Bistro Bits: Where’s That Rainbow? Kelsey Seaman, James Beaman, and Pride 2024

Mark Dundas Wood
Happy Pride Month 2024, everyone. Let your rainbow flags unfurl and fly! Just remember that, while we celebrate, there are always new concerns percolating. The first Pride event I ever attended was in San Francisco, I believe it was 1978, less than a decade after the Stonewall uprising that instigated the modern gay-rights movement. At...

Sally Mayes in “Now and Then: The Stories”

Gerry Geddes
In February of this year, singer Sally Mayes presented the second in her four-part Now and Then series, Jazz/ Standard Time, and it will surely prove to be one of the standout shows of 2024. She recently debuted Now and Then: The Stories, the third installment, at The Green Room 42, and while it may not...

The Deborah Newallo Experience

Gerry Geddes
Red Rooster is a restaurant in the heart of Harlem’s music scene created by Andrew Chapman and Marcus Samuelson. It is so titled in honor of its namesake, a legendary Harlem speakeasy that attracted neighborhood folk, jazz greats, and major figures of the 20th century.  It continues a tradition of good food, friendly service, hip...

“Find the Road: A John M. Cook Anthology”

Gerry Geddes
As music director and pianist, John M. Cook has contributed to the success of many shows and singers, each one the better for his presence. I have been aware of that for quite a while, but I was not aware of how good a songwriter he is. That situation is rectified in his new revue, Find...

Bistro Bits: When Theatre Is Cabaret (and Vice Versa)–Three Shows that Blur the Lines

Mark Dundas Wood
One afternoon a few years ago, I sat in a restaurant next to a once-Tony-nominated performer who—not knowing my connection with club performances—brusquely pooh-poohed the whole notion of cabaret. She considered it a pastime for amateurs with grandiose ambitions. Having been deeply moved and/or thoroughly delighted countless times by accomplished artists in cabaret clubs (and...

Brian Nash’s “Sunday Night Music Club”

Gerry Geddes
As a pianist, an arranger, a vocalist and a second banana, Brian Nash has been a vital component of some of New York’s best cabaret shows by some of cabarets best performers. With his new show, Sunday Night Music Club, which debuted at The Green Room 42, he grabbed the spotlight center stage and he never...

Lila Day’s “More of the Same”

Gerry Geddes
Lila Day made her cabaret debut with a show that had a “COVID-adjacent” premiere. Despite the circumstances, she loved the experience and knew that she wanted to do another. When she sat down to write her next endeavor, she realized that the ideas that had filled her first show were still firmly front and center in...

Randa McNamara’s “Past, Present, Peculiarities”

Gerry Geddes
When the eager crowd (filled with its fair share of cabaret legends and stars) set foot into the original cabaret space at Don’t Tell Mama to see Randa McNamara’s Past, Present, Peculiarities, they had no idea they were in for the added treat of entering a time machine that would transport them to the glory...

Club Review: Deidre Rodman Struck–”The Year of Lost and Found”

Gerry Geddes
We all developed our own unique coping mechanisms to deal with the results of the pandemic. Singer, songwriter, pianist Deidre Rodman Struck combatted the desolation of lockdown in a way that might have seemed obvious but was inspired by the suggestion of a friend. That friend suggested that she should sit down and write a...

Bistro Bits: Let’s Hear It for the Guys—King, Skipper, and Harnar Do the Things They Do

Mark Dundas Wood
First things first. I join Sherry Eaker in thanking everyone who made the Bistro Awards evening such a memorable event! Though a Bit Overdue.... This winter and early spring, much time was spent by the Bistros Committee in preparation for awards night. Consequently, content for Bistro Bits columns piled up. So I’m happy to return...