Nat Zegree burst onto the Orlando cultural scene with a zap of artistic energy from his fast-moving fingers that — Attention: We interrupt this column’s introduction to remind you if you want Nat Zegree tickets for New Year’s Eve, book now. At press time fewer than 50 remained for an event that’s still almost two months away. It may already be too late!
But that’s how it goes with Zegree’s shows. Central Florida audiences just can’t get enough of this virtuoso pianist from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who combines his musical prowess with a showman’s exuberant style.
“It is joy incarnate,” he says during one of his sold-out September performances at Judson’s Live, the intimate club at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. “That’s what I try to bring to this music.”
And audiences respond.
The downtown arts center is having Zegree back for two shows on Dec. 31. Tickets are going fast, at drphillipscenter.org.
But that’s nothing new. When three concerts presented by Orlando Shakes sold out in June, a fourth was added to meet demand. And Zegree will be back at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center in December for three performances of his “The Nat Before Christmas” show, which — you guessed it — are already sold out.
“My time in Orlando has been nothing but incredible,” he says in a phone conversation from his home in New York City. “I’ve made a great community down there. I’ve been really lucky to be surrounded by incredible people.”
The feeling is mutual.
“Nat is one of the most talented musicians and actors I have ever worked with. It is a joy to share his artistry with Central Florida audiences,” says Orlando Shakes artistic director Jim Helsinger. “And on a personal note, he’s also a really nice guy dedicated to making great art. I look forward to partnering with him in more projects at Orlando Shakes in the future.”
Nat Zegree routinely sells out his concerts in Central Florida. (Courtesy Orlando Shakes)
Zegree tells me he has just played his “first Christmas song of the season,” understandable as he prepares for his Christmas-show tour with its Orlando Shakes stop. I’m more incredulous when he reveals he also has been practicing his scales. This is a man who practically sets the piano ablaze with his lightning-fast licks, and he’s drilling himself on scales?
“The only reason you can watch me run up and down the keys is because I still practice the scales,” he says with a laugh. “And any pianist out there will tell you the same.”
Zegree came to music naturally. Both of his parents were music educators; in fact, dad Steve was honored with membership in the DownBeat Jazz Education Hall of Fame. So he started playing piano at age 3.
“It wasn’t until I grew up a little bit that I thought, ‘Wait a minute? Do I have to do this?”
But the draw of music was too strong.
“I would very quickly come back to the acceptance that ‘not only do I have to do this, I love doing this,’” he says. “I just knew in my blood I’m meant to entertain.”
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At Indiana University, he majored in musical theater but “I never was your typical ‘Oh I want to be on Broadway’ guy.”
He did move to New York City — “$611 to my name, right? A backpack with a couple of personal belongings and one small suitcase full of clothing” — and quickly found a niche as a music director at such well-known cabaret spots as 54 Below, Don’t Tell Mama and the Laurie Beechman Theatre.
Like most performers, Zegree also supplemented his income with a steadier job — in his case, child care. “People called it being a ‘manny’” he says, as he worked for several different families, including spending more than years with three girls ages 2, 4 and 6 in his charge.
“That was a hugely instrumental part of my time in New York City, it taught me a lot about responsibilities,” he says. “I don’t think I’d be the person I am today without that experience.”
He still keeps in touch with those girls, now young women, and visited with them in London after his musical “Fly More Than you Fall” was staged there. Oh, yes: He also creates musicals, with writing partner Eric Holmes.
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The critic for London’s Guardian newspaper proclaimed herself “blown away” by the show’s “sensational songs,” and wrote “The titular number is instantly catchy and Nat Zegree’s music brings emotional drama, warmth and one soaring song after another.”
Zegree, with understatement, says the show had “a great run.” He’s currently working on the concept album for a new work, “The King’s Critique.”
And speaking of musical theater, we turn to “Million Dollar Quartet,” the musical about a legendary meeting between Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. It’s the show that introduced Zegree to Central Florida when he starred as Lewis in Orlando Shakes’ 2023 production — and was awarded a special Orlando Sentinel commendation in its annual theater awards.
Zegree has played the flamboyant role more than 300 times in various productions, many directed by collaborator Hunter Foster. The two will reunite at Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars to do it again in February.
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“I’ll never be sick of ‘Million Dollar Quartet,’” he says. “I’m grateful. The joy it brings to the people who see it is unlike any other experience because there’s so much nostalgia to it — and it’s real. These people really affected millions and millions of lives.”
Zegree promises plenty of joy for his New Year’s Eve shows, which will feature a backing band: “It’s really just a celebration, celebrating the year we’ve had and the year yet to come. It’s very important to me, especially in times like today, to bring people together,” he says.
As we discuss the idea of music as a uniting force, Zegree is suddenly reminded of a high-school bully, a kid who “was not nice to me.”
Nat Zegree served as music director and starred as Jerry Lee Lewis in Orlando Shakes’ “Million Dollar Quartet.” (Courtesy Tony Firriolo via Orlando Shakes)
“I don’t think I’ve ever told this story before,” he says with some surprise as he relates how one day he was playing some pop tunes on the piano for his schoolmates. Among them was the bully, who suddenly put in a request — for Muse’s “Butterflies and Hurricanes.”
Zegree didn’t know it, but he listened to the tune and started to play.
“It was something pretty tough, but I kind of nailed it,” he says. What he remembers more, though, is the reaction the music got from his adversary.
“I watched in his face the realization that ‘maybe I shouldn’t be pushing this guy into the lockers, maybe I shouldn’t be pushing anyone into the lockers,” Zegree says. It was a turning point in their relationship: “He later apologized and said he was glad we were friends.”
He still marvels at what music achieved that day.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the music that we experienced together,” he says. “It was the music that had the power.”
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.
Nat Zegree
When: 7 and 9:30 p.m. Dec. 31
Where: Judson’s Live at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando
Cost: From $88.21
Info: drphillipscenter.org
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/04/nat-zegree-orlando-new-years-eve-concert/