Seth Sikes and Nicolas King headline the Nov. 5 Live At the Orinda! concert series. Continuing busy solo careers, the award-winning singers have also hit the right note with audiences as a duo turning a one-time performance into a series of popular concerts.
Audiences are in for a treat Nov. 5 when two of New York’s most popular young nightclub entertainers, Nicolas King and Seth Sikes, appear at the Live At the Orinda! concert series.
Tunes from the Great American Songbook and tributes to Sammy Davis Jr., Anthony Newley, Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, Ethel Merman and Barbra Streisand will ring out as the powerhouse duet brings their New Belters show to the Orinda Theatre.
“It’s a celebration of all the people who shaped us and made us into the entertainers we are,” said King.
An award-winning artist who has been singing tunes since he was 4-years-old, King had several Broadway hits under his belt before his twelfth birthday, including Beauty and the Beast and A Thousand Clowns opposite Tom Selleck. He went on to star in several children’s television shows and numerous commercials before going on the road for 10 years with his mentor, Liza Minnelli, as her opening act.
Hailed as “the best male singer of his generation” by Theatre Scene, Sikes won numerous awards for his tributes to Garland, Minnelli and Bernadette Peters, while consistently selling out venues since his 2014 debut.
Off stage, he has been associate director for the multiple Tony-award winning musical The Band’s Visit, for The Nance, and as director for the original musical Bunked!
While together for less than a year, these talented entertainers have an impressive following, traveling all over the country performing to enthusiastic audiences.
“We both had very busy solo careers and had heard of one another, and were amazed our paths had never crossed,” said Sikes. “Nicolas is the big jazz singer protegee of Liza Minnelli, one of the great singers I pay tribute to in my solo act. When I finally met Nicolas, I asked him to be a guest on my show at 54 Below in New York. We soon realized we have the same love of old music and decided to do a show together.”
According to King, the show was supposed to be a “one-off,” but offers kept coming in and now, a year later, they are still performing together while keeping their busy solo careers.
“We’ve become best friends,” said King. “It’s great traveling together because we’re on the same time clock. We both hate mornings and love night times.”
The duo found their strengths and weaknesses complement each other with one audience member remarking, “It was like watching one person wash and the other dry.”
Both agree they bring out the best in one another.
“We have zero percent competition between us and are excited to work with one another,” King said. “It makes us want to do our best. You want to hit that note, do better. It’s just fun. Kind of like toddlers in the sandbox. And, I like how Seth has no inhibition on stage and how he gets me to come out of my shell a lot more.”
For his part, Sikes credits King with being more musical and helping him in that area.
“I’m the goofier one, the clown,” said Sikes. “Parodies are my specialty.”
For tickets to the Nov. 5 Live At the Orinda! Concert, which begins at 5 p.m., visit https://www.orindamovies.com/events/.
