Lucie Arnaz
An Intimate Evening with Lucie Arnaz
Feinstein’s at the Nikko, San Francisco, CA, March 20, 2026
Reviewed by Steve Murray
You can see Lucie Arnaz backed by a 22-piece orchestra, all over the world, but you can get the truly intimate version only at Feinstein’s at the Nikko. Lucky for us Arnaz loves this room and makes regular visits to it. Backed by longtime friend and collaborator pianist Ron Abel, Arnaz dazzled her fans with a smart, perfectly executed cabaret show. Taking us through the journey of the vagaries of love in all its permutations, Arnaz used her considerable acting chops and solid vocal styling to swing through an intriguing selection of songs.
You don’t get a better musical director and arranger than Abel, and he and Arnaz have a symbiotic relationship that elevates each number to a high level. She opened with a mashup of “Recipe for Love” (Harry Connick, Jr.) and “(Love Is) The Tender Trap” (Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn), the first of a number of medleys, all smartly combined. “Fools Rush In” (Johnny Mercer/Rube Bloom), a tender ode to an open heart, was a fine fit for Arnaz’s range. The now mature Arnaz was through with “victim songs,” and to that point, she performed songs about new love and the wonder of falling in love as well as cathartic breakup tunes.
Arnaz grew up when some of the finest songwriters and arrangers were active and presented two songs arranged by the best of them. “Fun to be Fooled” (Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin/Yip Harburg) was arranged by Tedd Firth and was a standout as was an arrangement of “Just One of Those Things” (Cole Porter) written specially for Arnaz by Marvin Hamlisch. Two Ron Abel/Chuck Steffan songs displayed the beauty of the collaboration between Abel and Arnaz: “Until Now,” which should be a standard, and “Slow Dancing,” a nuanced love song that was perfectly delivered.
Arnaz is the ultimate professional who has a stunning pedigree and the chops to make her one of today’s finest live performers. Another fine arrangement was the pairing of “It’s All Right with Me” (Porter) and “Something’s Gotta Give” (Johnny Mercer) arranged by veteran Billy Stritch. David Friedman’s heartfelt “Listen to My Heart” was a showstopper, as was the cute “Namely You” (Gene de Paul/Mercer) from Lil Abner. Arnaz was confident and authentic onstage and joked that for a while she dated many a closeted guy, so much so that she feared she would use cedar chips for perfume! A funny rendition of Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann’s 1963 hit “Blame It on the Bossa Nova” cemented the love affair between performer and audience.
