Cabaret: FEINSTEIN’S AT THE NIKKO (San Francisco’s Premier Nightclub Re-Opens This Week)

Post image for Cabaret: FEINSTEIN’S AT THE NIKKO (San Francisco’s Premier Nightclub Re-Opens This Week)

by Jim Allen on May 15, 2021

in Concerts / Events,Theater-San Francisco / Bay Area

FEINSTEIN’S AT THE NIKKO
ANNOUNCES REOPENING WITH LINEUP OF
FAN FAVORITES, BROADWAY STARS, AND LOCAL ICONS

Following a year of shuttered doors, Feinstein’s at the Nikko  announced today they will reopen later this month with a lineup of fan favorites, Broadway stars, and local icons who will take the stage at San Francisco’s premier nightclub. Tickets for all shows are on-sale now by visiting  Feinsteins.

Ticket holders can enjoy Hotel Nikko’s acclaimed drink menus during performances, although in-club food service has been discontinued at this time. Patrons can enjoy a 20% discount  and  three (3) hours of valet-parking when dining at Hotel Nikko’s award-winning Restaurant Anzu before the show. Once tickets are booked, dining reservations can be made online at  Anzu. Booking a seating time at least one-hour prior to showtime is recommended. All Feinstein’s at the Nikko patrons receive a reduced rate of $10/hour for valet parking at the hotel. Due to the intimacy of the club, all patrons must be vaccinated. Proof of vaccination by all parties must be shown before entering. Guests are required to wear masks at all times while in Hotel Nikko lobbies, or when entering or exiting the club. Once seated, guests can remove masks.

KELLI BARRETT & JARROD SPECTOR  
KELLI BARRETT & JARROD SPECTOR
FUNNY HOW IT HAPPENS
MAY 20–23, 2021
TICKETS: $85

Hitched in 2014, Kelli Barret & Jarrod Spector  present  Funny How It Happens, an intimate look at the uncanny parallels and fortuitous make-it-or-break-it moments throughout their careers and friendship that eventually brought them together. Featuring pop favorites and iconic songs from their Broadway careers,  Funny How It Happens  shines an inside (and often hilarious) spotlight on what life is really like as a married Broadway power couple, especially under the new paradigm of quarantine.

Jarrod Spector is best known for his Tony Nominated performance in  Beautiful: The Carol King Musical  in the role of ‘Barry Mann’. He played ‘Frankie Valli’ for a record 1500 performances in Broadway’s  Jersey Boys  and debuted on the Great White Way at age 9 as ‘Gavroche’ in  Les Misérables.  He was last seen as the iconic ‘Sonny Bono’ in Broadway’s  The Cher  Show.

Kelli Barrett originated the role of ‘Lara Guishar’ in Broadway’s  Doctor Zhivago  and has also played leading roles in Broadway’s  Wicked, Baby It’s You!  Gettin’ the Band Back Together,  and  The Royal Family.  She was recently lauded for her portrayal as ‘Liza Minnelli’ in the award-winning FX show  Fosse/Verdon,  adding this credit to  over 2 dozen others in television and film. She is a member of the Marvel Universe.

KATYA SMIRNOFF-SKYY
KATYA SMIRNOFF-SKYY
OUT! LIVE! & UNMASKED
JUNE 3–6, 2021
TICKETS: $65
After a LONG year of sheltering in place, San Francisco’s favorite Russian Countess makes her triumphant return to Feinstein’s at the Nikko with an all-new spectacular cabaret event:  OUT! LIVE! & Unmasked, a Prideful plunge into LIFE upon the wicked stage. With music ranging from standards of the American Songbook, to works by Lizzo and Harry Styles, this grand evening has something for everyone. So “come out, come out wherever you are”—the Countess has missed you, and she has  a lot  to say!

With a career spanning…a very, very long time, Katya claims to have invented Popera, romanced William Shatner, and lived next to John Lennon at the Dakota during her stint in New York City during the 1970’s. Once Eastern Europe’s greatest Mezzo-Soprano…understudy, the Countess now spends her days beautifying the masses at Macy’s Department store, as everyone’s favorite Chanel counter lady. She spends her evenings crooning and drinking her away through the finer theaters, bars and bath houses of America.

