In the first national tour of "An American in Paris," which ran at the Orpheum here in September and October, Nick Spangler played dashing Frenchman Henri Baurel.
The character is reluctant heir to a family business who secretly dreams of becoming a cabaret star. The actor's family has operated Spangler Mortuaries, based in Mountain View, for almost 80 years.
"My dad is the third generation, I guess third and final, owner," says Spangler, who will debut a cabaret show of his own next Thursday at Feinstein's at the Nikko.
"Since I've Been Gone" chronicles the time since Spangler left home to pursue a life on the stage. Unlike Monsieur Baurel, Spangler has enjoyed his family's support in pursuing show business ambitions.
"I remember taking that first curtain call and feeling like, 'This is it! This is so awesome,'" he recalls of his debut at age 5 as a munchkin in the Los Altos Youth Theater production of The Wizard of Oz . Years later, he played the Scarecrow in a virtually all-white production of The Wiz at Saint Francis High School.
"My mom was great about finding me great vocal coaches and dance lessons, until I got to junior high and was teased," he recalls.
While he also ran cross-country and wrestled in school, Spangler says, "I found my best and closest friends at the Children's Musical Theater of San Jose."
One of Spangler's two younger sisters, Joyah, also a New York-based actress, is flying out to join him for a few numbers at Feinstein's.
But it was his other sister, Starr �- once a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, currently working at Facebook� - who partnered with Spangler in his highest profile performances ever: The siblings were the million dollar winners of television's "Amazing Race" back in 2008.
The year before, during his senior year at the NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Spangler was cast in the Off-Broadway production of "The Fantasticks."
"It was cool. For six months while I was still a student, I was commuting to Times Square to be a professional actor every night."
After graduating, he stuck with the show, while continuing to audition. "Somehow, with roommates and keeping costs down, I was able to survive in Manhattan at minimum Off-Broadway pay."
During a hiatus from Fantasticks for a regional production of "La Cage Aux Folles" in Denver, Spangler received a frantic call from sister Starr, who had recently turned 21, old enough to be on the television competition she and her brother had watched together since childhood.
"She'd found out that 'Amazing Race' was accepting audition tapes and said we had to do it," recalls Spangler. "She flew out to Colorado right after her college graduation. I was in rehearsal, but somehow, between dinner breaks and late at night in the Residence Inn, we put a tape together. A couple months later we were called back."
The prize money proved to be "a big safety net," Spangler says, describing the impact of the reality show on being a young working actor in New York.
He was able to put a down payment on an apartment with an affordable mortgage, and pay for his wedding (wife Monica was on the cheerleading squad with Starr), all the while keeping his nose to the audition grindstone.
Moving up to Broadway from "The Fantasticks," Spangler has won featured parts in "The Book of Mormon," and "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella."
He also had the rare opportunity to originate a Broadway role as best man Greg Madison, in the 2015 musical "It Shoulda Been You," alongside major Broadway names including Tyne Daly, Sierra Boggess, Harriet Harris, and Edward Hibbert under the direction of David Hyde-Pierce.
An American in Paris had Spangler on the road for a full year from October 2016 until this fall. It was his first experience with a national tour, ambitiously undertaken with a wife, toddler son, and family dog in tow.
"Most of the company flew between cities," he recalls. "But we drove our RAV4. The first ten cities were one-week engagements. On my one day off, we were driving 12 to 16 hours."
" 'Amazing Race' was 30,000 miles in 23 days. This was 33 cities in 52 weeks, so much more exhausting."
After the tour ended in Salt Lake City in October (San Francisco was the penultimate stop), Spangler and family drove back to the Bay Area for a long, well-deserved break and quality time with local relatives and old friends. They'll head back east for the new year.
"Until I did 'American in Paris' here," says Spangler. "I hadn't spent more than four days at a time the Bay Area since I left for college 14 years ago. I hadn't performed here at all.
"Every night when we were playing at The Orpheum, people from my past came out of the woodwork every night. They'd come to the stage door to say hi and ask me what I've been up to. I specifically put this cabaret show together for the people who knew me back before my success."
Nick Spangler performs his new cabaret concert, 'Since I've Been Gone.' $22.50-$50 ($20 food/drink min.). Thursday, December 28. 8 pm. Feinstein's at the Nikko, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason st. www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com