2022: excavation review
2022 was a continued return to viewing on line and in person theater, collaborating on theater, counting theater productions, and coalition-building on behalf of theater. The exhaustive (and exhausting) list […]
2021: excavation review
In 2021 — our year of continued recovery from a viral pandemic, from a devastating presidential term, from professional and social recalibrations — theater professionals including dramaturgs and critics have […]
2020: excavation review
This theatrical season will always have an asterisk. The COVID-19 pandemic closed down Broadway theaters as of March 12, 2020, with an uncertain re-opening date, and Off and Off Off […]
Celebrating Sondheim’s Birthday with Garland and Others and “Songs I Wish I’d Written”
On the occasion of Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday a decade ago, I called upon a list of songs published on the occasion of his 70th that he said he wished […]
2019: excavation review
I lived thousands of hours in roving artistic communities that move from theater to reading room to cabaret venue in the course of 2019. By my rough count, during 2019 […]
“Just in Time”: An Appreciation
Judy Garland performed a morphing and modulating arrangement of the Betty Comden and Adolph Green gem “Just In Time” for about seven years, between 1962 (when it was crafted for […]
Joanna Gleason’s ‘Out of the Eclipse’ with a Song in Her Heart
[article as originally published in Theater Pizzazz, March 3, 2019.] Deep moody melodies, a dark Yiddish lullaby, a few standards, and a smattering of singer-songwriter staples inform the splendid cabaret offering […]
2018: excavation review themes
I squeezed adventures in Norway, Sweden, the wilds of central Wisconsin, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island into 2018, a year of paring, sifting and sorting of involvement on professional boards […]
2018: excavation review
Live and filmed performances, as well as readings of works in progress, filled my days in calendar year 2018. I usually attend solo, and yet often host my spouse or […]
Harvard and Yale Make Cantata Out of Regatta for the Fourth Time
[article as originally published in Theater Pizzazz, September 19, 2018.] The show starts on the stairs at 54 Below. Twice in the past few weeks, these aural pre-shows have been somber […]
Garcia Channels Bennett: “It’s All About the Material”
[Original published in Theater Pizzazz, August 18, 2018.] The first show empties out, and a rapt audience of cabaret enthusiasts files into 54 Below for a late-night show featuring Eric […]
Vivian Reed Performs Her Story to a Lena Horne Set List
[article as originally published in Theater Pizzazz, July 4, 2018.] We assembled to celebrate, with Broadway Baby and cabaret veteran Vivian Reed, what would have been Lena Horne’s 101st birthday. Some […]
Anita Gillette Sings Me And Mr. B.
[Original published in Theater Pizzazz, March 29, 2018.] It feels as if Anita Gillette has been part of our lives forever. On Broadway and Off-Broadway stages, and on television and […]
Baby Wants It All At 54 Below
[Original published in Theater Pizzazz, March 22, 2018.] The musical Baby, with music by David Shire and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1983 and ran […]
David Yazbek, Lullabies, and The Band’s Visit Showstoppers
[Original published in Theater Pizzazz, March 16, 2018.] Monday night at Feinstein’s / 54 Below, David Yazbek’s multi-modal jazz band of extraordinary performers was family welcoming guests stopping by […]
Jomama Jones on Black Light and Seeing in the Dark
[Original published in Theater Pizzazz, March 1, 2018.] “What if I told you it’s going to be alright? … What if I told you it began tonight?” Somewhere on a […]
urban excavations 