The Wicked Stage: Songs About Show Business

Post author:Jacqueline Parker
Post published: May 18, 2026
Reading time:2 mins read

The Wicked Stage: Songs About Show Business

Hosted by Christine Pedi

54 Below, NYC, April 29, 2026

Reviewed by Jacqueline Parker

A star-studded lineup was assembled by Christine Pedi and her music director Michael Lavine at 54 Below for an evening of songs about the place where it all happens—The Wicked Stage. And wicked it was—wickedly funny and at times wickedly moving.

Pedi opened with “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” (James F. Hanley) and infused it with her own brand of energy to get the evening off to a rousing start. The spotlight then moved to Kate Rockwell, who illustrated quite vividly the many ways she wanted to “Show Off” (Lisa Lambert/Greg Morrison); she even took off her dress! She was fully clothed, however, for “A Summer in Ohio” (Jason Robert Brown).

Robert Cuccioli then followed those first two acts with one of his own when he reprised “Where in the World” (Maury Yeston), a song he sang when he played the Phantom. He later performed “Candle in the Wind” (Elton John/Bernie Taupin), a song that was made for a voice like his that can truly make it soar.

The seemingly ageless Christine Andreas returned to songs that earned her a Tony nomination: “There’s a Small Hotel” and “Glad to Be Unhappy” (Richard Rodgers/Larry Hart) from On Your Toes. Her husband composer Marty Silvestri accompanied her on the accordion when she closed the program with “L’Accordéoniste” (Michel Emer).

Thom Sesma brought out all the emotion in “It’s Okay” (Tom Kitt) and delivered the song as though he had lived through each lyric. If we needed another show-off song, Janet Fanale followed with “I Just Want to Be a Star” (Dan Goggin). Pedi returned for the penultimate number “Babette” (Cy Coleman/Betty Comden & Adolph Green), which is a real tour de force for any singer. In the skilled hands of this performer, it was Broadway magic.

Each performer relayed a tale from life on that wicked stage. I was reminded of Gertrude’s remark to Polonius in Hamlet—to paraphrase “more art and less matter.”

This series done by Pedi and Lavine is always full of superior talent, surprises, and great music, and it is always a wonderful evening on the town. Let’s hope they’ll have something brewing for our post-summer enjoyment.

Tags: Thom Sesma, composer, Show Off, There’s a Small Hotel, L’Accordéoniste, Christine Pedi, Robert Cuccioli, Lisa Lambert, James F. Hanley, Kate Rockwell, A Summer in Ohio, Tom Kitt, Babette, Dan Goggin, Candle in the Wind, Clubs, Greg Morrison, Glad to Be Unhappy, American Songbook Association, Larry Hart, I Just Want to Be a Star, Janet Fanale, ASA, Jacqueline Parker, Marty Silvestri, The Wicked Stage: Songs About Show Business, Where in the World, It’s Okay, Zing Went the Strings of My Heart, Cabaret Scenes, 54 Below, Broadway, Cabaret, Broadway Musicals, Jason Robert Brown, Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Richard Rodgers, Christine Andreas, Michel Emer, American Songbook, Lyricist, Maury Yeston, NYC, Elton John, CD, Bernie Taupin, Reviews, Cabaret Reviews, Michael Lavine

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.