The creation of San Francisco native,  J. Conrad Frank, Katya has appeared in various theatrical runs and nightclubs including  The New Conservatory Theater,  The Eureka Theater,  Trannyshack, and monthly shows at San Francisco’s premier piano bar Martuni’s.

BRANDEN & JAMES

BRANDEN & JAMES
THE BROADWAY COVERS PROJECT

JUNE 11–13, 2021
TICKETS: $65
Branden & James  team up for their Feinstein’s at the Nikko return with  The Broadway Covers Project.

Branden James, known as a Season 8 finalist from “America’s Got Talent” and  James Clark, featured cellist for Idina Menzel, Olivia Newton John, Shoshana Bean, and Scott Evan Davis have been crisscrossing the globe as a duo performing their popular, homegrown productions of  At The Corner of Symphony and Soul, From Bach to Bieber,  and  The Broadway Covers Project.

Now join them at  Feinstein’s at the Nikko  as Broadway gets reinvented in classical music form complete with operatic tenor vocals and cello in this thrilling performance featuring music from  Hamilton,  Wicked  Dear Evan Hansen, Mary Poppins,  and  West Side Story.
In addition to his tenure at The Met, Branden has appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. He has sung with Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago (Oklahoma  and  Show Boat), toured with The Twelve Tenors, co-hosted for Afterbuzz TV and has recorded three albums to date. Together they’ve performed alongside Rita Moreno, Loretta Divine, Sally Struthers, and Pia Toscano.

MX JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND. Photo by Kyle Kupres.

MX JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND
YOUR AUNTIE GLAM’S “LIVE AT LAST!” HAPPY HOUR
JUNE 16–19, 2021
TICKETS: $85

The  New York Times  #1 “At Home Diva” of the pandemic returns to San Francisco live and in person for a pre-Pride “How do you do?” Featuring Musical Direction by Davis Sytkowski, Mx Bond makes their San Francisco return at Feinstein’s at the Nikko for four performances only!

Mx Justin Vivian Bond has appeared on stage (Broadway and Off-Broadway; London’s West End), screen (Shortbus,  Can You Ever Forgive Me?,  Sunset Stories), television (High Maintenance, Difficult People, The Get Down), nightclub stages—most notably a decades long residence at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater in New York City) and in concert halls worldwide including Carnegie Hall and The Sydney Opera House.

Their visual art and installations have been seen in museums and galleries in the US (Participant Inc The New Museum) and abroad (Vitrine, London).Their memoir  Tango: My Childhood Backwards and in the High Heels  (Feminist Press) won the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction. They have self-release several full-length recordings, most notably  Dendrophile,  and  Silver Well.  As one half of the legendary punk cabaret duo Kiki & Herb, they toured the world and release two CDs,  Do You Hear What We Hear?  and  Kiki and Herb Will Die for You at Carnegie Hall.

They are the recipient of an Obie, a Bessie, and a Tony Award nomination, an Ethyl Eichelberger Award, The Peter Reed Foundation Grant, The Foundation for Contemporary Art Grant for Artists, and The Art Matters Grant.

Mx Bond has been at the forefront on Trans visibility and activism since the early 1990s.

SPENCER DAY. Photo by Rikke Photography.

SPENCER DAY
HERE COMES THE SUN
JUNE 23–26, 2021
TICKETS: $75
Spencer Day—the #1 Billboard  jazz/pop singer and songwriter seen everywhere from Lincoln Center to the  Hollywood  Bowl—will celebrate the resurgence of live concerts with a very special return engagement in San Francisco for an exclusive four-night run at Feinstein’s at the Nikko 26. His concert,  Here Comes the Sun, will focus on brighter days ahead with an optimistic mix of Spencer’s unique original songs, timeless standards, pop classics, and creative covers.

Spencer is one of  the  most acclaimed young  artists  creating witty and sophisticated pop songs in the  tradition of the classic American writers. NPR raved that he has “one of the most beautiful singing voices around today.” He’s also been hailed as “sensual and intimate” by  The Huffington Post,  “compelling” by  Time Out New York, and  “brilliant” by the  San Francisco  Chronicle.  The Washington Post  praised his  “cool jazz sensibilities” and  “cleverly crafted tales.”

