Kim Smith

Roy Sander
"Misfit" Laurie Beechman Theatre  -  March 2, 9, 16 I'd bet that Kim Smith could sing the dictionary and turn it into a dramatic musical theatre piece, keeping the audience spellbound from aardvark straight through to zymurgy. To every song he brings a commitment and focus that are intense and hypnotic. His delivery, in a...

Kat Gang

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Rose Room at the Plaza  -  Wednesdays, from 9:00PM It's Beauty and the Beat at the Plaza Hotel's Rose Room. The Kat Gang Quartet has settled in with its jazz magic every Wednesday evening in the space that once housed the legendary Persian Room. That glamorous nightclub hosted some of the world's top performers, including...

Maude Maggart

Roy Sander
"Everybody's Doin' It" Oak Room at the Algonquin  -  February 15 – March 12 As the King of Siam is famously alleged to have said, "Is a puzzlement." The last two shows Maude Maggart did at the Algonquin were very good, indeed. Now we have this new show. How could things have gone so wrong?...

Amy Beth Williams

Roy Sander
"Once in Love with Amy" Metropolitan Room  -  February 2, 24, March 2, 23 Amy Beth Williams made a very strong impression competing in the 2010 MetroStar Talent Challenge, where she was one of the two runners-up. Her bearing was regal (an adjective I don't think I've had occasion to use since I last saw...

The Follow Spot

Roy Sander
Iridium  -   Tuesdays, from 11:00 PM There's a new open mic in town: "The Follow Spot," every Tuesday evening starting at 11:00PM at Iridium. Each of the city's open mics has qualities and attributes that set it apart from the others, and each is likely to appeal to a particular subset of the musical community (performers...

Raquel Bitton

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"A Little Bit of Paris: The Songs of Edith Piaf and Paris in the 1930's and 1940's" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  -   February 14 There were many opportunities around town for celebrating Valentine's Day. I, unfortunately, wasted a perfectly good evening of romance going to Feinstein's at Loews Regency for Raquel Bitton's "A Little Bit of...

T. Oliver Reid

Roy Sander
"This Love I Know" Metropolitan Room  -  February 10 - 14 As his prize for winning the 2010 MetroStar Talent Challenge at the Metropolitan Room, T. Oliver Reid received a fully produced one-week run at the club—an engagement that he recently completed. It was an impressive display of the strengths and qualities that served him so well...

Steve Ross

Roy Sander
"Rhythm & Romance" Oak Room at the Algonquin  -   January 18 – February 12 A while ago I labeled Steve Ross one of the three reigning masters of the art of cabaret singing, the other two being Julie Wilson and Andrea Marcovicci. What distinguishes and unites these great artists is that their interpretations are uncommonly rich...

Marianne Challis

Roy Sander
"The Cosmo Report" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  -  January 17, 18, 24, 25 Marianne Challis's latest show, "The Cosmo Report," now debuting at Feinstein's, is very much in the vein of her previous offerings, which bore the title, in one variant or other, "Middle-Aged Party Girl." Far from being uninspired repetition, this recidivism is actually very good...

Lorna Luft

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Songs My Mother Taught Me: The Judy Garland Songbook" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  –  January 4 – 9 A legend is a tough act to follow, something Lorna Luft knows only too well. She has lived under the shadows of her legendary "Mama," Judy Garland, and her superstar half-sister, Liza Minnelli, stepping out occasionally to show...