G.H. Harding

BACHARACH FOR SURE — Regular readers of this column know that I hold a special place in my universe for Burt Bacharach. His music, from “Alfie” to “What The World Needs Now” are just exquisite works. Each one totally special but fused with Bachrach’s complex chord structures and time signatures. More often than not, you can spy a Bacharach-tune immediately.

 At the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater on NYC’s West Side, located in a YMCA no less, there’ s majestic show going on called Going Bachrach. 

With a terrific band led by Adrian Galante, and singers Ava Locknar, Meecah and John Pagano, they tackled Bacharach songs that are simply delightful to hear. Be it “Alfie,” or “Don’t Make Me Over,” these are just timeless classics in the Great American Songbook. They also did another personal favorite, Burt’s own “This Guy’s in Love With You.” A classic for sure from 1968!

I am a Bachrach fan, but the album he did with Elvis Costello in 1998, entitled Painted From Memory, is my all-time favorite. It’s even the album I’d take as a Desert Island Disc. Costello said that when the pair decided to team up, the songs they would create would be about lost love. Each and every song on the album is joyous and bittersweet. My favorite track on the album is “God Give Me Strength” and the team performed it. Just incredible. Take a listen:

Burt Bacharach and John Pagano

Pagano, who toured with Bacharach for decades, paused at one point to introduce a special guest in the audience, Burt’s widow Jane.

One of the best shows I’ve seen this year. Bacharach’s art was his marvelous songwriting. Staggeringly sensational show.

GOIN HOME — Enroute to my Going Bacharach show, I arrived in midtown a bit early to see what if anything had changed since I worked there some 11 years ago. I got off at 49th and 7th and walked uptown, passing the just re-opened Carnegie Deli. Now it sits about two blocks south from where it originally opened. At 5:15 PM it didn’t look all that crowded, but impressive nonetheless.

I continued on 7th to see the decades-old Wellington Hotel gone, and I suspect a new condo is in-store.

Nordstrom now occupies most of 57th and Broadway, TJ Maxx still occupies 57th and 8th, but Lee’s Art Shop and Salon Ziba are gone forever. Also, the Red Eye Grill is empty too, but the wonderful Trattoria Dell’Arte and sweet-shop Myzel’s,still stands.

I said to Tom Cuddy, after a brief, but satisfying dinner at the Astro on 55th and Sixth and who would join me for the show, it’s amazing what’s new, but also amazing what has stayed. It felt basically the same, but the foot traffic as well as the actual traffic has increased substantially.

I guess you can go home again!

SHORT TAKES – RIP Duncan Sheik. Loved his “Barely Breathing” and Broadway’s Spring Awakening. So sad. Take a read here: https://www.ocregister.com/2026/09/18/duncan-sheik-obituary/?utm_email=5484F4615516C44984F46420F6&g2i_eui=03856d5b039d3c9a315bd8ce19c296fb5da104b4694ec00c727ed48a7a8ae1ea&g2i_source=newsletter&active=no&lctg=5484F4615516C44984F46420F6&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.ocregister.com%2f2026%2f09%2f18%2fduncan-sheik-obituary%2f&utm_campaign=scng-orange_county_register-newscycle&utm_content=curated …

Micky Dolenz at Ameoba/West Hollywood

Here’s Micky Dolenz’s at last week in-store appearance at Amoeba Music in Hollywood tub-thumping his new EP Timeless … Happy Bday Donnie Kehr; Mark Bego; Richard Branciforte; and Suzan Kressel!

NAMES IN THE NEWS — Jarvis Cocker; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; John Boulos; Tony King; Pete Bennett; Allan Steckler; Cori Gardner; Roger Clark; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; John Sykes; Keith Sherman; Bill McCuddy; Tony Bennett; Bill Maher; Cindy Adams; David Fricke; Ken Sharp; Tone Scott; Mark Simone; Herb Rosen; Judy Kaufman; and CHIP!

