Anita Gillette

Robert Windeler
She has been in show business for 55 years, but made her cabaret debut (with this show) only last year. Yet it seems as if Anita Gillette has been preparing for this act her entire professional life. The result is a seamless, exuberant, humorous, and touching look back at her biography that also provides a...

Sierra Boggess

Robert Windeler
In so many important ways, Sierra Boggess is my kind of cabaret entertainer. She possesses a solid, well-schooled soprano voice that ranges up to a high E. She is willing to embrace—and is very adept at delivering—musical outliers to the traditional cabaret canon, from Puccini opera to contemporary country/folk Her warm and direct rapport with...
Sierra Boggess

Steve Tyrell

Roy Sander
"Wordsmiths: Lyricists of the Great American Song" Café Carlyle  -  November 26 – December 31 Singer Steve Tyrell has arrived for his ninth holiday-season engagement at the Café Carlyle—the slot in which Bobby Short previously held forth. For the life of me, I can't explain the longevity of Tyrell's residency at this prestigious venue. Well,...

Mae West’s “Diamond Lil”

Mark Dundas Wood
Don't Tell Mama – September 15, 22, October 27, November 3, 10, 17, 24 If today's audiences know about Diamond Lil, it's likely because of the 1933 film She Done Him Wrong, in which Mae West played a character named not "Diamond Lil" but rather "Lady Lou." But West and her playwright collaborator, Adeline Leitzbach,...

Cara Maltz

Kevin Scott Hall
"My Mom is a Sex Therapist" The Duplex – November 13, 16, 17 Triple-threat performer Cara Maltz returned to the Duplex stage with her autobiographical one-woman musical, "My Mom is a Sex Therapist," a show she debuted at the club over a year ago. It was written by Maltz and Stephan Varnier, with music and...

Nesha Ward

Kevin Scott Hall
"Imma Be That Nerd" Don't Tell Mama – November 5, 6 Nesha Ward reently returned to Don't Tell Mama with Imma Be That Nerd, a show she'd performed at the Duplex this summer. With a great sense of fun and a high-energy set list, Ward and her four-piece band and backup singers dazzled the audience...

On the Record: A Tribute to the Great Vocal Groups of the 20th Century

Robert Windeler
Stage 72 at The Triad - Saturdays and Sundays through December 15 Songs recorded and performed live by the last century's vocal groups (trios and quartets, mostly), whether storied or obscure, certainly provide a rich aggregate of material for this welcome and original compendium. Four singers of remarkable cross-gender versatility, who blend beautifully in harmonies...

The Vaudevillians

Roy Sander
Laurie Beechman Theatre - through November 19 Starting as a one-night-only event, the two-character revue/theatre piece The Vaudevillians has gone on to play to sold-out houses at the Laurie Beechman Theatre for several months now, and a sixth and final extension, to November 19, was recently announced. Quite an accomplishment. The show's two stars, Jinkx...

Nicolas King

David Munk
"Why Was I Born So Late?" Don't Tell Mama - October 9 The last time I saw Nicolas King perform was at a benefit at least 10 years ago, when the then ten-year-old joined Liza Minnelli for a charming duet of "When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose," a song...

Twentieth Century Girl: The Lois Morton Songbook

Roy Sander
Don't Tell Mama - June 8, 15; The Duplex - September 19; Don't Tell Mama - December 8 Lois Morton is an interesting and uncommonly gifted songwriter. If you heard only her comic pieces, you'd swear her birthparents were Tom Lehrer and Gilbert & Sullivan, and she the beneficiary of the mischievous wit of Lehrer...