Bay Area Cabaret Opens Season 11/8 with Jane Monheit, Features Foster, Ebersole and McBroom

What good is sitting along in your room when Bay Area Cabaret (www.bayareacabaret.org) beckons with its sixth season of seasoned Broadway, pop and jazz vocalists? On November 8 at San Francisco's Empire Ballroom (Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 450 Powell Street off Union Square) jazz vocalist Jane Monheit opens a spectacular season which brings Tony & Academy Award Winner Joel Grey and Tony-winning Broadway ingenue Sutton Foster to San Francisco, and features the return of Bay Area favorites Christine Ebersole, Karen Mason and Amanda McBroom.

"This is our most ambitious season ever," said Marilyn Levinson, Bay Area Cabaret Founding Executive Producer. "Each year, our subscriber base seems to grow by at least 25%" This year, we intend to reward their support with an expanded lineup of artists that holds between them 1 AcademyÒ Award, 4 TonyÒ Awards, 9 MAC Awards, 2 Nightlife Awards and 3 Grammy nominations."

The season opens at the Sir Francis Drake with glamorous jazz vocalist Jane Monheit, in her first public performance with only piano accompanist. With six albums to her name by age 30, Monheit has performed at most of the major concert halls, festivals and jazz clubs around the world, and collaborated with Michael Buble, John Pizzarelli, Michael Feinstein, Ramsey Lewis and Fred Hersch. Her meteoric rise and two Grammy nominated albums prompted the San Francsico Chronicle to dub her the "overnight jazz diva." Equally comfortable with standards, pop and Brazilian material, her Bay Area Cabaret appearance celebrates the release of her sixth album The Lovers, the Dreamers and Me.

The new year will see Bay Area Cabaret's continued collaboration with City Arts & Lectures when Joel Grey is interviewed by beloved Bay Area journalist Steven Winn on January 28th at the Herbst Theatre. On Sunday, February 14, Valentines Day, Tony winning ingénue (Thoroughly Modern Millie) Sutton Foster will make her Bay Area concert debut at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel's Empire Ballroom. Broadway star Karen Mason (Mamma Mia!, Hairspray, Sunset Blvd) performs a new program of showstoppers and pop originals on March 25 at the Marines Memorial Club. The Rose songwriter Amanda McBroom appears on Friday, April 16, performing a tribute to her songwriting inspiration Jacques Brel and the season closes with Grey Gardens star Christine Ebersole in a brand new Carlyle program with Michael Feinstein's accompanist John Oddo on Sunday, April 25, both at the Marines Memorial Club.

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 Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder. Chronicle readers voted Bay Area Cabaret's series the Bay Area's "Best Concert Evenings." Past seasons have featured Maureen McGovern, Barbara Cook, John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey, TV stars Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry, jazz diva Nnenna Frellon, Broadway stars Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, Darius de Haas, sopranodivas Patricia Racette and Karen Slack, and multi-platinum songwriter and jazz vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway.

Individual tickets to all shows are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or City Box Office (415) 392-4400. For Bay Area Cabaret 2009 / 2010 season subscriptions or for more information including audio and video samples call (415) 927-4636 or visit us online at www.bayareacabaret.org.

Below is a complete listing of Bay Area Cabaret's 2009 / 2010 Season:

Jane Monheit
The Lovers, the Dreamers & Me
Sunday, November 8 at 7pm
Empire Ballroom, Sir Francis Drake Hotel
450 Powell Street (off Union Square), San Francisco
Tickets: $40 / $ 45
City Box Office: (415) 392-4400

Celebrating the release of her sixth CD - and the opening of Bay Area Cabaret's sixth season! - Jane Monheit, an internationally celebrated jazz vocalist will perform her first public "duo" show. With six albums to her name by age 30, Monheit has performed at most of the major concert halls, festivals and jazz clubs around the world, and collaborated with Michael Buble, John Pizzarelli, Michael Feinstein, Ramsey Lewis and Fred Hersch. Her meteoric rise and two Grammy-nominated albums prompted the San Francsico Chronicle to dub her the "overnight jazz diva. Ms. Monheit will perform dreamy ballads, like the title song dedicated to her newborn son Jack, fiery anthems like Bonnie Raitt's "I Ain't Gonna Let you Break my Heart", effervescent Brazilian sambas, songs by Paul Simon and Fiona Apple as well as pop/jazz classics like "Get Out of Town" and her signature version of "Waters of March." Equally comfortable with standards, pop and Brazilian material, Monheit's Bay Area Cabaret appearance marks her first public "duo" show (piano and voice).

