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The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center is saluting St. Valentine with local singer Darren Ottati set to perform a concert of classic love songs on Sunday afternoon, February 11.
As part of his second engagement at the Westhampton Beach venue—which succeeds a sold-out cabaret in 2016—the singer said he will be touching upon various styles of love songs from ballads to pop classics.
Mr. Ottati said this genre has been a large part of his life spanning back to his childhood.
“The funny thing is when I first started singing—literally, I was 7 years old—I heard Barry Manilow’s album playing at my aunt and uncle’s house. That’s when I fell in love with ballads and love songs,” he recalled.
While he owns and operates Gale’s Beauty Salon in Hampton Bays during the day, his nights are often spent playing restaurants and other venues with his band, the Darren Ottati Quartet. They cover all the great American standards, he said.
“I love being out there. I’m a big fish in a small pond. There’s so many talented musicians—especially if you go into the city—so it’s nice that I’m getting recognition out here,” Mr. Ottati explained.
In particular, he said he was honored to be asked back to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center.
The upcoming concert will also include many ballads from beloved Broadway shows, enabling Mr. Ottati to dive into the repertoire of songs he has performed in musicals and Broadway-themed concerts over the last few years. Most recently he has been rehearsing the role of the Beast in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” which Center Stage will present at the Southampton Cultural Center in March. This year’s engagements will also include a summer benefit concert for Center Stage, which he said he has already begun working on.
“It’s an enormous amount of work to hire five or six singers, an orchestra … to get all the music and rehearse,” he said. “It takes months and months to do that, but I love doing it. If I could do it a couple times a year, that’s what I would love to do—work with other super talented singers and musicians.”
For the Westhampton Beach concert, he joins forces with Long Island singers Jenifer DeMeo and Laura Laureano. The addition of female voices allows him to perform duets, which he stressed are a huge part of the love song genre. One of the standout moments of the concert will be a duet originally performed by Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé called “Perfect,” which debuted only late last year.
“We’re doing some new stuff for the younger people who might come to the concert,” he said. “There’s something for everyone.”
Due to time constraints, many numbers could not be included in the final set list, but Mr. Ottati said a piece has been tacked on to the end of the show that is a mash-up of those selections—adding even more variety to the event.
As with previous concerts he has performed, Mr. Ottati said he hopes to make his latest one an intimate experience in which audience members get to know him through both song and anecdotes. With themes of romance in the air, he said he hopes the audience will make a romantic day out of the event.
Mr. Ottati emphasized that he appreciates the performing art center’s effort to create an affordable concert experience for the local community during the off-season.
“A lot of times in the summer, people can’t afford to go to that theater,” he said, noting that ticket prices rise to hundreds of dollars with big-name acts.
But this show, he said, is something anyone should be able to attend.
“It will be a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.”
“Darren Ottati & Friends: An Afternoon of Love Songs” will take place on Sunday, February 11, at 3 p.m. at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main Street, Westhampton Beach. Tickets are $25 and $35. Visit whbpac.org or call 631-288-1500.
on Jan 25, 2018