Singer-actor Danny Bolero is Desi Arnaz! Over the years there have been many celebrity tributes and impersonations in cabaret"Liberace, Peggy Lee, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and others …
As a critic, I'm afforded the opportunity to see some wonderful performers. There are times, however, when I see someone in a brilliant new light, and their performance is eye-opening in a w…
What do you get when you mix entrancing drag queens, a world renowned jazz club and a delicious brunch, then pour them into a shaker and stir? You get a delectable cocktail called Pickled Pi…
Julia Van Cartier is a woman of many talents! She sings, she lip syncs, she's a storyteller, she knows how to work an audience and she drinks her vodka from a very special…umm…vessel! To…
I took a trip back in time at Pangea recently. Gerry Geddes' Fabulous First Fridays made a…well…fabulous return to the club in the East Village and as expected, the show did not disappoi…
I've seen a lot of drag in my day, but I can safely say I've never seen a tap dancing drag queen! As a matter of fact, in all my years in cabaret, I've only ever seen one other act featuring…
Fanny Brice is alive and well and appearing in New York City. No, I'm not referring to the current Broadway revival of Funny Girl, which has received mixed reviews at best. I'm talking about…
Gaylin English was known by practically everyone in the NYC nightlife community. Whether she served you dinner at The 5 Oaks or Judy's, or cocktails at The Colosseum, or even if you just hun…
We need Amanda McBroom! We may not have realized how much we needed her, but boy, did we need her! Her mellifluous voice. Her luminous spirit. Her masterful storytelling. Her sly sensuality.…
What did Therese Lee, a Hollywood entertainment reporter, faced with a run of bad luck, do when she no longer had a way to drive to her assignments in Tinseltown? She created her own musical…
I have never seen a bad show from Lennie Watts! Now, full disclosure: Lennie is a friend and cabaret colleague. Back when I was doing tech, I did lights and sound for many of his shows. I've…
It's always a treat to see an artist make their New York cabaret debut, especially one as good as Cindy Firing. In this case, the treat was twice as sweet, because not only is Firing incredi…
How on earth do I write this review?! David Dean Bottrell's show, David Dean Bottrell Makes Love at The Triad Theater is one of the funniest, most touching and at times, one of the filthiest…
I have a confession to make. I spent Valentine's Day with a man who wasn't my husband! No, it's not like that! I went to see Matthew Liu's wonderful show I Will Be Here at the Duplex. In thi…
Every so often, a performer comes along who wins you over the minute they hit the stage and you just know that you're in for a fantastic show. So it was with the incandescent Gabrielle Lee i…
In his wonderful show, Extra! Extra!, Scott Raneri sang "It's not where you start, it's where you finish and you're gonna finish on top." Well, Raneri was definitely on top! On top of his ga…
October 23rd, 2021. It's a chilly, overcast autumn afternoon in NYC. Still, some of the best and brightest in the worlds of live music and cabaret turned out to present a free concert in Fla…
*Singer Becca C. Kidwell took her audience at Don't Tell Mama on a journey"the journey of her life. While this is nothing new in cabaret, I found it fascinating to experience Kidwell's life …
In my many years in cabaret, I've seen quite a few Marlene Dietrich tribute shows, but Kim David Smith's intoxicating Mostly Marlene, at Club Cumming was indeed, as the Germans might say, FA…
The glorious duo of singer Elena Bennett and pianist Fred Barton recently got things swingin' at the West Bank Cafe. Together, they recreated numbers from their timeless CD A Wrinkle in Swin…
If you want to split a seam laughing and witness a truly classic drag act, you need go no further than Pangea, where Flotilla DeBarge returned to take her audience on a journey into post-Cov…
It's not often that I get the chance to review a cabaret show a second time, but Christina Pecce's Witches, Bitches and Divas was well worth revisiting! I had reviewed Pecce's show a couple …
Welcome back to Pangea and welcome back to the world!" That was how director Gerry Geddes introduced the new show by Wells Hanley, Brian Childers and Matt DiPasquale. Presented not so much a…
"We're OPEN!" With that joyful call, pianist Gerry Diffenbach began his opening set at The Duplex Piano Bar and Cabaret. That one statement elicited shouts of happiness from the already siza…
Okay. Full disclosure:I am not a Potterhead! I am not a die-hard Harry Potter fan who's read all the books, knows which of the Hogwarts houses he belongs to or makes regular pilgrimages to t…