Martha Plimpton

D4vidFinkle
"Martha Plimpton Sings?" Allen Room  -  January 16 Shortly after Martha Plimpton took the Allen Room stage in a trench coat, eventually shed to reveal a form-fitting red dress cut up to here, she said, "I'm not known, you know, as a songbird." No, she isn't exactly known as a songbird, but she is known—at...

Tommy Femia

Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Judy Garland Live!"  Don't Tell Mama  -  January 16, 30, February 13, 27, March 13, 27 Some stars never die. They don't even fade away. They are revived in TV specials and little statues sold in the gift shops of their landmark birthplaces. Then there are the superstars who once grabbed audience imagination and never...

Tyne Daly

Roy Sander
"The Second Time Around" Feinstein's at Loews Regency  -  January 19 - 30 Something pretty marvelous is taking place at Feinstein's these days: Tyne Daly is back in a show directed by David Galligan, and she is, to sum things up, pretty marvelous. We've known that she's an accomplished actress and singer, but we may...

Jackie Fornatale

Roy Sander
"Get Ready – Jackie Fornatale Sings Motown" Don't Tell Mama  -  November 15, 22, January 10, March 4, 18 Jackie Fornatale opens her tribute to Motown walking through the house singing "Dancing in the Street" (William "Mickey" Stevenson, Marvin Gaye, Ivy Hunter). Immediately, the audience is swept up in a spirit of joyous ebullience, and...

Sandy Stewart and Bill Charlap

D4vidFinkle
"Somebody Loves Me"  Oak Room at the Algonquin  -  January 5 - 16  For some time, Sandy Stewart and Bill Charlap have opened early in the year at the Algonquin's Oak Room and have thereby set the musicianship bar high for everyone coming after them here—or anywhere else. This January is no different. As 2010...

Fascinating Aida

D4vidFinkle
Fascinating Aida 59E59 Theaters  -  December 16 – January 3 If memory serves—mine usually does a reliable-enough job—the Fascinating Aida trio was consistently funny on its several previous stateside visits from Great Britain. Now, however, it's this reviewer's sad duty to report that the former felicitous time has passed. Dillie Keane, Adèle Anderson and Liza...

Simon Green

D4vidFinkle
"Traveling Light" 59E59 Theaters  -  December 15 - January 3 There's a theory I've come up with about Simon Green that isn't really borne out by the facts included in the program notes for his "Traveling Light," at 59E59 Theaters for the holiday season. This theory's concocted from the mention of his having sung the...

Marquee Five

D4vidFinkle
"We Can Make It: The Songs of Kander and Ebb" The Metropolitan Room  -  December 7, 9, 12, 14 When I heard Marquee Five had been formed and was about to appear at the Metropolitan Room, I got all warm and toasty at the prospect of a five-part harmony infusion. It's not something you get...

Cynthia Crane

Roy Sander
"John Denver, Bernie Madoff & Me" Don't Tell Mama  -  November 30, December 6, 8, 9 It's an intriguing title for a cabaret show—isn’t it?—"John Denver, Bernie Madoff & Me." Reading backwards: the "me" is singer Cynthia Crane; Bernie Madoff is, well, Bernie Madoff, among whose victims, alas, was Cynthia Crane; and singer/songwriter John Denver,...

Susan Winter

Roy Sander
"Susan Sings Van Heusen" Metropolitan Room  -  December 13, 15, 20, 22 From time to time I've used the term "nightclub singing" to refer to an artistic approach that focuses on presentation rather than interpretation, an approach in which style and arrangement take precedence over nuance and exploration of the lyric. Though such a performance...