DANNA BANANA
212-947-6035; dannabanana.com
He’s more than a giant toddler on a teeny pink bike. Danna Banana (a.k.a. Dan Cohen), befuddled but loving dad-for-hire, has earned A-list status on the silly circuit. He sings and plays guitar, he’s a classically trained operatic baritone, and he has an interactive, playful style that makes kids—and grown-ups—honk with laughter. Banana garnered the grand prize in the acclaimed John Lennon Songwriting Contest for “What Would You Do?,” featured on his fabulous first CD, Bananappeal, and his newest, Daddy-O!, is equally contagious. But it’s Danna Banana’s groovy live gigs—like a Children’s Museum of Manhattan’s elbow-room-only benefit that drew the broods of Julianne Moore, John Leguizamo, and Tony Award winner B. D. Wong—that make kids the stars. Sans stage fright.