BUT BEAUTIFUL...MY TRIBUTE TO JULIE WILSON "TONIGHT YOU WERE A STAR!!!" - Roy Sander, NY Reviewer***** "The band, the arrangements, and especially your performance were superb!! I didn't remember that my song was very good until you did it! You brought a depth to the song that I don't think even Francesca (Blumenthal-lyricist) thought of!!!" - Ronny Whyte, NY Icon Jazz Singer/Songwriter***** "A Night No One Will Ever Forget! WOW! “But Beautiful” and “Quiet, Please” Devastated Me. Congratulations!" - Sidney Myer*****BUT BEAUTIFUL, SUE MATSUKI'S TRIBUTE TO JULIE WILSON: A REVIEW - May 25, 2024 by Jed Ryan, Lavender After DarkOn Friday, May 19th, cabaret luminary Sue Matsuki took the stage at New York City’s 54 Below for But Beautiful: A Tribute to Julie Wilson directed by Lina Koutrakos, one of Matsuki's frequent creative collaborators.&nb...

Here are 3 wonderful reviews we received for this show. The premise of which was that the show was composed of all Opening Numbers from several of my shows over the past 30 years but the "hook" was that it was not a show about Opening Numbers.****Sue Matsuki HOW'S THAT FOR OPENERS? Is Cause For Celebration at Don't Tell Mama - Stephen Mosher, Broadway WorldThirty-three years to the day. That's what September 16, 2019, was - thirty-three years since Sue Matsuki stepped onto the stage at Don't Tell Mama to audition for Sidney Myer. Nervous, scared, excited, Ms. Matsuki gave it the old college try; and though it wasn't her best audition, Sidney saw something in her and decided to give her a shot, something Sidney has been known to do over the years, and Sue Matsuki had a place to sing. Three plus decades later, the elegant Ms. Matsuki stepped, once more, onto the stage that she has occupied many times, and opened her mouth t...

I have seen Sue Matsuki perform many times over the past eleven years. As I've said before, and will doubtless have occasion to say again, one of the most gratifying aspects—no, make that greatest pleasures—of covering cabaret over an extended period of time is seeing artists develop and grow, so it is with great pleasure that I can report that Matsuki's new show not only represents her best work to date, it is also one of the finest shows I've seen anyone deliver this year. Working for the first time with director Eric Michael Gillett, and for the umpteenth time with her musical director for the past thirteen years, Gregory Toroian, Matsuki has put together a very intelligent, tight show, with no blah-blah-blah patter and a nice mixture of classics and new discoveries. The most striking element of the evening is the remarkable quality of her interpretations0each based on a chosen point of view and delivered with commitment and a singularity of purpose, devoid of extrane...