It's not that "far from the first of the year," so before composer-lyricist Jerry Herman's 80th birthday year ends (he turned 80 over the summer), the tributes are still coming, with autumn …
Satisfying looks at two "books" this week, with two energized female vocalists: one with the songbook of musical theatre hits (and a few appendixes of her own) and the other singing about th…
The Great American Songbook is in good hands as some familiar hands turn its pages and raise their celebrated (and celebrating) voices at the 22nd annual Cabaret Convention concerts, in the …
It's the intriguing cast album from the recently-closed new musical "Death Takes a Holiday," which some may find surprisingly full of life. And then, an appealingly lively live album that is…
The Equal Rights Amendment might itself be amended to include the trend-bucking Betty Buckley who doesn't just ask why a woman can't sing the songs of a man, but goes ahead and sings them an…
Here are three vocalists saluting their special favorites, major songwriters of standards, with tracks sampling many of those writers' numerous writing teammates.
Good music rules the day, thanks to that girl who is a self-appointed and plucky "Little Princess" who comes from literature, her story bringing us to Europe and Africa, with the latter cont…
If you're looking for high-energy musical romps both raucous and rosy, cozy cooing, happy harmonizing and dance breaks, this very bright and sunny Anything Goes goes a long way towards fitti…
It's one scoop of each flavor this time. We're going down a country road with the Kristin we know from Broadway (and TV), while another Kristin, new to these ears, takes the "standard" route…
The house lights dim and the band begins. We turn our attention to the singer that the nightclub "is very proud to present" taking a turn in the spotlight. A recorded souvenir may lose somet…
Jason Graae sounds a big "You I Like" hurrah for Jerry Herman ... melodies by Jason Robert Brown tell the tale of a determined young swan ... Phil Swann ("Play It Cool") takes the vocal spo…
... two thoughtful musicals that examine how male/female partners-in-life-and-love deal with each other and other compelling things that enter the picture ... The first is adapted from Georg…
Picture it: A 2pm matinee is about to start, the cast in costume: a drag queen, a guy whose get-up is fabric made to look like absurdly bulging muscles, a gaggle of gals in very high heels a…
Among the numerous gay-themed plays in the almost 200 varied and varying-quality productions in the New York International Fringe Festival are a serious drama of deception and attraction and…
Here's a heads-up about how violence hath reared its ugly head in shows at the currently-running NY International Fringe Festival with, head and shoulders above the others, the drama Sammy G…
Four score and seven years ago, exactly, our forefathers brought forth a new national fascination: news headlines trumpeting reports about an elusive female robber dubbed "The Bobbed Hair Ba…
Two male vocalists on board: a veteran and a newer voice, each capable of singing in hushed, romantic tones or letting loose with a big sound. Both have dipped their pens into ink a bit as c…
Same old/ same old story? Not quite. Alice and Rip! revisit the tales of wonder in Wonderland and the legend of Mr. Van Winkle, the sleepy man written by that Sleepy Hollow writer, respect…
Hallelujah!Praise the Lord! There's a musical in town briefly --- but, I suspect, ripe and ready for a long run delighting audiences, that is satisfying in the ways we want musicals to be. …
Let the games begin. Theatre festivals are always a game … of chance. We festival regulars know that you get the shows that are cheery and the ones that make you weary, the dreary and dr…
The Fourth of July holiday may be over, but the permanence of recordings makes it never too late to strike up the band and declare a knickerbocker or any kind of holiday to celebrate finally…
Two episodic, song-filled, leaving-home journeys this time, previously seen on the screen but first told in books—inspired by the imaginative real life of Frank Abagnale, Jr., and the imag…
This week Rob reviews Show Some Beauty, which features songs by Steve Marzullo.
This week Rob reviews: Lynn DiMenna's Fun & Fancy Free: The Music of Dinah Shore; Jamie deRoy's Wish on the Moon; Susie Meissner's I'm Confessin'.
What is more theatrical than an awards show? There's that suspense of "Who will win?" There's the dramatic pause between the rattling off of nominees' names and the envelope-opening and th…