Day  has wandered amid the expansive and diverse landscape of American music, developing an artistic sensibility that borrows from numerous sources: jazz, musical theater, cabaret, soul, folk, traditional and contemporary pop.

Spencer’s 2018 indie release  Angel City  was recorded will full orchestra at Capitol Studios and the album’s title song  was the  #1 Most Added track from the  Billboard  Contemporary  Jazz Chart,  in addition to being #1 Most Added track on the  Groove Jazz  Music Chart.  Day’s album  Vagabond  peaked at #11 on the  Billboard  Album Chart and stayed on the chart for 47 weeks. The lead single, “Til You Come To Me,” peaked at #3. His previous album,  Daybreak, debuted at #1 on the iTunes Jazz Chart.

His  first video collaboration with  the viral sensation Postmodern  Jukebox recently surpassed two million views on YouTube.

LIZ CALLOWAY

LIZ CALLOWAY
NOW WHERE WAS I?
JULY 8-10, 2021
TICKETS: $75
Broadway favorite Liz Callaway returns to Feinstein’s at the Nikko this summer with a new show, whimsically entitled,  Now Where Was I?    In this rousing celebration of the return of live music for live audiences, Liz will sing beloved songs by Stephen Sondheim, Maltby & Shire, Stephen Schwartz, Carly Simon, and much more.

Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Liz Callaway made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s  Merrily We Roll Along. She has gone on to star in  Baby,  Miss Saigon, The Look of Love, The Three Musketeers,  and for five years won acclaim as Grizabella in  Cats.  Liz sang the Academy Award-nominated song “Journey to the Past” in the animated feature  Anastasia. Other film work includes Jasmine in the two  Aladdin  sequels,  The Swan Princess,  and  The Rewrite  with Hugh Grant. She performs regularly with her sister Ann Hampton Callaway, as well as composer Stephen Schwartz, and has had the great pleasure of singing with Jimmy Webb, Paul Williams, and the legendary Johnny Mathis. Liz has seven solo recordings including her newest album,  Comfort & Joy: An Acoustic Christmas.

NATALIE DOUGLAS

NATALIE DOUGLAS
TO NINA…A NINA SIMONE TRIBUTE
JULY 16–17, 2021
TICKETS: $65
A pivotal artist of the Twentieth Century, Dr. Nina Simone was one of Natalie’s principal influences, filling her early musical memories with the dignity, grace and emotional power that was Nina Simone.

Honoring Nina’s spirit, Natalie performs songs recorded by the late legendary singer, including George Gershwin’s “I Loves You Porgy”, Nina’s big hit “My Baby Just Cares for Me”, Dr. Simone’s composition “Mississippi Goddam”, the stirring “I Put a Spell On You” and the ode to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Why (The King of Love is Dead).”

Called “a true force of nature” and “in a league of her own” by Clive Davis of The Times (UK), Natalie Douglas is a Nightlife, two-time Backstage Bistro and twelve-time MAC *Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) Award Winner, and recipient of the 2014 Margaret Whiting & 2016 Donald F. Smith Awards from the Mabel Mercer Foundation. Natalie’s portrait also hangs on the legendary Birdland Jazz Club Wall of Fame.

Natalie has a bachelor’s degree from USC in Theatre and Women’s Studies and hold a master’s degree from UCLA in Psychology and Theatre. For more info, visit Natalie Douglas.

LILLIAS WHITE
LILLIAS WHITE
AN EVENING WITH LILIAS WHITE
JULY 23–24, 2021
TICKETS: $75
Tony & Emmy Award winner  Lillias White  brings her brand-new concert  to San Francisco’s Feinstein’s at the Nikko. A Tony Award winner for  The Life, White has been seen on Broadway in  Fela!, Chicago, How to Succeed in Business…, Once on This Island, Dreamgirls, Cats, and  Barnum, among others. The  New York Times  hails Ms. White as “a one-of-a-kind performer who combines the sass of a classic blues mama with the skill of a Broadway star. What sets her above, and apart from, most Broadway pop-blues shouters is her ruthless honesty and self-awareness”  Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see one of Broadway’s most dynamic performers.
photos courtesy of Feinstein’s at the Nikko

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