Sacramento native Leanne Borghesi is a cabaret and theater veteran who belts out classic tunes on both coasts. The seasoned performer maintains residences in New York and San Francisco, two of the world's more expensive cities.
"Bi-coastal life is an experiences that takes dedication and a strict budget," Borghesi said in an interview. "It allows the ability to perform on both coasts alongside my wife Sharon Boggs, a sound designer in San Francisco."
The couple has made the dual-coast lifestyle work for them.
"For the past three years, we have been able to balance life, art, and relationship while pursuing artistic endeavors in the East/West and the UK," Borghesi said. "The prize is when we get to work together."
Borghesi describes herself as being from a "loud, musical Italian family." She now brings her song stylings to Feinstein's at the Nikko for a one-night appearance on August 19 at 7pm, with Erika Johnson on drums, and Aaron Shaul on bass.
With her new show, the simply titled Lush, Borghesi promises to bring her audience on "an odyssey of lust, love and loss." The evening, directed by Nicolas Minas, will offer a mix of lounge, Latin, jazz and Broadway, with a tribute to the great Shirley Bassey thrown in for good measure.
"Dame Shirley Bassey exemplifies pure courage, glamour, vulnerability and strength," Borghesi explains. "With a sensational career spanning over 65 years, Bassey has paved the way, and still is, for women in show biz. Her music is timeless because we identify with the lyrics and her delivery of the piece."
Borghesi cited a number of other legendary ladies, such as Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Janis Joplin, Melisa Etheridge, Bette Midler and Pink as among her influences.
"I love brassy, sassy, bold performers who can switch it up with their softer side," she said. "Unabashedly brave women who push boundaries of society and thought."
Borghesi, who has twice named Best Actress at the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, has certainly been a bold performer in her own right. She has appeared in productions at New Conservatory Theater Center, Thrillpeddlers, The Herbst and Marines Memorial Theaters, and many venues in New York City.
She promises that attendees at her show will thirst for more.
"Lush is the double-entendre as to how I live my life," she said. "Akin to a hedonist, a lush is a person who lives for pleasure: robust, ample, sexy, and enjoys an alcoholic libation...or three."
Borghesi said that was a "passion junkie."
"This show is a culmination of femininity, maturity, vulnerability, fearlessness, and the hedonistic joys of life, in balance," she said. "Lush is a seventy-minute musical exploration leaving the audience with a better grasp of who I am, while having a fabulous time - with a two-drink minimum."
Borghesi feels that even this age of Britney and Justin, there remains a strong audience for jazz and pop standards.
"Audiences love to be entertained and valued, while being taken on a journey," she opined. "It's my job as an artist to display a variety of music to connect with honesty, laughter, unexpected twists and professionalism. A large percentage of the songs I'm performing in Lush were pop songs at one time."
Good music, after all, is timeless.
Leanne Borghesi performs at Feinstein's at the Nikko August 19 with Brandon Adams and his band. $25-$40 (and yes, there's a $20 food/drink min). Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St. (866) 663-1063. www.leanneborghesi.com www.ticketweb.com