Natalie Douglas to Premiere New Show HELLO, DOLLY! at Birdland, 9/15

By: Sep. 09, 2014
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NATALIE DOUGLAS - the acclaimed vocalist hailed as "sensational" by Time Out New York and "stirring" by The New York Daily News - will debut the new concert "HELLO DOLLY...THE MUSIC OF DOLLY PARTON" on Monday, September 15 at 9:30 PM. Douglas honors another notably-buxom performer: the beloved singer, actor, songwriter and Broadway composer Dolly Parton. Selections including songs that Dolly wrote such as "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors" and "I Just Might" from the Broadway musical 9 to 5, in addition to numbers that Dolly creatively covered like Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." Natalie will be joined by her longtime Musical Director Mark Hartman (Broadway's Avenue Q, Sondheim on Sondheim) on piano, accordion and mandolin; Michael Blanco on bass; Scott Kuney on guitar and banjo; Joe Choroszewski on drums and Shanna Sharp on acoustic guitar.

"I've been obsessed with Dolly and her music since I was little," says Natalie. "As a kid I really grooved to her incredible voice, her songs, her humor and her irreverent style. Not only does she twinkle, she downright sparkles. Dolly Parton is a party and she wants everybody to attend. But that doesn't mean she doesn't know or care about the pain of everyday life, she just sings it out till it feels better. From my parents, I learned that all the American indigenous forms of music belong to all Americans regardless of color. If it's a human story, I want to sing it and I hear that in Dolly's music."

For Natalie's recent debut at the Café Carlyle, The Wall Street Journal raved "You might say that Natalie Douglas is uncategorizable, combining the soul of a gospel singer with the musicianship of a jazz singer and the warm, chatty intimacy of a great cabareteuse. She can sing sweetly and softly and she can belt with the kind of power that you makes you respect her authority. Yet Ms. Douglas's greatest gift is for narrative and storytelling, and creating a direct personal connection with every audience lucky enough to be in front of her."

NATALIE DOUGLAS - the seven-time MAC Award, Backstage Bistro Award and Nightlife Award Winner - has garnered rave reviews for her unique mix of jazz, blues, standards, pop, folk and country music blended together. Most recently, she received the 2014 Margaret Whiting Award at Carnegie Hall from the Mabel Mercer Foundation.

Her recent performances include concerts across the U.S. (Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Café Carlyle, and The Appel Room - formerly The Allen Room - at Lincoln Center) and across three continents (Montenegro, Greece, Corsica, Puerto Vallarta, London, Buenos Aires, Cancun & Germany.) In a Greenwich Village tradition, she also performs an annual New Year's Eve collaboration with Mark Hartman at the Duplex. Her solo recordings include her debut CD, Not That Different - which was nominated for a 2000 MAC Award for Outstanding Recording - and To Nina...Live At Birdland, (a concert recording of her one-woman show, To Nina: A Tribute to Nina Simone) Both CDs, available at iTunes and other outlets, continue to be featured on NPR and Sirius XM Radio. She also appears on Fine and Dandy for PS Classics and Broadway By The Year: 1940 on Bayview Records.

Natalie is also an actor and is featured in feature film "The Camera's Eye," has appeared on ABC's "Cupid" and many theatrical productions, including The People vs. Mona, Thalia Follies, theATrainplays (series 5-22) with The Neighborhood Playhouse, Hillside in Hell with 13th Street Rep and was a featured soloist at the York Theatre Company's benefit production of Children Of Eden at Riverside Church.

For more information, visit www.NatalieDouglas.com.



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