All stories by Rob Lester on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

"Winters Wows: Everybody Loves a Winner" Part Two of Winter Cabaret Attractions by Rob Lester

On West 30th Street, The Urban Stages eclectic festival Winter Rhythms continues through December 11 ... Susan Winter is one of this week's attractive attractions at the Metropolitan Room ..…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 04:11PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 2, 2011

"Winter Rhythms" Festival at Urban Stages by Rob Lester

Wintertime is here in NYC in the time zone of cabaret. Over on West 30th Street, the first day of December saw the beginning of Urban Stages' 11-day festival of (mostly) cabaret events, many…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 11:45AM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 1, 2011

Sound Advice: All the world's a stage (at least in musicals): "Follies" and More by Rob Lester

Here are three very different musicals which have in common the theatrical conceits and conventions of putting their often dramatic dramatis personae right in the spotlight's golden glow or …

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:05PM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 17, 2011

Sound Advice: Cook, Wopat, Morton: ... Young... Swung and home, sweet home by Rob Lester

These three singular singers, who came together not long ago on Broadway for "Sondheim on Sondheim," sound convincingly deep into their material.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:50PM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 10, 2011

Sound Advice: "Betty Blue Eyes" and 3 Tributes to Ol' Blue Eyes by Rob Lester

Our ears and eyes are on a recently closed new British musical comedy ... and three tribute CDs.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 12:10PM[SHARE]
Saturday, November 5, 2011

"You're Still Goin' Strong"...: Jerry Herman Tributes in NYC by Rob Lester

It's not that "far from the first of the year," so before composer-lyricist Jerry Herman's 80th birthday year ends (he turned 80 over the summer), the tributes are still coming, with autumn …

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 03:03PM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 3, 2011

Sound Advice CD Reviews: The Broadway songbook and The Book of Love by Rob Lester

Satisfying looks at two "books" this week, with two energized female vocalists: one with the songbook of musical theatre hits (and a few appendixes of her own) and the other singing about th…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 04:14PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 21, 2011

Concerts & Cabaret: 22nd Annual Cabaret Convention by Rob Lester

The Great American Songbook is in good hands as some familiar hands turn its pages and raise their celebrated (and celebrating) voices at the 22nd annual Cabaret Convention concerts, in the …

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 04:17PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 20, 2011

"Holiday" Music: Death Takes a Holiday and a Salute to Billie Holiday by Rob Lester

It's the intriguing cast album from the recently-closed new musical "Death Takes a Holiday," which some may find surprisingly full of life. And then, an appealingly lively live album that is…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:01PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Concerts & Cabaret: Betty Buckley "Ah, Men: The Boys of Broadway by Rob Lester

The Equal Rights Amendment might itself be amended to include the trend-bucking Betty Buckley who doesn't just ask why a woman can't sing the songs of a man, but goes ahead and sings them an…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:06PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 13, 2011

Sound Advice: Singers Salute Songwriters with Multiple Collaborators by Rob Lester

Here are three vocalists saluting their special favorites, major songwriters of standards, with tracks sampling many of those writers' numerous writing teammates.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:28PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 6, 2011

Sound Advice: A Princess, a King, some guys from Queens by Rob Lester

Good music rules the day, thanks to that girl who is a self-appointed and plucky "Little Princess" who comes from literature, her story bringing us to Europe and Africa, with the latter cont…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 02:17PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 29, 2011

Sound Advice: "Anything Goes" by Rob Lester

If you're looking for high-energy musical romps both raucous and rosy, cozy cooing, happy harmonizing and dance breaks, this very bright and sunny Anything Goes goes a long way towards fitti…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 10:07AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 22, 2011

Sound Advice: Kristin Chenoweth, Kristin Callahan and Jim Van Slyke's "Sedaka Sessions" by Rob Lester

It's one scoop of each flavor this time. We're going down a country road with the Kristin we know from Broadway (and TV), while another Kristin, new to these ears, takes the "standard" route…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 02:11PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 15, 2011

Sound Advice: Live from New York City: Lea Salonga and Jack Donahue by Rob Lester

The house lights dim and the band begins. We turn our attention to the singer that the nightclub "is very proud to present" taking a turn in the spotlight. A recorded souvenir may lose somet…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 03:25PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 8, 2011

A Swell Songwriter Salute & Swan(n) Songs by Rob Lester

Jason Graae sounds a big "You I Like" hurrah for Jerry Herman ... melodies by Jason Robert Brown tell the tale of a determined young swan ... Phil Swann ("Play It Cool") takes the vocal spo…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 02:13PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 1, 2011

