Actors Theatre of Indiana has announced that jazz vocalist and actor Wayne Powers will be a special guest for ATI’s Celebrate the Holidays.
Powers promises two unforgettable performances as he and his jazz trio join ATI on Dec. 13 and 14 at the Studio Theatre in Carmel.
Wayne Powers
Known as one of the last of the real “Saloon Singers,” Powers is internationally acclaimed for his extensive work on stage, screen, recordings and his 20-year network TV career. “The Great American Songbook” is Powers’ playground. This, along with some Hollywood stories, laughs, surprises and a swingin’ 108th birthday tribute to Frank Sinatra will provide a generous helping of Christmas cheer.
Powers started out as a nightclub singer in New York at age 16. He performed across the country, finally landing in Hollywood where he worked for Henry Mancini. He launched his decades-long network television career after being discovered in a live improv comedy show with a then-unknown Robin Williams.
Williams went on to Mork & Mindy and movies, while Powers went on to Laverne & Shirley, Elvis and Me, One Day at a Time, Murder She Wrote, Simon & Simon, Full House, Alf, Doogie Howser, M.D., and many others, including starring for two seasons in his own popular NBC sitcom, 13 East. Equally at home on television, radio, theatre, club or concert stage, music is his first love. He has played top jazz rooms and jazz festivals, consistently drawing large, enthusiastic star-studded crowds.
The critics agree: “Get yourself to a Wayne Powers show. The guy is really terrific!” (L.A. Jazz Scene) “Powers invests deep emotion into standards … bringing a mature understanding to lyrics that sound as if he has lived each one. Like the Jazz greats before him – Sinatra, Eckstine, Prysock, Hartman – Powers understands that great singers are equal parts poets and performers, technicians and thespians. As he’s proven over the course of a long career, he’s the complete package.” (JAZZIZ Magazine)
Don’t miss this chance to catch Powers at the Studio Theater at the Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 13 and 14. Both shows will begin at 7:30 p.m. You can get your tickets at atistage.org or by calling The Center for the Performing Arts box office at (317) 843-3800.