A Moon to Dance ByA trio of finely tuned actors make "A Moon to Dance By" a compelling theatrical experience.11/24/2009 3:25pm PT
On the TownThe Paper Mill Playhouse is back doing what it does best with "On the Town."11/17/2009 12:14pm PT
Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You AreA laborious postmortem of a recently deceased landscaper and a life assessed by his family.10/12/2009 2:58pm PT
Noises OffMid-summer madness prevails at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey.8/10/2009 12:46pm PT
Diana KrallJust when the fine art of jazz singing seems doomed, Krall's cool, understated presence mark her as the keeper of the flame.6/24/2009 1:51pm PT
Evie's WaltzAn unsettling violent edge is ever-present in this suspenseful if unsatisfying profile of teenage terror.6/23/2009 3:40pm PT
The Full MontyTuner inspired by the 1997 Brit pic seems a lot less shocking these days.6/15/2009 3:17pm PT
Charles AznavourCharles Aznavour has returned to the stage for a four-night stand with his catalog of French chanson. 4/30/2009 3:37pm PT
The Housewives of MannheimFour Brooklyn women on the home front during WWII create a warming bond of friendship.4/21/2009 2:51pm PT
New Year's EveA great deal of champagne is poured but the fizz is in short supply in "New Year's Eve."4/20/2009 2:24pm PT
1776Hear! Hear! The Continental Congress has assembled at Paper Mill Playhouse. 4/20/2009 1:22pm PT
The Broadway Musicals of 1931While 1931 was the year more than 2,000 banks closed at the height of the Great Depression, the latest concert in the Broadway by the Year series focused mainly on the bright side. 3/31/2009 3:07pm PT
Tom Wopat -- Love SwingsIn his Oak Room debut, Broadway baritone Tom Wopat sauntered into the historic cabaret corner singing the unaccompanied reflection "Last Night When We Were Young," penned by Harold Arlen and lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. 3/11/2009 12:48pm PT
Master Class"Master Class," Terrence McNally's 1995 homage to turbulent opera diva Maria Callas, retains its bite in Wendy C. Goldberg's vivid new staging at the Paper Mill Playhouse. 3/9/2009 1:16pm PT
Michel Legrand -- Romance, With Strings AttachedFor his return to Birdland, French film composer Michel Legrand had the luxury of a lush string quartet and a guest harpist. Opening with a series of flourishing piano arpeggios, the string section added richly cinematic textures to "Watch What Happens," the durable theme from "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," one of the more than 200 film and TV scores penned by the prolific three-time Oscar winner.3/5/2009 4:20pm PT
Michel Legrand -- Romance, With Strings AttachedOpening with a series of flourishing piano arpeggios, the string section added richly cinematic textures to "Watch What Happens," the durable theme from "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," one of the more than 200 film and TV scores penned by the prolific three-time Oscar winner.3/4/2009 10:48pm PT
The Broadway Musicals of 1924Celebrating its ninth season, the four-part Broadway by the Year concert series focused first on 1924, a year that gave birth to the crossword puzzle and Macy's annual Thanksgiving day parade. 2/24/2009 4:23pm PT
Cinema ParadisoAlways in tune with the times, Jazz at Lincoln Center made an alluring two-fold musical statement at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola that celebrated the upcoming Oscars with some ardently appropriate film themes and set a romantic preface for Valentine's Day.2/11/2009 2:45pm PT
The Importance of Being EarnestDavid Schweizer's fluent, assured staging dominates his wildly unconventional production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse, headlined and heightened by Lynn Redgrave as sternly hypocritical matriarch Lady Bracknell. The sparkling dialogue and verbal duels survive with elegance intact in Oscar Wilde's evergreen comedy of manners, despite some jarring visual intrusions and broad interpretations of Victorian behavior.1/19/2009 12:33pm PT
Tony BennettA self-proclaimed "tenor who sings like a baritone," Tony Bennett greeted a capacity aud at the historic Apollo Theater and whipped through a familiar repertoire at the very top of his game. 12/17/2008 1:14pm PT
Cupid and PsycheWith both arms intact, Venus, the Goddess of Love, travels from Olympus to visit dear mortals in order to spread a little beauty, grace and considerable comic abandon in "Cupid and Psyche." 12/15/2008 2:52pm PT
Broadway UnpluggedIn the treasured tradition of such lusty baritones as Alfred Drake and John Raitt, among others, performers and gypsies sang with Merman-esque grandeur in the fifth annual edition of Broadway Unplugged, the only microphone in sight positioned above to record the concert.11/24/2008 1:56pm PT
