SHORT PRESS BIO:
Cami Thompson, a 6th generation Nevadan, has gained a world-wide reputation for wowing audiences with her 4+-octave voice of great beauty, control and passion, her zany wit and her humorous interaction with her listeners. Combining elements from her training and background in jazz, pop, musical theater and classical music, she moves through whispering to belting out the songs of Gershwin, Ellington, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Rogers & Hammerstein, and others with robust honesty and exciting vibrancy. Her style has been called "a delightful mix of Ella Fitzgerald and Bette Midler", and she is often compared to Cleo Laine, Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Natalie Cole, Barbara Cook and Sarah Vaughan. But Cami is an original, gathering fans throughout 35 YEARS of performing in the US, Europe and Asia, in nightclubs, concerts, festivals and theaters, with her unique charm and talent.
Cami has appeared as Opening Act for the Manhattan Transfer, Nancy Wilson, Mel Torme, Dianne Reeves, Lou Rawls, Art Blakey, Jon Hendricks, Eddie Jefferson, Ernestine Anderson and others. She has performed in lead theatrical roles in over 20 musicals, including Mame (Mame), Annie Get Your Gun (Annie), Sweeney Todd (Mrs. Lovett), Follies (Sally), JC Superstar (Mary Magdalene), Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Miss Mona - 4 times!), Showboat (Ellie Mae), Candide (Old Lady). She performs regularly with her own bands (from solo piano accompaniment to her jazz trio to her jazz-rock quintet to her 7-piece swing band "Cami & The Cosmopolitans" to big band) as well as performing as guest artist with bands and groups throughout the West Coast at jazz clubs, concerts, private events and jazz festivals. She has sung at the prestigious North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland and the Juan Les Pins Festival du Jazz in France, while working 2 years in Europe. She returns often to Holland to perform with local bands. Cami has 5 albums out, and has won dozens of awards for her entertainment skills.
Critics have called Cami's talents "dazzling" and "electric," with "a voice that stands out like diamonds from glitter," while "captivating audiences with a highly charged magnetism." Rollan Melton of the Reno Gazette-Journal wrote that Cami is "among the world's great entertainers" and Myrna Daniels of L.A. Jazz Scene says she "projects plenty of personality" with a voice that can be "dramatic, brassy, sassy and lovely." Friend and co-star Toni Tenille says: "Cami probably has more talent than any performer I know. Her voice does things I can only dream of doing. She has incredible stage charisma and timing, and she's got THAT VOICE!" After co-starring with Miss Thompson in "Annie Get Your Gun," veteran Broadway musical actor John Raitt simply said, "Cami is stunning!"
THEATRICAL RESUME'
HEIGHT: 5'2.5"
WEIGHT: 155 lbs.
PLAY AGES: 30+
HAIR: BLONDE
EYES: GREEN
LIVE THEATER:
GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING
Lead/ Guest Artist/Clinician
Nevada Repertory Company at University of Nevada - Reno
http://www.unr.edu/nevadarep/
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
"Annie Oakley"
Nevada Opera Company
(with John Raitt)
MAME
"Agnes Gooch"
Nevada Opera Company
(with Toni Tenille)
HANSEL & GRETEL (Opera)
"Rosina Daintymouth" (The Witch)
Nevada Opera Company
SHOWBOAT
"Ellie May"
Nevada Opera Company
(with Toni Tenille)
DESERT SONG (Light Opera)
"Susan"
Nevada Opera Company
BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE...
"Miss Mona Stangley"BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS
"Miss Mona Stangley" (also musical director)
1) Riverfront Theater, Reno 2003
2) Tahoe Players Association
3) Nevada Repertory Company 1988
4) 3-month DOD tour/Asia: 1988
HEARTSONG (Original)
One-woman original Jazz musical
8th St. Studio, Wash, D.C.
PIANO PLAYER With SAD BROWN EYES
Principal, original play
Source Theater, Wash. D.C.
THE CRUCIBLE
"Tituba" (yep!)
Nevada Repertory Company
FOLLIES
"Sally Durant"
Nevada Repertory Company
NOISES OFF!
