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...

Amy Wolk

Kevin Scott Hall
"A Wolk On The Wild Side" The Duplex – October 21, November 25, December 9, 17, February 17 The small Duplex stage burst into bubble gum fun as soon as Amy Wolk and her cohorts took to it in her recent candy-coated cabaret confection, "A Wolk on the Wilde Side." Wolk and musical director Steven...

Rosemary Loar

Robert Windeler
"When Harry Met the Duke" Metropolitan Room - January 19, 27, 30, February 22 It must be getting harder to come up with titles, or even themes, for cabaret shows. Rosemary Loar has certainly tried hard with this one. The title refers to the show's running theme: when and whether Harold Arlen and Duke Ellington...

Pia Zadora

Mark Dundas Wood
"Pia Zadora – Back Again and Standing Tall" The Metropolitan Room  –  February 7-10 Pia Zadora is a trouper. On the eve of the recent snowstorm, playing to a small audience, she kept her energy level high, as though playing to a packed house. She gave special attention to each occupied table—at one point circulating...

Eric Michael Gillett

Kevin Scott Hall
"Careless Rhapsody: An Evening Dedicated to the Lyrics of Lorenz Hart" 54 Below  –  February 4, 7, 26, 27 Cabaret favorite and multitasker Eric Michael Gillett has come up with yet another new show, this time celebrating the lyrics of Lorenz Hart. Gillett and his director, Arthur Masella, succeed in encompassing as much of the...

Vickie Phillips

Kevin Scott Hall
Don't Tell Mama  –  January 26, March 16   How refreshing it is to be reminded of why we do this art form called cabaret. Vickie Phillips, who for many years has made Don't Tell Mama—and other Sidney Myer-booked clubs before that—her performing home, brings joy and enthusiasm to her work as though she were...

Sharón Clark

Mark Dundas Wood
"Blame It on My Youth" Metropolitan Room  –  January 22, 28, 30, February 1, 2 "So, you're diggin' the Afro?" D.C.-based vocalist Sharón Clark asked the audience upon stepping onto the stage on the first night of her Metropolitan Room engagement. Her retro hairstyle is part of the packaging for her show "Blame It On...

Jeff Harnar

Mark Dundas Wood
"Does This Song Make Me Look Fat?" Laurie Beechman Theatre  –  January 14, 21, 28, February 8 Some cabaret performers choose to pack a show with languid ballads. Sure, they may feature the odd up-tempo number and perhaps a comic turn or two: bones thrown to the notion of variety. But mostly these singers go...