OLD FRIENDS Cabaret Will Come to Vivid Stage This Month

Vivid Stage will present Old Friends, a cabaret featuring vocalist Charles Thomas and pianist Rick Knutsen on Thursday, April 23 at 7:00 pm.

Old Friends is an eclectic mix of jazz standards, pop and folk classics, and musical reflections on life, love, and the ties that bind. This one-hour performance is a part of a mini-tour that will take Thomas to several venues along the East Coast this spring.

With repertoire ranging from Bernstein to Stevie Wonder, and from Gershwin to gospel, vocalist Charles Thomas spices up servings of jazz standards with eclectic pop, classic folk, and contemporary world music flavors. His performances in venues from Chicago's Jazz Showcase and New York's Laurie Beechman Theatre to the Franc Pinot in Paris, France, have featured collaborations with artists as diverse as jazz pianists Geri Allen and Amina Claudine Myers, internationally renowned dance company Urban Bush Women, and vocal ensembles Opera Ebony and New York Harlem Theater. He holds degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, Northwestern University, and Yale University, where he was a member of the Whiffenpoofs of Yale.