Nicolas King Part II – Other Aspirations

By Alix Cohen

“After Hollywood Arms closed I was depressed. Liza said, ‘Well, honey, you have to do a nightclub act.’ We wrote an entire show together. She’s a genius at her craft. I was 12. The show debuted at Don’t Tell Mama.“He was so self-possessed. It was truly a challenge to believe he was a child. And, of course, his talent was stunning.” (Booker/performer Sidney Myer)

Nicolas didn’t follow up on a solo career for some time. Instead, for the next ten years, he opened for Liza. THAT was an education. Unlike most performers, he actually loves living out of a suitcase.

Everyone involved in the show – and their companions would go to dinner together each evening. Sometimes they’d dine at a local hamburger joint, at others a ritzy restaurant. “Liza is SO generous. She picked up the bills- no argument.” Minnelli directed his appearances for years.They just visited in California.

“I’m grateful for my singing career, but I never wanted to be a cabaret singer. I still don’t. My passion’s always been theater. I need a theatrical agent. I’m making the rounds.” It almost happened for him. In 2006, he was the lead in a workshop of Neil Simon’s autobiography-tinged, family-inspired Waiting for Poppa. “An original character in an original Neil Simon play!”

Simon had a kidney transplant, financing thinned, and the project fell apart. Nicolas still wants to do it. He’s aware his height limits roles. “I know I’ll never play the Phantom, but I think casting directors need to take their blinders off.”

Living in Rhode Island between gigs, Nicolas would carry the apartment keys of megastar (and Godmother) Liza Minnelli and friend/producer Jamie deRoy should he need a place to crash in Manhattan. “I’m not his mother, but there was always that motherly instinct. He’s special.” DeRoy became another portal to the arts. Nicolas seems constitutionally made up to be ‘adopted.’

During a two year, self-imposed sabbatical, he met virtuoso musician Mike Renzi after a performance by Bacardi. The group gathered at a pizza place where everyone informally performed. A few months later, the brash teenager requested Renzi accompany him for a gig at which they would receive only drink tickets “and you gotta bring your own piano.” “I’ll be there at six”, came the unqualified response. “We even played upstairs at The West Bank for an audience of 10 during COVID. He drove from Rhode Island to do it.”

Three albums, hundreds of shows, 14 years later, King’s friend, mentor, and collaborator passed. “Mike taught me never to be embarrassed to strive for excellence, to ask for what I want, to reach for things that seem too high, and to listen to every instrument in an arrangement. He lived his life to the fullest doing everything he wanted to do.” The vocalist’s most recent show, Behind the Mike, is a tribute to Renzi. Recorded live, it will be his 5th self-produced album.

Though Nicolas encountered Michael Feinstein years ago, they didn’t connect until much later. Guests at the same Florida home, both nocturnal, the musicians spent a night sharing recordings. “He’s very mindful and spiritually grounded, aware of energy put out in the world. Our friendship got very deep, very fast.”

“Nicolas is a stalwart friend, inherently kind and compassionate. His life has not always been easy and yet those same experiences have given him an empathy that has deepened his artistry. I feel like he is at the top of his game. He loves fully, and focuses on the positive in every situation…” (Michael Feinstein)

King is best known for swing, scat, pop, and songbook. At 8, he saw the musical Swing on Broadway and decided scat was cool. “I can’t listen to myself do it before 21. I figured out what to do and not to do by studying people who were better than me. It’s a language. You have to learn the vocabulary. All my scat is improvised. I like fluidity.”
He names Sammy Davis Jr. and Bobby Darin as examples.

“Nic is one the most versatile singers i know. When he sings jazz it’s legit. (He scats his behind off.) His ballads can break your heart because his understanding of lyrics is exquisite. He can flat out swing and his personality on and off stage is charming, witty, and sophisticated. He’s one of a kind.” (Clint Holmes)

For non-musical theater songs (which come with context), the artist creates a backstory, a character. In “I’ve Got the World On a String” (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler) for example, he’s walking through Central Park at autumn twilight. “People are just coming off work, maybe going to theater…I get a text from someone I’m interested in. It’s ‘Hey, I had fun last night, I’d like to see you again’ or ‘I’ve been too nervous- but can I ask you out?’ There’s a feeling of surprise and pleasure. Is it real? I’m bewildered.”

He theatrically recites the lyrics. “It takes the song out of that ring-a-ding-ding bullshit. Maybe the love affair goes nowhere, but it’s the feeling of anything’s possible.”

During a tandem “Goody Goody” (Matty Malneck/Johnny Mercer) and “I Want to Be Around” (Sadie Vimmerstedt/Johnny Mercer), the performer imagines running into his ex on a grocery store check-out line. Initially angry, he rehearses what to say when their eyes meet. “By the end of the songs, I realize this person is not worth my time.” He acts it out for me.

The artist is writing his own one man show, part story, part song. “It will be about someone like me and all the women of a certain age I’ve met along the way. “Why doesn’t society still value these women? ! They have so much to offer.” His sense of legacy dictates he save everything. There are uncountable voice mails to use as reference.

“I’ve never had the ambition to win an Oscar or Tony. I just want to do a good job, to tackle whatever I do with upmost respect to my craft.” (Nicolas King)

All unattributed quotes are Nicolas King
https://officialnicolasking.com/
Opening Photo – Kaarsten Harris
All photos courtesy of the artist