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Concerts / Events
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Cabaret Review: IT’S DE-LOVELY: JEFF HARNAR SINGS COLE PORTER (Birdland and on Tour)
IT’S DELIGHTFUL, IT’S DE-LOVELY, IT’S DE-HARNAR It was as a 16-year-old boy in a suburb of Chicago that Jeff Harnar fell in love with the songs of Cole Porter. He encountered these songs not through his parents’ huge record collection or by attending local concerts, but rather through the old films he watched on television….
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Highly Recommended Album and New York/L.A. Appearances: THINGS ARE LOOKING UP (Queen Esther)
THING ARE LOOKING UP, INDEED! The press release says, “Armed with original songs, formidable vocal chops and a powerhouse of a band, Queen Esther uses her Southern roots to create a sound she calls Black Americana.” But I call her latest album Things Are Looking Up simply the coolest jazz around. It’s a scintillating mix…
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Event: JOE’S PUB GALA (April 8, Joe’s Pub at The Public)
CELEBRATE 25 YEARS OF JOE’S PUB! Since 1998, Joe’s Pub has been a home for artists at all levels of development — from early-career artists to those at a critical stage in their careers (like the members of the Joe’s Pub Working Group) to international superstars like Adele and Alicia Keys, whose astounding show Hell’s…
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Highly Recommended Event: KRISTIN: AN EVENING WITH FRIENDS FOR TODD (One-Night-Only Concert for Roundabout)
CELEBRATING GENIE TODD Monday, April 15, 2024 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 W 43rd Street), Kristin Chenoweth — last seen on Roundabout’s stage in the superb On the Twentieth Century — will be joined by a remarkable roster of Roundabout favorites for a once-in-a-lifetime special benefit concert celebrating longtime leader Todd Haimes (1956-2023), a major force…
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Music Review: LEGACY: DEBUSSY + HAMELIN (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at The Wallis in Beverly Hills)
WHAT’S ON THE MENU? FRANCK AND HAMELIN Finally, I got to see pianist Marc-André Hamelin in person, thanks to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, which presented him in two of four salon pieces that made up Legacy: Debussy + Hamelin — a program which which played last Saturday at The Wallis, a great venue for LACO’s…
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Highly Recommended Jazz Music: BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB AND THEATER (March, 2024)
WHERE THE RHYTHM SWOOPS AND SWIRLS, THIS REALLY IS THE JAZZ CORNER OF THE WORLD From bands like The Hot Sardines, Hot Club of Cowtown and Maria Schneider Orchestra to cabaret stalwarts such as Karen Mason and Tedd Firth, there is nothing but excitement this month, March 2024, at Birdland Jazz Club — named after…
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Concerts: TAYLOR SWIFT’S REPUTATION TOUR BREAKDOWN
The Reputation Stadium Tour, Taylor Swift’s first all-stadium venture, represents a significant chapter in her illustrious career, showcasing her evolution from a small-town girl to an international icon. This ambitious project not only highlighted Swift’s musical genius but also redefined the contours of live music entertainment. Commencing on May 8, 2018, in Glendale, Arizona, the…
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Summer Concerts: PROVINCETOWN SUMMER 2024 SEASON (Mark Cortale Presents)
Indigo Girls, Jinkx Monsoon, Bianca Del Rio, Marilyn Maye, HBO’s Gilded Age Stars Denée Benton and Claybourne Elder Will Play Provincetown Town Hall This Summer and Broadway Stars Cheyenne Jackson & Melissa Errico, Announced at Provincetown Theater Producer Mark Cortale has announced a star-studded music and comedy season for the summer of 2024 at Provincetown’s largest entertainment venue,…
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Highly Recommended Event & Streaming: TONY KUSHNER (The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (The Center for Fiction, Brooklyn)
The Center for Fiction, a 200-year-old literary nonprofit that has created an immersive home for readers and writers in downtown Brooklyn, and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, will co-present Story/Teller Arts with Isaac Butler: Tony Kushner on The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (or iHo) on February 27…
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Concert/Theater Review: CHILDREN OF EDEN IN CONCERT (Manhattan Concert Productions, Lincoln Center)
AN EDENIC PRODUCTION AT LINCOLN CENTER Full disclosure, I’d never heard of Stephen Schwartz’s 1991 musical Children of Eden before seeing this one-night only, concert performance at Lincoln Center‘s David Geffen Hall. As a lifelong devotee of American musical theater (aka Musical Theater Queen), that’s surprising. Though if I had to choose any production as first…
