Last Show: Saturday 26 th February 2022
Out of the pandemic into the fire! Lea returns to PizzaExpress along with her longtime collaborator and Musical Director, Janette Mason, to preview her new recording 'F**k Love'.
Lea DeLaria
Lea DeLaria seems to have achieved overnight stardom with her three time, SAG Award winning, stand-out role as ‘Carrie ‘Big Boo’ Black’ in the Netflix hit series 'Orange is the New Black'. However, DeLaria’s multi- faceted career as a comedian, actress and jazz musician, has in fact, spanned decades.
Lea holds the distinction of being the first openly gay comic on television in America which led to countless Television and Film roles portraying Police Lieutenants, PE Teachers and the Lesbian who inappropriately hits on straight women.
Selected TV credits: “The Code,” “Shameless,” “Broad City,” “Baroness Von Sketch,” “The Jim Gaffigan Show,” “Awkward,” “Clarence,” “Californication,” “The Oblongs,” “One Live to Live,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Will and Grace,” “Friends” & “Matlock.” Selected Film credits: Cars 3, Potato Dreams of America, Support The Girls, First Wives Club, Dear Dumb Diary, Edge of Seventeen.
She’s received Obie & Theater World Awards, and a Drama Desk nomination for her portrayal as ‘Hildy’ in the Public Theatre’s revival of On The Town, and has played both Eddie & Dr. Scott in the gender-bending Broadway musical The Rocky Horror Show.
Lea was the featured vocalist at the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival, and has performed in some of the most prestigious houses in the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Chicago Symphony, Hollywood Bowl, The Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House.
Lea has five records on the Warner Jazz and Classics label and her book "Lea's Book of Rules for the World" is in its third printing at Bantam Doubleday and Dell.
Her sixth record, House Of David delaria+bowie=jazz, was released in the Summer of 2015 to critical acclaim.
Lea can currently be seen as ‘Professor Mendelson’ in Apple TV’s 'Physical', ‘Queenie’ in HULU’s 'Reprisal', and as ‘Molly Yarnchopper’ in the Netflix and DreamWorks animated series 'Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts'.
Janette Mason
London based pianist, composer, arranger and producer has been a mainstay of the British jazz scene for the last fifteen years performing and arranging for everyone from Elaine Delmar to Claire Martin.
Janette has a formidable track record. She toured extensively throughout the 90s with artists like Oasis, Pulp and Robert Wyatt and has proven to be a consummate musician and a standout talent in Jazz, Pop and World Music. She has contributed arrangements to Ian Shaw’s Drawn To All Things and produced Lea DeLaria’s, The Live Smoke Sessions that reached the Grammy Ballot.
Photo credit - Tina Turnbow
Lea DeLaria (vocals)
Janette Mason (Musical Director/pianist)
Simon Little (bass)
Ed Richardson (drums)