Until Now… The Songs of Ron Abel and Chuck Steffan

Gerry Geddes
As part of its Winter Rhythms festival, Urban Stages presented "Until Now…The Songs of Ron Abel and Chuck Steffan" with a starry cast and an instrumental trio featuring Abel on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Rex Benincasa on drums.  Abel has arranged, orchestrated and conducted around the world with such luminaries as Bette Midler,...

Analisa Bell

Gerry Geddes
A rising star in Australian cabaret, Analisa Bell brought her show "Perthonality 2.0" (she's from Perth, get it?) to the Duplex in November after having debuted it at the Metropolitan Room in August. Urged by her mentor, Faith Prince, to come to New York to sing, she proved to be an accomplished vocalist, comedian, and...

Megon McDonough

Gerry Geddes
Back in the last century, in the pre-digital 70's, I used to love to frequent New York's numerous record stores in search of new and exciting artists, taking chances on an album because of a certain song, an arranger, a producer, even a back-up singer. This practice led to the discovery of a number of...

Francesca Amari

Robert Windeler
Certainly deserved and heartfelt, Francesca Amari's recent tribute to Gilda Radner, at the Metropolitan Room, too often suffered from a feeling of being once removed from its subject. While Amari and Radner were both from Michigan, they grew up some 200 miles and a generation apart—and never met. Right off the bat, Amari allowed that...

Brittney Lee Hamilton

Gerry Geddes
In spite of her diminutive size, red hair, and brassy delivery, Brittney Lee Hamilton has never played Annie, but has been cast as a child well after her teens. Her love/hate response to this situation inspired her New York cabaret debut, "No, I've Never Played Annie," which recently ended its run at the Laurie Beechman...

David Alpher and Jennie Litt

Robert Windeler
It's always nice when someone comes up with a new way to present the old favorites in a cabaret show. The husband-and-wife team of David Alpher and Jennie Litt have embraced such a notion in their current offering at Don't Tell Mama, "The Elegant and the Immigrant: Cole Porter & Irving Berlin Together." Calling them "the...

Tim Connell

Gerry Geddes
Tim Connell's "Here's The Thing," which recently completed a run at Don't Tell Mama, is an example of a good, old-fashioned cabaret show: a singer, a pianist, some good songs, some intelligent patter and a microphone. No frills, no pretensions—just solid entertainment. Accompanied by his talented music director, James Followell, Connell gives us a glimpse...

Kelli Rabke

Gerry Geddes
Thanks to her big expressive voice and sparkling personality, Kelli Rabke has developed a good Broadway/musical theatre resume. She draws from it for much of her show at the Metropolitan Room, putting the material in more or less chronological order and offering each song or section as a chapter in the book of her life....

Tony Babino

Mark Dundas Wood
Apparently we ain't heard everything yet. It's been 65 years since Al Jolson's death, but the performer still continues to claim attention. Few people today have memories of Jolson live and in person. But larger numbers will recall the 1946 biographical film The Jolson Story, in which Larry Parks starred (with Jolson himself providing vocal...

Tedd Firth, Julian Fleisher, and Leon Fleisher

Gerry Geddes
Tedd Firth has been one of the brightest lights in cabaret and jazz in New York City for a while, but he is usually found supporting vocalists, brilliantly. So imagine my surprise to find his name in the title of this new show, "Firth, Fleisher and Fleisher in Concert." A friend turned me on to...