Backstage Babble: Beyond the Walls of Joe Allen Restaurant

Post author:Jacqueline Parker
Post published:February 27, 2025
Reading time:4 mins read

Backstage Babble

Beyond the Walls of Joe Allen Restaurant

54 Below, NYC, February 19, 2025

Reviewed by Jacqueline Parker

Photos by Maryann Lopinto

Charles Kirsch, creator of the podcast Backstage Babble, worked his magic again at 54 Below, this time by paying tribute to the shows whose posters line the wall of Joe Allen’s Restaurant in NYC. This is not a wall of winners; it’s a wall of flops. Kirsch assembled cast members from these shows who shared reminiscences and sang a number or two from the show they appeared. He was joined in this venture by music director/pianist Michael Lavine. In addition to being its producer, Kirsch also was the host of this tribute to a baker’s dozen of mostly forgotten musicals.

Alma Cuervo sang “Nothing Really Happened” (Craig Carnelia, from Is There Life After High School) so tenderly that it was almost impossible not to be drawn back into memories of one’s own high school days. Quintessential showman Lee Roy Reams made Lorelei come alive again with his version of “I Won’t Let You Get Away” (Jule Styne/Betty Comden & Adolph Green), and with his many stories about its star Carol Channing and its composer Jule Styne.

Onward Victoria was a 1980 musical about Victoria Woodhull, a suffragette who ran for U.S. president in 1872. The original star, Jill Eikenberry, delivered a touching rendition of “Another Life” (Keith Hermann/Charlotte Anker & Irene Rosenberg), which beautifully laments the end of the fictional romance between Woodhull and Henry Ward Beecher.

Charles Busch talked about House of Flowers and insightfully observed that other than West Side Story, this show had the greatest collection of genius theatrical talent assembled for its creation. He then sang a number from that show that had been on an early Streisand album: “Don’t Like Goodbyes” (Harold Arlen/Truman Capote). In a performance as moving as the earlier version had been, Busch captured all the heartbreak in the song’s lyric.

The show concluded when Danielle Chambers, daughter of Leslie Uggams, sang a medley of songs from her mother’s second Broadway show Her First Roman (Ervin M. Drake). With Uggams in the audience, this segment was pure magic.

Throughout this show of music many had never heard—or even heard of—before, one had to feel grateful that these songs were being kept alive in some way. It was indeed comforting to know that Kirsch, who is still a teenager, has a passion for the music we all cherish.

Fans of Charles Kirsch, as well as of Broadway musicals, should know that the next venture is 54 Sings Coco. Coco was the 1969 musical about Coco Chanel that starred Katharine Hepburn with music by André Previn and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.

Tags: Lee Roy Reams, Jill Eikenberry, CD, suffragette, Great American Songbook, composer, Nightclubs, Is There Life After High School, Singer, Charlotte Anker, Broadway, Katharine Hepburn, Leslie Uggams, Music Director, Streisand, Irene Rosenberg, Cabaret, Alma Cuervo, Charles Busch, Jacqueline Parker, Cabaret Reviews, Henry Ward Beecher, Broadway Musicals, House of Flowers, Musicals, CD Reviews, Danielle Chambers, Don’t Like Goodbyes, Lyricist, Keith Hermann, Michael Lavine, Ervin M. Drake, Jule Styne, Another Life, West Side Story, Backstage Babble, Cabaret Scenes, Craig Carnelia, 54 Sings Coco, Betty Comden, Lorelei, NYC, Beyond the Walls of Joe Allen Restaurant, Clubs, Coco Chanel, Adolph Green, American Songbook Association, Pianist, I Won’t Let You Get Away, Maryann Lopinto, Alan Jay Lerner, Nothing Really Happened, songwriter, Onward Victoria, Carol Channing, Her First Roman, American Songbook, ASA, Vocalists, Victoria Woodhull, 54 Below, Andre Previn

Jacqueline Parker

Like Ethel Merman, lifelong New Yorker Jacqueline Parker began her career as a stenographer. She spent more than two decades at the city's premier public agency, progressing through positions of increased responsibility after earning her BA in English from New York University (3.5 GPA/Dean’s List). She won national awards for her work in public relations and communication and had the privilege of working in the House of Commons for Stephen Ross, later Lord Ross of Newport. In the second half of her career, Jacqueline brought her innate organizational skills and creative talents to a variety of positions. While distinguishing herself in executive search, she also gave her talents to publishing, politics, writing, radio broadcasting and Delmonico's Restaurant. Most recently, she hosted Anything Goes! a radio show that paid homage to Cole Porter and by extension the world of Broadway musicals and the Great American Songbook. Other features of the show were New York living, classical music, books, restaurants, architecture and politics. This show highlighted the current Broadway scene, both in New York and around the country through performances and interviews with luminaries including Len Cariou, Charles Strouse, Laura Osnes, Steve Ross and Joan Copeland. Her pandemic project was immersion into the life, times and work of Alfred Hitchcock, about whom she has written a soon-to-be-published article. Jacqueline has been involved in a myriad of charitable causes, most notably the Walt Frazier Youth Foundation, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Sisters of Life, York Theatre, and the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. She is a proud Founder of Hidden Water. Her greatest accomplishment is the parenting of her son, a lawyer specializing in mediation. She has many pretend grandchildren, nieces and nephews, on whom she dotes shamelessly, as well as a large circle of friends to whom she is devoted. Her interests in addition to theater and cabaret are cooking, entertaining, reading, and spending time on Queen Mary 2.