Deborah Grace Winer – Defined By the Company She Keeps
Author/historian/dramatist and self avowed “show maker,” Deborah Grace Winer owns her grandmother’s 1929 piano. (“Lots of cool people,” some of the best in the business, play it.) Among photos atop the instrument is her younger self with beloved mentor Rosemary Clooney. On the wall behind is a framed copy of “The Ballad of The Shape […]
Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel in Zero Hour– – Recommended! (Closes July 9)
Zero Hour is a helluva piece of writing. Now tightened from two acts (first premiering in 2006) to intermissionless, time-stopping captivation, Jim Brochu’s one man play offers a no-holds-barred look at the quick, wry, perpetually angry leftist; a boisterous man who, though an actor by profession, longed to just paint. This deeply researched piece, as […]
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – A New York City Holiday Tradition – The Book!
2016 is the 90th Anniversary of what was organized in 1924 by R.H. Macy’s immigrant employees as a street carnival. The group would undoubtedly be surprised to discover efforts to celebrate their new country with European traditions became an international symbol of Thanksgiving. As of last year, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade featured 27 floats and […]
Fiorello! – Sheer Delight!
In an election year full of worst possible behavior and damaging convictions, it’s uplifting to be reminded of a man of principle. (The bad guys seemed easier to identify then.) That Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning Fiorello! is a terrific piece of writing (a master class, really; don’t just watch, listen), with, in this […]
Preview: The 27th Annual New York Cabaret Convention
In October 1989, Donald Smith’s four year-old Mabel Mercer Foundation held its first annual New York Cabaret Convention. The New York Times headline read: Cabaret Convention Ponders a Disturbing Future. “Is there a place for cabaret in today’s age of mass entertainment? That is the question being pondered this week on the stage of Town […]