Feinstein And Cook Debut CHEEK TO CHEEK At Feinstein's 9/7-10/2

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY, the nightclub proclaimed "Best of New York" by New York Magazine and "an invaluable New York institution" by The New York Post will open its Fall 2010 season with the first joint engagement of the club's founder Michael Feinstein and Tony Award winning Broadway legend Barbara Cook in their new show "Cheek To Cheek" from September 7 - October 2. Their show will feature classic pop standards, rarities from the American songbook and selections from Feinstein's new CD "Fly Me To The Moon." Feinstein's longtime Musical Director John Oddo will lead the all-star quintet. All shows take place at the Loews Regency Hotel (540 Park Avenue at 61st Street).

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 150-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace. More than simply a performer, Feinstein is nationally recognized for his commitment to celebrating America's popular song and preserving its legacy for the next generation.

Feinstein's love of song can be heard in The Sinatra Project, his 2009 Concord Records CD celebrating the music of "Ol' Blue Eyes," and in the PBS series Michael Feinstein's American Songbook, in which he uncovers treasures from the Great American Songbook. The first episode airs on public television affiliates around the country on October 6. Feinstein will serve as artistic director of the Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana, scheduled to open in January 2011. The theater will be home to an annual international Great American Songbook festival, diverse live programming and a museum for his rare memorabilia and manuscripts. Starting in 2010, he also took over as director of Jazz and Popular Song Series at New York's Lincoln Center.

Feinstein has written the score for two new stage musicals, The Day They Saved Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and The Gold Room, and he is working with MGM to turn The Thomas Crown Affair into a Broadway musical. He also is designing a new piano for Steinway called "The First Ladies," inspired by the White House piano. In 2004, he completed a national tour with songwriting icon Jimmy Webb based on their CD Only One Life - The Songs of Jimmy Webb. The disc was named one of "10 Best CDs of the Year" by USA Today.

The roots of all this work began in Columbus, Ohio, where Feinstein started playing piano by ear as a 5-year-old. After graduating from high school, he worked in local piano lounges for two years, moving to Los Angeles when he was 20. The widow of legendary concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant introduced him to Ira Gershwin in July 1977. Feinstein became Gershwin's assistant for six years, which earned him access to numerous unpublished Gershwin songs, many of which he has since performed and recorded.

Barbara Cook - considered "Broadway's favorite ingénue" during the heyday of the Broadway musical - launched a second career as a concert and recording artist soaring from one professional peak to another. Her silvery soprano, purity of tone, and warm presence have delighted audiences around the world for more than 50 years.

Whether on the stages of major international venues throughout the world or in the intimate setting of a New York nightclub Barbara Cook's popularity continues to thrive - as evidenced the celebration of her 80th birthday in the Fall of 2007 with three sold out concerts with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, her solo concert debut at the Metropolitan Opera (which made her the first female pop singer to be presented by the Met in the company's long history), and a succession of six triumphant returns to Carnegie Hall where she made a legendary solo concert debut in 1975. Miss Cook's ever-growing mantle of honors including the Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, as well as her citation as a Living New York Landmark, her induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame and Musical America's 2007 Vocalist of the Year award.

A leading star during the Broadway musical's "golden age" of the 50's and 60's, her many Broadway credits include the creation of three classic roles in the American musical theatre: Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's Candide, Marian the Librarian in Meredith Willson's The Music Man (Tony Award) and Amalia in Bock and Harnick's She Loves Me (Drama Desk Award). Last season she returned to Broadway for the first time in 23 years and received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Sondheim On Sondheim.

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY will present Michael Feinstein and Barbara Cook in "Cheek To Cheek" from September 7 to October 2 with the following schedule: Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:30 PM and Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM. Please note: There is no show on Tuesday, September 14; Ms. Cook will perform without Mr. Feinstein on Saturday, September 25 at 8:00 PM; there will be no late show that night. Performances have a $95.00 cover with $150.00 premium seats and $250 up-front seats, in addition to a $40.00 food and beverage minimum. There are a select amount of seats, based on availability, with a $40.00 cover charge and no food and beverage minimum. Jackets are suggested but not required. The club is located at 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street in New York City. For ticket reservations and club information, please call (212) 339-4095 or visit us online at Feinsteinsatloewsregency.com and TicketWeb.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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