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Sterling's Upstairs Celebrates Record-Breaking Season

By: Sep. 04, 2019
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Sterling's Upstairs Celebrates Record-Breaking Season  Image

To date, Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood, CA has enjoyed record-breaking attendance during its 2019 Winter, Spring and Summer seasons, thus the coming of Fall sets high expectations and comparable goals for Executive Producer Michael Sterling.

"This past Winter was stellar given our lineup of performers," said Sterling, "including the multi-talented Tonoccus McClain who launched the year into gear like the musical theatre dynamo he is. Nita Whitaker, the incomparable Hall of Fame Star Search Female Grand Champion followed in Finding My Voice, as did D. Scott Eads, a popular and critically acclaimed crooning newcomer to the LA cabaret concert scene and a 2018 BroadwayWorld LA Award nominee as Best Male Performer in the Cabaret Category for his very first cabaret.... Legacy: In the Key of Bing with Special Musical Theatre Guest stars Laura Dickinson (covering Rosemary Clooney) and (Will Collyer taking on Frank Sinatra). Eads early Winter offering... Love and Other Games, a musical journey featuring the work of iconic singers/songwriters who established themselves in night clubs, 60's TV, Broadway and motion pictures the very nature of each artist brought in 100+ capacity audiences who relished in the supper club experience."

The quarterly dream machine that is Mandy Kaplan's Miscast: Right Singer, Wrong Song featuring a squadron of gloriously hilarious ever-changing LA performers including Micha Meyers, Justine Huxley, Jamie Pierce, Jonny Lee, Amber Snead, Ewan Chung, Justin Anthony Long, Richard Hellstern, Jeffrey Landman, Tom W. Metz III, and Jake Anthony christened Spring with a roar from its always sold out crowds. All proceeds benefit Project Angel Food in Los Angeles.

The ingratiating charm of actor/singer Kevin Shewey scored well with an intriguing and genuinely interested audience who appreciated his vocal stylings the material he chose to showcase with good taste and inimitable style as a first-time cabaret artist in What I'm Not... a self-effacing romp through anxiety.

On the heels of Shewey, Broadway performer and former Radio City Music Hall Rockette Juliet Fisher-Schulein took the stage to bare her heart and soul in a captivating triple threat act that left her SRO crowd breathless and screaming for more.

Paul Luoma and Co. rallied together with an appreciative and emotional audience soaking in Love Is... musings on love and romance beautifully sung by Luoma, Amy Coles, Daniel Koh, Alicia Luoma, Keaton Talmadge and Christopher Tiernan in a song cycle.

Miscast: Right Singer, Wrong Song returned as the last show in Spring, this time featuring Eric Avanessian, Jeffrey Polk, Chris Carlisle, Shari Rhone, Patrick Gomez, Olivia Zenetzis, Erin Torpey, Mandy Fabian, Justin Michael Wilcox, Kelly Vrooman, Jake Anthony and Mandy Kaplan.

Summer ushered in the debut of Robert Collins (Winner of LA's Next Great Stage Star® sponsored by Princess Cruises 2018) in Feeling Good which set the tone for the uber- talented young singer who was simultaneously celebrating his 26th birthday with wall to-wall guests; the evening heightened by his recent wedding engagement announcement. Collins God-given leading man acting skills and vocal capabilities are similar to that of his idol Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Boy Wonder Branden Holzer (1st Runner-up to Collins in Stage Star® sponsored by Princess Cruises 2018) flew in on a breath of fresh air and brought with him a packed house who witnessed not only a show dedicated to the anniversary of his extraordinary parents, but an ever so rapturous, self-written coming-of-age / coming-out story appropriately titled Love Me, Love Me Not. Barely into his 20's, Holzer's presence is engaging both personally and professionally, as is his inherent talent as a diverse singer and storyteller. Both Holzer and Collins can be sure that somewhere on the Great White Way in the not too distant future, there's a marquee just waiting to put their names up in lights.

Veteran nightclub singer and musical theatre performer Jeanne Page closed out the summer run at Sterling's with It's Complicated, an all-new show which also marked her 11th annual appearance at the venue. Her mix of musical theatre pieces, jazz and the Great American Songbook validated her popularity with a room full of grateful fans who recognized the breadth of Pages' talent and her years of sharing the spotlight with such legends as Sammy Davis Jr. Wayne Newton, Nancy Wilson, Boz Scaggs and more.

Tickets for all shows at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal are exclusively available online at brownpapertickets.com or buy calling Brown Paper Tickets 24/7 at (800) 838-3006 (Live Courteous Customer Service).



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