Club Review: Wendy Scherl’s “The Sweetness and the Sorrow: The Songs of Marvin Hamlisch”
Betsyann Faiella
Wendy Scherl treated her audience to an evening of Marvin Hamlisch in her most recent show, The Sweetness and the Sorrow. She sang a variety of music with lyricists that included Howard Liebling, Carole Bayer Sager, David Zippel, and more. Scherl and Hamlisch are a good pairing. Hamlisch was such a versatile artist, and Scherl...
Club Review: “Andrea McArdle & Friends Celebrate the 45th ANNIEversary”
Gerry Geddes
Andrea McArdle made a glamorous entrance on to the stage at Feinstein’s/54 Below to a vamp from “Annie” (Charles Strouse, Thomas Meehan) wearing a voluptuously feathery black coat that put the “frill” in frilly. She doffed the coat within seconds, but she had achieved the effect she was after. Beneath the coat was a ravishingly...
Jimmy Webb on His Love of Cabaret, Its Traditions, Its Venues, Its Intimacy: A Conversation with the Bistro Awards’ 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree
Gerry Geddes
It was a special treat to be able to interview one of my two favorite songwriters (the other being a certain Mr. Sondheim) in advance of his receiving the 2022 ASCAP–Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to helping me get to know the man, the interview evolved into a kind of retrospective on the...
Club Review: Robert Bannon’s “Rewind”
BistroAwards
Robert Bannon, a likable and talented singer, took Rewind, the title of his recent show at The Green Room 42, seriously, opening with a videotape collage moving backwards through his life, to the precociously stage-stealing performances of his youth. After the opening number, a rousing “I’m Still Standing” (Elton John, Bernie Taupin), he took the...
CD Review: Mark Winkler’s “Late Bloomin’ Jazzman”
Gerry Geddes
Singer Mark Winkler is the genuine article. To borrow a quote from a classic Blossom Dearie song, “If it were hip to be hep he’d be hep.” He is a laid back, swinging, hip jazz singer and, as his new CD Late Bloomin’ Jazzman highlights, he is one hell of a lyricist. In fact, the recording is...
Cabaret Setlist: “What About Today?” – Music and Lyrics by David Shire
Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article #22 in this ongoing series. This April 24 marks the 80th birthday of Barbra Streisand, a performer who has been an immense influence on and inspiration to those of us who work in and care about cabaret. There will always be some outliers—occasionally, vociferous ones—who don’t...
Club Review: Salty Brine’s Living Record Collection—”How Strange It Is”
Gerry Geddes
The album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, was released on February 10, 1998. The group was the brainchild of singer/songwriter Jeff Magnum, whose lyrics were in some instances inspired by the writings of Anne Frank. The amalgam of indie rock and art folk has given rise to much acclaim, both...
Club Review: Kati Neiheisel’s “Yesterday… Once More”
Betsyann Faiella
Kati Neiheisel’s absolutely charming show, Yesterday...Once More, is a love letter to the Carpenters, the brother and sister duo from Southern California (born in Connecticut) who were known for Karen Carpenter’s unfailing, soothing contralto and a brand of pop—arranged, often written, and masterminded by brother Richard—that produced multiple Top 10 hits in the 1970s. [caption...
Club Review: “To Steve with Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim”
Charles Nelson
Ever feel like you’re Sondheimed-out? Perhaps, but if it’s Liz Callaway singing the late great master’s songs, as she did recently at Feinstein’s/54 Below in her newest show, To Steve with Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim, I guarantee you that she'll leave you wanting for more. You may already be aware of the personal, professional,...
Club Review: Karen Mack & Elliot Roth
Gerry Geddes
The front lounge at Pangea has become a relaxed, friendly hybrid of cabaret and piano bar with no cover and no minimum. The talented duo of Karen Mack and Elliot Roth fits the room and the feel to a proverbial “T.” They are both seasoned pros but here, liberated from the restrictions and familiarity of...