Club Review: Derrick Baskin

Gerry Geddes
Derrick Baskin Tony-nominated Derrick Baskin has already made a name for himself in the worlds of theatre and music with appearances on Broadway in Memphis, The 25th Annual Spelling Bee, The Little Mermaid and, currently, Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. His film and TV credits include Difficult People, Annie,...

Club Review: Sheila Jordan

Gerry Geddes
Sheila Jordan Singer/curator Ben Cassara chose the perfect singer to open his Pangea Hot Summer Night Jazz Series when he chose Sheila Jordan.  There is a special sense of excitement and a bit of awe when one goes to see one of the legends, and still performing at the top of...

Return Engagements: John Lloyd Young Will Ride the Disco ‘Round in His Return to Live Performance

Mark Dundas Wood
(Article #1 in a limited series on "Return Engagements.") John Lloyd Young is ready to boogie on down. (Then again, who isn’t?) The Tony-winning singer-actor, who starred as Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons in both the Broadway and film versions of Jersey Boys, has worked diligently to remain engaged with his career and to stay...

Club Review: Flotilla DeBarge in “Corona & Flo”

Gerry Geddes
It seems like drag is everywhere these days thanks in large part to RuPaul and her show and her knockoffs.  But it’s a different kind of drag, a more meta, self-referential kind of drag; it seems to come from watching other drag queens.  It is akin to the newer breed of directors whose entire frame...

CD Review: Rebecca Angel’s “Love Life Choices”

Gerry Geddes
Singer Rebecca Angel’s debut recording, Love Life Choices, is in some ways, the perfect summer album, particularly for Summer 2021.  Her smooth, silky, yet surprisingly resilient voice, coupled with pulsing, insinuating music, is like a cooling breeze on a sweltering day.  In this case, however, that breeze contains embers of the fear, concern and pain of Covid-19. ...

Club Review: Leanne Borghesi in “Borghesi’s Back!”

Betsyann Faiella
Leanne Borghesi’s first major outing since the pandemic, Borghesi's Back!,  landed at Don’t Tell Mama with a big bang and a million belly laughs. This mostly fictitious pandemic memoir/travelogue still allows Borghesi to bare her heart (in character) about missing and loving what she was obviously born to do. She had a busy 2020 planned, with engagements...

Music Review: Artemisia LeFay— “Ghosts of Weimar Past”

Penelope Thomas
Artemisia LeFay (Photo: Renee Guerrero) Many of us who are crawling out of our pandemic isolation might be ready to dive into hedonism—in the hope that it could serve as a tonic for the underlying rumble of fear we’ve lived with for the past year. Enter Artemisia LeFay’s timely Weimar-themed show...

Comedy Review: Comic Dave Konig with Musical Director Elliot Finkel

Lisa Jo Sagolla
Elliot Finkel and Dave Konig Three-time Emmy-winning actor Dave Konig’s comedy show, playing at Don’t Tell Mama on various dates through August 29, is a laugh-a-minute, Borscht Belt-style joke-fest aimed at middle-aged audiences.  For a solid hour, Konig hurls forth his Seinfeld-like observational humor (“Don’t you hate it when…?) in the...

CD Review: Eleri Ward’s “A Perfect Little Death—Suf/Sond”

Gerry Geddes
People everywhere are or will be recounting tales of what they did doing the Covid lockdown, but few will have a souvenir of that time as brilliant and creative as singer-songwriter Eleri Ward's. In a closet of her New York apartment, she fashioned A Perfect Little Death—Suf/Sond, a recording that imagines what 13 iconic Stephen Sondheim...

“The Reason to Sing — A Guide to Acting While Singing”: A Chat with Craig Carnelia About His New Book

Mark Dundas Wood
Craig Carnelia (Photo: Michael Ian) Between 1992 and 2017, singer and composer/lyricist Craig Carnelia (Working, Sweet Smell of Success) taught acting classes for singers in a studio on West 71st Street in Manhattan. His students included members of the New York City theatre community. They may have been prepping for auditions...