Applause! Applause! Review of KT Sullivan & Jeff Harnar in "Two For Tonight" by Dr. Thomas Robert Stevens

This review of KT Sullivan & Jeff Harnar in a show entitled "Two For Tonight" at the FireBird Cafe was written and published by Dr. Thomas Robert Stevens and appeared in Volume I, Issue 4 (February, 1998) of Applause! Applause!

"Two For Tonight" - KT Sullivan & Jeff Harnar
FireBird Cafe (363 West 46th Street, NYC)
Not Reviewed 2/10/98 at 9:00 p.m.

KT Sullivan and Jeff Harnar are both talented artists who deserve the very best. This publication was unable to review their show because our request for a reservation was not honored by Donald Smith, the publicist for the FireBird Cabaret. When I finally spoke to Mr. Smith, I was told that he was not familiar with Applause! Applause! and that, as a result, he was embarrassed when the management of the FireBird Cafe asked him about us. He went on to say that he couldn't understand why he wasn't one of the very first individuals to receive this publication since he "has been involved in cabaret for over 40 years." I apologized for the oversight, but Mr. Smith went on about how he still could not understand the oversight in light of the fact that many of our critics have been "the beneficiaries of his generosity" in the past. Mr. Smith then stated that the FireBird Cafe provides him with only a limited number of press comps per run and that, therefore, he couldn't accommodate me. This surprised me since I thought that a new Cabaret Room would be very interested in getting written about and receiving as much press as possible. I promised to send him future issues of Applause! Applause! and began to fax to him a copy of the current issue. Halfway through, there was an error in my fax transmission. I tried four more times to fax the remaining documents to no avail. I later learned that Mr. Smith had turned off or dismantled his fax machine and left a message on my telephone answering machine stating that to his knowledge, the mails were still working and stating that his fax machine is only used for "important" business that he is involved in. I was perplexed since I thought a fax from a cabaret-related publication was the business he was involved in.

At the invitation of KT Sullivan, a Distinguished Artist of the Beaux Arts Society, I went to see this show on the date indicated. I requested a Press Packet and was told that one would be obtained from Donald Smith, who was in attendance. By the time the show was about to begin, I was not visited by Mr. Smith nor was a Press Packet provided. I, therefore, canceled my request to avoid an embarrassing situation and did not review the show. (b.c.c note to readers: They're Wonderful!!)