Shana Farr

Mark Dundas Wood
Following a 2011 show that featured the music of Julie Andrews, Shana Farr returns with an ambitious program highlighting the music and lyrics of Noël Coward and Cole Porter. Thoughtfully assembled and heartfully rendered, the show is a sort of extended musical monologue that examines the contours of one woman's love life. It's a fine...

Jarrod Spector

Tonya Pinkins
At the top of Jarrod Spector's rockin' show "A Little Help from My Friends," he tells us that he is a music nerd and that he's spent a lot of time thinking about how one generation of tenor has led to the next generation. He then proceeds to deliver two hundred years of music effortlessly,...

John Minnock

Kevin Scott Hall
Boston's John Minnock has recently been heading down to New York about once a month to build a following in these parts. As evidenced by the nearly sold-out crowd that greeted him on the night I saw him, he's apparently succeeding at his goal. Slowly approaching the stage wearing a basic black jacket over a...

Gretchen Reinhagen

Mark Dundas Wood
Early in "Listen to the Music: The Songs of My 70's" (directed by Barry Kleinbort) Gretchen Reinhagen notes that in the 1970s, various pop-music genres—rock, country, funk, disco, and so on—all competed for the public's attention. In her program, she gives us samples from this bountiful and eclectic smorgasbord. But she doesn't stop there. She...

Lauren Fox and Ritt Henn

Mark Dundas Wood
The idea of building a cabaret show around music from the eerie and surreal filmography of David Lynch would not likely be a good one for many in New York's cabaret community. It takes a certain kind of grit and a love of risk that many performers simply lack. Luckily, Lauren Fox and Ritt Henn...

Champagne Pam

Kevin Scott Hall
The delightful Champagne Pam (the self-chosen sobriquet of Pamela Lewis) recently came to Don't Tell Mama with her show "Daddy's Little Girl," which originally played several performances at the Laurie Beechman Theatre last year. It is a gimmick-free and refreshing autobiographical show about the love of family. As she said in the show, "I just...

Jennylind Parris

Robert Windeler
Doing a tribute show to a beloved performer who is not only very much alive, but still working, can be tricky. Who needs the tribute maker, no matter how talented or sincere, when the real thing is metaphorically so close at hand? Jennylind Parris has neatly sidestepped this issue by concentrating on the music associated...

Eric Yves Garcia Trio

Mark Dundas Wood
Vocalist and pianist Eric Yves Garcia is in jazz mode in his current gig at Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel, and it suits him. Backed by two talented and playful musicians—guitarist Nick Russo and bassist Ritt Henn—he sings some of the most familiar titles from the Great American Songbook with an obvious enthusiasm for...

Christine Reisner and Don Rebic

Mark Dundas Wood
The extent to which you'll enjoy "Look Who's in Love"—a musical celebration of romance from newlyweds Christine Reisner and Don Rebic (conceived by Reisner, directed by Michael Bush, and co-written by Reisner and Bush)—might best be gauged by how well you tolerate Valentine's Day cards with frilly hearts and adorably mischievous Cupids. Having been married...

Burlesque to Broadway

Kevin Scott Hall
The vivacious Quinn Lemley, best known in cabaret circles for her tribute shows to Rita Hayworth some years back, has returned with an ambitious production, Burlesque to Broadway, a loving look at the famous women who blazed a trail through the clubs, and also an updated take on the art form itself. There is never...