"Dottie Otley"
Reno Little Theatre
CANDIDE
"Old Lady" (choral director)
Nevada Repertory Company
DAMES AT SEA
"Mona Kent"
Space Theatre, Reno
SWEENEY TODD
"Mrs. Lovett"
Nevada Repertory Company
HAIR
Principal - lead singer
Nevada Repertory Company
MAME
"Mame Dennis"
Nevada Repertory Company
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
"Mary Magdalene"
Nevada Repertory Company
3-Mo.DOD tour/Asia
LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN
"Lady Windermere"
Nevada Repertory Company
NEVADA OPERA COMPANY CHORUS (Soprano):
Die Fledermaus
Carmen
Aida
The Merry Widow
La Traviata
FILM:
THINGS CHANGE
Woman; David Mamet, Director
PINK CADILLAC
Woman; Buddy Van Horn, Director
COMMERCIALS:
PORT OF SUBS Lead Singer/Dancer
NEVADA STATE FAIR Singer / Dancer
HARRAH'S TAHOE Lead Singer
RENO MAZDA Composer, Arranger, Musician, Singer
AWARDS:
BEST LOCAL ACTRESS
Reno Gazette Journal: 1987, 1988, 1989
BEST LOCAL SINGER
Reno Gazette Journal: 1987 - 1990
BEST NEW ARTIST
David McCaughey Memorial Award, Wash.D.C., 1988
PHI KAPPA PHI
National Collegiate Honor Society, 1986
ALPHA PSI OMEGA
National Collegiate Theatre Fraternity 1983
PERFORMANCE SKILLS:
VOICE: 35 years professional singer; Classical = 8 years; pop/jazz= 6 years, LA Jazz Choir=3 yrs.; professional voice instructor for over 20 years.
RANGE: Low D to Double High E, all styles, sight-reading, excellent harmony, 5 solo albums
DANCE: 3 years training, character, some jazz and tap, move well for a big-bottomed girl, learn fast
PIANO: 7 years classical, 4 years contemporary, songwriter (@150 so far)
MUSIC: Vocal directing/arranging, band arranging, theory, composition, recording and technical engineering skills
LANGUAGE: French (relatively fluent), German (rusty!), bits & pieces of niceties in several tongues
ACCENTS: Various British, Irish, French, German, Southern, New York, excellent ears.
PERSONAL INTERESTS:
SPORTS: Snow skiing/racing (Natl. ranked), Water skiing, Golf, Swimming, Diving, Tennis, Ice skating, etc.
OTHER: Travel (26 countries), Reading, Hiking, Gardening, Theater, movies, Cooking and Laughing A Lot!
PLACES CAMI HAS PLAYED
CLUBS, CABARETS AND CONCERTS
EUROPE
North Seas Jazz Festival - Netherlands Loosdrecht Jazz Festival - Netherlands
Grenoble Original Jazz Concerts - France
Valentino's - Nice, France
Hotel Boekelo - Enschede, Netherlands
Hotel Safir - Casablanca, Morocco
Le Club Montana - Paris, France
L'Aventure - Nice, France
Le Ragtime - Cannes, France (9 months)Hollywood Savoy Club - Paris, France
Das Kurzhaus - Munich, Germany
Cafe de Paris - London, England
Preuvinement Festival - Maastricht, Holland
SAN FRANCISCO/BAY AREA
The Coconut Grove Supper Club
Yoshi's Jazz Club
Essex Supper Club Mecca
Rose Pistole
Stars Restaurant
Campton Place Hotel Alta Plaza
Mr. E's Jazz Club
Pan Pacific Hotel
Infusion
Rasselas Jazz Club
Konocti Harbor Resort The Ramp
Gertrude Stein's
Bach Dynamite & Dancing Society
LOS ANGELES AREA
Queen Mary - Long Beach
Drake's Restaurant - Glendale
Lunaria - Century City
Monteleone's - Encino
Tatou - Beverly Hills
Chadney's - Burbank
Winston's (Sheraton) - Industry Hills
Caffe Giuseppe - Reseda
Truly Yours - Encino
Robin Hood - Reseda
Studio Cafe - Corona Del Mar
Menage - Pasadena
Grand Avenue Bar - Los Angeles
Bel Air Bay Club - Pacific Palisades
WESTERN USA
Monterey Traditional Jazz Festival
Sacramento Jazz Jubilee Festival
Sun Valley Idaho Jazz & Swing Festiva
Medford, Oregon Jazz Jubilee
San Mateo Traditional Jazz Festival
Mammoth Lakes Jazz Jubilee
Desert Jazz Festival - Palm Springs
Seaside, Oregon Jazz & Swing Festival
John Ascuaga's Nugget Jazz Festival
Lake Havasu Arizona Jazz Festival
Reno International Jazz Festival
Hult Center - Eugene Oregon
Harrah?s Reno Sapphire Jazz Lounge
Harrah's Reno - Sammy's Showroom
Adele's On The Plaza - Reno
Silver Legacy Hotel Casino -production shows
Peppermill Hotel - Reno, cabaret & concerts
El Dorado Hotel Casino-production shows
John Ascuaga's Nugget Showroom
Harrah's: Breck Wall's "Bottom's Up"
Sahara Tahoe - Showroom
MGM Grand/Bally's/Reno Hilton - Reno
Club Cal-Neva - Reno
Caesar's Tahoe - Showroom
ELSEWHERE
Dawn Princess Caribbean Cruise
Next Stage Theater, Wash, D.C.
