What Is the Cabaret Community Doing to Combat Racial Inequality?
Lisa Jo Sagolla
Sparked by the killing of George Floyd on May 25, an unprecedented outpouring of protests against our nation’s systemic racism got every one of us thinking more urgently about racial inequality. We now understand that we all have the responsibility to act—both personally and professionally—as anti-racism agents of change. Earlier this summer, I wrote about...
CD Review: Lisa Viggiano’s “Invited to Stay”
Gerry Geddes
The wonderfully warm, wise, and appealing vocalist Lisa Viggiano intends her newest CD, Invited to Stay, to give us all a break from quarantines, CoVid-19, face masks, presidents, and, for the most part, she succeeds delightfully. Invited to Stay: 2020/Produced by Chip Fabrizi and Lisa Viggiano. Presenting an intriguing patchwork of songs from...
Cabaret Setlist: “Two for the Road” — Music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #4 in this running series The cable came directly from Audrey Hepburn, who was in France shooting her latest film, with director/producer Stanley Donen. “Dearest Hank, please won’t you do the music? ... Can’t imagine anyone else but you scoring.” How could Henry Mancini refuse the...
Cabaret Setlist: “California Nights” — Music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Howard Liebling
Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #3 in this running series. Unlike the first two songs we’ve examined in Cabaret Setlist (Rodgers & Hart’s “Little Girl Blue” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Sand”), today’s selection hails from the world of AM-radio pop. First heard in January 1967, “California Nights” anticipates the coming Summer of...
Why Is Color Mostly Absent from Cabaret Stages?
Lisa Jo Sagolla
On the one hand, the New York cabaret scene is remarkably diverse. It showcases performers brand new to the business, spotlights mature artists of an age rarely featured on stage or screen, and proudly welcomes a rainbow of gender and genre expressions. On the other hand, cabaret is decidedly monochrome. Cabaret stages and audiences...
We Have to Laugh! Finding Humor in Terrible Times
Jim David
“Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the show?” That famous joke was obviously not made at the time of Lincoln’s assassination but many years later, a prime example of how, as comedian Steve Allen put it, “comedy equals tragedy plus time.” It’s usually difficult to joke about tragedy while it’s happening, but...
The Evolving Genre/Gender-Bending Art Form Known as Drag is One Big Hybrid
Simi Horwitz
Latrice Royale (Wade Muir Photography) (This is Part One of a multi-part series on alternative cabaret by Simi Horwitz.) The diva-inspired bitchy and/or adorably naughty drag queen is still with us. Hey, she’s the archetype and a few have elevated drag to high art. Think Varla Jean Merman, the self-described love...
Cabaret Setlist: “Sand” – Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Song #2 in this new running series. Few among us dispute the idea that Stephen Sondheim is the most important living American composer/lyricist in musical theatre. He has raised the artistic bar for songwriting so high that giants in the sky could effortlessly dance the limbo beneath...
Commentary: Getting It Right
Roy Sander
Is it my imagination, or are cabaret singers getting increasingly sloppy with lyrics? I suspect this malpractice has long existed—it's just that I've been growing increasingly impatient with it. I'm not talking about going up in a lyric; anyone can have a momentary lapse. I'm talking about learning a lyric incorrectly and repeatedly performing it...
Cabaret Setlist: Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook
Mark Dundas Wood
Song #1 in this new running series: “Little Girl Blue” – Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart When it comes to cabaret repertoire, I can think of few other songwriters who have created the sort of treasure trove that Rodgers and Hart have given us. The appeal of their catalog was (and...
