Andrea Axelrod

Mark Dundas Wood
For every "We'll love each other madly forever" anthem, it seems that there are at least a couple of "Waaah!—we're through" songs. At Don't Tell Mama, the talented Andrea Axelrod investigates the latter category in After the Bawl (Recovery from Hearthache), with musical director John Cook at the piano. I'm mentioning Cook at the outset...

Lucille Carr-Kaffashan

Robert Windeler
Having created and performed two prior shows that featured the work of female composers, in her recent offering at Don't Tell Mama, Lucille Carr-Kaffashan focused exclusively on the output of male songwriters. Unlike her 2017 Bistro Award-winning theme show celebrating 21st century women singer-songwriters, this new show, How the Light Gets In, reached back to...

New York Old Friend

Mark Dundas Wood
Sometimes it seems that songs about New York City are as plentiful as songs about affairs of the heart and the blessings of the good God above. But if there's a glut of music about the big burg, it hasn't dissuaded songwriter Kenneth Laub. He has fashioned not just one new New York anthem, but...

Everybody Rise: A Resistance Cabaret

Mark Dundas Wood
The art of political song parody has been reinvigorated in the era of Donald Trump. You can find this in the online videos of the clever, intrepidly campy Randy Rainbow, also famed for his spoof interviews. A less-visible practitioner of the genre—at least until now—has been Joe Keenan, formerly a writer and producer on TV's...

Marissa Mulder

Penelope Thomas
The opening night of Marissa Mulder's I'll Follow the Sun: The John Lennon and Paul McCartney Songbooks at Feinstein's/54 Below provided a much-needed infusion of brightness in a week full of rain. It's unusual that sweetness would be such a compelling and interesting quality in a singer, but Mulder knew exactly what to do with...

Broadway’s Next Hit Musical

Robert Windeler
Satirical improvisation based on audience suggestions is tricky enough when it merely involves words and actions in unrelated set pieces. But add impromptu music, lyrics, and a quirky overarching theme to the mix, and you really have a challenge. It's one that, by and large, this cast of four composer-performers was well up to the...

Mark Nadler

David Sabella
Mark Nadler recently regaled the audience at the Laurie Beechman Theatre with his new show, The Old Razzle Dazzle – an Evening of Lies, Lying and Liars. Appearing dapper at the piano in a vested suit and black Bowler hat, he assured the audience that "Everything I am going to tell you tonight is a lie."...

Susanne Mack

Mark Dundas Wood
Early in her new show at Pangea, Where I Belong, German-born singer Susanne Mack tells about growing up along the Swiss-German border. She speaks of being fascinated by a bridge with a line down the middle—a border marker that you could straddle so that your left foot was in one country and your right in...

Ravenswood Manor

Gerry Geddes
Return with us now to the thrilling days of yesteryear—the days of Charles Ludlum and the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, the days of Charles Busch and Psycho Beach Party. With Ravenswood Manor, directed by Ellie Heyman and recently seen at Joe's Pub over two evenings, with three "episodes" each evening, writer/star Justin Sayre makes his bid...

Celia Berk

Mark Dundas Wood
In the last few years, Celia Berk has established herself as a serious player on New York cabaret stages. She's been honored with multiple awards (including a 2015 Bistro Award). In Comes Love, her recent one-nighter at the Birdland Theater—a collaboration with accomplished jazz pianist Sean Gough, along with talented bassist Steve Doyle—she proved yet...