Blast off!! One of the most exciting musical events I’ve seen this year is back for Friday fun!  With re-imagined, re-invigorated arrangement ideas, Charlie Rosen’s 17-piece jazz orchestra, with Broadway talent singing/swinging on the bandstand.  They rock my theatrical world and knock my socks off with a sock-o performance of 100% dynamite. This Friday, May 24, they’re back at 54 Below.  Guests are: Jason Robert Brown; Motown: The Musical’s Ariana DeBose (she plays Mary Wilson of The Supremes); Cinderella's princely Santino Fontana, Mamma Mia! star Zak Resnick, plus Nick Blaemire and F. Michael Haynie. 

                                                                                                                             ..                                                                                                                                                                                   When the TVJ returned to the fold (following an extended vacation basking in the sun and surf on Oahu), it was decided that to sum up the past year in a column highlighting “The Best of…” was the way to return. In the first installment, the TVJ gives you the “Best of the New Shows of 2012-2013.” 

THE BEST OF THE NEW SHOWS...“Call the Midwife” is one of the best of the BBC. Taking us from post-WWII Britain through the 1950s, the Sisters of Nonnatus House, a nursing convent in the Poplar district of East London, work to help the poor and working-class, assisted by a group of young women working as midwives.

                                                            Dana Lorge’s new variety show sounds exciting, but the title sounds, well, kind of boring and ordinary. The temporary, generic name is (are you sitting down?) ---- Dana Lorge’s Variety Show. She wants a new title and is at her famous wit’s end. So, we’re helping her with a contest. Come up with the name she likes best and win free admission to her show. May 24’s guests at her Metropolitan Room 7 pm, um, whatever are: songwriter David Friedman, award-winning cabaret male vocalist Jeff Harnar, Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins, songstress Jillian Laurain, comedienne Nancy Redman (TV’s “America’s Funniest People”) and a special guest singer: Marilyn Maye. Barry Levitt is at the keyboard and Jon Burr is on bass. Now, about that contest….

Send your suggestions (Limit: 753 titles) to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and I’ll pass them on to Dana. She will choose what she thinks is the best name for her monthly show

                                                                                                                                           Dressed in a well-cut tuxedo, and sporting a short-cropped hairstyle, Jessica Walker has the appearance of a handsomely feminine male youth. It’s a fitting image for The Girl I Left Behind Me, her exploration of male impersonators that she wrote with her director, Neil Bartlett. Unfortunately, while the history she unveils is often fascinating, her performance is not as engaging.

                                                                                                                                                Between rehearsals for Dragon, a new play opening May 29 at the Robert Moss Theatre at 440 Lafayette Street, he has been invited to sing at three places for audiences within four days.  Last week, we introduced the fella named Ponella we’re following for “A Year in the Life” of this up-and-coming-on-strong singer/actor (Part 1: still on our front page).  Now, in the first of many updates, we catch up with this busy talent. This “Tuesday with Tony” Ponella (May 21) finds him guesting with the great veteran vintage vigorous band Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks at Sofia’s within the Hotel Edison on West 46 Street. Here's more on the young Tony Ponella as he takes on a career in the NYC business called “show.” On your mark, get set, go!  

                                                                                                                          NITE is upon us!: NITE, NiteLifeExchange.com's new online magazine is coming!!

Yes, it's NITE time.  This separate companion format, a photo-filled cornucopia of readability joins our ongoing website --- the site where you are reading this--- which is updated regularly, with new items, updates and the Cabaret Pick of the Week (a recommendation with details, appearing each Monday). NITE will come monthly, and we are putting the finishing touches on the first issue for its debut for a sweet 16th of May.  It's "where Broadway meets cabaret," with looks at NYC theatre's offerings and singers in clubs and what makes them tick.  It's NITE.  That's "N" for Nightclubs," the "I" is for "Interviews," the "T" is for "Theatre," and the "E" is for "Eating" (our restaurant reviews). 

                                                                                                                Mark Nadler's unbridled enthusiasm for the music and historical circumstances surrounding Weimar-era cabaret is a joy to behold. In his solo musical revue I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Musik from the Weimar and Beyond, his face positively lights up as he describes the songwriters he so admires and sings a range of material either from the period or heavily influenced by it.   (Editor' Note/ News Flash: Originally scheduled to close May 19, it's been held over!  Following a week off, it will continue May 28 through June 9.)

  With her new multi-lingual show In Love with Love, singer Yanna Avis makes her Café Carlyle debut in May.  for four nights.  She will feature the unique brand of sophisticated European cabaret for which she has been critically lauded