Barbarino’s Big Nite Out (BBNO), the monthly variety show created by the charming and oh-so-TALL Scott Barbarino, is now approaching its second year!   Mr. Barbarino, the head honcho of the Tuesday night festivities, frequently reminds his audiences of the inimitable experience of LIVE PERFORMANCES!  Of course, Barbarino himself practices what he preaches: He got the chance to sing, delivering the audience the oh-so-appropriate and oft-redone You Belong to Me, the song that begins with that famously lush opening lyric, “See the pyramids along the N-I-L-E…”  The most recent BBNO took place on Tuesday, September 29th.  Ahh yes, late September: the time of the year between the end-of-summer blues and the thrill of Halloween on the horizon! (More about that later…) Barbarino’s Big Nite Out knows its tried-and-true formula: The night always features a mix of audience favorites, given new life by its youthful cast; and a few unique performances that truly defy genre.  For example, Chrissy Albanese’s deliciously campy rendition of Second Hand Rose reminded us that some songs will NEVER get old (It helps that Ms. Albanese is a poppin’ performer– but more about that later…). Yet, as always, BBNO is NEVER afraid to shake it up. We’re talking about the phenomenal Jefferson Freire, proud juggler and violinist… AND he rides a unicycle!  Freire simply must be seen to be believed.  It’s again a reminder of the importance of… LIVE PERFORMANCES (Hint…)  Barbarino is intensely loyal to his recurrent cast, and that’s a very good thing. I could literally watch BBNO’s Zach Carter and Bianca DiSarro sing ALL NIGHT LONG! (although I’d prefer DANCING ON THE CEILING…) Later in the evening, Carter and DiSarro combined for a fantastical scene inspired by Chachi Cruz‘ childhood memories of his cafeteria lunch lady!  (I doubt VERY much that Cruz’ childhood heroine was as glam as Bianca…)  Zach and Bianca also got their solo numbers, and I can firmly say that I’d love watching them even if Zach was merely singing the alphabet or if Bianca was being a “Bitch”!  (Ahem…)  George Winters, another BBNO regular, never lets the audience down: His particular talent is unearthing musical baubles that are just “begging” to be performed again.  This month, the selection was Cincinnati Lou.  It was frenetic, funny, and deliciously over the top.  I was “begging” for more!  This “Winters” is a man for all seasons!  And… I will NEVER get enough of Avant Garbage’s Mommie Dearest routine; Bruises be damned!  As I’ve said before: Just when you think you’ve every talented performer in a city of 8.58 million, Scott Barbarino will find another untapped star for you. 

But let’s start at the beginning (All together now: A very good place to start…).  The crowd at Lips was warmed up by an instrumental version of everyone’s favorite childhood singalong: the theme from Sesame Street (!).  That choice of an opener could be perceived as to sickening sweet– but looked at through a 2026 lens, I thought it was rad “AF”, as the kiddies would say.  BBNO’s secret weapon has always been host Joshua “Chachi” Cruz! Since the theme of this month’s BBNO was “Back to Class”, Cruz came out in a very Mr. Rogers-esque red sweater. singing Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (The song with “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!” in it.).  You’d think it can’t get campier or better… but then the singer breaks into a high-energy delivery of the musical gem Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini… and when the happy host was joined by his pals Zach and Bianca, it truly went over the top.  And this was just the beginning, kids!  Cruz did change into a now-infamous sweater with more history than a social studies textbook– but I can’t describe it because my eyes are still recovering from the sight of it…

This may be a good time to give a shout-out to the hardworking BBNO band: Drew Bastian on drums, Ian Jesse on bass, Dan Pardo on piano, and Alex Nguyen on trumpet.  

BBNO kicked off with Katelyn Lauria.   Her first number was Amazing Mayzie from The Seussical.  Lauria was a newcomer to BBNO, but the audience would never know it: She wasconfident, funny, saucy, and oh-so-lovable.   Later, she gave a classic favorite from Into the Woods.  Melissa Driscol gave the audience Love You Madly, adorned by perfect trumpet by Alex Nguyen.  Love You Madly?  After hearing her, the audience no doubt felt the same way about Ms. Driscol. She continued with a dynamic, sexy version of Love For Sale.  How did Melissa know that this is my favorite Cole Porter song of all time?  Again, the BBNO band showed their stellar musical skills.  Next up was the phenomenal Tanya Moberly.  Her song Drink My Way was about the, uhm, ANTI-joys about being that perennial guest at a wedding.  Forget Marry You by Bruno Mars; THIS is my new favorite wedding song for eternity!  The audience REALLY loved this one! Those lyrics… Whoa!  Moberly continued with an absolutely lovely musical tribute to New York City.  Like BBNO, Moberly’s song reminded us of why we love this town so much.  Lovely Rachel Balko was next, giving the audience After All This and Everything, a song indisputably about the journey of parenthood.  If the previous ladies made us cry from laughing too hard, this one was a tearjerker in the classic sense– amplified by Balko’s ethereal voice.  

A highlight in a night of many standout acts was Laurence London. His version of Taking Chances was perfectly suited to his talents; London has a great range and a great stage presence.    Anyone daring to sing one of Celine’s songs better be good… and all I can say is “Wow!”  He MORE than did the song and his idol justice.  Another showstopper was when the amazing Desmond Hurt teamed up with Bianca for a soulful, lush duet of Waterfalls, with some EXPERT rapping.  The audience absolutely LOVED this one.  

But of course, BBNO always injects some bona fide COMEDY into their shows– as if there wasn’t enough humor already!  The stand-up came in the form of lovely Maureen Langan, famous from Last Comic Standing and a BBNO favorite.  This gal is an expert on, shall we say, “Post-Period Pop Culture”.  I LOVED her observations on life… and as soon as she gave the Kardashians and the Hawk Tuah Girl a much-deserved takedown, she had a new fan in this reviewer!  And you can quote me as “Jed Ryan”… because, as Maureen would say, “That’s my name!”  

But wait, there was more!  Let’s just say that if you ever wanted to see your beloved Mary Poppins as a burlesque performer, with the rest of the cast joining in the fun, then you better hope this wild act gets an encore!  (Hint, hint!!)

Of course, there was a K-I-L-L-E-R closer for the September edition of Barbarino’s Big Nite Out.  I won’t give away the surprise “end”-ing, but let’s just say that it was an excellent primer for the Halloween Edition of BBNO, coming Tuesday, October 27th .  (Hint, hint, hint!!!!).  And three monsters have never looked so sexy!

Follow Barbarino’s Big Nite Out on Instagram@bbno.nyc

The full cast included Scott Barbarino, Joshua “Chachi” Cruz, Laurence London, Zach Carter, Bianca DiSarro, George Winters, Avant Garbage, Chrissy Albanese, Melissa Driscol, Rachel Balko,  Jefferson Freire, Desmond Hurt, Katelyn Laura, Maureen Langan, Tanya Moberly, Tommy Batchelor, and Damon J. Gillespie.