Musical Theatre alumna Nikki Renée Daniels featured in Cincinnati Pops holiday concert

Watch the festive performance online, showcasing the orchestra with Daniels and her family

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra shared its holiday concert with online audiences on Dec. 12, 2020. The festive performance features UC College-Conservatory of Music alumna and acclaimed Broadway actress Nikki Renée Daniels (BFA Musical Theatre, '01). 

The performance is presented as part of the Live from Music Hall digital concert series and is available to watch online through Dec. 31, 2020. Watch "Live From Music Hall: Holiday Pops." 

Led by John Morris Russell, the hour-long concert features performances by Daniels and her husband, Broadway actor Jeff Kready. The program features beloved holiday favorites including "Rise up, Shepherd, and Follow," "I'll be Home for Christmas," "Sleigh Ride," "Silent Night" and more.

Sharing a holiday tradition celebrated by many families, Kready reads Clement Clarke Moore's poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (commonly known by its first line "Twas the Night Before Christmas") to Daniels and their daughters during the concert. The reading is set to Arcangelo Corelli's "Christmas Concerto" with shadow puppets by Geoffrey Cormier. The grand finale, "Happy Christmas (War is Over)," features the couple singing with their children. 

An acclaimed Broadway performer and concert soloist, Daniels recently starred as Angelica Schuyler in the Chicago company of Hamilton. She will be seen next as Jenny in the 2021 Broadway revival of Company. The CCM alumna is also scheduled to participate in the college's Moveable Feast virtual fundraising event, which features performances by students and alumni from across the college on Jan. 22, 2021. Learn more about CCM Moveable Feast: From Coast to Coast.

Nikki Renée Daniels is an acclaimed Broadway actress and concert soloist. She recently starred as Angelica Schuyler in the Chicago company of Hamilton and will be seen next as Jenny in the 2021 Broadway revival of Company. Her Broadway credits include The Book of Mormon (Nabulungi), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Clara), Les Misérables (Fantine), Anything Goes; Promises, Promises and Lestat. She recently played Martha Jefferson in 1776 at Encores and Rose Lennox in The Secret Garden at David Geffen Hall.

She made her New York City Opera debut as Clara in Porgy and Bess. Daniels' regional credits include Emmie in Caroline or Change at the Guthrie, Sarah in Ragtime at North Shore Music Theater, Belle in Beauty and the Beast at Sacramento Music Circus and Hope in Anything Goes at Williamstown Theater Festival. She has been seen on TV in “Madam Secretary” and “The Sound of Music: Live.”

Daniels has performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras in Atlanta, San Francisco, Houston, Detroit, Omaha, Indianapolis, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and at Carnegie Hall. She has joined the roster of esteemed artists at Broadway Plus. Learn more on her professional website.


Feature image at the top: Jeff Kready and Nikki Renée Daniels with their daughters during the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra's Holiday Concert. 

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