Andreas, Cook, Ebersole, Stritch & More Headed to SF's Bay Area Cabaret

Bay Area Cabaret has announced that it will follow-up last season's resoundingly successful series of "Perfect Pairings" duet concerts with an illustrious line-up of nationally renowned Broadway and jazz divas. Bay Area Cabaret's fifth season will kick-off on Sunday, November 16 at 7pm with popular Broadway veteran Christine Andreas celebrating the great women of musical theatre at the historic Empire Ballroom of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. The 7 p.m. is sold out -- a 4 p.m. matinee has just been added. Next, Bay Area Cabaret will team up with City Arts and Lectures for the first time as they present Barbara Cook in concert as well as in conversation with Steve Winn on Tuesday, December 2 at 8pm at Herbst Theatre. The season continues with Christine Ebersole accompanied by Billy Stritch at the Commandants Room of the Marines Memorial Club on Sunday, January 18 at 5pm; Nnenna Freelon and her jazz trio at the Marines Memorial Club Crystal Ballroom on Sunday, March 8 at 5pm; and finally Ann Hampton Callaway at the Commandants Room on Sunday, May 17 at 5pm. Individual tickets to all shows are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or City Box Office (415) 392-4400. For Bay Area Cabaret 2008-2009 season subscriptions or for more information including audio and video samples, visit www.bayareacabaret.org or call (415) 927-INFO.

"This season, we have selected from the Broadway and jazz fields a sampling of our nation's best cabaret artists - those who possess the ability to enter into an emotional dialogue with each and every member of their audience," said Marilyn Levinson, Bay Area Cabaret founder and Executive Producer. "Initial response to our season has been incredibly strong and we have more subscriptions than ever before!"

Christine Andreas with David Burnham - "Here's to the Ladies"
Sunday, November 16 - 4pm & 7pm (7pm show sold out)
Empire Ballroom, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco

450 Powell Street at Union Square
Tickets: $45/subscribers $40

Two-time Tony nominee Christine Andreas, best known to San Francisco audiences for her highly acclaimed performance in Light in the Piazza, is renowned as one of America's finest cabaret performers. According to the New York Times, "She delicately kills with the sheer beauty of her voice." From New York's Algonquin, Café Carlyle and Carnegie Hall, Ms. Andreas will perform the San Francisco debut of her tribute to six great women of the theatre: Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Barbara Cook, Angela Lansbury, Gertrude Lawrence and Barbra Streisand, Joining her to open this season will be her dazzling "Piazza" co-star David Burnham, who recently performed the role of Fiyero in the Broadway-company production of "Wicked". The Sir Francis Drake Hotel's newly renovated Empire Ballroom will host this very special tribute event.

Barbara Cook - "A Celebration in Conversation and Song"
Tuesday, December 2 - 8 pm
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
Tickets: $50/subscribers $45

The legendary Barbara Cook launches Bay Area Cabaret's first collaboration with City Arts & Lectures in this special event in which she will perform selections from Sondheim, Rodgers, and Berlin and also participate in an in-depth interview with beloved San Francisco Chronicle arts and culture critic Steven Winn. The New York Times raved that Ms. Cook "shares the wisdom she has gained in 80 well-lived years with a tenderness and honesty that could break your heart and mend it all at once." Bay Area Cabaret has secured a limited number of orchestra and box seats at a discount off regular prices to be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis to season subscribers.

Christine Ebersole with Billy Stritch - "Broadway's Best"
Sunday, January 18 - 5pm
Commandants Room, Marines Memorial Club, San Francisco
Tickets: $50/subscribers $45

Following two sold-out shows last season and her performance this fall with the San Francisco Symphony at Carnegie Hall's opening night gala, Christine Ebersole returns to the Commandants Room of the Marines Memorial Club in a brand new Broadway and standards show with Liza Minelli's accompanist Billy Stritch. Ms. Ebersole has starred opposite Richard Burton in "Camelot" and with Dianne Wiest and Sam Waterson in "The Three Sisters". The San Francisco Chronicle raved that this versatile two-time Tony winner ("Grey Gardens" and "42nd Street") and former "Saturday Night Live" cast member "light(s) up the little spaces in a song that others leave unexplored." Ms. Ebersole's Bay Area Cabaret performance will mark her final cabaret engagement prior to her highly anticipated return to the Broadway stage in Blithe Spirit, with Rupert Evert, Angela Lansbury and Kim Catrell.

NNENNA FREELON - "An Uncommon Standard"
Sunday, March 8 - 5 pm
Crystal Ballroom, Marines Memorial Club, San Francisco
Tickets: $45/subscribers $40

Six-time Grammy nominee Nnenna Feelon and her jazz trio make their Crystal Ballroom debut with an electric mix of Great American jazz standards, ranging from George and Ira Gershwin to Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. The Los Angeles Times proclaimed "there is no doubt that Freelon has now positioned herself in the very top echelon." For something truly extraordinary, the audience will be treated to this Monterey Jazz All Star vocalist with 11 recordings to her credit who Aretha Franklin has called "very hip." Freelon will make this exclusive San Francisco appearance following a 5-night run at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis, California.

Ann Hampton Callaway - "At Last"
Sunday, May 17 - 5pm
Commandants Room, Marines Memorial Club, San Francisco
Tickets: $45/subscribers $40

Bay Area Cabaret favorite Ann Hampton Callaway celebrates her much-anticipated album of love songs - At Last, Landslide, Comes Love, Over the Rainbow - which is set for release on Valentines Day, 2009. A tremendously versatile artist, Ms. Callaway has been Tony-nominated for Best Featured Actress in Swing, written songs for Barbara Streisand, composed the well-known "Nanny" theme, been featured on Larry King Live, Rosie O'Donnell, sang in Robert DeNiro's "The Good Shepherd" and hosted a public television show, "Singer's Spotlight." The New York Times has described her as a "pop-jazz powerhouse who interpolates sustained high-voltage scat passages without a trace of discomfort and makes a song grow larger and larger until it nearly bursts at the seams." At the end of the show the audience will be invited to compose an original song with Ms. Callaway.

Bay Area Cabaret (BAC) is a not-for profit, all-volunteer organization, which presents extraordinary performances in a variety of elegant venues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through its concert series and wide-ranging outreach activities, BAC aims to expand the definition of cabaret and broaden the audience for intimate entertainment, offering Great American Songbook entries from Harold Arlen and Stephen Sondheim to Abba and Stevie Wonder. Chronicle readers voted Bay Area Cabaret's series the Bay Area's "Best Concert Evenings." Last year's season, "Perfect Pairings," began with the West Coast premiere of Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker's innovative cabaret evening "Life is a Duet." The season continued with performances by jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey; "The Rose" songwriter Amanda McBroom & Grammy winner Melissa Manchester; and Christine Ebersole with Billy Stritch. Past seasons have featured Maureen McGovern, Barbara Cook, Karen Mason, Broadway stars Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, Darius de Haas, opera divas Patricia Racette and Karen Slack, and multi-platinum songwriter and jazz vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway. For single ticket call (415) 392-4400 (City Box Office); for subscriptions call (415) 927-INFO.

For more information and audio and video clips, visit www.bayareacabaret.com