Michael Winther and Dan Tepfer

D4vidFinkle
The Metropolitan Room  -  January 4, 11, 17 18 Usually a pianist playing behind or alongside a featured singer is considered an accompanist. But not always. When Kenny Werner plays for Betty Buckley, what occurs is a collaboration between equal partners. This is often the case as well with Rick Jensen and whomever he's partnering....

The Wonderful Wizard of Song: The Music of Harold Arlen

Mark Dundas Wood
St. Luke's Theatre  –  Mondays at 7pm, Wednesdays at 2pm, Thursdays at 8pm The songs of composer Harold Arlen—with their sophistication and mix of Jewish and African-American melodic elements—need to be approached with intelligence, care, and taste. One of Arlen's standards (co-written with Ted Koehler) famously touts the "right to sing the blues." Perhaps the...

Smile on My Face: The Songs of Richard Eisenberg

Mark Dundas Wood
Laurie Beechman Theatre: May 6; Etcetera Etcetera: October 24; Urban Stages: December 13; Don't Tell Mama: February 7 The four performers in the revue "Smile on My Face" begin with a medley of two Richard Eisenberg selections—"Hum a Song" and "They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore." These songs lament the tuneless and repetitive nature...

Adam Shapiro

Roy Sander
"Guide to the Perfect Breakup" The Duplex  –  November 8, 15, December 30, January 30 Comedy is a funny business—and in this instance I don't mean funny-haha. It is extremely difficult to do well. (Yes, I'm stating the obvious, something we are all well aware of.) In the everyday civilian world, when we say that...

Bill Zeffiros Birthday Tribute to Frank Sinatra

Robert Windeler
Urban Stages  -  December 12 Just a few blocks away, rock-and-roll royalty of the past 50 years were blasting their 12‑12‑12 concert, raising millions for Hurricane Sandy victims. While at Urban Stages, this quieter evening's amiable host, Bill Boggs, was suggesting that if Frank were in the room he'd say something like, "Let's get the...

Stearns Matthews

Kevin Scott Hall
"The Importance of Being STEARNSest" Don't Tell Mama: November 19, December 16;  Duplex: January 26, February 23 It's hard to know where to begin with Stearns Matthews, a young man blessed with talent, but who is perhaps still trying to figure out who he is as an artist. Or maybe he knows, and I'm trying...

Jean Brassard

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"The Kid From Paris – Jean Brassard Sings Yves Montand" The Triad – November 9, 23, December 7 Tributes can be a risky business. Of course, we've seen tribute shows that were carelessly sloughed off with a song list and dates. Serious artists, however, should delve through books, recordings, memoirs, available interviews to develop a...

13 Things About Ed Carpolotti

Robert Windeler
59E59 Theaters  -  December 4 - 30 Is this cabaret? Is it theatre? Does it matter? This hour-long piece by Barry Kleinbort (based on a short play by Jeffrey Hatcher) is being presented in the cabaret space of a multi-theatre complex. Penny Fuller, who has been both stage actress and cabaret singer over her long...

Joanna Strand

Mark Dundas Wood
"Fly Transatlantic" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  –  December 5 British singer Joanna Strand was supposed to have made appearances at the Metropolitan Room several weeks ago, but that engagement was thwarted by Hurricane Sandy. She was able to play New York after all with this one-nighter at Feinstein's. Her show, "Fly Transatlantic," traced an adventurous...

Sue Raney

Robert Windeler
Feinstein's at Loews Regency  -  November 7 - 10 Cabaret critics are allowed at least the occasional crush. Come on, you know we are. So long as we've not actually met or known the objects of our affection and promise not to leave our critical faculties at the door when we review these artists (and...