by Peter Haas   The Boys From Syracuse, a merry romp with songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and book by George Abbott, premiered on Broadway in 1938, more than 80 years ago. Based on Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors” – which itself was loosely based on a Roman play...

      by Peter Haas   A sparkling program of song filled Pace University’s Schimmel Center on a recent Saturday night, as the auditorium hosted Salon Songbook: The Gershwins and Friends. It was a rich new program of theater and popular numbers created by the Gershwin...

“City Girl, Country Boy”   by Peter Haas     It seemed like an unlikely combination: songs recorded and popularized by Willie Nelson, one of country music’s most beloved figures, and the singing of Gabrielle Stravelli, who grew up in New York’s cabaret community and has since...

    by Peter Haas     Ron Dabney knew, at age 5, that wanted to be a performer. Dancing with his shadow in his Georgia back yard; he continued to dance in boarding school; went on to tour and teach internationally, and to work with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and the...

    by Peter Haas   Every seat was filled in Don’t Tell Mama’s intimate Brick Room on a Sunday evening in April as friends and fans gathered to enjoy the talents of two of cabaret’s most distinctive performers. On stage: guitarist Sean Harkness and singer Marcus Simeone,...

    by Peter Haas     In olden days, A Porter musical Played to receptions most enthusical … – Now –amen! – We’ve got one again!   For a joyous theater evening, with a generous helping of beloved Cole Porter numbers sung and danced by a young, spirited cast, head to...

  by Peter Haas      From a real-life incident forty-four years ago—an evening arson attack, still unsolved, that destroyed a crowded gay bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter—writer/composer/lyricist Max Vernon has created an imaginative, powerful, beautifully performed theater...

  Here they are! Take a look at the Best Five of the 2016 Season in Theater and Cabaret. It’s the end of 2016 . . . hard to believe it raced by so quickly with all its turbulence. Theater Pizzazz writers, in both theater and cabaret, were extremely busy seeing many, many shows. Each one...

by Peter Haas                                      There is a collection of talent downtown on the East Side that is well worth a visit. Your destination is the Theater for the New City, on First Avenue at 10th Street. The attraction is a new musical titled “The Folk Singer.” One element...

  by Peter Haas   “I’ve always loved Marilyn Monroe,” says Marissa Mulder, who had been taking an acting class with Sondra Lee. “I felt like I was connected to Marilyn. I started reading about her life, reading her diaries and innermost thoughts. I loved her vulnerability. I wanted...

    By Peter Haas   Cole Porter said it in song: “There’s nothing, when you’re out, like being fanned … by the leader of a big-time band.” He was proved correct by Steve Ross, who has been entertaining his own fans for decades as a singer, pianist and guardian of the Great...

      By Peter Haas     Gabrielle Stravelli has been abroad a good deal lately: touring Europe and Asia for the State Department, and fulfilling engagements in the Bahamas. Now she’s come home, to make a superlative “Broadway at Birdland” debut. Her show’s theme, not...

        John, Paul, George, Ringo – and Dick     by Peter Haas   Call it cabaret; call it a concert: by all means, call it imaginative and joyful. It was pianist/composer John Bucchino’s hour-long riveting performance of his piano improvisations on the music...

  by Peter Haas           There’s a new theater group in town – and its first play is an unusual one: it’s a real-life aerobics class, taking place in real time, sweat and all. The group is a theater collective called DODO, founded less than a year ago by a small group of...

      From all of us – – writers, photographers, filmmakers and behind the scenes geniuses at Theater Pizzazz – – to all of you . . .  we wish you health, peace and a happy New Year! Thanks for supporting us and helping us grow.   Sandi Durell...

          NY Theater Review by Peter Haas   Considering the Pearl Theatre Company’s 30 years of superb productions of classic plays by Shakespeare, Shaw, Chekhov, Moliere and more, the troupe may be forgiven for an occasional slip. Its production of Richard...