Both Sides Now

“Two singer-songwriters sit on the edge of a cliff…”

These words draw the audience into the world of Both Sides Now — a theatrical concert that explores the music and lives of long-time friends and one-time lovers, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Created by, and starring Robbie Schaefer and Danielle Wertz, the cabaret-style performance traverses decades alongside songs such as “A Case of You”, “Hallelujah”, “Big Yellow Taxi”, “Suzanne”, and many more. 

Both Sides Now is both a piece of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and of right now. It offers a story about the messiness of being human, of lives persistently lived at the edge of growth, and of finding the courage to turn toward one another, again and again.

Robbie Schaefer

Robbie Schaefer is a rabbi, singer-songwriter, and theatre/film artist. The guitarist and songwriter for the indie folk band Eddie From Ohio, Schaefer also has several solo releases, including the 2023 single “Under the Sun”.

Schaefer has shared the stage with Jason Mraz, Sara Bareilles, Josh Groban, Keb ‘ Mo, and Emmylou Harris, among others. His first work for musical theater, Light Years, which explores Schaefer’s relationship with his father, a Holocaust survivor, saw its world premiere at the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre in 2018. The musical is now a feature film entitled Burst The Silence (Rolling Pictures).

He is currently working on a new musical, The Blue Poppy, an Irish-Jewish ghost story written in collaboration with Scottish playwright Grace Barnes, and a new album of Jewish musical midrash, Songs From The Wilderness, due for release in early 2026. 

Danielle Wertz

Danielle Wertz is a storyteller, collaborator, jazz musician, composer, and arranger. Described as, “untarnished by the politics of music” (Jazz Music Archives) and “a masterful ballad interpreter” (New York City Jazz Record) she has rapidly gained national acclaim.

After being named a 2015 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition semi-finalist, Wertz independently released her debut album, Intertwined. That same year she placed second in the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition and third in the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Vocal Competition.

In 2023, Danielle released her sophomore album, Other Side. With this project she made a quantum leap as a composer and conceptualist. Reimagined and rewritten during the pandemic, the album pairs her original compositions with carefully crafted arrangements of standards from the Great American Songbook. Danielle continues to be an avid collaborator internationally and as a member of the NYC jazz scene, and headlined her first European tour in 2025.