Unforgettable

Friday, February 8, 2019

8:00 PM

Steven Reineke, Music Director and Conductor
Nikki Renée Daniels, Guest Artist
Ryan Shaw, Guest Artist

About the Artists

Nikki Renée Daniels recently starred in The Book of Mormon on Broadway. She played Clara in the 2012 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Other Broadway credits include Fantine in Les Misérables, Hope Harcourt in Anything Goes, Nehebka in Tim Rice and Elton John's Aida, Renata in Nine, Crystal in the revival of Little Shop of Horrors, Eleni in Bernie Taupin and Elton John's Lestat, and Woman #3 in the Roundabout production of Burt Bacharach's The Look of Love.  Ms. Daniels made her New York City Opera debut as Clara in Porgy and Bess. Other New York credits include Martha Jefferson in 1776 at City Center Encores! and Rose Lennox in The Secret Garden at David Geffen Hall. On television Nikki has appeared as a featured player on "Chappelle's Show," "Madam Secretary," and "The Sound of Music: Live." She has performed as a soloist with numerous symphony orchestras across the country and in Canada, and made her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2007. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Her debut solo CD, "Home" is available on iTunes and CDBaby.com.  For more information please visit nikkireneedaniels.com. @nikkireneesings

Three-time Grammy nominee Ryan Shaw began singing in church at the age of five and later formed a family group with four of his brothers called the Shaw Boys. After briefly attending Georgia State University, Ryan successfully auditioned for the gospel musical A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Part II). In 1998, he joined the cast of I Know I’ve Been Changed, written and directed by Tyler Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman). Ryan came to New York with this production and performed to sold-out crowds at the Beacon Theatre. After the closing of I Know I’ve Been Changed, Ryan joined the resident cast of the Motown Café on West 57th Street where he performed Detroit soul favorites by the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. In 2004, Ryan was recruited into the Fabulous Soul Shakers, a vocal group specializing in classic soul and doo-wop featuring New York music veteran and guitarist Johnny Gale, who urged his friend Jimmy Bralower—percussionist and drum programmer and one of the city’s most in-demand session players—to check Ryan out. After hearing Ryan sing, Bralower invited Ryan back to his basement studio on Long Island together with Johnny Gale, where they quickly cut four of Ryan’s featured numbers with the Soul Shakers including “Do the 45” and “I Found a Love.” Their collaboration resulted in reinventing such nuggets as Jackie Wilson’s “I’ll Be Satisfied” and Bobby Womack’s “Lookin' For a Love,” while creating original songs that meshed seamlessly with old ones. “Nobody” was the first single from This Is Ryan Shaw, and “We Got Love” was prominently featured in January 2007 promos for the ABC network television series Brothers and Sisters. Ryan delivers every song with the kind of emotional commitment and vocal panache that have nearly vanished from the mainstream musical landscape.