The 29th New York Cabaret Convention

Bistro Awards
The 29th edition of the New York Cabaret Convention, presented by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, took place October 9-12 at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Penelope Thomas, Gerry Geddes, Robert Windeler, and Mark Dundas Wood covered the four nights for us. Following are their thoughts.     Cabaret Today! – by Penelope Thomas...

Max Vernon

Gerry Geddes
Max Vernon, award-winning composer/lyricist of the off-Broadway hits The View Upstairs and KPOP, has taken up residency at Joe's Pub with Existential Life Crisis Lullaby, which each month will present songs from works in progress. The opening salvo gave us a preview of The Tattooed Lady (written with Obie Award-winning playwright Erin Courtney). In addition...

John Kelly

Penelope Thomas
John Kelly's current version of Joni Mitchell, on view at Joe's Pub, is stripped-down—not officially drag, yet still bearing traces of his earlier incarnations of the character, which featured a wig and costume. This Joni is John in simple clothes, on guitar, supported by pianist and music director Zecca Esquibel. Listening to him, I was...

Deborah Karpel

Gerry Geddes
In her show The Midwood Miracle, recently at Pangea, singer-writer-storyteller Deborah Karpel told the story of her estrangement from, and eventual reconciliation (however tentative) with, her late father, with whom she had a common familial arrangement: "not asking anything of each other" and barely speaking. In the kind of desperation that is fairly indigenous to...

Michael Cummings

Mark Dundas Wood
At one point in his September 14 show at the Triad, Michael Cummings acknowledged friends and family in attendance. When he had finished, it seemed he'd greeted nearly everyone in the room. Of course, a performer's loved ones naturally show up to offer support, but it's no accident that they turned out in droves—always enthusiastic...

Katie Thiroux

Penelope Thomas
Katie Thiroux does the work of two people on stage, which is a remarkable feat of coordination that stems from a single soulful and clever musical sensibility. There are some wonderful singing bass players in jazz these days; Esperanza Spalding, Nicki Parrott, and Kate Davis come to mind. Thiroux takes her rightful place among these...

Josephine Sanges

Gerry Geddes
Josephine Sanges has a voice so good it's almost criminal. In her latest show, Come Rain or Come Shine – Josephine Sanges Sings Harold Arlen, which recently gave an encore performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, that voice was ravishing on Arlen's classic melodies. Her technical ability and artistry went a long way to gloss over...

Two Tuckers

Gerry Geddes
Two Tuckers (drag artist Golden Delicious and pianist-singer Tucker) is a ragtag, scattershot, hellzapoppin delight that has nothing on its mind but entertainment. If you need a moment to decipher the joke of the title, take it now. The duo wrote an eponymous opening number that delightfully explained it all. It also gave a preview...

Daniel Reichard

Mark Dundas Wood
The theme of Summer Playlist—Daniel Reichard's recent show at the Birdland Theater—was the mix tape. In decades past, Reichard, like many young music lovers, would program these customized song collections on audiocassette recorders. Part of the point of mix tapes was that you could be as eclectic as you wanted, juxtaposing golden oldies with current...

Cole Escola

Gerry Geddes
The piano on the stage at Joe's Pub is covered with wigs of many hues and styles. Beneath it is a large black plastic trash bag, which will be revealed to contain a variety of dresses, gowns and costumes. Next to the piano is a full-size xylophone, to which attention will revert again and again...