Ricky Ritzel
Roy Sander
"Ricky Ritzel Has Hysterical Blondness" Metropolitan Room - November 8, 12, 15, December 10, 16 The title of Ricky Ritzel's new offering—his first solo show in donkey's years—is "Ricky Ritzel Has Hysterical Blondness." I don't know whether his hair is genuinely blond—it would be ungentlemanly of me to attempt to get to the root of...
Trent Armand Kendall
Roy Sander
"Picture Incomplete" Laurie Beechman Theatre - November 2, 16, December 14, 21 Actor-singer Trent Armand Kendall has written the book to "Picture Incomplete," a one-man, multi-character musical about a man who, on his 40th birthday, examines his past life and considers his future possibilities. He tells his story through songs, monologues, and character sketches of various...
Nesha Ward
Roy Sander
"I Am…" Don't Tell Mama - October 8, 21, November 2 I can't imagine not falling in love with Nesha Ward. With her soul-cheering smile, her manifest and unflagging enthusiasm for singing and performing, and the positive energy she radiates throughout her show, she is the personification of joy. On top of that, her funny,...
Pamela Luss
Elizabeth Ahlfors
"Sweet and Saxy" Jazz Standard - October 28 It is a smart move all around when a singer has the expertise and taste to find the best to accompany her. In "Sweet and Saxy," her one-night only performance at the Jazz Standard, Pamela Luss joined a quintet of greats for a swinging partnership. With Luss...
Stevie Holland
D4vidFinkle
"Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter" The Triad - October 28-November 21 (Wednesdays and Saturdays) With cabaret shows, there's nothing more commonplace than sets built around a songwriter or songwriting team. This is especially true when the same songwriters are picked—or picked on—time after time. Maybe I wouldn't mind if someone honored the...
Danielle Grabianowski
Roy Sander
"Old, New, Borrowed and Blues" Metropolitan Room - October 30, November 4 Don't Tell Mama - December 16, 21 Danielle Grabianowski is a fascinating singer and performer. Her voice is rather a combination of Billie Holiday and Jessica Dragonette—though every now and then her singing has a less stylized sound. (For you young'uns, unlike Jessica Rabbit, Ms....
Liz Callaway
Roy Sander
"Passage of Time" Metropolitan Room - October 20, 22-25, December 31 Liz Callaway recently completed a one-week run at the Metropolitan Room that celebrated the release of her latest CD, "Passage of Time." What she revealed was a new Liz Callaway. Not to worry, the qualities that have won her justifiable acclaim in her theatre,...
Paula West
D4vidFinkle
Oak Room at the Algonquin - October 27 – November 14 One of the myriad reasons I like—no, love—Paula West is that she considers Cole Porter and Bob Dylan to be on an equal footing with each other. Actually, in her current Oak Room at the Algonquin tour de force, she gives Porter the edge...
Kathleen France
D4vidFinkle
"Book of Love" Metropolitan Room – October 18, 25, November 20 Looking for love in all the right and wrong places, finding it, losing it, recovering from it, disdaining it, choking on it, floating on it, discombobulated by it—Kathleen France is only the latest boite denizen to make it the theme of a gig. And...
Barbara Lynn Pedersen
Roy Sander
"For the Love Along the Way" The Duplex - October 10, 17, 24 There is a lot that is very, very good in Barbara Lynn Pedersen's show. For one thing, there is her multi-faceted voice: sometimes a mezzo with an attractive tight vibrato that is warm and welcoming; other times, she displays the soprano end...