SUE MATSUKI AT . . .
Bring this highly acclaimed show to your town and call it "Sue Matsuki at (Your Venue)"! Please visit my Reviews page to read all of the reviews but here's what "they" said:
 
“Matsuki's new show not only represents her best work to date, it is also one of the finest shows I've seen anyone deliver this year. The most striking element of the evening is the remarkable quality of her interpretations - each based on a chosen point of view and delivered with commitment and a singularity of purpose, devoid of extraneous frills or gestures. There are times when I absolutely love what I do. This is one of them.”

Roy Sander, BistroAwards.com

“If I would register one complaint, it was that the show was too short – not by my watch, but by my heart. Sue’s delivery and presence is that compelling!”

Stu Hamstra, CabaretHotlineOnline.com

“Full of class, style and beautiful old and new songs.”

John Hoglund, CabaretExchange.com

A TRIBUTE TO ELLA FITZGERALD - FIRST LADY OF SONG
Sue pays tribute to her favorite singer…Miss Ella Fitzgerald…in these special evenings of Jazz & Cocktails. The music for this show comes from Ella’s 3 CD/51 song compilation of the BEST of Ella called "First Lady of Song". Sue and her long time Musical Director/ Arranger Gregory Toroian, promise to bring all "new takes" to the great set(s) that they will select from this huge source of music. This show came out of a series produced by a club called Mama Rose’s in Manhattan when they invited Sue to participate in the "Under the Covers...Your Favorites, Singing Their Favorites" series. The concept was to sing the CD that you always take on a road trip or the one that you can sing from cover to cover. Sue developed this show into a 1 hour; a 90 minute dinner show or a 2-set theater show that tributes the incomparable Miss Fitzgerald. This show focuses on Ella’s Great American Songbook Album Series and not the “scary scat stuff” and it’s now available for your venue or club. This is my #1 Best Selling Show to date.

Matsuki brings out the best of Ella and can be graded as the current “First Lady of Song.” — Bea Smith, Essex Journal

THE NEW YORK INVASION
Bring a taste of the New York Cabaret/Jazz scene to your town. As the producer, I will bring an eclectic and diversified group of multi-award winning talent to your venue for an evening of the BEST of what New York City's night life has to offer. One person sings jazz, another does standards, another comedy, another American Songbook...we even offer opera! The cast also does cross-over duets. We can do special parties or theme shows and/or holiday shows. YOU get to pick and customize to your audience. Do you want a Rat Pack show or an evening of Irving Berlin or Ella, Frank, Peggy & Dean? Call me to discuss and whatever show you want will come to you! The cast can be as big or small as your budget affords and can be done as a 1:15 show or a 2 set show of 50 minutes each with an intermission.

JAM N’ TOASTS
2002 MAC Award Winning Show for Female Jazz Vocalist!
Expanding on the concept of the Team Work show [see below], we decided to now do a 4 week run at a club with a different show and a different script every week!!! The JAM N’ [jammin’] part was the jazz and the TOAST part was the stories leading up to the songs which were delivered as funny or poignant toasts…the "here’s to you" type not the bread type since bread is neither funny or poignant!!! We did over 50 songs! This show would play well in a venue where 3-4 sets an evening were required or where, say, you needed two sets a night for a Friday/Saturday run. We could even offer a "Best Of" the 4 shows as a Sunday Brunch Show. 5 different shows/scripts…one performer/band! This show has been booked at Arci’s Place and the legendary Don’t Tell Mama in New York; Odette’s in New Hope, PA; The Standing Room Only Cabaret in Hartford, CT; The Garden State Yacht Club in New Jersey; The Hackensack Cultural Arts Center also in New Jersey; The Rockland Center for the Arts in West Nyack, NY and The Cabaret Fest in Providence, Rhode Island and Le Dome at The Manor in West Orange, NJ. This was my #1 best selling show until the Ella Show came along. [Please read the review in my review section.]

When was the last time a performer captured your heart with simple sincerity but,
it was her vibrant voice and impeccable musicianship that defined the evening.
— Bill VanSant, Essex Journal

MORE JAMMIN’, LESS TOASTS
A whole new set of songs with the same concept as above but with fewer stories. This is great for a 2-set evening. The "Cabaret" type Jazz show in Act I and a straight Jazz set for Act II.

A TRIBUTE TO THE GALS WHO MAKE ME WANT TO SING
O.K…an incredibly long title but it is what it is…Songs and stories about the ladies who I have studied and who inspire me to sing. Ella, Peggy, Sarah, Rosemary, Dakota, Billie, Betty, Carmen and one of my personal favorites, Irene Krall. This is a tribute show and is a great program for women’s theatres or colleges or any venue wishing to celebrate and hear the tunes made famous by these great ladies of Jazz. It can also be expanded into a two hour, 2-set program and can incorporate more singers or be customized to feature any gals that your group would like such as with my Tribute to Ella show listed above. Now available in special shows that pay special tribute to Ella, Peggy & Billie or Ella, Peggy & Rosie.

