The irrepressible Laurette Hankins-O’Connell, accompanied by Nick Zurowski on the baby grand, debuts her newest cabaret, Broadway: Divas & Dames, a capricious and occasionally irreverent salute to some of musical theater’s favorite leading ladies and second banana /sidekick roles. Enjoy many of your favorite show tunes, while getting the behind the scenes scoop . This lively “backstage tour” spans the genre: from Gypsy, My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, King and I, and West Side Story, to Sunset Boulevard, Les Miserables, Cabaret and beyond. Buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the matinee!

Hankins-O’Connell has an offhanded charm and forged a solid connection with the audience. She is an effective comedienne, and did a stellar job in wringing out laughs from “My Mother’s Wedding Day” (Brigadoon) and “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun” (Annie Get Your Gun). Her patter was well-crafted, wittily providing interesting insights in the transition from stage to cinema of the works she was saluting. However, the most effective moment of the evening was when she explored the feeling of becoming an orphan late in life when losing aged parents, followed by “Where Is Love?” from Oliver!

Michael Miyazaki, Cabaret Scenes