New York used to be a swinging town after dark. Now it’s just lonely. After dessert is served, the cafes close. After the boring, obligatory standing ovations that end every show in town whether it’s any good or not, the theaters empty and the audience heads home. Back in the day, you could head for Read More
Such a busy girl. After getting herself Tony-nominated for her starring role in the underrated—unfairly, I might add—Bonnie and Clyde, which, as it turned out, was one of the better musicals of the 2012 Broadway season, Laura Osnes starred in the Encores! production of Pipe Dream as well as a one-night concert version of The Sound of Music at Carnegie. Now she has brought her clarion voice and stunning beauty to the swanky Café Carlyle for a two-week cabaret debut (through June 30). All you have to do is hear her one time to understand why. Read More
There’s a ripe adjective to describe every flavored, favored aspect of Christine Ebersole’s versatility, and before she throws in the towel and does something besides entertain, like run for president, the critics will probably get around to using them all. For now, I can think of only one—sensational!
In her elegant, witty and intelligent new show at Café Carlyle, she serves up a thoughtful, incisive master class in how to enhance cabaret and keep it alive with fresh new insights that should be required viewing by aspiring performers everywhere. She calls it “The End of the World as We Know It.” I call it “Christine Ebersole Sings the Apocalypse.” She does it with such panache that the swinging Matt Dennis evergreen “Show Me the Way to Get Out of This World” has never been more relevant. When she shakes her saffron yellow curls and smiles her survival grin in Technicolor, she makes the end of the old world, the beginning of a new one, and everything in between seem as rare and giddy as a Disney cow. Read More
Opening-night jitters threatened temporarily to diminish the vocal capacities of Paulo Szot in his new cabaret act at the Café Carlyle. The first four numbers, all part of a well-deserved celebration of the 100th birthday year of composer Burton Lane, suffered from pitch problems. Then something clicked and the romantic Brazilian baritone, who won a Tony for his starring role in South Pacific at Lincoln Center, grew more at ease. As his voice gained strength, his vocal resources increased and so did his artistry. The rest of the show, which runs through Jan. 28, was pure delight. Read More
There’s now an answer to the age-old conundrum of what to do after midnight on the Upper East Side.
New to the neighborhood that heretofore became a ghost town during the wee hours, Café Carlyle has just this month become an after-hours nightclub.
Whereas the cabaret-restaurant used to close Read More
Rumors that Elaine Stritch has a heart of marble are greatly exaggerated. Now in the middle of her sold-out seven-week cabaret debut at the Café Carlyle, she proves once and all, and for all and sundry, what I’ve long suspected: Behind the hard-boiled exterior of a lady prosecutor with the personality of a hanging Read More
The word “legend” is randomly kicked around so much these days that it seems to apply to just about everyone who has lived long enough to win an Oscar, sell a million rock CD’s, headline at Carnegie Hall or survive at least one war. With so many phony legends jockeying for applause, it’s hard to Read More
What has happened to the great American auto industry? Are General Motors, Ford and Chrysler headed for oblivion? And, more immediately, is there any way for General Motors to stop its dizzying free fall? Last week, the world’s largest automaker announced that it expects to post a devastating loss of almost $1 billion for the Read More
What has happened to the great American auto industry? Are General Motors, Ford and Chrysler headed for oblivion? And, more immediately, is there any way for General Motors to stop its dizzying free fall? Last week, the world’s largest automaker announced that it expects to post a devastating loss of almost $1 billion for the Read More
Some people are good at what they do. Other people are better. Bobby Short was the best. Preserving the art of the Great American Songbook was his life’s work, and nobody did more for the cause. When cabaret queen Mabel Mercer, his friend and sometime musical partner, died in 1984, he remarked sadly, “Half of Read More