Sound Advice: "A Minister's Wife" and "Greetings From Yorkville" by Rob Lester

... two thoughtful musicals that examine how male/female partners-in-life-and-love deal with each other and other compelling things that enter the picture ... The first is adapted from Georg…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 02:06PM[SHARE]
Monday, August 29, 2011

It's the Final Fringe Festival Wrap-Up, Kids by Rob Lester

Picture it: A 2pm matinee is about to start, the cast in costume: a drag queen, a guy whose get-up is fabric made to look like absurdly bulging muscles, a gaggle of gals in very high heels a…

SOURCE: NiteLifeExchange at 11:46PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Gay Times at the Fringe by Rob Lester

Among the numerous gay-themed plays in the almost 200 varied and varying-quality productions in the New York International Fringe Festival are a serious drama of deception and attraction and…

SOURCE: NiteLifeExchange at 08:07PM[SHARE]

Threat of Violence Erupts at Fringe Festival by Rob Lester

Here's a heads-up about how violence hath reared its ugly head in shows at the currently-running NY International Fringe Festival with, head and shoulders above the others, the drama Sammy G…

SOURCE: NiteLifeExchange at 08:06PM[SHARE]

Is the cast better than the show? More from the Fringe by Rob Lester

Four score and seven years ago, exactly, our forefathers brought forth a new national fascination: news headlines trumpeting reports about an elusive female robber dubbed "The Bobbed Hair Ba…

SOURCE: NiteLifeExchange at 08:05PM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sound Advice CD Reviews: Michael Feinstein "We Dreamed These Days" and "One Day" with Burnham by Rob Lester

Two male vocalists on board: a veteran and a newer voice, each capable of singing in hushed, romantic tones or letting loose with a big sound. Both have dipped their pens into ink a bit as c…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 02:32PM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 30, 2011

Back to the Theatre Festival--2 More Musicals from MITF: "Alice" & "Rip!" by Rob Lester

Same old/ same old story? Not quite. Alice and Rip! revisit the tales of wonder in Wonderland and the legend of Mr. Van Winkle, the sleepy man written by that Sleepy Hollow writer, respect…

SOURCE: NiteLifeExchange at 01:54AM[SHARE]

The Excellent Musical, "Children of God," Is a Theatre-Goer's Prayer Answered; "Surviving Love" takes on gayness and loneliness and lamenting, recycling songs. by Rob Lester

Hallelujah!Praise the Lord! There's a musical in town briefly --- but, I suspect, ripe and ready for a long run delighting audiences, that is satisfying in the ways we want musicals to be. …

SOURCE: NiteLifeExchange at 01:52AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 21, 2011

3 Musicals from the Midtown Festival: "Peg O' My Heart," "Between the Bricks" & "Boomers" by Rob Lester

Let the games begin. Theatre festivals are always a game … of chance. We festival regulars know that you get the shows that are cheery and the ones that make you weary, the dreary and dr…

SOURCE: NiteLifeExchange at 08:40PM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 7, 2011

"Knickerbocker Holiday" and "Strike Up the Band" New Recordings by Rob Lester

The Fourth of July holiday may be over, but the permanence of recordings makes it never too late to strike up the band and declare a knickerbocker or any kind of holiday to celebrate finally…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 02:21PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 30, 2011

Sound Advice: "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Wizard of Oz" CD Reviews by Rob Lester

Two episodic, song-filled, leaving-home journeys this time, previously seen on the screen but first told in books—inspired by the imaginative real life of Frank Abagnale, Jr., and the imag…

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 01:16PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Sound Advice: Melodies by Marzullo (lyrics and vocals: Various) by Rob Lester

This week Rob reviews Show Some Beauty, which features songs by Steve Marzullo.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 08:43AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 26, 2011

Sound Advice: It's DiMenna, it's deRoy and Miss Meissner, too by Rob Lester

This week Rob reviews: Lynn DiMenna's Fun & Fancy Free: The Music of Dinah Shore; Jamie deRoy's Wish on the Moon; Susie Meissner's I'm Confessin'.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 07:09PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Cabaret's MAC Awards Show in the Heart of Broadway Takes Cabaret History to It's Heart by Rob Lester

What is more theatrical than an awards show? There's that suspense of "Who will win?" There's the dramatic pause between the rattling off of nominees' names and the envelope-opening and th…

SOURCE: NiteLifeExchange at 04:16AM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 12, 2011

Sound Advice: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown by Rob Lester

Rob reviews this original Broadway cast recording.

SOURCE: TalkinBroadway at 10:57AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off