Marilyn Maye

Feinstein’s at the Nikko, San Francisco, CA, February 28, 2026

Reviewed by Steve Murray

There’s a giant dynamo inside the petite frame of Marilyn Maye, who is now approaching her 98th birthday and her eighth decade of performing. She’s a national treasure who receives adulation befitting her status wherever she performs. Here at Feinstein’s for a three-night engagement, Maye delivered what she has become renowned for: a powerhouse set of familiar tunes peppered with anecdotes about a life well lived.

Backed by longtime collaborator and music director Tedd Firth and local aces Daniel Fabricant on bass and David Rokeach on percussion, the ever-spry Maye opened with a clip from one of her 76 appearances on the Johnny Carson show. Varying little from the keys she used in those early days, Maye is a master of owning each song and morphing it into her big-belt vocal stule. “Cabaret” (Kander & Ebb) led into two of her many mashups: “I Hear Music” (Frank Loesser/Burton Lane) with ”The Song Is You” (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II) and “Here’s That Rainy Day” (Johnny Burke/Jimmy Van Heusen) with ”Stormy Weather” (Ted Koehler/Harold Arlen).

Most of the songs were culled from Maye’s stint on the Carson show along with some written by her friend Steve Allen (“This Could Be the Start of Something Big,” “I Love You Today”). She swung to Jerry Herman’s “It’s Today” from Mame and sang his cute “Shalom” from Milk and Honey.

Maye mentioned some of her many theatrical credits, including appearances in Mame; Follies; and Hello, Dolly!, and mentioned that she never got to appear in the Broadway versions. It became a running joke, and she assured us that she wasn’t bitter.

“As Time Goes By” (Herman Hupfeld) rolled into “I Cried for You” (Arthur Freed/Gus Arnheim/Abe Lyman). A lovely version of “Guess Who I Saw Today” (Murray Grand/Elise Boyd from the 1952 musical New Faces) had the audience giddy with delight. After announcing that she had a new CD arriving soon, Maye sang “Lush Life” (Billy Strayhorn) and “The Secret o’ Life” (James Taylor), marking another key moment in an illustrious career. “By Myself” (Howard Dietz/Arthur Schwartz) segued into “Being Alive” (Stephen Sondheim), and each one was a showstopper. Few performers can grab an audience’s heartstrings like Maye. To her fans, she’s an inspiration and a force of nature. She closed with Hello, Dolly!’s “Before the Parade Passes By” (Herman), which segued into “That’s All” (Alan Brandt/Bob Haymes). After an almost two-hour set, Maye indeed had given it her all.