Critical Thoughts: Direction Can Help/Direction Can Hurt—A Tale of Two Singers
Gerry Geddes
I recently saw two singers whose shows might have very little in common on the surface but whose failings were pretty much identical, albeit brought to light in different ways. Their main similarity is that each was ill-served by their directors and by the shows in which they presented themselves. Coincidentally, each was also directed...
The Reinvented (and Always Reinventing) Stand-Up Comic
Simi Horwitz
In a song snippet, dubbed “Denial,” filmed at New York's Comedy Cellar more than a decade ago, stand-up comic Rick Crom slyly alluded to people kidding themselves when “when they dress in spandex and weigh 300 pounds.” The audience laughed with recognition and appreciation. Rick Crom Now sporting many hats, not least Guru Teacher of...
One-Man-Show–manship: Lifetime Achievement Bistro Award Honoree Robert Klein on His Singular Comedic Career
Mark Dundas Wood
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 night comedy concert of his at the Argyle Theatre in Babylon, New York. Klein was the whole show that night—aside from some assistance from Bob Stein,...
Bistro Bits: Jazz and Cabaret…. Kissing Cousins or Estranged Siblings? Veronica Swift and Mary Foster Conklin Shed Some Light
Mark Dundas Wood
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 many half-formed (and possibly half-baked) ideas about what each sphere consists of… some of them rooted in cliché and stored in cabinets of the brain...
Bistro Bits: A Greeting—Plus, What Makes for Super-Great Cabaret?
Mark Dundas Wood
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 and make opening remarks after the first song. I’ve decided to follow that bit of “alt” protocol and extend a greeting now, at the top...
More Songwriters Explain How Their Artistry Has Evolved
Mark Dundas Wood
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 HERE.) They talked about how their ways of working and their ways of getting their songs into listeners’ ears have changed over time. We then...
Changing Their Tunes…or Not: Cabaret Songwriters Adapt in a Volatile World
Mark Dundas Wood
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 for musical theatre; the musical director who occasionally creates “special material” for singing clients. But, often, crafting songs is just one of such a cabaret...
From Logistics to Aesthetics: The Varying Roles of the Cabaret Director
Simi Horwitz
BistroAwards.com's critic Gerry Geddes, also a cabaret director, has worn many hats that include writer, lyricist, teacher, and theatre director. He has no doubt about the major challenge cabaret directors face today. Put simply: it’s the diminished values of the culture at large. More specifically, it's what’s viewed and promoted as musical entertainment on such...
“Does This Song Look Good on Me?”—Four Singers Discuss Their Approaches to Repertoire
Mark Dundas Wood
It’s one of the central issues that cabaret and jazz performers face throughout their careers: How do you best go about picking material to sing? And that initial query prompts several related questions: -How do you decide if and when a song is right for you to perform? -How do you know when you’ve outgrown...
NY Cabaret Rooms: What Are the Subtle and Not-So-Subtle Differences Among Them?
Simi Horwitz
Isn’t it obvious that an evening at Don’t Tell Mama is qualitatively different from, say, 54 Below or Pangea? Sidney Myer Yes and no, says Sidney Myer, veteran cabaret performer and long-term booker at Don’t Tell Mama (DTM). “While each venue has its individual style, pluses and minuses, there’s overlap today.” The fabulous entertainer is...