A relaxed, engaging alto that one could listen to for hours with a sweet sound that recalls Carol Sloane. — John Hoglund, Backstage

TEAM WORK
For years people have told me, "You are SO FUNNY! You should be a stand up comic!" At times I thought this meant that they meant INSTEAD of being a singer but hey, that’s my baggage, which is a whole other show! What we did here is, in celebration of the eight year collaboration that is my association and friendship with Gregory Toroian, my Musical Director/Arranger, AND in an effort to revisit all our old material, including all the WAY FUNNY stories I’ve done over the years, we created this show. We had so much material however that we decided to do a Part 1 and a Part 2. So, while we are using the same stories to set up each song, there are two completely different shows/sets of music. What we tried to do is take "a new take" [ironic that this is the name of my new debut CD huh?! NOT!] on each story by putting a different song with it in Part 2.

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
2004 MAC Award Nominated Show for Duo!
This show brings Sue together with a new friend and an extraordinary talent, Marcus Simeone and is available to be booked with the both of them. The music is all very well-known standards with a few original songs written by some of today’s standard writers. Their intention is to take you on a musical journey, to let these songs take you…Somewhere Along the Way…on your timeline, to a place where you may have first heard the song or even to whatever emotional place the song may take you to in that moment. Sue & Marcus can also do a 2-act show with each of them doing their own standard sets or they can do this show and then take requests during the intermission and build a whole second set from audience requests for the 2nd Act. Your venue can even create your own show from their song lists.

SPEAKING OF HAPPINESS…Your Stories
This show was created by asking lady friends of mine between the ages of 23-87, from New York to Alaska and many points in between, for one brief, anonymous story, answering the question…What makes you happy? The response was huge and the stories anything but brief but I was able to take the essence or soul of each of the stories to create this show which was technically scripted by my gal pals. The joke in the script is:

"Since I am not doing my version of The Vagina Monologues [who knew they could talk?!], we have applied all our stories to music."

I just loved doing this show and it almost wasn’t even mine in that I had to go in and out of the heads of each of these letters and be those gals. Some stories, while not what you’d described as typically happy, eventually pocketed into a good place.

A WALL FULL OF MIRRORS…A REFLECTIVE PIECE
In an effort to go outside of my comfort zone [jazzy standard singing], I decided to use a different team [Multi-Award winning Director, Jay Rogers and Musical Director, Gerry Dieffenbach] and do a "book musical" using 100% show tunes. This script is about any child who, instead of going outside to do what kids do outside, was instead upstairs in their room performing full out to a wall full of those 12 x12, do it yourself, peel n’ press, gold flecked mirrored wall tiles. It then takes a behind the scenes look at the whole process of auditioning and answers the question "Why do we keep doing it?" You’ll have to take a look at script to find out though.

Two particularly funny pieces were the "16 bars of 8 songs one should never audition with" and the mini-Broadway show comprised entirely of Cy Coleman tunes called, "Sweet Little Follies On A Seesaw In The City Of Angels". Oh man, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry….

STRAIGHT JAZZ SETS
We, my band and I, are also available for standard jazz sets, "background" music, weddings, private parties, corporate events and, of course, bar/bat mitzvahs…you name it! I come with Piano/Vocals or a traditional Jazz Trio [piano, bass, drums] or with the full band [piano, bass, drums, sax, etc.]. Additional musicians can be added depending on the budget/gig requirement.

STAGE REQUIREMENTS:

• 1 tuned grand or baby grand piano
• 2 SM-58 microphones and 2 microphone stands (1 boom)
• 2 tall stools plus a music stand with a light for each musician
• 2 floor wedge monitors, plus one additional monitor for each band member
• General lighting and a Sound & Lighting Tech Director (all shows come with a lighting and tech design)
• 2 glasses of water
• 1 fluted champagne or wine glass with ginger ale [JAM N’ TOASTS show only]

OTHER NOTES:

• Equipment requirements may be adjusted to the space and number of band members
• A Tech Rider is available upon request.
• A 50% deposit is due upon signing the contract
• All press materials, filers or programs should list my website.

OTHER BOOKING OPTIONS:

• 1 one hour show Piano/Vocals
• 1 one hour show Band/Vocals
• 2-set show with intermission [any combination of shows listed above]
• 3-hour lecture type Master Class with Pianist
• 4-hour participatory Master Class with Pianist
• 4-hour non-performance class called "The Business of Cabaret"
• A week-long course ending with a Cabaret show of all participants

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:

• Transportation [air, bus, train, gas] for each band member
• Lodging for each band member [if over a 3 hour drive from New York City]
• $50 per diem per day for each band member