Tony, Emmy Winner Leslie Uggams Brings 'Classic Uggams' to San Francisco 11/2

Bay Area Cabaret, devoted to presenting world-renowned artists who expand the definition of cabaret, continues its 11th season, with pioneering Tony and Emmy Award winning actress/singer Leslie Uggams in her first Bay Area appearance in more than two decades. Celebrating over 60 years in show business, Ms. Uggams has starred on television, films, and Broadway, and has recorded more than fifteen albums. Leslie Uggams will perform an evening of "Classic Uggams," a collection of songs ranging from Lena Horne to musical theatre, from Broadway classics to jazz and blues,5pm, Sunday, November 2 at the Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco, 950 Mason Street atop Nob Hill, San Francisco. Tickets ($50 general/$45 subscribers) can be purchased by calling (415) 392-4400 or online at www.bayareacabaret.org.

Earlier in 2014, Ms. Uggams was featured in the PBS documentary series: The Pioneers Of Television, as she was instrumental in breaking down racial barriers on television and became known for creating a number of "firsts". At age six, Ms. Uggams co-starred on the first sitcom to star an African-American actress - playing niece to Ethel Waters' Beulah in 1950. By age 9, while making appearances on The Milton Berle Show, The Arthur Godfrey Show and Your Show Of Shows, she also became the opening act for such jazz legends as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Dinah Washington at the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Ms. Uggams attended the New York School Professional Children's School and at the age of 15, appeared on the CBS -TV show Name That Tune, winning $12,500 toward her college education. After her win, Ms. Uggams was signed to a record deal at Columbia Records by Mitch Miller, who also cast her on his Sing Along With Mitch TV series, making her the first African-American to be a featured regular on a national prime-time variety show.

While studying musical theory and composition at Julliard (along with her close friend, Marvin Hamlisch), Ms. Uggams alternated major nightclub appearances with her stage work. Leslie created a sensation when she starred in a Berkeley, CA production of musical, The Boyfriend. Although it was the 60's, blind-racial casting was still considered somewhat radical - Leslie's role was played on Broadway by Julie Andrews and most of the cast (including actors cast as her parents) was white. In 1967, Ms. Uggams finally made her Broadway debut starring in Hallelujah Baby!, capturing the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

In 1969, Ms. Uggams became the first African-American female to have her own network variety show when The Leslie Uggams Show debuted on CBS. In 1978, Ms. Uggams starred as Kizzie, in the landmark television mini-series Roots, which remains one of the most-watched dramas in television history, earning Leslie the Critics' Choice Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress as well as Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. More recently, in 2009, Ms. Uggams received an Ovation Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Lena Horne in Stormy Weather, in its pre-Broadway development run at the Pasadena Playhouse. Other Broadway and regional shows include Jerry Herman's Jerry's Girls, Master Class, Anything Goes,Thoroughly Modern Millie, On Golden Pond and August Wilson's King Hedley II (Tony nomination Best Actress In A Play).

In the summer of 2014, Ms Uggams became the first African-American to star as "Mama Rose" in a professional production ofGypsy and she will become the first African-American to star as "Auntie Mame" in Jerry Herman's Mame, in December 2014. The New York Post recently raved, "In a powerful voice undimmed by age, she displayed a dazzling stylistic range. Absolutely stunning."

Bay Area Cabaret (BAC) is a not-for profit organization founded by Marilyn Levinson, a fifth generation San Francisco native. Through its concert series and wide-ranging outreach activities, BAC aims to expand the definition of cabaret and broaden the audience for intimate entertainment, featuring Great American Songbook offerings from George and Ira Gershwin and Stephen Sondheim to Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joni Mitchell. Past seasons have featured Marvin Hamlisch, Elaine Paige, Chita Rivera, Tommy Tune, Norm Lewis, Sutton Foster, Barbara Cook, Peter Gallagher, Nellie McKay, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Jane Monheit, and Karen Mason.

The 2014-2015 Bay Area Cabaret season continues December 7 with Andrew Lloyd Webber protégé and star of Broadway'sPhantom of the Opera and Little Mermaid Sierra Boggess in her newest show, Finding the Balance. The series resumes in 2015 with a rare San Francisco appearance by Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Stacey Kent on February 1, 2015 performing selections from her new bossa nova album The Changing Lights. On Saturday February 28 and Sunday, March 1, Grammy Hall of Fame singer/songwriter Judy Collins returns with a brand new show. Jazz history will be made on Saturday, March 21, when multiple-Grammy-winning pianist/composer Ramsey Lewis makes his first Venetian Room appearance in three decades, with Grammy-nominated vocalist and guitarist John Pizzarelli, in a tribute to Venetian Room regular Nat King Cole. The Tony-nominated Broadway and television star Annaleigh Ashford will make her West Coast cabaret debut on Sunday, April 19. Bay Area Cabaret's season concludes with two shows on Sunday, May 31: the cabaret debut of rising Broadway star Bobby Conte Thornton at 5pm, and a new highly acclaimed new cabaret show by Tony winner Lillias White with musical direction by Billy Stritch at 8pm.

All shows are presented in the historic Venetian Room at the Fairmont San Francisco. Tickets to most shows are $50 ($45 subscribers), with no food or drink minimum required. Subscribers enjoy substantial discounts, reserved seating, and free ticket exchange among series performances.

Subscribers who purchase six shows receive both substantial ticket discounts and reserved seats, and are allowed to exchange tickets among shows. For patrons of Bay Area Cabaret, the Fairmont Hotel offers a lavish buffet supper in the Laurel Court for $44 (plus tax and tip), plus free parking for all who dine in the Laurel Court.

Tickets for individual concerts are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or by phone at City Box Office (415) 392-4400. Subscriptions, and discounts for groups of 8 or more, are available directly from Bay Area Cabaret at (415) 927-4636.