Titled Dames of Broadway…All of ‘Em!!!, I found this show to be a disappointment. With a big name and a big personality, I expected more. I found the program fairly dull with lapses in memory on words. And what was with drinking a big Coke on stage? While I found her accompanist/musical director to be outstanding, providing some very sensitive playing, the bass player and drummer were underutilized. The most underutilized of the evening, however, were the four back-up singers on Moonshine Lullaby. Really? These guys came out for that? And just that?

I don’t understand what people see in Kristin Chenowith. A mediocre show that did not live up to it’s name or hype.

Click here for the evening song list.

The American Songbook Series is an annual event presented by Lincoln Center to feature a wide range of performers presenting the American songbook in a broad interpretation. Singer Karen Akers presented a program of traditional classics and new works the evening of February 1 in the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

I wouldn’t say Akers is my favorite performer. While the rather brief show seemed too staged and a bit stilted, I did enjoy her interpretations from the musical Nine (of which she was a star in the original), the newer musical Next to Normal and Sondheim’s Into the Woods.