Feature: Niki Scalera Celebrates the Life and Career of Dame Shirley Bassey In DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Powerhouse Broadway veteran Niki Scalera celebrates the life and career of Dame Shirley Bassey with her one-woman cabaret concert Diamonds Are Forever at the Italian American Club on June 16.

Niki brings her unique perspective of this British megastar's extraordinary life and career, one of the most successful British recording artists of all time.

Dame Bassey is known for her exciting vocal power, incredible range, and passionate performances on concert stages worldwide. Inspired by Dame Bassey's remarkable voice and career, Niki pays special tribute to Dame Bassey but brings stories of her own journey as a Broadway performer and pop singer to the stage as she parallels and contrasts her life and career with that of Dame Bassey.

Niki was one of the featured performers in The Cocktail Cabaret at Caesars Palace, We Will Rock You at the Paris, and one of the featured vocalists with the Las Vegas Philharmonic and on Broadway in Disney's Tarzan. Then, while starring on Broadway as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, she began bringing her fascination with Dame Bassey to the stage with a cabaret concert at New York's Laurie Beechman Theatre.

Returning to Las Vegas, Scalera teamed up with a long-time friend and colleague, Keith Thompson (Jersey Boys, The Composers Showcase). They began developing the concert into a musical and theatrical tour-de-force that not only highlights the music and career of Dame Bassey and showcases the spectacular vocal prowess of Niki.

Thompson, with his five-piece onstage band, offers fresh and original arrangements of many of the mega-hit classics made famous by Dame Bassey, such as "This Is My Life," "I Who Have Nothing," "I Am What I Am," "The Greatest Performance of My Life," "Never, Never, Never," and, of course, some of Dame Bassey's most famous hits from the James Bond films' Goldfinger, Moonraker, and Diamonds are Forever.

Keith Thompson has been such an important part of this show. He is so smart in the structure of story and song, and I'm grateful to have him as my co-creator and musical director," explains Niki.

"To me, Shirley Bassey is quite possibly the most expressive vocalist. Besides her incredible, powerful voice, it is nearly impossible not to be moved by her delivery. She is such an inspiration to me- a vocal performance role model," says Niki. "Diamonds Are Forever is a cadence of story and song featuring the music of Great Dame Shirley Bassey. I touch on her life experiences and mine, and besides the fact we have little to nothing in common, I'm able to draw some similarities that I think many people can relate to as well.

Niki Scalera celebrates the life and career of Dame Shirley Bassey with her one-woman cabaret concert, Diamonds Are Forever, at the Italian American Club, 2333 E. Sahara Ave., on June 16. Doors open at 6 p.m. with buffet dinner served at 6:30 p.m. Show time is 8 p.m. Click on the link for tickets or call 702-457-3866.

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