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Category: Cabaret
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On night two of her two-week not to be missed run, the Café Carlyle was packed with fans for Megan Hilty. Surveying the scene, Hilty spotted a girl front and center, and asked her what her favorite Broadway show was, hoping she would say Wicked. A debut for Hilty back in the day when she…
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Beginning with her first song, “Open the Door,” Judy Collins had her audience at the Café Carlyle on the opening night of her 2-week run in thrall. A performer for 56 years, her crystalline sound, whether she’s accompanying herself on acoustic guitar or at piano, rang clear. Not a glass clanked, nor dish rattled. And…
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You think a Tony-winning star would perform Broadway show tunes for her engagement at the Café Carlyle. Not Lena Hall, who told me at the “Kinky Boots” opening night back in 2013, that her true music metier was rock in the manner of Robert Plant and Janis Joplin. Of course she was a rocker in…
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“Do you want me at the piano,” Alexa Ray Joel asks in a kitten voice several times during her set at the Café Carlyle. Eager to please, in her low cut dress and cascading curls, she sings her own compositions, with one or two exceptions she’s tailored the lyrics to: “How Lovely to be a…
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Wiry and wise to life’s vicissitudes, soul singer Bettye Lavette took the stool at the Café Carlyle, commanding from that small perch a powerhouse of songs featuring her new album, Worthy. Building up to the title song, Lavette’s set included tunes from Bob Dylan (“Unbelievable”), Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (“Complicated”), John Lennon and Paul…
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The big question when it comes to Cheyenne Jackson is whether or not the intimate cabaret stage is enough of a venue for this dynamic multi-talented performer who does Elvis complete with swiveling hips. At last night’s opening at the Café Carlyle, this Broadway star finessed the space with flair; you would think he was…
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“We like to make it intimate here at Joe’s Pub,” says Sandra Bernhard, illustrating her trademark penchant for frank talk, “You don’t need that Broadway Waspy Albee bull–.” Arriving onstage in a sequined Suzy Wong number and silver go-go boots, Bernhard sings, “Where am I going?,” delighted that she’s right here, accompanied by her long…
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You may remember Garrett Hedlund as Dean Moriarty in Walter Salles’ On the Road. The Minnesota-born actor played the character inspired by the famed fast talking fast driving, Neal Cassady, son of a Denver wino in the movie based on Jack Kerouac’s iconic novel. During his time in New York doing publicity for Salles’ 2012…
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How cool is Buster Poindexter? The alter ego of David Johansen of New York Dolls fame, Poindexter is VERY cool. A seasoned lounge singer, he sports a pompadour, a wavecrest that may stand erect using a formula once shared by Bello the Clown: a mix of Rogaine and Viagra. A pencil thin mustache grazes his…
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“I’m an actress,” exclaims Molly Ringwald on opening night of her Café Carlyle cabaret act, as if we could forget. Playful, she suggested we forego formalities and all the clichés of lounge singers, and end her set of classics from the American songbook by pretending to walk offstage, to be followed by resounding claps and…
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Rita Wilson told a funny story about having worked with Bobby Short, resident star singer pianist at this special supper club back in the day. “It was a commercial,” she laughed and sang a few notes from the Charlie ad, and we never really met. That was my brush with greatness.” That statement seemed odd…
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Jeff Goldblum wears a pork pie hat and wide grin in his Café Carlyle debut, even when heckled by a man who wanted less talk and more music. But the performance, in which he acts as quiz show host, pianist and front man for the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, a grand name for a jazz ensemble,…
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Just after the Father’s Day weekend, when Vaneese Thomas sang backup for Aretha Franklin at sold out shows at Radio City Music Hall, the singer had a launch for her new album, “Blues for my Father.” Her father was Rufus Thomas, a great singer who worked as a d.j. at a local radio station in…
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The television series Smash may have ended, too abruptly for some, but its memory lingers. At center in the first season, Smash featured the competition between two very talented young women to bring Marilyn Monroe to life in a new musical. Megan Hilty as Ivy Lynn effortlessly looked the part. Last night the Cafe Carlyle…
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Now in his tenth year performing at the Café Carlyle,Steve Tyrell started his set this week wondering why audiences rarely ask for songs by the songwriters’ names, only by the crooners who made them famous. And so began a show organized around a history of the American songwriter: “Taking a Chance on Love,” Vernon Duke’s tune with John LaTouche…
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The Partridge Family mom took center stage at the Café Carlyle this week, singing classics from the American musical theater, and recounting anecdotes from a life well lived. At nearly 80, yes, she does reveal her age exaggerating upward, Shirley Jones sounds and looks great. In Oscar week, with a stunning June Squibb nominated for…
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If “This Guy’s in Love with You” means anything, Herb Alpert and Lani Hall’s show at the Café Carlyle offers, in Alpert’s words, “music that is very déjà-vu.” Performing several decades worth of their hits and American songbook classics like “Close to You,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” this couple…
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From beginning to end, John Lloyd Young’s performance at the Café Carlyle was a love affair attuned to the Valentine’s Day of your youth. “You’re Just Too Good to be True,” the Tony winning original “Frankie Valli” from “Jersey Boys” crooned, to “How Can I Be Sure,” followed by an homage to the room itself.…
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A great showman, Sam Moore brought his creamy sound to a packed City Winery this week for a generous set featuring standards: “Let the Good Times Roll,” “Knock on Wood,” “What I Want,” and “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” As promised, surprise guests joined in: Sam sang “Happy Birthday” to D. A. Pennebaker, who turned…
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Do not miss Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland. The petite frame, boyish chestnut do, twitchy gesture, agile thrashing, lusty bravado, pouting tantrums, and powerhouse voice, Tracie Bennett has the “Over the Rainbow” girl down. End of the Rainbow, coming to Broadway’s Belasco Theater upon the heels of Whitney Houston’s sad demise, illustrates with great verve…
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“I’m the only presenter who slept with Catherine Deneuve,” said Susan Sarandon in a tribute speech at Alice Tully Hall on Monday night when the French actress was honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 2012 Chaplin Award. The ensuing clip from The Hunger (1983) shows the iconic Deneuve kissing her co-star’s hardened nipples.…
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Is that my pink frilly frock dangling above a mountain of tired clothes by the paw of a crane? Look at it drop to join the tons of garments below, not quite far enough away to avoid the next random fistful. Maybe that's not my old party dress, but it could be. I am drawn…
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In town for an AFTRA Lifetime Achievement Award, the legendary Sam Moore performed at the Highline Ballroom on Sunday night. The consummate showman began his set from a booth in the back, teasing the crowd with “Hold on, I'm Coming,” till the boyish 74 year old made his way to the stage. A perfect concert…
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The anticipation for Memphis, a new musical with an original book, was palpable. As far as Broadway musicals go, it's been a long season of revivals. But, despite its entertaining, energetic appeal, Memphis sounds like something you've heard before. Take a bit of Hairspray (crossing the race divide in music) and sprinkle with Dreamgirls (black…
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The photo on her debut CD “So Sure” shows Meryl Romer with a knowing, come hither look, deep cleavage, saying she’s got the goods. As a vocalist, she’s new but her sound rooted in jazz traditions makes you think, where has she been? But that is the story of her music. In three original songs,…
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