Nicolas King's ACT ONE Album Featuring Liza Minnelli, Tom Selleck, Jane Monheit, and Norm Lewis Out Today on CD

CLUB44 RECORDS is launching their relationship with acclaimed vocalist Nicolas King with the release of his new collection Act One: Celebrating 25 Years of Recordings, which is available on CD today, Friday, February 26. The album was released in streaming and digital formats last month. As they plan King's all-new album within the next year, the label looks back with this lively history of King's already multi-decade career. While focusing on his suave vocals, and showcasing both eternal standards and newer songs, the album boasts guest appearances from stage and screen luminaries Liza Minnelli, Tom Selleck, Jane Monheit, and Norm Lewis. The recording also features major musical contributions from two-time Grammy Award nominee Mike Renzi (renowned pianist and music director for Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, and Mel Tormé) and Charles Calello (arranger and producer for Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, and Ray Charles). Music legend Connie Francis provides liner notes. The album's first single is "What a Wonderful World," a duet with celebrated Broadway leading man Norm Lewis.

"I started compiling this record merely so that I had something fun to sell at concerts," says Nicolas. "But once the pandemic hit, I found myself with loads of free time and began uncovering so many recordings from the past 25 years. This tiny project ballooned into something much bigger than I anticipated, but it turned into an opportunity to look back at what brought me to this point. I think of this album as the ending of my childhood chapter and a wonderful setup to the next! I thank all my musical guests for their contributions, but I'm especially grateful to musical titans Mike Renzi and Charles Calello. They both have extraordinary legacies, and I am humbled to be added to the list of iconic artists they've collaborated with."

Label co-owner Wayne Haun adds, "When I was first introduced to Nicolas, I was mesmerized by his ability to put across a lyric and the way he effortlessly holds the audience in his hand. It feels fitting to release this collection as we prepare to enter the studio for an all-new studio album. We're thrilled to take the journey with Nicolas as he continues his trajectory as one of the most exciting young vocalists of his generation."

Act One: Celebrating 25 Years of Recordings is a compilation of sparkling new studio tracks, selections from his previous solo albums, and vintage archival gems from early in his career. The collection opens with a spoken live introduction by Liza Minnelli, a memento from the decade Nicolas toured the world with her. The new selections include a lushly orchestrated version of "But Beautiful," performed with jazz singer Jane Monheit. "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," a charming duet with Tom Selleck, was taped onstage when they appeared together in the Broadway play A Thousand Clowns when Nicolas was just 10 years old.

"I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together" - the inimitable TV theme to "The Carol Burnett Show" - is heard in a medley with "My Shining Hour." The pairing is dedicated to Ms. Burnett and her late daughter Carrie Hamilton, whom Nicolas worked with on the Broadway play Hollywood Arms. Other highlights include a loose, jazzy rendition of the Four Seasons standard "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and a pensive interpretation of The Irving Berlin classic "How Deep Is the Ocean," elegantly accompanied only by Alan Bernstein's bass. Nicolas's take on the beloved "Sesame Street" favorite "Sing" swings with the razzle dazzle of a driving big band arrangement. He also makes sure to present new songs written in the classic style, including "Looks Like They're in Love" (Alex Rybeck & Bob Levy) and "The Only One" (Tracy Stark).

The storied entertainment anthem "There's No Business Like Show Business" provides a fitting coda to the album. The track, merging a delightful early recording with a brand-new studio cut, showcases both his roots as a young budding showman and his present-day vocal prowess, musical intelligence, and ebullient verve.

Will Friedwald - noted author and Wall Street Journal scribe - perhaps said it best: King "is a compact dynamo, a whirlwind of a performer who balances incredible excitement and high energy with restraint and nuance. He gets the crowd in his pocket within the first 30 seconds of walking out on stage and keeps them there for the rest of the night."

"ACT ONE" TRACK LIST

1) Liza Minnelli Introduction* Recorded live at the Kravis Center, West Palm Beach FL - 2006

2) Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries (Ray Henderson / Lew Brown) / Nice 'n' Easy" (Lew Spence / Alan & Marilyn Bergman)*

Arranged by Greg Wardson; Orchestrated by Jonathan Barrick - 2002

3) God Bless the Child (Arthur Herzog, Jr. / Billie Holiday)*

Conceived by Liza Minnelli; Arranged by Frank Owens (Yvonne Monett: piano, Bill Miele: bass, Bob Saraceno: drums) - 2003

4) Yes Sir, That's My Baby (Gus Kahn / Walter Donaldson), featuring Tom Selleck*

Live at the Longacre Theatre, New York NY - 2001

5) How Deep Is the Ocean (Irving Berlin) From the album Blame It on My Youth - Arranged by Nicolas King (Alan Bernstein: bass) - 2006

6) Mr. Paganini (Sam Coslow)

From the album Nineteen - Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano, Dave Zinno: bass, John Anter: drums) - 2010

7) Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Bob Crewe / Bob Gaudio)

From the album Nineteen - Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano, Jay Leonhart: bass, Buddy Williams: drums) - 2010

8) The Only One (Tracy Stark) - From the album Shades of Beautiful: The Tracy Stark Songbook - 2016

9) I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together (Joe Hamilton) / My Shining Hour (Harold Arlen / Johnny Mercer)

Single - Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano) - 2013

10) Looks Like They're in Love (Bob Levy/ Alex Rybeck)

Single - Released by Bob Levy (2020 MAC Award Winner "Song of the Year") - 2016

11) You Must Believe in Spring (Michel Legrand / Alan & Marilyn Bergman / Jacques Demy)

From the album On Another Note - Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano) - 2017

12) But Beautiful (Johnny Burke / Jimmy Van Heusen), featuring Jane Monheit*

Arranged by Mike Renzi; strings arranged by Charles Calello - 2020

13) Sing (Joe Raposo) - Single; Arranged by Charles Calello - 2020

14) What A Wonderful World (Bob Thiele / George David Weiss), featuring Norm Lewis*

Arrangement courtesy of Billy Gilman - 2020

15) What Matters Most (Alan & Marilyn Bergman / Dave Grusin)* Arranged by Mike Renzi; strings arranged by Charles Calello - 2020

16) There's No Business Like Show Business (Irving Berlin)

Arranged by Mike Renzi (Mike Renzi: piano, Alan Bernstein: bass, John Anter: drums)

17) Come Back to Me (Burton Lane / Alan Jay Lerner) Arranged by Charles Calello - 2020

*Previously Unreleased

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!