All stories by Rob Lester on BroadwayStars

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Cabaret Review: DIVINE SASS: A TRIBUTE TO SARAH VAUGHAN (Lillias White Album Release Concert at 54 Below) by Rob Lester

QUITE A NIGHT WITH MISS WHITE The series of concerts by Lillias White at 54 Below—running nightly through March 29 (and live streamed on the 28)—is billed as Divine Sass: A Tribute to Sa…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 11:24PM
Monday, March 17, 2025

Concert Review: 100 YEARS OF EPIC FILM SCORES (The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall) by Rob Lester

NOW HEAR THIS! Film may be first and foremost a visual medium, but where would it be without music to bring out the emotions, heighten the drama, quicken the heart, create tension, and tie t…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 04:25PM
Sunday, March 16, 2025

Concert Review: VAPE! (The Town Hall in Manhattan; A Benefit for the Entertainment Community Fund) by Rob Lester

A GRANDLY GREASE-Y SPOOF! Poking fun, flinging a pun, prizing satirizing — that’s the paradise that is parody and Vape!, blatantly billing itself as “The Grease Parody,” aims its pla…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 07:25PM
Saturday, March 15, 2025

New York Cabaret Review: I’LL BE HERE TOMORROW: THE OPTIMISM OF JERRY HERMAN (54 Below) by Rob Lester

Songs and gab at this swell cabaret Starting the party is Mame‘s “It’s Today.” Hear the cheer in the singer’s voice With this merry Jerry Herman choice. The room has no gloom. Ther…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:47PM

Concert Review: BROADWAY’S LEADING LADIES (The Town Hall in New York & Filmed for PBS) by Rob Lester

AN AMAZING NIGHT OF STARS GALORE –AND IT’S COMING TO PBS Filmed to be shown on PBS stations later this year, the concert cavalcade called Broadway’s Leading Ladies at The Town Hall on …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:47PM
Thursday, March 13, 2025

Theater Review: MY FIRST EX-HUSBAND (MMAC Theater) by Rob Lester

Marital Mayhem and Matrimonial Mishaps: My First Ex-Husband’s Second Cast Delivers Divorce Tales with Bite “Do you take this man — To have and to hold — from this day forward — for…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:15PM

Off-Broadway Review: THE JONATHAN LARSON PROJECT (Orpheum Theatre) by Rob Lester

TICK, TICK… ENCORE! LARSON’S TRUNK SONGS SHINE If you’re a fan of potent post-Golden Age theatre music, you should check out a show that just officially opened downtown last night. The…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:15PM
Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Off-Broadway Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Literally Alive Family Theatre at The Players Theatre) by Rob Lester

WHEN CHILDREN’S THEATER IS A BEAUTIFUL THING Two “P” words—“professional” and “pleasant”—describe the stage production in Greenwich Village with two “B” words in its ti…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 11:47AM
Saturday, March 8, 2025

Cabaret Review: THE KLEINBORT COLLECTION: THE SONGS OF BARRY KLEINBORT (Jamie deRoy & Friends at Birdland) by Rob Lester

THINGS ARE O.K. WITH MR. K For decades, three words—“by Barry Kleinbort”—have often appeared in cabaret and theatre credits, typically preceded by “directed” or “written.” At…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:00PM

Cabaret Review: LET’S NOT TALK ABOUT… (Kate Baldwin at 54 Below) by Rob Lester

A DATE WITH KATE She looks and sounds radiant, and the audience knows it. Tonight, March 6, she was greeted with some of the most enthusiastic and sustained cheers I’ve heard in a long tim…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 12:37PM
Sunday, March 2, 2025

Off-Off-Broadway Review: A EULOGY FOR ROMAN (Multiple Venues: Churches & Community Centers, Manhattan & Brooklyn) by Rob Lester

HOW TO URN AUDIENCE SYMPATHY This one-man show is described as an “immersive” experience, and the immersiveness begins right at the entrance of the particularly fitting venue, the oh-so-…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:21PM
Thursday, February 27, 2025

Cabaret Review: THE BRYCE EDWARDS FRIVOLITY HOUR (Birdland Jazz Club) by Rob Lester

BRIGHT, BROMIDIC BRYCE AND HIS FREEWHEELING FRABJOUS FRIVOLITY Take note, nightclub-goers: Attending an edition of the spiffy soiree The Bryce Edwards Frivolity Hour might just make you beli…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:01PM
Sunday, February 23, 2025

Off-Broadway Review: STILL (Loreto Theatre, The Sheen Center) by Rob Lester

IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT, WILL EX-LOVERS REUNITE OR FIGHT? After decades apart, can the passion of once-young lovers sizzle again, like leftover pizza zapped in the microwave? Picking up an…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 04:27PM
Saturday, February 22, 2025

Cabaret Review: BEYOND THE WALLS OF JOE ALLEN (Backstage Babble at 54 Below) by Rob Lester

