“A Nat King Cole Christmas,” November 21

Thursday, November 21, 1:15 & 7:15 p.m.

Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1282 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL

Praised by Broadway World as a "marvelous" performer whose vocals deliver "crystal-clear perfection," touring artist John-Mark McGaha brings his concert celebration A Nat King Cole Christmas to Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse on November 21, this festive cocktail of signature songs and yuletide favorites including suich hits as "The Christmas Song,” "Route 66," "L-O-V-E," “Unforgettable," and "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."

McGaha is an acclaimed singer, actor, storyteller, and multi-instrumentalist who headlines concerts across the country with Artists Lounge Live, starring in Signed, Sealed, Delivered: A Stevie Wonder Experience with John-Mark McGaha, Someday at Christmas: John-Mark McGaha Sings Stevie Wonder, Unforgettable: John-Mark McGaha Sings Nat King Cole, and A Nat King Cole Christmas. His theatre credits over the years have including starring off-Broadway in the musical Cafe a Gogo and portraying jazz great Lionel Hampton in Tuxedo Junction. Other stage credits include roles in Smokey Joe's Cafe; Violet; The Ray Charles Legacy; The Sinatra Legacy; and The Cash Legacy at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium.

Also a music arranger, he provided music direction and adaptation for the world premiere musical Ocean 1222: A Black Family Christmas. McGaha's television appearances, meanwhile, include a featured musical guest spot on BET's Centric Celebrates Selma: 50th Anniversary Music Special. McGaha began studying classical piano at the age of five. He attended Birmingham Southern College and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York. And with his central passion worshipping God in spirit and truth, McGana served as Director of Contemporary Worship and Arts at Trinity United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

A singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Nat King Cole's career as a jazz and pop vocalist started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades, where he found success and recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. Some of Cole's most notable singles include "Unforgettable," "Smile," "L-O-V-E," "Nature Boy," "When I Fall in Love," "Let There Be Love," "Mona Lisa," "Autumn Leaves," "Stardust," "Straighten Up and Fly Right," "The Very Thought of You," "For Sentimental Reasons," "Embraceable You," and "Almost Like Being in Love." Posthumously, Cole has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1990), along with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award (1992), and has been inducted into the Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame (1997), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2000), and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame (2020).

John-Mark McGaha brings A Nat King Cole Christmas to Rock Island on November 21 with two scheduled performances: a 1:15 p.m. matinee (11:45 a.m. doors, noon lunch) and a 7:15 p.m. evening show (5:45 p.m. doors, 6 p.m. dinner). Admission is $65 for the afternoon concert event and $70 for the night production, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visiting Circa21.com.