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Rob Lester
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Music Review: NELLIE McKAY (City Vineyard)
ECCENTRIC CHARM, SWEET AND STRANGE Enjoying an eclectic, engaging evening with Nellie McKay Light-hearted but with some heavier thoughts,Out-and-out outgoing on the outside,Sometimes intense on the inside,Engaging all the way through With a playful twinkle in her eye and her trademark sunny sound, savvy singer Nellie McKay fills a room with charm in her eclectic…
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Off-Broadway Review: THREE WOMEN (Frog & Peach Theatre Company at Theater for the New City)
THREE LOVES, ONE ROAD A gritty, intriguing country-western musical with more implied than explained COMPOSER-LYRICIST/GUITARIST/PROTAGONISTA musician with three younger ladies to romance,two deaths to deal with,and one rough life on the road It’s a little confusing, more than a bit intriguing, and plenty gritty and gutsy. Not everything is spelled out in crystal-clear ways in…
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Off-Broadway Review: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Theater 2020)
COMEDY TONIGHT— AND PLENTY OF IT A zippy, low-budget romp that lands big laughs When in ancient Rome,do as the ancient Romans—and moderns—would do:enjoy the kind of humor that never feels ancient.This musical confection from 1962 has ageless funny flavors and farcical fun. If Theater 2020 charged its audience a dime for every laugh-out-loud moment…
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Theater Preview: CREATIVE STAGE COLLECTIVE – MUSICAL MAD LIBS! (Symphony Space, NYC)
MIX, MATCH, AND MAKE IT UP An intergenerational troupe turns audience ideas into live musical theater Here’s a special recipe for success and entertainment. It’s all in the mixing and blending and combining of diverse ingredients. The people participating are of different ages and experiences and talents. The elements of the production are acting, music,…
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Off-Broadway Review: MILK AND HONEY (J2 Spotlight Theatre Company at AMT, NYC)
MIDDLE-AGED PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, IN THE MIDDLE OF ADVENTURES Jerry Herman’s early musical still charms Through the magic of musical theatre, we’re vicariously taking a guided tour through Israel in the early 1960s. On your left, a group of widows seeing the sights and setting their sights on finding—maybe (who knows?)—a husband. On…
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Cabaret Review: MARILYN MAYE (54 Below, NY)
THE QUEEN OF CABARET STILL REIGNS A birthday-month run proves that Marilyn Maye at 98 remains unstoppable Memo to fans of solo singers who’ve been living in a cave for more than half a century: Marilyn Maye is the most entertaining, dazzling, and beloved old-school nightclub vocalist of any age on any stage. The powerhouse…
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Concert Review: STANDARD TIME WITH MICHAEL FEINSTEIN—ON THE TOWN (Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall)
THE SONGBOOK LIVES ON Feinstein’s Carnegie Hall “On the Town” concert celebrates classic songs and those who wrote and performed them with style, wit, and swing Like a party that keeps going and on, the granddaddy concert auditorium in Carnegie Hall and its in-house smaller “cousin,” Zankel Hall, are having a ball this calendar year…
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Cabaret Review: DONNA McKECHNIE – A MUSICAL MEMOIR (Laurie Beechman Theatre, NYC)
A LEGEND STILL IN MOTION A radiant, nostalgic evening with a Broadway icon who continues to charm and connect Gracious, graceful, gratifying, glowing, glamorous. Some cabaret shows are everything you wish they could be, everything you hope they might be, or everything you actually expect them to be, given the performer’s track record. The monthly…
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Cabaret Review: JULIE BENKO: EUPHONIC GUMBO (Birdland in NYC and West Coast Tour)
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL WITH A TWIST Julie Benko’s Mardi Gras–flavored cabaret delights with energy and polish: a tasty Gumbo On a Monday night at Birdland Jazz Club, with a twinkle in her eye, singer Julie Benko refers to her work the rest of the week as being involved in “a little show called…
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Cabaret Review: “THE WIZARD AND I” ALBUM RELEASE CONCERT (Liz Callaway Sings Schwartz [& Sondheim] at 54 Below)
TWO STEVES WITH LOVE, TWO TRIBUTES, ONE SUPREMELY SATISFYING WEEK From Schwartz to Sondheim, Callaway revisits rich collaborations with warmth, wit, and deeply felt interpretation Once upon a time in the previous century, very early in her career, on the very same day, Liz Callaway received two pieces of good news: both about being offered…
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Off-Broadway Review: ABOUT TIME (Marjorie S. Dean Little Theater)
