This Will Be The Spirit & Soul of Natalie Cole

Name: This Will Be The Spirit & Soul of Natalie Cole
Start: 2025-04-11T19:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-11T21:00:00-05:00
Location: Blue Strawberry STL

Schedule

Fri Apr 11 2025 at 07:30 pm to 09:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Blue Strawberry STL | St. Louis, MO

In 2025, The Midnight Company will present a new Cabaret show at The Blue Strawberry -
THIS WILL BE The Spirit And Soul of NATALIE COLE. The show will run Friday nights,
April 11 & 18, 2025, at 7:30pm. Advance Tickets (($25) will be on Sale Friday December 6
at 10am, and can be reserved at BlueStrawberrySTL.com or by calling 314.256.1745.
THIS WILL BE is written and directed by Midnight’s Artistic Director, Joe Hanrahan, and is
the latest in the series of original, unique Cabaret performances the Company has presented over the past two years, primarily at The Blue Strawberry (with side gigs at City Winery and Greenfinch). These have included the Linda Ronstadt show JUST ONE LOOK (still playing monthly to sold out houses, with more shows to be announced for this year), PROFESSOR SUNSHINE’S ROCK ’N ROLL REVIVAL, the Judy Garland show YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU, MOVIE MUSIC and JACEY’S JAZZ JOINT, along with FINAL DRESS, which played last October at Greenfinch Theatre & Dive Bar.
Hanrahan said “Natalie Cole’s story is compelling. People may be surprised by the dramatic sweep of her life, the serious ups and downs of her challenging journey. And the rich, deep body of her music - which embraced numerous genres, and gained major successes - will knock folks out.”
Natalie Cole grew up privileged, the daughter of the former Maria Hawkins Ellington, a singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and Nat King Cole, the superstar singer and jazz pianist.
Growing up in Beverly Hills, Cole referred to her family as “the black Kennedys.” She was only
15 when her father died, and the shock and grief over his passing stayed with her and severely impacted her life. She became a singer and quickly a star with her first album, INSEPARABLE, winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Over the years, she switched from R&B to pop and jazz, her career culminating when she joined her late father, dueting with his recordings, for UNFORGETTABLE…WITH LOVE, which won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
And over the years, she struggled with devastating drug addictions. But accepting her father’s legacy, and finally coming to grips with his loss, helped her survive and become an inspiration to many.
Her story will be told by a cast of 3. Kimmie Kidd will present the public Natalie, and then be the lead voice for most of the music.
Christina Yancy will represent the private Natalie.
And Dereis Lambert will be Nat King Cole, a force in Natalie’s life even after he was gone. Christina and Dereis will provide additional voices for the songs in the show.
Hanrahan also said “We have a talented ensemble to tackle this story…great singers, and skilled actors. And we have a Music Director who knows each of them, and is keenly appreciative of their ability. All are very, very happy and eager to work with one other.”
Kimmie Kidd last appeared in ANASTASIA (Tesseract, and snared a Theatre Circle nomination for the show) and has been seen recently in TIMBUKTU (The Black Rep), CAROLINE OR CHANGE (Fly North) and NINE (New Line). She’s also been nominated for a Theatre Circle Award for Best Lead Performance for MADAM (Fly North), and will repeat that role this summer for the same company. Also coming up, POTUS for Tesseract. She won Arts For Life Best Performance awards for THE WIZ (Hawthorne Players) and NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (Kirkwood Theater Guild.) She’s also worked at The Rep, and with Midnight as a featured singer in YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU.
Christina Yancy is on the staff at The Black Rep, and for them she’s been seen in WEDDING BAND, BEHIND THE SHEET, HOME, SPELL #7 and currently, THE WASH. She’s also worked extensively with The Black Rep, the Rep and St. Louis Shakespeare Festival in touring productions for young audiences.
This year, Dereis Lambert appeared in TIMBUKTU (The Black Rep) and BIG MACHINE (Fly North.) Previously, he was in JERSEY BOYS (Stages). He’ll be producing a cabaret show this Spring, GATEWAY TO THE SPOTLIGHT, and he’ll be seen in RENT (New Line) in May, 2025.
Colin Healy will be Music Director for the show. Colin is the Artistic Director of Fly North Theatricals, and one of the principals at Greenfinch Theatre & Dive Bar. Colin recently presented his musical BIG MACHINE in August of this year as a solo production and as part of the St. Louis Fringe Festival. His other musicals include MADAM (playing again this coming summer at Greenfinch), THE GRINGO and FORGOTTONIA. Coming right up, Colin is directing the musical of the much loved movie, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE at Greenfinch. Colin was Music Director for Midnight Cabarets MOVIE MUSIC and JACEY’S JAZZ JOINT.
Colin will be on piano, and Bradley Rohlf will be on drums. Bradley, who will direct Midnight’s ST. NICHOLAS in the fall, previously won a Theatre Circle Outstanding Director Award for his direction of the musical ASSASSINS from Fly North. He also provided percussion for Midnight’s JACEY’S JAZZ JOINT.

This past year for Midnight (the Company’s 27th season of presenting theatre in St. Louis), Joe Hanrahan acted (SPIRITS TO ENFORCE, OLD TIMES), acted/directed/wrote scripts for MOVIE MUSIC, AUDITIONS, BEST SELLER and FINAL DRESS, and wrote/directed JACEY’S JAZZ JOINT. Joe just finished a run of COCONUT CAKE at the Black Rep, and upcoming, will be performing in Midnight productions PRIDE AND JOY in July at The Chapel, and ST. NICHOLAS in October atGreenfinch.
for more information, visit MidnightCompany.com