Images on this page have been licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Like a magician who somehow keeps producing one dazzling surprise after another from up her sleeve, entertainer musician extraordinaire Gunhild Carling had the City Winery audience at Pier 57 on the edge of its seat last night, as her jazz/pop music and showmanship delivered one thrilling song after another.

If Louis Prima and Louis Armstrong had grown up on a steady diet of Swedish meatballs, the result might very well have been Sweden’s Gunhild Carling. She has Prima’s wild, infectious energy and Armstrong’s unmistakable trumpet phrasing and vocal flair—and she brings it all to the stage with a show-business sensibility and proficiency on many instruments that is impossible to resist.

Remember those circus clown cars where you were convinced there couldn’t possibly be room for another performer, only to have one more, and then another, and another, somehow climb out? That’s Gunhild Carling’s band. Just when you think you’ve seen the last great musician, out comes another one—each more talented and entertaining than the next, including her brother Max Carling.

A special shout-out to NYC and Birdland favorite drummer Daniel Glass, who delivered some amazing solos that had the audience cheering.

It felt like one great Bon Voyage party last night on Pier 57. And the next time Carling’s ship comes sailing into town, make sure you don’t miss the boat.

Gunhild Carling and her band are definitely a unique musical experience—part jazz concert, part circus, and completely entertaining.

GUNHILD CARLING

GUNHILD CARLING

MAX CARLING

GUNHILD CARLING

GUNHILD CARLING, MAX CARLING,Clarinet, Neil Fontano, Piano

DANIEL GLASS

DANIEL GLASS

GUNHILD CARLING, NEIL FONTANO, Bass

GUNHILD CARLING

GUNHILD CARLING

CITY WINERY

GUNHILD CARLING

GUNHILD CARLING

GUNHILD CARLING

GUNHILD CARLING

PIER 57

PIER 57

COMING ATTRACTIONS

COMING ATTRACTIONS

CITY WINERY

Burt Bacharach’s music is stitched into the very fabric of the American sound. His uncanny ability to shape songs through atypical chord progressions, shifting time signatures and elegant, jazz-inflected melodies set him apart from virtually every other popular composer of his generation. Collaborating most famously with lyricist Hal David, Bacharach created an extraordinary catalogue of songs made indelible by artists including Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters and B.J. Thomas.

Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon, the revue celebrating that catalogue, has reemerged at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre eight months after I first saw it there. Conceived by Jack Lewin (Our Sinatra) and co-created with journalist Will Friedwald, the impeccable Tedd Firth and Adrian Galante—who serves as arranger and musical director while displaying formidable gifts on both piano and clarinet—the show originally arrived with considerable talent attached.

I was not a fan the first time around. I am very pleased to say that many of the problems I had with the original production have worked themselves out. There is something particularly thrilling for a critic about returning to a show and discovering that the artists have listened, reconsidered and made the work better. Theatre is supposed to be alive. Going Bacharach now proves that it is.

There are still things I would change. The evening continues to open with a piano flourish that feels more Liberace in Vegas than Bacharach in his prime, followed by a keyboard sound, played by Kristin Cappuccino, that veers dangerously close to lounge-act elevator music. Why? Bacharach’s music is filled with extraordinary instrumental colors. Give me a trumpet. Give me something with bite and romance. This music deserves an entrance worthy of it.

Adrian Galante Photo by Russ Rowland

Galante is unquestionably a phenomenal musician, but in the previous incarnation the production was so heavily focused on him that the evening frequently felt designed to showcase his abilities rather than Bacharach’s songs or the singers performing them. Thank God, that has changed. Galante is now part of the musical conversation rather than continually standing in front of it, and the result is a far more cohesive ensemble.

And what an ensemble he has surrounding him.

John Pagano Photo by Russ Rowland

John Pagano, who toured with Bacharach for 26 years, possesses a voice steeped in that velvet mid-century sound—think Jack Jones meets Tom Jones with a splash of big-band swagger. Pagano delivers a hilariously original “What’s New Pussycat?” by mimicking a scratched vinyl record, inspired by childhood memories of listening to his father’s LPs. It is clever, affectionate and genuinely funny.

