JUDY COLLINS SINGS SONDHEIM Comes to the Venetian Room, 2/28 & 3/1

Bay Area Cabaret welcomes back Grammy winner, Oscar nominee, and American music legend Judy Collins in the debut of a brand new show Judy Collins Sings Sondheim.

Ms. Collins' musical career has spanned genres including musical theatre, pop, folk, and rock, and she has recorded chart-topping songs such as "Send in the Clowns," which won the Grammy for Song of the Year, and "Both Sides Now," from her landmark album Wildflowers, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003. She has recorded 35 albums and continues to sell out concerts around the world. Ms. Collins' Venetian Room show will preview material to be performed on her 2016 world tour devoted to the works of master theatre composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story, Gypsy, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, Company, Follies).

Judy Collins Sings Sondheim will be presented 8pm, Saturday, February 28 and 5pm, Sunday, March 1 at the historic Venetian Room of the Fairmont San Francisco, 950 Mason Street. Tickets ($60 general; $45 subscribers; $90 Premium seating/Post-show meet & greet - limited) are now available at www.bayareacabaret.org or by phone at City Box Office (415) 392-4400.

Originally written for Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical A Little Night Music, Judy Collins' chart-topping rendition of "Send in the Clowns" helped secure the ballad's place as one of the great American Standards. Her trademark blend of rock, pop, and folk lent a fresh sound to Sondheim's powerful music and lyrics, and the recording won a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1975. Featuring music from the legendary composer/lyricist's storied career, Ms. Collins' Venetian Room concerts will provide audiences with a rare opportunity to preview her upcoming world tour.

At age 13, Judy Collins made her public debut performing Mozart's "Concerto for Two Pianos," but it was musicians such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, as well as the traditional songs of the folk revival, that truly piqued her interest. She soon moved away from classical music and began a lifelong career with the guitar. In 1961, when she was 22, Judy Collins released her first album, interpreting the songs of fellow artists - particularly the social poets of the time such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Tom Paxton. She was also instrumental in bringing several previously unknown singer-songwriters to a wider audience, including poet/musician Leonard Cohen, and musicians Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman.

A prolific recording artist with dozens of albums to her credit, Ms. Collins has amassed an extensive catalog featuring music from every era of the past fifty years. She has also authored several books, including the inspirational memoir Sanity & Grace focusing on the death of her only son and the healing process following the tragedy. She is also co-director, with Jill Godmillow, of an Academy Award-nominated film about Antonia Brico, the first woman to conduct major symphonies around the world. Ms. Collins' social history has always been linked with her musical history -- she is drawn to social activism and is a representative for UNICEF and campaigns on behalf of the abolition of landmines, amongst many other causes.

Bay Area Cabaret (BAC) is a not-for profit organization founded by Marilyn Levinson, a fifth generation San Francisco native. Through its concert series and wide-ranging outreach activities, BAC aims to expand the definition of cabaret and broaden the audience for intimate entertainment, featuring Great American Songbook offerings from George and Ira Gershwin and Stephen Sondheim to Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joni Mitchell. Past seasons have featured Marvin Hamlisch, Elaine Paige, Chita Rivera, Tommy Tune, Norm Lewis, Barbara Cook, Peter Gallagher, Nellie McKay, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Jane Monheit, and Karen Mason.

The 2014-2015 Bay Area Cabaret season continues on Saturday, March 21, when multiple-Grammy-winning pianist/composer Ramsey Lewis makes his first Venetian Room appearance in three decades, with Grammy-nominated vocalist and guitarist John Pizzarelli, in a tribute to Venetian Room regular Nat King Cole. The Tony-nominated Broadway and television star Annaleigh Ashford (Masters of Sex, Tony nomination, Kinky Boots, You Can't Take it with You) will make her West Coast cabaret debut on Sunday, April 19. Bay Area Cabaret's season concludes with two shows on Sunday, May 31: the cabaret debut of rising Broadway star Bobby Conte Thornton at 5pm, and a highly acclaimed new cabaret show by Tony winner Lillias White with musical direction by Billy Stritch at 8pm.

For Bay Area Cabaret patrons, The Fairmont San Francisco offers a delicious buffet dinner in the Laurel Court Restaurant & Bar for $40 (plus tax and tip), plus four hours of free parking for all who dine in the Laurel Court. For more information, visit www.bayareacabaret.org.

Photo courtesy of Judy Collins.