381 stories by "Rob Lester"
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…
MUSICAL ABOUT FASHION ICON COCO CHANEL STILL IN FASHION The scores of older Broadway musicals that don't get revivals include those that many theatre fans never got to experience beyond list…
IT'S JAZZ. IT'S JOY. IT'S JUDY On the very rainy night May 14th, performing at that place called Pangea, the attractive venue on Second Avenue in Greenwich Village, vocalist Judy Wexler is t…
ANY TIME IS A GOOD TIME TO GIVE MY REGARDS TO [THE MAN WHO OWNED] BROADWAY The tribute show is called George & Me. The only singer on the bill is a man named Bill: That's Bill Bartus, bo…
HARNICK…HEARTFELT & HEARTWARMING Sheldon Harnick, who passed away in 2023 at age 99, is alphabetically in good company among the great Broadway writers. His name comes after E.Y. "Yip"…
The "J2" in the name J2 Spotlight Theater Company of Manhattan doesn't refer to descriptions that start with the letter "J," like "joyful" and "joke-filled," but it might as well, because th…
Don't look for anything very heartbreaking or groundbreaking in the familiar musical ground surveyed by the generally joyful Judy Whitmore. When she toasts love, it's with a glass she sees a…
THIS IS HOW GLORY FEELS Here's an especially poignant and powerful musical about a real episode from the past that finally gains the word "Broadway" to its history exactly 100 years after th…
A FUN, LIVELY KANDER & EBB MUSICAL AND THE TICKET PRICE ISN'T EX-ZORBA-TANT Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: If a character in musical theatre is going to make a declaration …
