On New Year’s Eve 2021, international cabaret and concert entertainer, Isaac Sutton, will perform a concert, Tonight a Musical, at The Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv, Israel. This concert is part of Sutton’s Israeli concert tour which began in early November 2021, following his NYC show Broadway Israel in October. Sutton not only brings the Great American Songbook to Israeli audiences, but also to venues across the US, Canada, Europe and Brazil. Since 2018, Sutton has been collaborating with Broadway stars and has brought performers to tour with him in Israel, including Carrie St. Louis, DeLaney Westfall and Amanda Jane Cooper.
The award-winning Sutton has also worked in musical theater and has played the lead role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim’s Company, Jason Robert Brown’s Parade, the French musical Romeo & Juliette, The Mikado and 1776, among others. He began his professional career at age 21, is an MBA graduate with honors from Tel Aviv University and received musical theater training at Circle in the Square and Manhattan School of Music.
NiteLife Exchange (NLE) asks Isaac Sutton (IS) Six Questions:
NLE: You have an international career, but what especially links you to performing in New York City?
IS: NYC is my second home away from home. I was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel and ever since I was a kid I’ve been fortunate to travel back and forth to NYC.
Some of my closest family and friends live in NY and I’m definitely blessed to be able to perform there over the years. The Israeli kid who fell in love with Broadway shows now gets to sing in the big Apple! And what a joy it was to finally return to the NYC stage after the forced Covid break and reunite with Broadway Stars Amanda Jane Cooper (Wicked’s 15th Anniversary Glinda) and DeLaney Westfall (Star of Kinky Boots, Sweeney Todd).
NLE: What were the influences that led you into a life on the stage?
IS: Growing up in Tel Aviv, I was fascinated by the great divas of the time… Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Israel’s own Ofra Haza.
I remember flying to NYC as a kid, watching the movie The Bodyguard during the flight and being blown away by Whitney Houston’s voice, discovering her for the first time. When I got to NY, I went to a CD store and bought her entire catalog!
Then I discovered the voice that truly changed everything for me—Barbra Streisand. She introduced me to the Broadway repertoire with her distinguished Broadway albums and concert material.
NLE: What are some of the outstanding memories of your career so far?
IS: So many things come to mind… so many memories! Singing at the memorial of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin while serving in the Israeli army; playing the lead role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim’s Company; playing Tom Watson in Jason Robert Brown’s Parade; headlining for the first time in NYC’s Feinstein’s/54 Below and sharing the stages in NYC with Broadway star guests; singing a duet with Tony Winner Kristin Chenoweth at The Mayo Performing Arts Center; introducing Broadway Israel in NYC and bringing Broadway stars for joint concert tours in Israel and singing with Symphony Orchestras and performing all over the world! I hope the best is yet to come! Here’s to Life and to 2022!
NLE: How has the pandemic affected you? How have you best gotten through the hardships that COVID has inflicted on us all?
IS: It’s been truly rough as I couldn’t work for 18 months. The first couple of months were filled with so much uncertainty. For a moment it seemed like we were going to come back to live performances but obviously that did not happen… I don’t think I ever experienced depression until this pandemic hit hard and I found myself jobless for many many months.
I thought we were not going to come back ever again to live theater, and that shook me pretty hard as I lost sense of purpose, since my biggest passion is performing in front of a live audience and I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. After six months of being in lockdowns in Israel, I packed my bags and took a flight to NYC, pre vaccinations. I felt like I needed to escape. That led into six months of travelling around the US, mostly in the west coast, which is something I never had the time to do.
Most Israelis travel the world right after their army service when they’re about 20 years old. I didn’t get a chance to do that, as I went straight into business school right after I finished my three-year military service. It is only after I graduated with an MBA that I decided to pursue my great passion for singing and acting.
So looking back, I guess Covid did have its advantages… I am a professional road tripper now!
NLE: No doubt this upcoming 2021 New Year’s Eve concert will be a special one. What will make it so?
IS: New Year’s Eve concerts have been “my thing” over the last decade. The only time I missed a NYE concert was during Covid when we literally couldn’t gather in a theater! So this year is extra special as I get to perform again and bring in 2022 with much joy and gratitude!
On top of that, I’ll be returning to where it all began for me… The Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv! This theater gave me my very first stage and embraced my shows over the years. So it’ll be a great coming full circle moment! I guess it’s true what they say—in order to know where you’re going, you need to know where you’ve been! And so this year, as theaters reopen, it seemed appropriate to go back “home” where it all began for me and… reflect!
NLE: What are your goals and hopes for 2022?
IS: I hope and pray we can keep performing in front of live audiences around the world, without Covid limitations or restrictions!
Nothing can replace live theater and live entertainment.
I have concert tours planned in Israel and in The US and hopefully they would all go on as planned. Here’s to Life, good health and endless joy and fulfillment in 2022!
Leave a Reply