Joel Grey
Song & Conversation hosted by Steven Winn*
* Presented by City Arts & Lectures in association with Bay Area Cabaret
Thursday, January 28 at 8pm
Herbst Theatre, SF
Tickets: $35/30

Musical theatre icon Joel Grey comes to town for a rare and in-depth interview by former San Francisco Chronicle Arts and Culture Critic Steven Winn. He'll discuss his beginnings as a Borscht Belt performer alongside his father Mickey Katz, his travels through our city's Palace Hotel and Fairmont Venetian Room with his wife and daughter Jennifer (Dirty Dancing) Grey his Tony and Academy award-winning performance as the Emcee in Cabaret, and his passion for photography. Expect Mr. Grey to sing one very familiar number...and a few surprises! Bay Area Cabaret has secured a limited number of premium seats at a discount off regular prices, to be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis to subscribers only.

Sutton Foster
Wish
Sunday, February 14 at 5pm
Empire Ballroom, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, SF
Tickets: $45/subscribers $40

Since winning the hearts of Broadway audiences -- and her first Tony Award -- with her performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Sutton Foster went on to win three more Tony and Drama Desk nominations, for her performances in Little Women (opposite Maureen McGovern), The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein and Shrek the Musical. Broadway's busiest musical comedy star, Foster has created starring roles in five new musicals in less than eight years (a rate which surpasses both Ethel Merman and Mary Martin!). Her debut CD, a mix of musical theatre, pop and jazz, showcases her "special blend of voice and sensibility... and plays variations on the theme of wishfulness, of throwing off cares and dreaming the future into becoming the present"(New York Times). Direct from her sold-out appearances at Feinstein's at the Regency and Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, Ms. Foster arrives at the romantic Empire Ballroom in time for Valentines Day.

Karen Mason
Mason on Mason!
Sunday, March 25 at 5pm
Commandants Room, Marines Memorial Club, SF
Tickets: $45/40

Returning by popular demand to the corner of Mason and Sutter streets, Broadway and cabaret diva Karen Mason creates a new show for her Bay Area Cabaret fans, with songs by Shelly Markham, Paul Rolnick, Jules Styne, Lennon & McCartney, along with Broadway showstoppers. Recently cast in Frank Wildhorn's (Jeckyl & Hyde) new show Wonderland: Alice's New Adventures, Mason is well-known for having originated the role of Tanya in Broadway's Mamma Mia, and played Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard for three years, to critical acclaim and standing ovations. Her nine MAC awards, Nightlife and Bistro awards recognize her brilliance as a singer/actress with the ability to forge an intimate bond with every member of her audience.

Amanda McBroom
Chanson
Friday, April 16 at 8pm
Commandants Room, Marines Memorial Club, SF
Tickets: $45/subscribers $40

Grammy-nominated songwriter ("The Rose") Amanda McBroom brings us a show dedicated entirely to her songwriting inspiration Jacques Brel. With both piano and guitar accompaniment this brilliant singer/actress will perform "Chanson des Vieux Amants," "Marieke," "Carousel" and a few rare gems. "Cabaret is not dead," says McBroom. "It is very much alive...and it is the home for people who still want to write the intelligent, emotional and lyric-driven melodic song." Witness this tribute to one great songwriter from another, and help us celebrate the release of Ms. McBroom's most magnificent CD to date.

Christine Ebersole
The Carlyle Show
Sunday, April 25 at 5pm
Commandants Room, Marines Memorial Club, Sf
Tickets: $45/subscribers $40

Two-time Tony winner (Grey Gardens, 42nd Street) and Saturday Night Live cast member Christine Ebersole graces our stage, following her recent Broadway run opposite Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit and her sold-out evenings at New York's Regency with Michael Feinstein. To close our season, Ms. Ebersole will bring a brand new show, which she will unveil at the Café Carlyle in early 2010 with John Oddo, musical director for Michael Feinstein and the late Rosemary Clooney.

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