Bruno Giraldi

Mark Dundas Wood
There are cabaret singers who have years of experience under their belts, a warm rapport with their audiences, refined acting and singing skills, and a solid understanding of the club-singer's repertoire. And then there are those with far less experience, whose relationship with listeners is hit or miss, and whose fluency with the cabaret catalog...

Mary Ellen Ryan

Penelope Thomas
Mary Ellen Ryan's debut cabaret, No Apologies, started with a satirical Ted Talk-inspired Women's Studies lecture, complete with Ryan in reading glasses as "Professor Feminista." The performance alternated between this professor as our guide, and a variety of alter-egos who performed the mostly comic or ironic song list. Directed by Eadie Scott, with musical direction...

Ari Axelrod

Robert Windeler
Editor's note: This review has been updated to correct factual errors in the original version published on December 10. We apologize for the errors and sincerely regret any misunderstanding they caused. At the beginning of A Celebration of Jewish Broadway (directed by Lina Koutrakos), which he recently brought back to Birdland Theater, Ari Axelrod cheerfully...

Regina Zona

Mark Dundas Wood
A friend of mine enjoys musical theatre and songs from the American Songbook, but cannot abide anyone singing such music who has an "operatic" voice. Even someone like Audra McDonald or Kelli O'Hara is a no-go for him. I thought about this friend during the opening sequence of Regina Zona's cabaret act at the Triad,...

Klea Blackhurst

Gerry Geddes
In One of the Girls – The Words and Music of Jerry Herman at Birdland, singer Klea Blackhurst leaves no doubt about her affection for the famed Broadway composer and his songs. Using a program of mostly familiar material, she takes us on a dual journey through Herman's career and through her connections to it. Her...

Meg Flather

Robert Windeler
At this time of her life ("now post-menopausal and proud of it"), Meg Flather is clearly reassessing her past mistakes and triumphs along with her current and future options. In her dazzling recent (and future) show at Don't Tell Mama, Outbound Plane (directed by Lennie Watts), she not only repurposed 14 songs of wide variety...

Michael Osso

Mark Dundas Wood
Although he has sung publicly throughout his life—as, for example, a musical-theatre actor, a member of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, and one-fourth of a quartet called The Broadway Four—Michael Osso made his debut as a solo cabaret artist only earlier this year, when he first performed his show, Words Matter. Directed again...

Sally Darling

Robert Windeler
She's done it again. Only more so this time. Over several seasons, we've come to expect the best from Sally Darling, including straight-ahead, uncluttered vocals, a profound understanding of lyrics, and an infectious sense of humor when her material requires it. But in her current cut-above show at Don't Tell Mama, with the somewhat brazen...

Gunhild Carling

Penelope Thomas
Swedish multi-instrumentalist and singer Gunhild Carling works fast, as though she were chasing the tail of some devilish swing-beast and excited as a scrappy kid to catch it. Her joy and attack on stage are absolutely infectious, and her recent set at Birdland Theater was a wild ride. The thread through the evening was a...

Dawn Derow

Penelope Thomas
In her most recent offering, award-winning vocalist Dawn Derow displayed plenty of onstage charisma and a solid legit soprano. The show, The House That Built Me, was based on her family history during her early and adolescent years. As presented, Derow's childhood with hardworking parents was a fortunate one. Stories of growing up valuing family...