Women Around Town

“A perfume is like a piece of clothing, a message, a way of presenting oneself, a costume…” Paloma Picasso Last June, Joanne Halev made her successful New York Cabaret debut with Like a Perfumed Woman, its title a double entendre. The entertaining show is built around scent ineluctably affecting memory. Apparently olfactory sense bypasses memory itself, connecting directly to emotions felt when memories were made. Halev just stepped down from a long term position as

The conversation with Susan Isaacs, popular and successful novelist with 13 novels to her credit, two of which became Hollywood movies, is as honest as one can get. When asked about how her latest, It Takes One To Know One, came about, and specifically what it’s like to have the blank screen in front of you, she says, “My hands flew on the keyboard, I loved the plot, the narrator was interesting and lively. Very

Leah Michalos is a busy woman. For her management company, Leah is currently working on Beau, a new musical by Douglas Lyons and Ethan D. Pakchar, developed in residence at The Directors Company, which recently debuted to critical acclaim at the Adirondack Theatre Festival. Beau will play a one-night-only performance at Joe’s Pub at The Public on October 28th in conjunction with the show’s album release. For The Director’s Company, Leah is also currently working

Ute Lemper moves like a dancer. As she gracefully folds herself into a chair, one can almost see attention and intellect snap to order. The multifaceted artist was raised in Munster, Germany, by music-loving parents. She successively took dance, voice, and briefly, piano lessons. “I can only find my emotions reflected in this universe called music.” Like many teenagers, Lemper turned up the volume on her record player and sang along. Her choices featured Sarah

Jennifer Joy Pawlitschek, playwright and performer, combines science into her art, garnering her an invitation to perform at a NASA conference on astrobiology. Her solo show The Physics of Love has toured all over the country. In her new show, The Chaos Theory of Now, she uses science’s chaos theory to illuminate our uncertain times. Inspired in part by her own far-right Republican farm family, Jennifer portrays a diversity of wild characters, including a Trump-voting

To say she has a song in her heart vastly minimizes Linda Amiel Burns’ occupation with/ devotion to popular tunes and songwriters. It seems, in fact, to have ruled her life. (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart “With a Song in My Heart”) Dual influences fostered her predilection. The first was performing in such as Horn & Hardart Children’s Hour and The Bonnie Maid Hour till the age of 12, followed by high school and college theater as

Lois Robbins remembers her first kiss – and more. The 50+ actor wrote and performs L.O.V.E.R., which boldly recounts her relationships and sexual experiences from the tumultuous teen years to the present day. A stage and film actress, Lois was inspired to write after taking a climbing trip to conquer a longtime fear of heights and also being faced with a serious medical diagnosis. She began writing a book, which she called “historical fiction.” But a chance reading with a

At four years old, Hannah Jane Peterson, aka “the little bucket,” skibbled into her West Virginia kitchen singing, “I dug my key into the side/Of his pretty little souped-up four-wheel drive…” (Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats.”)  That her daughter had a voice was a revelation to mother, Steffanie. “I realized I had to change the radio station,” Steffanie says. “She just picked up everything she heard.” Hannah would cry out: “It’s mic time!” reaching for