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...

Gretchen Reinhagen

Roy Sander
"Special Kaye: A Tribute to the Incomparable Kaye Ballard" Metropolitan Room  -  December 3, 6, 10, 19, January 17, 24, February 4 Some ideas seem so obvious and so right, that one is astonished to discover that no one had previously thought of them. A cabaret homage to Kaye Ballard is a perfect example. Considering...

Michael Feinstein and David Hyde Pierce

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Feinstein's at Loews Regency  -  December 1 - 30 Michael Feinstein knows how to pick his singing partners. Last June, he illustrated "The Power of Two" with Cheyenne Jackson, that theater hunk with polished vocals. In September, he joined with the ever-delightful Christine Ebersole. For the month of December, Feinstein has invited pal David Hyde...

Baby Jane Dexter

D4vidFinkle
"All About Love" Metropolitan Room  -  November 20-21, 27-28, December 4-5, 11-12, 18-19 For some time now, Baby Jane Dexter has made the Michael Stipe-Peter Buck-Bill Berry-Mike Mills anthem "Everybody Hurts" her signature song. Not only did she include it as the beg-off number when I saw her in the second week of a five-week...

Carole J. Bufford

Roy Sander
"intro" Metropolitan Room  -  November 19, 21 The small "i" in the title of her show, "intro," is the only thing lower-case about Carole J. Bufford. When she is on stage, SHE IS ON STAGE! She can deliver a song with more force and drive than a speeding locomotive, and she enlists the aid of...