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Concert Review: JAZZ, LOVE AND GERSHWIN: A CENTURY OF RHAPSODY IN BLUE (The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall)
IT’S VERY CLEAR: GERSHWIN IS HERE TO STAY The centerpiece of The New York Pops‘ Jazz, Love, and Gershwin: A Century of Rhapsody in Blue was quite obviously Gershwin’s iconic orchestral piece. And at the top of the evening, Musical Director Steven Reineke told the audience it would be “a thrilling performance, I promise you.” If…
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Music Recommendation: ENSEMBLE CONNECT (Carnegie Hall)
Ensemble Connect is made up of extraordinary young professional classical musicians residing in the US who take part in a two-year fellowship program created in 2007 by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute. The program prepares fellows for careers that combine musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership by…
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Concert Review: CÉCILE McLORIN SALVANT (Sanders Theater in Cambridge, MA)
PURE PLEASURE Acclaimed vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant brought nothing but pleasure to Sanders Theater in Cambridge last night, courtesy of Celebrity Series of Boston. From the moment she stepped onto the darkened stage in her bright tangerine dress and what appeared to be platform Doc Martens and electric blue socks, she captivated the audience with…
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Cabaret Review: CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ – JESSICA VOSK (Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa)
DREAMY DREAMIN’ In the shimmering galaxy of cabaret, few stars under the twilight of retirement sparkle with the vivacity and brilliance of Jessica Vosk, who, at 40, is the real deal. Her latest foray onto the stage, California Dreamin: Jessica Vosk Sings the Songwriters of Laurel Canyon, which played last night at Segerstrom Concert Hall,…
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Recommended Event: HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY PROGRAM (Interviews with NYC Show Creators at NY Public Library for the Performing Arts)
On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27 from 1:30 to 3:30, National Jewish Theater Foundation President Arnold Mittelman will interview creators of current NYC shows Harmony, Our Class and Here There Are Blueberries. — several of this season’s plays & musicals that combat hate and antisemitism. The free public program takes place from 1:30-3:00 pm and illuminates how theater…
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Recommended Concert: JEWEL & MELISSA ETHERIDGE (The Rady Shell in San Diego)
On July 23, 2024 the San Diego Symphony will present Jewel & Melissa Etheridge at San Diego’s The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park as part of their co-headlining 19-city tour. Tickets go on sale today for this popular show. Etheridge’s co-headlining tour with Jewel will kick off July 11 in Bonner, Montana. After Etheridge and the…
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Cabaret Review: PIECES: NEW MUSICAL SELECTIONS (Richard C. Walter at Chelsea Table + Stage)
It’s hard to compose for modern musicals and not fall for pop-tunes or Sondheim’s classic songs to be safe; Theatre is made of trials and errors, you keep reworking ingredients until you get the perfect sauce, your sauce. Composer and lyricist Richard C. Walter is very busy doing that. With Pieces: New Musical Selections, presented last…
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Recommended Concert: SING AND SWING: OUR AMERICAN SONGBOOK (North American Tour, Jan. 25 to March 30, 2024)
SINGIN’ AND SWINGIN’ ACROSS THE LAND They only need one name: Ella, Judy, Bing, Dean, Peggy. These were the artists who brought the music of Gershwin, Ellington, Porter, and Berlin to life. Now, Jazz at Lincoln Center presents Sing and Swing: Our American Songbook, which relives and recreates some of the classic pairings in jazz…
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Theater Review: FORMIDABLE! (Aznavour 100th Anniversary World Tour at Town Hall in New York)
AZNAVOUR IS YOUNG AGAIN Charles Aznavour hoped to be still singing before audiences on his 100th birthday. Unfortunately, he died in 2018 at the age of 94. But Jules Grison is celebrating Aznavour’s 100th birthday in grand style, starring in Formidable! Aznavour 100th Anniversary World Tour. Produced and directed by Gil Marsalla, the man behind…
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Highly Recommended Concert: CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT (Samueli Hall at Segerstrom)
Hooray and hallelujah! Long before her CDs Ghost Song, The Window, and Dreams and Daggers — winning three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album after being nominated in 2014 for her WomanChild — I have always been a fan of jazz vocalist and song interpreter extraordinaire Cécile McLorin Salvant. But seeing her live…
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