BACKSTAGE BABBLE AT STUDIO 54: TOPS WITH FLOPS Not every musical is a hit, and some barely get a chance to stumble before vanishing into obscurity. The midtown Manhattan nightclub 54 Below h…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:36AM
Monday, February 17, 2025

Cabaret Review: DIANNE REEVES: WITH LOVE (Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater) by Rob Lester

DIANNE REEVES’ WITH LOVE RECEIVED WITH LOVE If Grammy-winning singer Dianne Reeves’ suitcase could talk (and I’m guessing that it can’t), it would tell tales of trekking all over the…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:07PM
Sunday, February 16, 2025

Cabaret Review: LOVE IS IN THE AIR (Davis Gaines, Green Room 42) by Rob Lester

EVERYTHING TO GAINES AND NOTHING TO LOSE No, he doesn’t sing “My Funny Valentine” in his entertaining show called Love Is in the Air on the night before Valentine’s Day at Green Room…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 01:28PM
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Off-Broadway Review: EMILIO’S A MILLION CHAMELEONS (SoHo Playhouse’s International Fringe Encore Theater Series) by Rob Lester

A COLORFUL, KINETIC AND PUPPET-FILLED POW Emilio’s A Million Chameleons at Soho Playhouse offers family-friendly, fabulously frenzied fun. Like many offerings aimed at, or at least semi-ta…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:19PM
Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Sound Advice Reviews: Karen Mason, Janis Siegel, Rebecca Kilgore and Rio - 12/31/24 by Rob Lester

Here are three releases that celebrate songwriters, each from a long-careered, stylish female singer. Karen Mason mines the oeuvre of the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb. Including selectio…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 09:21AM
Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Talkin' Broadway - Book Review: "Yankee Doodle Dandy: George M. Cohan and the Broadway Stage" - 11/5/24 by Rob Lester

If you walk through Manhattan's theatre district, you pass locations of theaters owned by a man who wrote many shows (music, lyrics, book) and directed, produced, and often performed in them…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 07:34AM
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Thursday, June 27, 2024

Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice: "The Gospel According to Heather," Jane Scheckter, and Ann Kittredge - 6/27/24 by Rob Lester

Let's start with a recent Off-Broadway cast recording of a show that takes on religion, relationships, and right wing propaganda. Then it's love's ups and downs taking center stage for two s…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:32PM
Monday, May 6, 2024

Talkin' Broadway Off-Broadway - "Lucky Stiff" - 5/6/24 by Rob Lester

Maybe the musical Lucky Stiff wasn't enormously lucky the first time around, managing only 15 performances in its 1988 Off-Broadway debut, but it has continued to pop up over the years aroun…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 12:46PM
Saturday, April 20, 2024

Talkin' Broadway Off-Broadway - "Do Re Mi" - 4/20/24 by Rob Lester

There's a place for a glib, undemanding, unpretentious old-school musical comedy that seeks to entertain and just wants to make someone happy. "Make Someone Happy" was the big song that came…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 07:47PM
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice: Stephen Pasquale and John Pizzarelli, Jan Cronin, Judy Whitmore, and Andy Pratt - 1/31/24 by Rob Lester

Reviews of albums from Stephen Pasquale & John Pizzarelli, Jan Cronin, Judy Whitmore, and Andy Pratt.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 10:51AM
Monday, January 15, 2024

Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice: "Guys and Dolls," "Wild About You," "Walking with Bubbles," and "The New Peggy" - 1/15/24 by Rob Lester

Reviews of cast recordings from Guys and Dolls, Wild About You, Walking with Bubbles, and The New Peggy.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 11:57AM
Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice: Merrily, Sondheim Project, Ben Jones, and Antoine Drye - 11/29/23 by Rob Lester

I've been doing a deep dive into songs by Stephen Sondheim lately, gorging on the new recording of Merrily We Roll Along, and then, wanting more, I went merrily scavenging through my "waitin…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:48PM
Thursday, November 16, 2023

Talkin'Broadway by Rob Lester

"New York, New York" OBC, Matthew Scott, "Other Lives", and Chloé Jean album reviews.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 12:48PM
Thursday, October 26, 2023

Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice: Anything goes - 10/26/23 by Rob Lester

Two "Anything Goes" albums from JAY Records.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 05:08PM
Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice: Jeff Harner and "Harmony" - 9/02/23 by Rob Lester

A Collective Cy: Jeff Harner Sings Cy Coleman and "Harmony" OBC cast recording reviewed.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 07:45AM
Thursday, August 10, 2023

Talkin' Broadway Sound Advice: "The Wizard of Friendship," Fanny Brice, and "The Flasher!" - 8/10/23 by Rob Lester

New album reviews: "Lewberger: The Wizard of Friendship," Fanny Brice: Rare and Unreleased Recordings, and "The Flasher!" soundtrack.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:29PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre