Daryl Nitz returns home to Elgin to celebrate his cabaret show's 20th anniversary Dec. 8
Hailed as "the best party in town," by New York's Cabaret Scenes Magazine, The Nitz/ Howe Experience marked a major milestone in September.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, with over 1,200 shows at their home base of Chicago's Davenport's, it became the longest running cabaret show in the country.
Daryl Nitz and George Howe will be taking their acclaimed act on the road to Nitz's hometown of Elgin on Sunday, Dec. 8. The show will begin at 5 p.m. at Lounge 51 (L51), located inside Dream Hall, 51 S Grove Ave. in downtown Elgin. Tickets are $15; not including food/drinks. For information, call (224) 535-8075 or visit Lounge51Co.com, www.facebook.com/Lounge51co/ or www.facebook.com/nitzandhowe/.
Called "the wildest party in town," After Dark Award winners George Howe and Daryl Nitz host an evening that is part request, part audience participation and part stand-up comedy. Coupled with Nitz's 30 vocal impressions that include Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Carol Channing, Billie Holiday and even Edith Bunker, the duo's spontaneous, zany antics makes for one wild entertainment experience. This is one party you do not want to miss. A crazy night with Chicago's two wild and crazy guys - Daryl Nitz and George Howe, the duo has been featured on WGN-TV and NBC-5. There is no other show like it!
Daryl Nitz has strong ties to the Elgin community. From his birth at the old Sherman Hospital, to attending Gifford Elementary School, then going onto Abbott Junior High, where he was class president in 1979. Graduating Larkin High in 1982, where he was also class president in 1981, Nitz performed in their production of "Carousel." He attended Elgin Community College and began singing at Emmanuel Baptist Church on St. Charles Street.
The Nitz & Howe Experience called "a blockbuster evening of entertainment" by Cabaret Hotline, started as a brainchild of Bill Davenport. He saw two performers working on two separate nights at the club and suggested they work together. Daryl Nitz and George Howe formed their alliance in 1999 and have not looked back. They are now seen on Saturdays in the front room of Davenport's from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. A master showman, Daryl Nitz is one of the Chicago area's most-sought after nightclub entertainers. He has performed at the Park West, the Royal George, Steppenwolf Theatre, Naperville's Crossroads Theater, Set 'Em Up Joe's, Puszch Studios, The Mercury Theater. He was also a featured performer at the first Chicago Cabaret Convention in 2002. Daryl's one-man shows have been performed to critical and audience acclaim and his "Jazz Legends Live" was named "One of the Ten Best of the Year" by Cabaret Scenes and After Dark Chicago. Nitz has also produced, directed and scripted successful cabaret shows for many of Chicago's top musical performers, as well as the SRO theatrical production of "Explicit Lyrics," which has played at the Artistic Home Chicago and Bailiwick Theatre.
Nitz's musical partner in crime, the multitalented George Howe, is an accomplished singer, actor, pianist, composer, lyricist and arranger. An in-demand songwriter, Howe has served as composer/lyricist for "The Will Shakespeare Follies," "The Three Seagulls (A Chekovian Extravaganza)," "I Know What You're Doing This Summer," "Ethel Merman's Peter Pan" and its sequel "The Sound of Merman." He has composed the scores for "The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes," "Somebody Loves You," "Mr. Hatch and Click Clack Moo Cows That Type" for Lifeline Theatre's Kid series as well as writing songs for "The Jingle Elf Parade" and the Miss Teen Pageant. As an actor, Howe has also been featured in many stock and regional productions including the long-running "Forever Plaid," "Pump Boys and Dinettes," "Guys and Dolls," "The Most Happy Fella," "Sweeny Todd," "Chicago," and "Sherlock Holmes" with Christopher Lloyd. He has also served as musical director for many of Chicago's premiere cabaret singers.
There is nothing that Daryl Nitz and George Howe can't or won't do. They are two unique entertainers whose showmanship provide as cabaret Hotline exclaims " a blockbuster evening of entertainment" and keep the audiences coming back for more.