Robert Windeler

Robert Windeler is the author of 18 books, including biographies of Mary Pickford, Julie Andrews, Shirley Temple, and Burt Lancaster. As a West Coast correspondent for The New York Times and Time magazine, he covered movies, television and music, and he was an arts and entertainment critic for National Public Radio. He has contributed to a variety of other publications, including TV Guide, Architectural Digest, The Sondheim Review, and People, for which he wrote 35 cover stories. He is a graduate of Duke University in English literature and holds a masters in journalism from Columbia, where he studied critical writing with Judith Crist. He has been a theatre critic for Back Stage since 1999, writes reviews for BistroAwards.com, and is a member of The Players and the American Theatre Critics Association.

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Articles by this Author:

Francesca Amari

Certainly deserved and heartfelt, Francesca Amari's recent tribute to Gilda Radner, at the Metropolitan Room, too often suffered from a feeling of being once removed from its subject. While Amari...

David Alpher and Jennie Litt

It's always nice when someone comes up with a new way to present the old favorites in a cabaret show. The husband-and-wife team of David Alpher and Jennie Litt have...

Cheryl Ann Allen: Sophie Tucker in Person

Bearing an uncanny physical resemblance to her zaftig and otherwise larger-than-life subject, Cheryl Ann Allen, in her current show at Don't Tell Mama, nearly lives up to the title "Sophie...

Kristoffer Lowe

In his new show at the Metropolitan Room, Kristoffer Lowe presents a dazzling tribute to a relatively forgotten composer from the first half of the 20th century, Harry Warren. Because...

Jason Danieley

In his recent autobiographical show, "Romantic Notions," at Feinstein's/54 Below, Jason Danieley's song choices and performance styles covered several decades and ranged from sweetly touching to wildly energetic. This solid and...

Alice Ripley

In her "All Sondheim" show at 54 Below, Alice Ripley has managed to differentiate herself from the seeming plethora of cabaret performers who offer entire sets devoted to that particular...

Yanna Avis

In her recent one-night stand at 54 Below, "Make Some Magic" (a reprise from an appearance there in April), Yanna Avis appeared sleek and stylish. Unfortunately, her show was anything...

Tony Danza

His terrific current show at Café Carlyle, "Standards and Stories," finds Tony Danza in a state of what I can only describe as grounded exuberance. This seeming oxymoron combines the...

More Music by Alex Rybeck

Composer tributes are a staple of cabaret shows, but in most cases the composer him- or herself is either deceased or otherwise unavailable to take part in such ventures. In his...

Jon Freda: “Imagine Dat!”

In "Imagine Dat!" at Stage 72, Jon Freda pays an affectionate and deserved biographical tribute to 20th century showbiz icon Jimmy Durante. Freda also wrote this one-man-show-with-music and co-produced it...