Teresa Fischer

Robert Windeler
"Hip To Be Happy" Don't Tell Mama  -  April 7, 16, 22 A bubbly redhead given to holding a smiley-face umbrella today as surely as she was given to wearing a smiley-face dress when she was eight years old, Teresa Fischer seems terminally happy, and therefore terminally hip. We don't need the title song (by...

Dwight Thomas Vaughn

Kevin Scott Hall
"Dwight Thomas Vaughn & The Missouri Statesmen" Iridium – April 2 (two shows) A couple of years ago, Tom Vaughn returned to music full-time after frightening, life-threatening bouts with cancer and heart trouble at a young age. Understandably excited about his new lease on life, the cabaret show he did then demonstrated his puppy-dog enthusiasm...

Jo Thompson

Mark Dundas Wood
"Slender, Tender and Tall: An Evening with the Fabulous Ms. Jo Thompson" Café Carlyle  –  March 21, 22, 23, 28, 30 Those who demand an orderly, meticulously crafted cabaret act should probably steer clear of Jo Thompson. They can give up their seats to the rest of us. As a pianist, this singular performer—who's been...

Ricky Ritzel

Mark Dundas Wood
"Ricky Ritzel Sings Elaine Stritch" 54 Below: March 15, 22;  Don't Tell Mama: April 26, May 6 A sort of barrelhouse raucousness was at play in Ricky Ritzel's tribute show to Elaine Stritch at 54 Below—a brand of spontaneity and sense of fun that I haven't quite felt on previous visits to the club. Maybe...

Picture Perfect: The Songs of Scott Evan Davis

Kevin Scott Hall
The Duplex  –  March 9, 17, 24, April 8 In the new revue "Picture Perfect" at The Duplex, a cast of five presents the songs of composer-lyricist Scott Evan Davis. Early in the proceedings, it is clear that Davis's music has been heavily influenced by Stephen Sondheim. Those atonal intervals and chord structures make for...

Debby Boone

Mark Dundas Wood
"Swing This" Café Carlyle  –  March 19-30 "I'll be a devil till I'm an angel," Debby Boone sings in "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" (Al Hoffman, Walter Kent, Manny Curtis), her opening number at the Café Carlyle. Did Boone choose this particular song so that she could ruffle her public image a bit? After...

Gail Nelson-Holgate

Mark Dundas Wood
"It's About Time" Stage 72  –  March 10 Gail Nelson-Holgate has a regal, elegant bearing and a gracious rapport with her listeners. At this one-off performance, she approached her largely jazz-inflected repertoire (featuring arrangements by Danny Holgate) with seriousness, but leavened the proceedings with dashes of fun. Her patter was obviously scripted, and a little...

Janet Planet

Kevin Scott Hall
"Janet Planet Sings" The Metropolitan Room  –  March 11-16 Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Happy Talk" is an apt opening song for Janet Planet's latest engagement at the Metropolitan Room. If there is another singer who exudes such unpretentious playfulness and joy with music and lyrics, I'm not sure who it might be. Add to that her...

John Gabriel

Mark Dundas Wood
Metropolitan Room  –  March 3 John Gabriel is at least as well known as an actor (the daytime drama Ryan's Hope) and TV producer (Charles Grodin's talk shows) as he is as a singer. Grodin, himself, showed up at the Metropolitan Room to introduce Gabriel at this one-nighter, sharing with the audience a long, not-especially-amusing...

Tom Wopat

Robert Windeler
54 Below  -  February 25 He claimed, on stage, to be "as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs." If he really was, it didn't show. Throughout this generous one-night stand, Tom Wopat was assured in his choice of material, vocal delivery and lyric sensibility. And his use of that...