GETTING OLDER NEVER SOUNDED SO GOOD A richly satisfying Maltby and Shire revue finds warmth, wit, and wisdom in growing older Lynne Wintersteller, Sally Wilfert, Allyson Kaye Daniel While it may be true that getting old (excuse me, getting older) is no picnic, a taste of that period of life is more palatable—even sweet—when accompanied…
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Cabaret Review: LORNA LUFT (In Residence at The Laurie Beechman Theatre)
LORNA LUFT LETS LOOSE LUSTILY AND WITH LOVE A veteran performer pushes through rough patches with grit, gratitude, and plenty of show-biz heart There’s plenty of energy and goodwill going back and forth between performer and audience when singer Lorna Luft takes the stage. Those who’ve followed her over the decades know that the trouper…
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Cabaret Review: BILLY JOEL SONGBOOK (Tony DeSare at Birdland Theater)
PIANO MAN BY PROXY Tony DeSare salutes Billy Joel with polish, power, and plenty of affection Special thanks go to Billy Joel for changing the career path of the terrifically talented Tony DeSare. The program, Tony DeSare’s Billy Joel Songbook, is an audience-pleasing set that has DeSare honoring Joel’s songs with gusto—one formidable singer-pianist saluting…
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Cabaret Review: JOHN PIZZARELLI TRIO (Album Release “Dear Mr. Bennett” at Birdland)
A BENNETT SONGBOOK WITH PIZZARELLI SWING The singer-guitarist and his trio offer solid entertainment and a nostalgic stroll through a legend’s songbook There may not be many things you can count on in the world, but you can always depend on John Pizzarelli to deliver quality performances with quality material—and a few laughs along the…
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Cabaret Review: OUR SINATRA: A MUSIC CELEBRATION (25th Anniversary Production at 54 Below)
A SINATRA SONGBOOK REVUE RETURNS WITH STYLE, SWING, AND STAYING POWER The revue recalling the repertoire of “Ol’ Blue Eyes” is a song-stuffed, sure-fire success (again) So, who doesn’t love an anniversary as a reason for celebration? How about a show with that very word in its title—Our Sinatra: A Musical Celebration. The entertainment industry…
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Cabaret Review: LINDA EDER: PLAY IT FORWARD (54 Below)
A FAMILY AFFAIR AT 54 BELOW Linda Eder shines, with a promising assist from Jake Wildhorn; like mother like son — both likeable Casual and confident, a smiling Linda Eder strode onto the stage on February 9 at the venue where she’s a regular—54 Below—welcomed extra warmly by her fervent fans. The publicity for this…
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Cabaret Review: MARTIN BONVENTRE (Swingin’ in a New Dimension Album Release, The Beechman)
A SWING SET WITH PROMISE AND PATCHES Martin Bonventre’s energetic debut mixes strong musicianship with uneven vocal control Martin Bonventre sang a line in his act that was unintentionally relevant on the very last night of January, when the temperature in New York City had plunged to a punishingly low number. The song in question…
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Off-Broadway Review: AN IDEAL HUSBAND (Storm Theatre at A.R.T./New York Theatres)
WITNESSING WILDE’S WONDERFUL WIT IS ALWAYS WELCOME Storm Theatre delivers elegance and precision, if not always sparkle Lurking under the characters’ control, courtesies and curtseys, calculated comments, formal wear and formalities, etiquette, etc., are their real feelings and fears that forced smiles with gritted teeth and British stiff-upper-lip mask. Mocking manners and marriage in the…
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Cabaret Review: JIMMIE HERROD (54 Below)
A HIGH VOICE, SOME HIGHLIGHTS, AND A HIGH-SPIRITED CROWD If you were shopping for the most versatile fantasy fabric for fashioning a fabulous outfit, imagine it by checking each of these boxes: ✅ … something smooth as silk, ☑️ … something warm as wool, ✅ … stretchable as elastic, ☑️ … solid as denim, ✅…
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Cabaret Review: QUINTIN HARRIS TRIO (Quintin Harris, Griffin Frank, and Max Marsillo at Birdland Jazz Club)
QUINTESSENTIAL QUINTIN Essential jazz, effortless swing, and a trio’s genuine chemistry Jazz fans bid farewell to January with a smile at Birdland Jazz Club by settling into a sublimely satisfying set by pianist and vocalist Quintin Harris and his terrific trio-mates, bassist Griffin Fink and drummer Max Marsillo. “We’ve become like brothers,” the calm leader…
Music Review: NELLIE McKAY (City Vineyard)
by Rob Lester | April 29, 2026
in Cabaret, New YorkOff-Broadway Review: BROKEN SNOW (Theatre 71)
by Gregory Fletcher | April 28, 2026
in New York, TheaterTheater Review: THE SECRET SHARER (DNAWorks at Emerson Paramount Center)
by Lynne Weiss | April 27, 2026
in Boston, TheaterBroadway Review: JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE (Barrymore Theatre)
by Paola Bellu | April 25, 2026
in New York, Theater
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