Upright Cabaret:: Country Roads

Upright Cabaret AMERICAN ICON SERIES

COUNTRY ROADS

Music of DOLLY PARTON,
WILLIE NELSON
and JOHNNY CASH

STARRING
Jill Burke
Doug Carpenter
Brenna Whitaker

with
SPECIAL GUEST MUSICIANS
Matt Lucich (Drums)
Nick Perez (Guitar)

MUSIC DIRECTION
by

Gerald Sternbach

Artists subject to change.

Upright Cabaret is the pre-eminent Los Angeles hot spot for the next generation of world-class entertainers. With celebrities in attendance, Upright Cabaret has become a hip and contemporary social swirl of young Broadway and Hollywood, performing with a level of excellence, authenticity and intimacy that brings the crowds back time after time. Upright Cabaret boasts one of the most extensive and diverse rosters of talent in the country. Broadway divas talented troubadours, cabaret legends, Hollywood notables, pop sensations and many future sensations have all found their way to the Upright stage. Upright Alumni include Adam Lambert ("American Idol"), Alan Cumming (Tony Award winner), Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother"), Paula Cole (Grammy Award winner), Hunter Parish ("Weeds") and Lea Salonga (Tony Award winner).

Upright is taking their brand of new generation cabaret to La Mirada with the 'American Icon Series.' Four rising stars of stage and screen will pay homage to musical idols like Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash in a Cabaret Lounge created in the La Mirada Theatre lobby. Their soulful interpretations of American classics will change the way you think about cabaret.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

JILL BURKE Click for video of Jill singing "In The Gloaming" at Upright Cabaret! Click for video of Jill performing "Bridge Over Troubled Water"	JILL BURKE is proud to be a La Mirada native and former Miss Anaheim. She attended Fullerton College, studying musical theater and music. Her first professional work began performing for the Walt Disney Company, portraying such characters as Princess Jasmine, Ariel, and Pocahontas. While traveling the globe, she was the principal vocalist for Norwegian Cruise Lines, and notably opened their production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Music of the Night. Currently, she can be heard screaming the "Priceline Negotiator!" jingle, running nationwide. Her theater credits include: Lovelace A Rock Opera which won several L.A. WEEKLY awards including Best Ensemble, Violet (Musical Theater Guild), The Hot Mikado, The Third From the Left at the NYC and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, Songs for a New World, which she was nominated for a L.A. Ovation Award, and Jacques Brel: A Life in Song , which she won a Ticket Holder Award for Best Cabaret Performance. Jill has had the privilege of singing with and for such stars as Tony-award winning Jason Robert Brown, Robert Morse, Richard Carpenter, and her "uncle" Johnny Mathis. She performs in a variety of projects: she stars in the cabaret revue entitled Hollywood Revisited, is a member of the acappella band Vybration, she is a featured vocalist for the master percussionist C.G. Ryche, and frequently belts out our National Anthem for the Anaheim Angels, Ducks and L.A. Lakers. And she enjoys teaching private voice lessons at Vibe Performing Arts Studio in Santa Clarita. For more information about Jill visit www.jillmarieburke.com.
DOUG CARPENTER	DOUG CARPENTER began his career in opera earning a degree in voice from UNLV and a Masters in Vocal Performance from UCLA. SInce graduating in May of 2009, Doug originated the role of Skip in Life Could Be A Dream(LA Weekly and LADCC Winner), and performed in the last show at the Pasadena Playhouse as Lancelot in Camelot. Other roles include Curly in Oklahoma (FCLO), Tony in West Side Story (FCLO), Thief in See What I Wanna See (Blank Theatre), and Prince in Cinderella (CLOSBC). Doug still performs opera with the Orange County Opera as well as the Palm Springs Opera Guild, and most recently performed with the South Coast Symphony. Currently, Doug is reprising his role in Life Could be a Dream at the Laguna Playhouse, and will star as Chris in Miss Saigon at Moonlight Amphitheater in September. He continues to teach vocal technique at the Lee Strasberg Institute as well as privately.
BRENNA WHITAKER Click for video of Brenna singing "Cry Me a River " at Upright Cabaret! Click for video of Brenna and Michael Buble duet "All of Me"!	BRENNA WHITAKER is really excited to be part of the Upright Cabaret family! With a background in musical theater in Kansas City, she performed lead and supporting roles at Starlight Theatre, the Coterie Theatre and Missouri Repertory Theatre. At 17 she moved to New York City and was mentored by Wynn Handman (Carnegie Hall), Nancy Evers (voice), and Neil Wolfe (Columbia Records). Inspired by such singers as Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, Etta James and Eva Cassidy, she turned her focus from musical theater to live performances and recording, and moved to Los Angeles two years ago to pursue a recording career. Currently, she performs "The Brenna Whitaker Show" regularly throughout California doing high profile events, private parties and local music venues. They have a summer residency at The Pasadena Jazz Institute where they pack in audiences every Saturday night with her 8 piece "little" big band of the best young jazz musicians in the country. She was honored to have Michael Buble as a guest at her show this summer. Brenna is also one of the top session vocalists in Los Angeles and has recorded over 200 songs for numerous songwriters and producers since being in LA. Currently in the studio recording her first album, she aims to keep the best of old vintage R&B, jazz and old musical theater interpretations from 1916 to today alive! Visit www.brennawhitaker.com.
MATT LUCICH (Drums) has played drums with Pat Monahan from the Grammy award-winning band Train, recorded with prog-rock icons Queensryche, was a member of industrial rock band Snake River Conspiracy who signed with Warner Bros, toured with European blues guitar player Ana Popovic, performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Ellen Show, Craig Fergusen and the Today Show. Matt is currently performing and recording with his bands Graydon, Shaolin Temple of Boom and many artists throughout Los Angeles, California. Matt is endorsed by Sabian cymbals.
NICK PEREZ (Guitar) is a Los Angeles based Guitarist. In 2008 he received a Bachelor's Degree in guitar performance from the Musicians Institute of Hollywood. Since graduating he has lead a busy schedule of performing, recording, and teaching all styles of music. His recording credits include Melora Hardin(The Office) and several releases for Japanese Jazz labels Eastquest Records and Zetima Records. Through his affiliation with the Upright Cabaret In Hollywood he has performed with Lea Michelle ("Glee") in her "West Coast Debut," Adam Lambert ("American Idol"), 3x Grammy nominee Taylor Dayne, Grammy winner Paula Cole and Jake Simpson as a member of the "Jake Simpson Trio".
GERALD STERNBACH (Musical Director) is one of LA’s most honored musical directors, just completed a run at the Geffen Playhouse of the new musical, Nightmare Alley. The resident musical director of REPRISE in Los Angeles for six seasons he has earned nine Ovation nominations ( finally winning in 2006 for Zorba), in addition to six LA Drama Critics Circle Nominations—( having been presented the 2007 Joel Hirschhorn award for excellence in Los Angeles’ musical theater by this illustrious organization and winning again in 2008 for On Your Toes) and two Garland Awards. He has also often been a guest musical director for Upright Cabaret.