STAGE TUBE: Natascia Diaz Takes on Versatile Lineup at Feinstein's/54 Below

Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presented Every Little Step star and two-time Helen Hayes Award winner Natascia Diaz in her New York City solo debut one month ago today, following her acclaimed and nominated performance as Anita in Signature Theatre's sold out run of West Side Story in Washington, D.C. Click below to watch Diaz perform "I Miss The Mountains," "Happy Birthday, Darling", "Autumn Leaves" and more on the 54 Below stage!

Ms. Diaz brought her trademark versatility in a varied and style bending acoustic set mixing of some of her favorite alternative, country, original, and theatre song selections accompanied by Steven Walker on guitar, with special guests Michael Pemberton and her sister's writing duo BREAK OUT THE CRAZY, Katya Diaz and Chris Hierro.

Peter Marks from The Washington Post wrote; " Diaz, a fixture onstage in both New York and Washington showed off her melodic versatility in a delightful evening...That the set could work in the songbooks of Johnny Cash, Jacques Brel, Joni Mitchell and the Broadway team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey and still feel like a cohesive statement speaks both to Diaz's range and her agility at interpretation. The level of intelligence and commitment she displays in a full-length play or musical is compressed with consummate skill and technique over the arc, even, of a four-minute song."

Born in Lugano, Switzerland to Puerto Rican opera singer Justino Diaz and Italian ballerina Anna Aragno, Natascia began her training at The School Of American Ballet, going on to receive a BFA with Honors from Carnegie Mellon University. After dancing the role of Anita with the New York City Ballet for their 'West Side Story Suites' helmed by Jerome Robbins, she was hand picked by Robbins and Laurents to perform the role in the subsequent National and International touring production of West Side Story. Her breakout performance as Anita was met with critical acclaim across the country and internationally, winning her a Chicago Jeff Award and St. Louis's Kevin Klein Award.

Among New York credits are the Broadway companies and cast albums of Seussical (Bird Girl) and Man of La Mancha (Antonia), where she covered the role of Aldonza, performing opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell. Off-Broadway, she played opposite Patrick Wilson in Bright Lights, Big City (Vicky) directed by Micheal Greif (Dear Evan Hansen), Saturday Night at Second Stage, tick, tick... BOOM! (Susan) opposite Joey McIntyre, and in the 2006 hit revival of Jacques Brel.

At the 2009 Helen Hayes Awards in Washington DC, her performance as Scottish punk-rocker Monica in Rooms won her her first Helen Hayes Award for Best Actress in A Musical in a tie with theatre legend, Chita Rivera. Later that year, she was featured in the Broadway documentary film, Every Little Step. Returning to NY, Diane Paulus cast her in the central role of Esmeralda Agron in The Public Theatre's re imagined production of The Capeman at the Delacorte, where she captured the attention of The New York Times giving a performance that was, "heartbreaking...one of the most magnetic musical theatre performances of the year."Michael Riedel of the NYPOST wrote, "The cast was indeed exceptional, the standout being Natascia Diaz as Agron's long suffering mother. Diaz is a remarkable performer, as anyone who saw her in the fine documentary "Every Little Step," about the casting of "A Chorus Line," can attest.

Recent highlights: 2013, Natascia was cast by Fun Home producer Mike Issacson as Velma in Chicago in his inaugural season as head of The St. Louis MUNY. In 2014, her performance as Jenny in The Threepenny Opera garnered the Washington Post headline, "At Signature, Threepenny Opera's heart beats strongest with Natascia Diaz's Jenny onstage". This year, she went from a sold out run of West Side Story, receiving her third Helen Hayes Award nomination for her "mesmerizing" turn (Peter Marks, Washington Post) as Anita at Signature Theatre, to Othello at the Shakespeare theatre.

In September Natascia will star in the world premiere of COLLECTIVE RAGE: A PLAY IN FIVE BOOPS by Jen Silverman at The Woolly Mammoth Theatre, directed by Mike Donahue. For more of Natascia's shows, reviews, pictures, information and videos, visit natasciadiaz.com. You can also follow Natascia on Instagram and Twitter.

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