Not only is the lady beautiful and talented, she is smart and generous. A new name to me, I got to know her because she volunteered to help us at the wine table for this year’s Winter Rhythms. This is what makes her generous but also smart. Trust me my viewers, volunteering to help at bigger events is one of the smartest things you can do. It’s how I started and one of the ways that this lady will get on the map of “see and been seen” people in our community. She then attended one of my Open Mics and oh yeah…she can sing too! Let me introduce you to Rebecca Watts…
Photo Credit: Connor Weiss
Rebecca Watts makes her NYC debut in Songs of Love and Freedom on Sunday, February 22 at 6 PM at The Triad Theater (158 West 72nd Street). (Click on the link above to make a reservation.)
Directed by Katie Lavelle, with music direction by Richard Garretson (on Trumpet and Flugel), plus vocalist-keyboardist Billy Blair, guitarist Sean Harkness on guitar (and Music Coordinator), vocalist Grace Peña, bass player Evan Gregor and drummer Dan Aran.
The show celebrates classic singers and songwriters who have played the Troubadour LA in West Hollywood. The show includes the songs of Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Bonnie Raitt, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Eagles and Van Morrison, against a backdrop of stories and images from the iconic venue.
SUE MATSUKI is an award-winning singer and songwriter, producer, open mic host, educator, columnist and the author of So You Want to Sing Cabaret.
She is a Bistro Award winner for Outstanding Collaboration with her Musical Director, Gregory Toroian; she is the very first recipient of the Julie Wilson Award given by the Mabel Mercer Foundation; and she is a multi-award-winning MAC Award winner (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) for Jazz Vocalist, Special Events, and Songwriter and has been nominated 11 times in 8 different categories.
Matsuki is a Cabaret/Jazz singing veteran who has played every NYC Cabaret room including: Feinstein’s at the Regency, 54 Below, Town Hall, and several major Jazz Clubs including: the legendary Village Gate, Birdland, The Iridium and Sweet Rhythm. She’s even played Carnegie Hall and appeared in five seasons as a Diva Double at the Metropolitan Opera. She plays many theaters across the country and has appeared at Crazy Coqs in London.
As an educator she has taught Cabaret and performance/business classes at: Mac-to-School, Cabaret Hotspot! Cabaret U, The Ridgefield Theater Barn, Peddie Town School (Town Heights, NJ), UCONN’s Osher’s Lifelong Learning Institute, the Vancouver School of Performing Arts and at Fordham University at Lincoln Center.
Matsuki is the Producer of the annual Urban Stages’ Winter Rhythms series, NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singers) NMTC National Musical Theater Competition as well as many other benefits and shows.
Sue’s Views has been an on-going Cabaret advice column that has appeared in Cabaret Hotline On-Line, NiteLife Exchange and Cabaret Hotspot, It now lives on her website. Sue’s Muse comes back to the NiteLife Exchange family in May.
For more information please visit: www.SueMatsuki.com