Dallas Dinner Theater
Galleria, Sun Valley, Idaho
Various tours and performances in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Okinowa, The Philippines,
Morocco, France, Holland, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, England
A Light-Hearted Long-Winded Biography of Cami Thompson
A Light-Hearted Long-Winded Biography of CAMI THOMPSON
Delightfully spirited singer, actress, songwriter, teacher and band leader Cami Thompson has been sharing her gifted musical talents and charismatic personality with appreciative audiences all around the globe for about 35 years now. Reno born and musically raised, she has traveled to the far reaches of Paris, London, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Cannes, Casablanca, Manila, Tokyo, Seoul, and managed to find her way back from being very lost in most places to work around the US, singing her heart out in concerts, clubs, jazz festivals, cabarets, theaters and more than a few unsavory but delightful dives. Audiences journey with her through a passionate repertoire of classic American standards, unique jazz tunes, saucy blues and poignant originals. Her 4+ octave voice resonates with warmth and beauty, and displays great depth, dexterity and unbelievable control. Often displaying dizzying blasts of scat, Cami sings with outstanding musical skill backed by a great sense of humor, compassion and human dignity, all the while soaring on the wings of innovative jazz freedom, faith and a great lack of reality, probably stemming from her extensive background in musical theatre.
Never one to settle down for long, Cami has lived in several cities in the US and Europe, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, London, Cannes, Amsterdam, Reno, Lake Tahoe -- playing festivals, clubs and concert halls in her widespread travels, including the prestigious North Sea Jazz Festival in Den Haag, and the Juan Les Pins Festival du Jazz in France. She sang every night for 10 months on the French Riviera at Le Club Ragtime in Cannes, where she received rave reviews and held audiences captive. In the US she has toured the Trad Jazz and swing festival circuit with trumpeter Mike Vax's Great American Jazz Band, as audiences cheered for her in tents and ballrooms in Sacramento and Sun Valley, Mammoth, Monterey, and Medford. She's a frequent guest artist with city big bands like Eugene, Oregon’s "Swing Shift", Northern California’s “Mike Vax Jazz Orchestra”, Nevada’s “Reno Jazz Orchestra”, and Holland’s “Swing Design” from Maastricht. Cami performs frequently at festivals and private events with her own swing band, "Cami & the Cosmopolitans".
Cami has had the unique privilege of performing as Opening act for The Manhattan Transfer, Nancy Wilson, Mel Torme, Dianne Reeves, Lou Rawls, Art Blakey, Jon Hendricks, Eddie Jefferson, Abbey Lincoln, Charo, Jose Feliciano, Louis Bellson, Lou Levy, and others, at various clubs and concerts around the world.
Nevada critic Jack Neal has said Cami has "one of the most technically diverse, smooth and sumptuous voices in pop music today." With the professional Nevada Opera Company she gave memorable portrayals of vivacious Annie Oakley in "Annie Get You Gun" with John Raitt, nerdy Agnes Gooch in "Mame" with Toni Tenille, flighty Ellie May in "Showboat" also with Ms. Tenille, the coloratura witch Rosina Daintymouth in two productions of the opera "Hansel and Gretel", and as the zany Susan in the light opera "Desert Song.” Michael McCue wrote about her portrayal of Annie Oakley: "Thompson won our hearts with her flashing eyes, wall-to-wall smile and unabashed energy that lit up the stage in a way I haven't seen since I saw Bette Midler live..."
A native of Reno, Nevada, Cami grew up in the busy music scene, where her dad spent his early years as a drummer, bassist and singer, and her mother played piano and organ for church. Cami majored in theater, minored in music, and performed two tours to the Far East with DOD/USO. Miss Thompson has played leading roles in many musicals including "Sweeney Todd", "Follies", "Candide", "Mame", "Hair", "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."
