The NYC solo debut of Cortés Alexander in The Swell Show takes place on Monday, May 13 at 7 pm at Birdland on West 44 Street.  He last appeared on Broadway as one of The Williams Brothers in the Tony Award-winning Liza’s at the Palace starring Liza Minnelli.

                                                                                                          How does this sound?  FREE events with cabaret singers sharing their craft in performance and in conversation?  Marilyn Maye, Natalie Douglas in a sung toast to the great Lena Horne; Colleen McHugh saluting Cole Porter's songs; Shirley Crabbe paying tribute to Ethel Waters; jazz singer Stehanie Nakasian, ---all beginning with a concert by Marissa McGowan on Friday, May 17.  The next day's panel discussion (with performances) includes this year's cabaret award winners: Broadway World Award winner Miss McHugh, MAC Award winner Stacy Sullivan and Bistro Award winner (Debut) Michael Hughes, plus pianist Tedd Firth and more. 

                                                                                                               Of all the heap big divas surviving today, there is still no one to approach the eminence of … Barbra. Sure, you have your Madonnas and Chers and Bette Midlers and Diana Rosses, along with younger upstarts like Beyoncé and Rihanna, but there is something about La Streisand’s achievements... 

                                                                                Bonnie Sher, with her deep, husky voice and fiery spirit, turned the Hoover on high at Stage 72 at The Triad and swept us all up in her rich, compelling performance. Her show is about the moments in her life and each section is arranged to highlight the great, the not so terrific, the love and the last moments. She artfully selects and places the songs in a running order made to both tell a story and put her

                                                                                                                               There are pictures missing from several of the frames that hang suspended in the air on invisible walls. This clever component of Brian Prather’s set design for The Memory Show – presented by Transport Group at The Duke on West 42 Street under Joe Calarco’s direction – serves as a telling metaphor for the early onset of Alzheimer’s in this slender yet engaging new musical.

                                                                               Justin Sayre, a bearded man with an unruly head of curly brown hair, enters the tiny Duplex stage dressed in a white button-down shirt, black tights, and sensible heels. It’s his visual tribute to

                                                                                                Curtain up! The spotlight is on the nominees for the 2013 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards®! The assembled parties waited for this week's announcement and the stars who'd bring it on, shaking in their kinky boots, many hoping to be the lucky guy or gal, the golden boy or woman to get a shot at the Tony silver medallion, to have a dream-come-true success Cinderella moment, with a podium trip to bountiful acclaim. We've got the list here.

                                                               This week's pick was singer-dancer-actor Jon Peterson whose one-night-only concert on Tuesday, May 7 was a smash at Stage 72.   Cabaret/concert fans can find the Pick of the Week each Monday.