Patti LuPune’s smash hit club act is back at 54 Below this weekend, check here for tickets. It is truly a must-see as I described in my review this summer.
Tag: pop
Patti Lupone back at 54 Below!
Cabaret Review: Judy Collins
I’ve been aware of folk and pop singer Judy Collins since I was a little kid listening to my big sisters albums – Judy’s hit versions of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides, Now” and “The Circle Game” have a solid place in my musical memory (though I’d heard both first sung by Native American singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie – Sis had even more of Buffy’s records).
What a treat then, to see Collins, a truly dynamic performer, in an intimate setting like the Cafe Carlyle. She’s an authentic river of song, in truly golden voice. She’ll be talking about a song in passing, and then launch into three or four lines, singing with breathtakingly casual grace and beauty.
When she sings a song in earnest, she’s truly arresting, imbuing each line with subtle style, implying stories behind stories. She’s known as one of the best interpretive artists in pop music, and in this act she brilliantly illuminates songs ranging from traditional folk and Bob Dylan to Anthony Newley and Sondheim and even a touching song of her own about her late mother.
In the current show, she’s mostly interested in tracing the broad outlines of her career, with an emphasis on her early folk days in Greenwich Village. Interestingly, the song person that made her want to be a folk-singer wasn’t another folk-singer, but big band singer Jo Stafford singing the traditional Scottish ballad “Barbara Allen” (which Collins stirringly interprets).
The stories she tells are truly entertaining, varying from the touchingly personal to the hilariously bawdy. She recently published a memoir, and if what she tells here is any indication, it’s probably loads of fun. Collins’s spectacular, undiminished talent always gives me one of the most intense experiences I’ve ever had in cabaret.
For tickets, click here.
For more reviews and interviews by Jonathan Warman, see dramaqueennyc.com.
Underground Thursday Rewind: "Labour of Love" by Hue & Cry
Tomorrow night, Friday, September 14, I will be DJing at the Lush & Lively cocktail hour at the Time Out New York Lounge at New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street (between 8th & 9th Ave) from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM. The music emphasizes horns and strings, so there will be jazz (classic and “nu”), latin, international orchestral and big band pop (like this Northern Soul-inspired 1987 barnstormer from Scottish duo Hue & Cry, huge hit in the UK, didn’t even dent the charts here) and – of course – lots and lots of disco. The Cosmo special is only $3 from 6:30PM to 7:00 PM, and there are $5 drink specials until 9:00 PM.
Find the Hue & Cry video below.
Theatre Review: "Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking"
Forbidden Broadway has relentlessly and lovingly assaulted the Great White Way since 1982, when Gerard Alessandrini, then a struggling singer-actor, created the first edition for himself and his friends to perform. It lampooned the Broadway shows and stars of the day – to put things in perspective that was the year Cats (a top Alessandrini target) opened, and Ethel Merman (who has turned up frequently in the revue over the years) still had two years to live.
After a break between 2009 and now, Forbidden Broadway is back with a vengeance. The show, as always, is wickedly clever from early on: A quartet wanders around the theatre district, stumbling down the aisle, saying “isn’t this the theatre where Forbidden Broadway used to play?” and then break into music from Brigadoon – a distant chorus chanting “Broadway’s on the brink-of-doom, brink-of-doom.”
The revival of Evita is the first proper target, featuring Ricky Martin singing “Living Evita Loca” and Elena Rogers singing of her “total lack of star quality” to the tune of “Buenos Aires”. Next up is Nice Work if You Can Get It, with the sharpest barbs reserved for Matthew Broderick (too easy?). Alessandrini always has an obvious soft spot for certain shows, and this season it’s Newsies, which he mostly dishes for its almost-too-frenetic energy. Some of the harshest barbs go to Once, though there’s some affectionate spoofing of Steven Hoggett’s angular choreography.
Act Two has Julie Taymor and Bono engaging a superhero battle, the gals from Smash fretting over the future of their series, a sharp critique of Tracie Bennett from Judy Garland herself and a Mormon parody which is mostly about Parker and Stone counting their money. The finale, as often is the case for Forbidden Broadway, is a love note to the future of musical theater. Alessandrini seems to see plenty of hope (which he didn’t in 1982), and that’s a very good sign.
For tickets, click here.
For more reviews and interviews by Jonathan Warman, see dramaqueennyc.com.
Cabaret Review: Michael Feinstein and Marilyn Maye
Not knowing Marilyn Maye is pop cultural ignorance on a par with not knowing Judy Garland or Ella Fitzgerald. Unfortunately it’s much more common than being unaware of the other two – even a hardcore culture vulture like me only discovered her a few years ago. She’s a great hidden national treasure; Fitzgerald herself once called Maye “the greatest white female singer in the world.” That was no exaggeration when Ella said it and it’s even truer today. There are younger singers who might posses more powerful voices, but I can think of no other living singer who possesses Maye’s combination of interpretive ability, rhythmic verve and vocal range.
She is currently sharing the stage of Feinstein’s with Michael Feinstein himself. Feinstein has had great success doing duet shows for many years and here, as usual, it’s a winning situation all around. This particular match is especially good – Maye is still at the top of her game many, many decades into her career, and Feinstein just keeps getting better, marrying soaring vocal power with ever more detailed nuance in his interpretations.
The pair does several medleys, the best of which exploits Michael’s ongoing love affair with boogie-woogie, which suits the ever-swinging Maye just fine. They shine most, however, in solo moments: Feinstein pays tribute to the late Marvin Hamlisch by wringing every last ounce of emotion out of Marvin’s “The Way We Were”, including some never-recorded extra lyrics from the song’s lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman. And Marilyn rips up a vocal interpretation of Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five”, which is easily the jazziest thing I’ve ever heard her do – which means that calling it legendary would be an understatement.
Musical director Tedd Firth brings a glossy, sophisticated jazz musicianship to the proceedings, providing a luscious frame for the pair’s multifarious artistry. If you love classic songs sung like they’re meant to be sung – and swung – it doesn’t get any better than this.
For tickets, click here.
For more reviews and interviews by Jonathan Warman, see dramaqueennyc.com.