Hilary Kole Photo by Russ Rowland

Hilary Kole, a Birdland regular and Our Sinatra star, brings smoky phrasing, lyrical intelligence and sophisticated jazz sensibilities. Her voice carries longing and finesse in equal measure. Kole brings intelligence to “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “Alfie,” marrying technique with emotional connection. She gets it—the phrasing, the ache, that extraordinary Bacharach-David-Dionne Warwick alchemy in which melodic sophistication and emotional vulnerability somehow occupy the same musical breath.

Adrian Galante and Meecah. photo by Russ Rowland

The surprise of the evening, however, is Meecah, whose Broadway credits include Hamilton. This woman is a star in the making. Her voice is exquisitely controlled yet emotionally raw without ever seeming to work for the effect. There is heart and soul in her singing, but also an ethereal quality that makes you lean forward and listen. She doesn’t simply belt a Bacharach song into submission; she understands how to live inside the lyric. I would happily sit through an entire evening devoted to this singer. Musical talent clearly runs through the family—her father was a member of The Commodores—but Meecah’s artistry is entirely her own.

Hilary Kole, Meecah iphoto by Russ Rowland

Her “One Less Bell to Answer” and “Don’t Make Me Over” are pure electricity. She owns the stage without ever seeming to demand it. At the performance I attended, she received a standing ovation in the middle of the show, and she deserved every second of it. Somebody needs to be thinking seriously about this woman for a Broadway revival of Aida—or, frankly, something entirely her own.

Adrian Galante Photo by Russ Rowland

Galante remains a formidable musician. His pianistic agility and superb clarinet work bring a lush, jazz-forward texture to the evening, but the crucial improvement is that he is now conversing musically with the singers. In that collaborative context his gifts resonate most strongly, and Bacharach’s intricate, emotionally intelligent music is far better served.

The band is equally sharp, with David Rourke on guitar and the fabulous Marco Panascia on bass and Corey Rawls on drums. The musicians and performers rotate, so personnel varies among performances. Sound designer Matt Berman has also corrected the sound problems that plagued the production when I originally saw it. The balance is now clean, allowing both the singers and arrangements to be heard as they should be.

Where the previous incarnation lacked cohesion, director David Zippel has now found the connective tissue. The performers feel like an ensemble rather than three singers inhabiting separate musical islands, and Galante’s arrangements, which previously tended to isolate rather than elevate them, now feel cohesive, inventive and genuinely exciting. We also get more biographical insight into Bacharach himself, something I found sorely missing when I first saw the show. “The Windows of the World” becomes heartbreaking in this context, with all three singers joining together and Galante becoming, musically, the fourth voice.

Adrian Galante, Hilary Kole, John Pagano Photo by Russ Rowland

The remaining problem is length, and frankly, I know exactly where I would take the scissors. At nearly two and a half hours, Going Bacharach is about 25 minutes too long, much of that time spent on extended instrumental passages. Galante is a superb musician, but this is where the production still occasionally forgets what it has now gotten so right: his musicianship is most exciting when it is in conversation with Bacharach’s songs and these exceptional singers. Cut 25 minutes of the instrumental showcases and I think the show lands at exactly the right length—and becomes considerably more exciting in the process. With a catalogue this good and singers this strong, leave us wanting one more song rather than checking how long we’ve been sitting there.

Additional performers appearing during the engagement include Ava Locknar, Julia Danielle Smulson and American Idolalum Alyssa Wray. But I am going to say something I don’t say very often: if you have a choice, find out when Meecah is performing. There is a particular pleasure in seeing an artist at that exhilarating moment just before everybody else discovers what you already know.

Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon is still a love letter to Burt Bacharach. Eight months ago, I thought that letter needed rewriting. This time around, much of it has been rewritten—and beautifully so. The show is tighter in its musical thinking, warmer in its relationships and far more interested in serving Bacharach than displaying itself. It still needs to lose some time, and I would happily trade that opening keyboard sound for a trumpet tomorrow.

But this is why I go back. Theatre can change. Artists can rethink their work. A show that didn’t quite work can find its rhythm. And occasionally, while that is happening, a singer walks onto the stage and makes you think: Where the hell have you been? For me, that singer is Meecah.

Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon plays at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre, 10 West 64th Street, through November 29. In rotation with Our Sinatra.

I hope George Winters doesn’t mind a bit of playfulness with his lyrics, but the temptation was too great.

A weekend trip to Covington, KY to see La Cage Aux Folles was highlighted by a surprise stop in Cincinnati to see Klea Blackhurst. What in the world is she doing there, you may ask?  How about rehearsing a revue of the songs of Stephen Schwartz entitled Corner of the Sky: The Songs of Stephen Schwartz, an early song from Pippin and Schwartz’s first big hit.

The perfect person to create such a piece is Scott Coulter, whose long-time friendship with Schwartz eased the sometimes difficult and lengthy approval process.  Coulter came up with the idea for the show and chose Schwartz’s first “I want” song as the title. As Coulter told me, all selections followed from that, and as will seen as it develops, the rest will be history. It’s running at Ensemble Theatre in Cincinnati until the 27^th of September. Why not take a quick weekend hop out there to see theatre history in the making?

Blackhurst will be returning to New York to star in the Styne/Comden & Green 1956 classic Bells Are Ringing at 54 Below, which is celebrating the 70^th anniversary of this quintessential post-World War 2 America musical. Known for being a Broadway belter in the tradition of Ethel Merman, she is a superb choice for this piece. Joining her are Penny Fuller, Robert Cucciolli, and Christine Pedi, with the popular Ethan Mathias in the chorus. Michael Lavine will be handling the musical direction, guaranteed to bring out all the exuberance of this jaunty score, which perfectly captures the zaniness that was the 1950s.  It will be live streamed as well, so mark your calendar for October 7^th!

I’ve heard Johnny Mercer’s lyrics sung hundreds of times by countless performers, but somehow, hearing Charles Busch illustrate and sing those words made me hear them—and feel them—in an entirely different way last night during his show “Charles Busch Sings Johnny Mercer” at 54 Below.

I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised by my reaction to his performance. Actor and playwright Charles Busch is a master of theatrical melodrama, and I’ve long been a fan of his Facebook posts, where he has a remarkable way of describing the ordinary details of everyday life with imagination and wit. He makes the familiar feel newly personal. His song list last night was musically challenging, and opening with the Hoagy Carmichael/Johnny Mercer classic “Skylark” immediately drew us into the intimate world of Charles.

When Charles spotted Eda and me sitting with Michele Lee, he shared an emotional story about 9/11. Michele, a close friend of Charles’s, had starred in his play The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, which was playing on Broadway during those terrible days. His story brought a deeply personal moment to an evening filled with music, memories, and laughter.

We heard so many of our favorite Johnny Mercer songs last night—“Charade,” “Moon River,” “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe,” “Blues in the Night,” “I’m Old Fashioned,” and others. But there is one song, written by Peter Allen, that best sums up the evening for me: “Everything Old Is New Again”…especially in the hands of Charles Busch!

Jono Mainelli music director provided the perfect accompaniment for Charles, his classical pianist’s touch added the appropriate musical  backdrop to the evening.  Ashley Austin Morris a very funny comic was a wonderful interlude and guitarist Jimmy Stull were guest artists.

EDA SOROKOFF & MICHELE LEE

CHARLES BUSCH

CHARLES BUSCH

JONO MAINELLI & CHARLES BUSCH

CHARLES BUSCH

CHARLES BUSCH

JONO MAINELLI & CHARLES BUSCH

JONO MAINELLI & CHARLES BUSCH

CHARLES BUSCH

ASHLEY AUSTIN MORRIS

JIMMY STULL

CHARLES BUSH & STEPHEN SOROKOFF

JONO MAINELLI, ASHLEY AUSTIN MORRIS, CHARLES BUSCH, JIMMY STULL

CHARLES BUSCH, MICHELLE LEE, EDA SOROKOFF

MICHELE LEE & EDA SOROKOFF

LIVESTREAM

MANDISA BOXILL