During the late 1970’s and early 80’s, Cami also sang and played keyboards in various jazz, rock and soul bands around Reno, Tahoe and the West, and was one of the youngest members of the Nevada Opera chorus while studying voice at UNR. In 1983, Cami spent a semester abroad studying theater and drama in London, and returned to work professionally with local theater companies. In 1985 Cami was asked to sing in France for a 3-month job, and ended up living and working in Europe for almost two years. Back in the US she continued singing professionally and working in theatre. Cami received the Reno Gazette Journal's "Best Local Singer" and "Best Local Actress" awards in 1987, '88, and '89, and received the "Best New Artist" in the Washington D.C. area in 1989, where she had moved to pursue her theatrical career.
Finding the East a little too stuffy for her taste, Cami moved back west to Los Angeles in 1990, and while continuing to pursue theater with COUNTLESS auditions, she worked out new musical ideas with pianists Benjamin Dowling and Alexandra Casselli in club dates at Monteleone's, Chadney's, Lunaria, Drakes, Caffe Guiseppe, Grand Avenue Bar, Winston’s, and the Queen Mary Jazz Lounge. Also in 1990 Cami was asked to sing with trumpeter/ bandleader Mike Vax and His Great American Jazz Band, touring Jazz and Swing festivals around the US with his band for 12 years, as well as guest-starring with his 19-piece Jazz Orchestra. Cami later recorded on their two albums, "Alternate Route" (2000) and "Big Band Jazz.net" (2001) which received global critical acclaim and great reviews. They can both be purchased at www.bigbandjazz.net.
In 1993 in Los Angeles, Cami and her best friend/manager Lizabeth Rogers and pianist Benjamin Dowling independently co-produced Cami's first CD, "No More Blues," a collection of jazz favorites and Cami’s original torch songs, blues and ballads. The LA Jazz Scene said: "Her CD projects plenty of personality, & a voice that is dramatic, sassy, and lovely." An earlier cassette release of a live performance, "An Evening with Cami", which was a concert of jazz, theatre and comedy, has recently been digitally re-mastered and edited by Liz, and is now available on CD. In 1998 Cami solo-produced her third recording, a jazzy soulful holiday album, "Colors of Christmas". Her fourth release, 'By Request" is a powerhouse of beautifully recorded live and studio tracks, capturing all the dynamic splendor of the Great American Songbook of ballads, jazz and swing standards, including Cami's most-requested songs such as "Over The Rainbow", "Bye Bye, Blackbird", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and more. (It's sort of an "Ella meets Barbra meets Bette" thing.) Her fifth album, "Cafe' Camille", is a collection of torch, blues and jazz songs recorded live during 10 months of club dates in the Los Angeles area during 1993 with her trio. This CD, as well as "An Evening with Cami", was lovingly edited, re-edited, re-re-edited, mastered and produced by Liz. All 5 CDs may be found on Miss Thompson's website, www.CamiThompson.com, along with her performance schedule. Liz produced many of Cami's recordings, and manages the artist with a willing suspension of disbelief and the patient understanding that Cami is all about creating -- recordings, projects, shows, special events, concerts and theatrical roles.
Cami came to San Francisco in 1996 as the house singer for the luscious Coconut Grove Supper Club, where Herb Caen wrote: ""Early Sunday morn, I stopped into the Coconut Grove to catch the wonderful singer Cami Thompson… She makes me smile!" Cami has played with her own band at many other clubs in the Bay Area: Yoshi's Jazz Supper Club, Stars, Mr. E's, Mecca, Essex, Rose Pistola, Campton Place Hotel, Pan Pacific Hotel, and the Bach Dynamite & Dancing Society. Philip Elwood wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle: "Cami Thompson (is) remarkable, a perfectly wonderful singer." Cami finally chose to settle down and stay and now lives in San Francisco with her love, husband chef Scott Lenau, her 50+ deck plants and 20 or so house plants in their liddle teeny tiny apartment. Somehow everyone survives!
Currently Miss Thompson performs at various festivals, cabarets, concerts, showrooms, clubs, charities, supper clubs, jazz spots and private events around the world, and occasionally appears in theatrical productions. Cami also teaches voice privately in her San Francisco studio and in the Reno-Tahoe area, and in clinics around the west. She enjoys songwriting, traveling the world, snow skiing, scuba diving, hiking, tree-hugging, political activism for the environment and peace, eating great food (often lovingly prepared for her by her very own "kitchen mechanic")exploring the cultural scenes, movies, concerts, reading, laughing a lot, and tending her balcony garden with great joy.