HOORAY FOR THIS BANQUET OF BLISS" ALL THOSE SENSATIONAL SONGS AND ENERGY" BEING ALIVE ON STAGE Words seem woefully inadequate to praise the wonderful, song-stuffed, dazzling and polished pro…
BRAVURA BELTING, BONDING, AND BONHOMIE A double dose of old-school star power, show biz history, and charisma radiated through the showroom at 54 Below, fondly received and encouraged by a c…
A BARE-BONES BOBBY IN BROOKLYN: A COMPANY THAT GHOSTS THE GOODS IS STILL ABOUT BEING ALIVE A revival of a show featuring the smart songs by the late Stephen Sondheim is sure to draw interest…
DONNA MCKECHNIE TAKES US INTO SONDHEIM'S WORLD It may be impossible NOT to be charmed by the mega-vivacious, sunny-spirited, endearing veteran Donna McKechnie. Her smile and talent light up …
TAKE ONE: J2 AND A TALE OF TWO SMILES: THE FINAL SCORE AND WHAT CAME BEFORE While some companies reviving musicals long after their time on the Great White White might restore one or more so…
IT WON'T LAST FIVE YEARS, BUT IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO (THE RELATIONSHIP AND THE BROADWAY MUSICAL) Although the traditional wedding vow includes the pledge to stay together "'til death do you p…
A REWARDING TIME SPENT SUSPENDED WITH THE ARTISTS OF SUSPENDED IN TIME Some musical performances"in concert or on recordings"while unquestionably or undemandingly enjoyable, may go in one ea…
MAKING THE IMPLAUSABLE APPLAUSEABLE, SMASH IS A WILD, WACKY, WONDERFUL WOW "S" is for "splashy"; "M" is for "Marilyn Monroe"; "A" is for "audience-pleasing"; "S" is for "snarky"; "H" is for …
GRINS, GOWNS, AND GRIT: A WINNING SMILE SASHAYS BACK ONSTAGE In the year 1919, the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway featured an ode to female finery as a bevy of beauties graced the stage to the…
THE NONPAREIL NONAGENARIAN REMAINS A NON-STOP WHIRLWIND OF TALENT There's a problem with singer Marilyn Maye's appearances. And it's this: For reviewers, all the positive adjectives have bee…
MR. GREENSPAN, PARTY OF FOUR Here's a one-of-a-kind, one-person, one-act play in which one man plays four women"simultaneously"without ever leaving the stage. Three (sometimes all four) of t…
HERE'S THE SCOOP ON BOOP! ENDEARINGLY CUTE, ASTUTE AND A HOOT Some things are meant to last. Cartoon character Betty Boop has been around for 95 years and has been rejuvenated"as youthful, s…
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 Sarah …
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…
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 playfully p…
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. There's joy. W…
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 West 4…
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 better, f…
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. There's…
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 title: Beauty and the Be…
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 Birdland, The K…
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 time.…
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-appr…
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…
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…