Django Reinhardt New York FestivalFor the annual Django Reinhardt festival at Birdland, producer Pat Phillips introduced the young lions of gypsy jazz in tribute to the legendary Belgian guitarist who died in 1953. 11/5/2008 4:59pm PT
New York Cabaret ConventionKaren Mason recalled the first Cabaret Convention nearly two decades ago, when performing artists and patrons were predicting the end of cabaret as a Big Apple musical artform. With a rallying and defiant cry that was generously supported by a capacity audience at Lincoln Center, Mason proudly declared, "We're still here!" The longevity of cabaret in Manhattan is largely due to producer Donald Smith, the founder of the Mabel Mercer Foundation and a visionary who has harbored the legacy of song and encouraged an ever-growing number of new performing artists.11/3/2008 6:23pm PT
On Broadway!"On Broadway!" was prefaced with a rush of film clips that recalled the theatrical legacy of such dazzling choreographers as Agnes de Mille, Bob Fosse, Gower Champion, Jerome Robbins and Michael Bennett, with Jerry Orbach in a filmed benedictory summing up the preceding montage "with the most glorious words in the English language -- musical comedy!"10/28/2008 5:32pm PT
Broadway OriginalsWho said you can't go home again? At Town Hall nearly two dozen Broadway veterans gathered to re-create a handful of memorable theatrical moments in "Broadway Originals," a tuneful and nostalgic revue, hosted by scribe Scott Siegel. The concert concluded the fourth annual three-day Broadway Cabaret Festival.10/20/2008 8:37pm PT
Rising WaterForced by Katrina's mounting flood waters, a long-married New Orleans couple takes refuge in the attic of their home in John Biguent's "Rising Water." 10/14/2008 1:45pm PT
The Toxic AvengerIn its world premiere at George Street Playhouse, "The Toxic Avenger" strikes with a heady dose of nasty humor accompanied by a musical score of little distinction or melodic substance. 10/13/2008 1:24pm PT
Renee RosnesThe galvanizing windup for the Diet Coke Women in Jazz Festival at Lincoln Center found Renee Rosnes in a crisply tailored set, with warm, assured playing in addition to an often aggressive approach that was colorful and adventurous. 10/8/2008 12:46pm PT
Ahmad Jamal, Wynton MarsalisCelebrating the 50th anniversary of his landmark recording of "Poinciana," Ahmad Jamal encored the piece in a politely designed and refined performance. The vet pianist played with his trademark feathery grace that's often accented by boldly explosive chords. Jamal's opening set found him in the company of a rhythmic trio governed by percussionist Manolo Badrena, whose dancing fingers provided a relentlessly pulsating tempo for the entire repertoire.9/25/2008 3:34pm PT
Nnenna FreelonAgainst the twinkling twilight of Central Park South, Nnenna Freelon took centerstage at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola to deliver a heady blend of nicely balanced jazz and blues. Stately and sensuous, her performance offers insinuating allure and infectious gusto. 9/25/2008 1:24pm PT
Michele LeeVeteran Broadway diva Michele Lee returned to the nitery stage with an encore presentation of "Catch the Light," the smoothly tailored cabaret act she premiered at Feinstein's at Loews Regency three years ago. 9/23/2008 11:56am PT
Oklahoma!Having survived a near-fatal financial crisis -- by being bailed out when Millburn township purchased the 70-year-old landmark theater -- the Paper Mill Playhouse has selected American classic "Oklahoma!" to regain its footing. 9/22/2008 3:24pm PT
Poetic LicenseWhile it's billed as a dramedy, the laughter is in short supply in Jack Canfora's "Poetic License," world-premiering at New Jersey Repertory Company. 9/16/2008 12:44pm PT
A Streetcar Named DesireThe soulful strains of a loping Sidney Bechet soprano sax set the mood for dusk in the French Quarter, and once again Blanche DuBois arrives upon "A Streetcar Named Desire."9/15/2008 12:33pm PT
Andrea McArdleWhen Andrea McArdle sings "If He Walked Into My Life," Jerry Herman's ardent reflection from "Mame," it appears as if an imaginary proscenium arch surrounds the singer on the tiny stage of the intimate Metropolitan Room. It is a fervent musical statement, and the vivacious redhead turns it into a theatrical anthem of the first order.8/14/2008 6:52pm PT
