Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Nightlife roundup: The great KURT ELLING at Birdland and a madcap evening of MICHAEL SHAW FISHER songs make for rousing nightcaps

• By drediman
• April 8, 2026
• No Comments

Over the past week or so, I’ve had the opportunity of capping off a few of my nights with rousing late night shows at some of the city’s beloved cabaret and jazz clubs. Here’s my report back on these recent nightlife outings.

KURT ELLING & THE FUTURE OF JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Birldand Jazz Club
Closed

First up is the great Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), who returned to Birdland in late March (following a lengthy stint as Hermes in the Tony-winning musical Hadestown on Broadway) to perform with the Future of Jazz Orchestra — a big band assembled by Jazz at Lincoln Center made up of talented up-and-coming musicians — for a week’s worth of shows. As one of contemporary jazz’s most acclaimed and respected ambassadors, Elling has crafted a career that has championed both his own musical writing and that of his iconic forebears, which was in evidence in the Birdland set list I had the privilege of sitting through (e.g., combining Elling’s “Never Say Goodbye (For Jodi)” with the compositions of the likes of John Coltrane). Particularly thrilling was getting to hearing the regal swing of the first movement of Duke Ellington’s Liberian Suite (“I Like the Sunrise”), which the Future of Jazz Orchestra navigated superbly with surprising maturity under Elling’s assured musical direction. In fact, the ensemble sounded attuned and stylish throughout, suggesting that we are in good hands with this next generation of musicians. As Elling has evolved as a vocalist, his voice has developed a richly textured sturdiness that has imbued his singing with a heightened sense of gravitas and dimensionality. The concert concluded on a political note (namely, in response to this nation’s rising anti-immigrant sentiment) with a deeply felt interpretation of Paul Simon’s “American Tune” — complete with poignantly evocative imagery of the Statue of Liberty — from Elling’s 2018 album The Questions.

SEX, HORROR & ROCK N’ ROLL: MUSIC & LYRICS BY MICHAEL SHAW FISHER
Laurie Beechman Theatre
One-night-only

Then over at the subterranean Laurie Beechman theater for one-night-only, I basked in some late night mayhem with Sex, Horror & Rock n’ Roll: Music & Lyrics by Michael Shaw Fisher. In short, the evening was a celebration of the songs from the smart yet unconventional cult musicals of Michael Shaw Fisher (Fisher is also a playwright, his The Amazing Sex Life of Rabbits having just concluded an Off-Broadway run at SoHo Playhouse), who has penned musicals that range from parodies of horror flicks (Exorcistic! The Rock Musical, a parody of The Shining), to riffs on well-trodden Shakespeare plays (Midsummer Nightmare, Skullduggery), to just plain unhinged wackiness (Dr. Nympho Vs. The Sex Zombies). The whole affair exuded the casual familiarity of a family get together, much like the one conjured at Joe Iconis and Family shows, but just more adult in terms of content. The March 29th cast assembled included the likes of Emma Hunton, Olivia Valli, Jaime Lyn Beatty, Jesse Merlin, Sophia Urista, and more — all of whom have had associations with Fisher and his shows. Particularly delicious was revisiting Emma Hunton’s deliciously berserk, vocally ripe turn as the demonically possessed child in Exorcistic! The Rock Musical, and she did not disappoint. Indeed, the company as a whole delved into the cabaret compilation — directed smoothly by Mia Criss and hosted with a wicked sense of humor by Alli Miller — with irreverence and a sort of high octane, in-your-face punk rock fearlessness that was at once twisted and weirdly wholesome.