Review: Come To The Cabaret at the RRazz Room

By Herb Millman and John Dwyer

In the late 1940s and all through the 1950s, New Hope was known as an arts and entertainment community. Entertainers came from New York and as far as the West Coast to either perform or just vacation in New Hope. One could walk down the street and see the likes of Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, Grace Kelly, George C. Scott, Colleen Dewhurst or Cole Porter (to name a few) strollig about or sitting in a local coffee shop.

Back in the day, New Hope was the Hamptons of its time. Entertainers performed at the Canal House and Odette’s Bistro that was located by the Bucks County Playhouse. Years later, Chez Odette opened her restaurant and cabaret simply known as ‘Odette’s.’ As the years passed, New Hope lost much of its entertainment flair with the closing of the Canal House and the closing of Odette’s after three floods.

Now, in 2014, New Hope is regaining its standing as an entertainment community not only with the reopening of the playhouse, but also with the emergence of the RRazz Room. The RRazz Room is an intimate cabaret with state of the art sound and lighting equipment, and a capacity for 120 guests. It is a true cabaret.

Along with the cost of seeing the show, there is a two-drink minimum. We were pleased to find out that the two-drink minimum could also be split into one drink and something to eat. We do not believe that someone should be encouraged to have two alcoholic beverages and then get behind the wheel of a car to drive home. The menu had a wide selection of affordable appetizers and entrees. We each had a white flat bread pizza that was very good. One also has the option of enjoying one’s food prior to the show, during the show, or following the show. We chose to have it during the show, as did many other patrons that evening.

As far the entertainment, Lainie Kazan was the featured performer during our visit, and considering her age (74 years young), she still has a great set of pipes. Kazan sang a variety of songs and told stories of her experiences with Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. She actually extended her performance by 26 minutes, as she and her audience were both clearly enjoying the show.

The RRazz Room has hosted some great performers this season, like Sharon McKnight, Linda Lavin, Sarah Dash, and comic legend and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, and will have New Hope’s own Bob Egan, Broadway playwright and female impersonator Charles Busch, the classic Karen Akers and our own Andrea McCardle, among many others. We are happy to see this type of venue return to New Hope, and we hope that additional cabarets will open up in town. Why go to New York or Philadelphia when you can have it in your own backyard?

Two suggestions: when you call to make a reservation, be sure to say that you do not want to sit in the back of the room, as there are columns that will obstruct your view (where do you think that we sat?). Secondly, when ordering a glass of wine, you shouldn’t be surprised that you will receive less than a third of a glass for $10. The RRazz Room is located at 6426 Lower York Road in New Hope. For reservations call (888) 596-1027.