Gormé
The songs, sonatas, and symphonies we gravitate to early in our lives set in motion our own particular musical educations. If we hear and love Mozart or The Grateful Dead...
Bistro Bits: Where’s That Rainbow? Kelsey Seaman, James Beaman, and Pride 2024
Happy Pride Month 2024, everyone. Let your rainbow flags unfurl and fly! Just remember that, while we celebrate, there are always new concerns percolating. The first Pride event I ever...
Bistro Bits: When Theatre Is Cabaret (and Vice Versa)–Three Shows that Blur the Lines
One afternoon a few years ago, I sat in a restaurant next to a once-Tony-nominated performer who—not knowing my connection with club performances—brusquely pooh-poohed the whole notion of cabaret. She...
Bistro Bits: Let’s Hear It for the Guys—King, Skipper, and Harnar Do the Things They Do
First things first. I join Sherry Eaker in thanking everyone who made the Bistro Awards evening such a memorable event! Though a Bit Overdue.... This winter and early spring, much...
One-Man-Show–manship: Lifetime Achievement Bistro Award Honoree Robert Klein on His Singular Comedic Career
Last November, shortly after comedian and actor Robert Klein was confirmed as the recipient of 2024’s Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Bistro Award, producer Sherry Eaker and I attended a Saturday...
Bistro Bits: January Discoveries Get the New Cabaret Year Going
At the start of a new calendar year, are we—subliminally, maybe—more open to new ideas and fresh ways of doing things? I saw several cabaret shows this January. What links...
Bistro Bits: Happy New Year…Possibly
I'f you're like me, you may have had mixed feelings in the past few weeks about the imminent arrival of 2024. With controversial wars raging and a shocking appetite for...
Bistro Bits: Artist Tributes Highlight the 15th Annual Winter Rhythms Season
Next to the NY Cabaret Convention each October, December’s annual Winter Rhythms festival at Urban Stages, is arguably the most important yearly collection of cabaret performances in the city. I...
Bistro Bits: Jazz and Cabaret…. Kissing Cousins or Estranged Siblings? Veronica Swift and Mary Foster Conklin Shed Some Light
Jazz and cabaret—two spheres, almost adjacent, yet set just apart. I’ve often thought about the ways these two musical performance genres intersect and the ways they don’t. I have so...