Private LivesShakespeare Theater of New Jersey's summer offering is a delectable revival of Noel Coward's durable farce, "Private Lives." Conceived 78 years ago during a sleepless night in a Tokyo hotel, the comedy was constructed in its entirety by dawn and completed by the playwright in a mere four days. Director Paul Mullins has harnessed the manners of the period and shows respect for the play's intrinsic sense of style and grace, while the attractively able cast displays a keen awareness of Coward's gift for verbal musicality, capturing the rhythm of the dialogue and pulse of the period.8/11/2008 12:16pm PT
Somewhere -- The Songs of Leonard BernsteinJazz in July, the annual summer event at the 92nd Street Y, kicked off a seven-performance series with "Somewhere -- The Songs of Leonard Bernstein," a program celebrating the legacy of showtunes composed by the conductor and teacher. 7/24/2008 12:55pm PT
Somewhere -- The Songs of Leonard BernsteinJazz in July, the annual summer event at the 92nd Street Y, kicked off a seven performance series with a Leonard Bernstein program that celebrated the legacy of show tunes composed by the conductor and teacher. 7/23/2008 12:34pm PT
Lucie ArnazTaking her cue from the old Harry Warren-Al Dubin movie tune "Lulu's Back in Town," Lucie Arnaz took to the Birdland stage with a keen sense of balance and poise, investing her turn with a warm banter and a varied songbook. 7/17/2008 12:55pm PT
King LearDark, mighty and poetic, Shakespeare's "King Lear" remains the definitive savage family drama -- a monumental tale of a betrayed monarch's descent into madness and grief. 7/15/2008 12:59pm PT
The Little HoursThe worldly humor and cynical observations that marked the trademark pen of Dorothy Parker were harnessed into a chamber musical, "The Little Hours," by the late David Bucknam. 7/14/2008 1:56pm PT
Russell MaloneA dazzling sense of fluency and imagination dominate any performance by Russell Malone. In his week long Lincoln Center turn at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, the guitarist leaned heavily on a group of original compositions that put the accent on crisply tailored fast blues that were generously layered with boldly chopping riffs and expansive single line ideas.7/13/2008 8:45am PT
Tierney Sutton BandJazz thrush Tierney Sutton credits "desire and materialism" as the focus for her eclectic program of song. 6/25/2008 1:13pm PT
90 Years of Hank Jones -- A CelebrationThe celebration started early for Hank Jones, who will turn 90 in a few weeks. He is a pianist of extraordinary polish and sophistication; his playing seems effortless, yet braced with richly flavored ideas reflecting a perennial sense of power and conviction.6/24/2008 1:23pm PT
Liz Callaway -- The Beat Goes OnIt's my party and I'll sing what I like," announced Broadway diva Liz Callaway. In her opening-night performance at Feinstein's at Loews Regency, the singer revisited the era in which she grew up. Admittedly, there were risks involved in what she confessed to be a "highly eclectic and biased" program. The trendy pop songs of the '60s may not be the usual fare heard on the cabaret circuit, but Callaway framed a dozen or more of them with a big, bright voice that revealed a sense of innocence and evoked happier times.6/19/2008 12:56pm PT
The Broadway Musicals of 1979Season windup for the "Broadway by the Year" concert series recalled the Broadway musicals of 1979, a season that marked less-than-successful contributions by Jerry Herman, Alan Jay Lerner and Richard Rodgers. 6/17/2008 12:45pm PT
Little Shop of HorrorsThat man-eating plant is back again, this time taking root on a Garden State stage. Despite its outrageously vulgar concept, "Little Shop of Horrors" remains an amusing satire. The Paper Mill Playhouse production of the 1982 tuner boasts the kind of tacky grandeur that once flourished in amusement park spook houses. 6/9/2008 1:45pm PT
AmadeusShakespeare Theater of New Jersey shifts into high gear with a richly textured production of Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus." Sumptuously mounted and staged, the 1979 courtly thriller is acted with compelling force, and the inclusion of snatches of Mozart's music offers a hint of the composer's extraordinary legacy, especially a few glorious strains from the Requiem Mass. 6/2/2008 1:45pm PT
Did The American Songbook Really End In 1965?There is undoubtedly no one more qualified to pose the musical question, "Did the American Songbook Really End in 1965?" than Andrea Marcovicci. The glamorous diva of consummate grace and wisdom hosted a diverse program of song that suggested the songbook deserved an addenda to the pages that boast the legacies of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, the Gershwins and those other notable composers and lyricists who graced the first half of the last century. 6/2/2008 12:55pm PT