Articles by this Author:
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...
Bistro Bits: A Greeting—Plus, What Makes for Super-Great Cabaret?
As you may have noticed, cabaret singers customarily perform two songs before greeting their audience at the top of a show. Occasionally, though, a performer will break the unwritten rule...
Bistro Bits: This New Memoir Is Not a Drag; A Roundup of Cabaret Confessions
Charles Busch spills it. A cabaret venue can sometimes seem pretty chameleonic. Monday, you'll find a singer performing a Burton Lane tribute. Tuesday you’ll get a comedic sketch show with...
More Songwriters Explain How Their Artistry Has Evolved
A few weeks ago, we shared with you the thoughts of four songwriters associated with cabaret: Amanda McBroom, Michael Holland, Tim Di Pasqua, and Joe Iconis. (Read our earlier feature...
Changing Their Tunes…or Not: Cabaret Songwriters Adapt in a Volatile World
All sorts of people in cabaret circles can put “songwriter” on their résumés: singer-songwriters in the tradition of James Taylor and Joni Mitchell; cabaret artists who long to write songs...