OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL EVENIN'! RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN RIDE AGAIN AT CARNEGIE HALL With a full cast, full dialogue, and a glorious orchestra, this Oklahoma! concert leans into the classic's…
SARCASM ON STEROIDS To say that Dorothy Parker had a way with words would be the understatement of the century"and she spanned two of them, being born in the last decade of the 1800s and han…
BOOM! IS A BLAST! Separately, each is terrific. Together, the two are sublime. When singing sisters Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway combine their voices and sensibilities"echoing each …
MARRIAGE, MOVIES & MISERIES AT MINETTA LANE Marriage may be like a garden " has to be consistently and attentively nurtured and cared for or it will wither instead of bloom and grow " bu…
A PLEASING PAIR Standards stretched, teased, and joyfully reimagined The song "'S Wonderful" will be a century old next year, so it's not a new thing to wonder if its titular positive adject…
Reviews of tribute albums for Sondheim, Finke, the Gershwins, McHugh, Berlin.
Here are five cast albums; the first three have the spectre of death hanging over them, but the last two are cheerier.
Floyd Collins and Elmer McCurdy were true-life figures (and, in the latter case, a true-death figure), born several years apart and both dying in their 30s. They captured public attention in…
FUN & DRAMATIC: A MATTER OF LAUGH AND BETH With her fans bursting into fond applause as she entered, sang, joked, or mentioned in passing a couple of shows on The Great White Way in whic…
REWIND FIVE DECADES AND STIR THE MEMORIES On an August night at a nightclub in Manhattan, in a concert focused on musicals from 1975, Robert Cuccioli revealed that "the seed was planted" in …
Let's begin with a recording of a compelling concert presenting low profile/high quality songs of Peter Foley. Moving from Peter to Peterson, it was Jon J Peterson who portrayed a Broadway a…
13,000 SHOWS LATER, FILICHIA STILL DRAWS A CROWD: THIS TIME, THE STARS CAME OUT FOR THE GUY WHO'S SEEN IT ALL 13,000 Shows Later, Filichia Still Draws a Crowd The number in the next sentence…
JOHN + SWING 7 = JAZZ HEAVEN Attend a set by John Pizzarelli and you're set for a satisfying songfest, whether it's a solo affair with just the mega-musical Mr. P. playing guitar and singing…
A LOOK BACK AT AN OLD MUSICAL ABOUT STRIKING OIL STRIKES IT RICH AS IT STRIKES ALL THE RIGHT NOTESÂ Â "Kid, when you need the crowd the tickets are hard to sell." That's a line from "He…
New cast recording reviews.
FLYING HIGH, CAROLE DEMAS'S FIREFLY LIGHTS UP THE ROOM "I could say life is just a bowl of Jello / And appear more intelligent and smart / But I'm stuck like a dope with a thing called hope …
SONGS OF MR. STROUSE IN THE HOUSE One of the greats of The Great White Way's great golden age, Charles Strouse was the honoree in absentia in an especially splendid presentation on July 2…
THE HISTORY, HYSTERICAL HAPPENINGS & HAPPINESS THAT SPELL "BROADWAY" Broadway musicals feature a parade of talent which, like time, marches on. Sometimes it seems that parade of pizzazz …
REED ALL ABOUT IT! SHAW BIZ WITH THE ANDERSON TWINS When jazz musicians of the current generation explore and embrace the repertoire of stars of the past, it can be an enjoyably educational …
IN THE TRADITION OF THE GREAT JAZZ SINGERS When Ashley Pezzotti sings, it will only take a few notes for listeners new to her manner to gratefully discover that their ears will be caressed, …
EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY (AND A DREAM) If you have time off this month and are feeling wanderlust for foreign travel"but your summer budget doesn't allow for an actual trip around the world"I w…
RADIO-ACTIVE SATIRE (WITH SONGS) And now for something completely different. Presented for your amusement is a skillful skewering of the approach to fundraising"or, to put it more plainly, b…
Once Upon a Mattress, Dot and the Kangaroo cast recordings reviewed.
FROM CASTLE HILL IN THE BRONX TO A DEBUT AT CARNEGIE HALL IN MANHATTAN, SAMARA JOY IN CONCERT AND IN THE GROOVE # # # Most jazz vocalists dream of rapid success: winning a major contest, daz…
A REVIEW OF A REVUE Whatever happened to the topical revue format? As differentiated from musical revues that recycle old, established songs by particular writers, the topical revue presente…