Tenderly – The Life and Times of Nat King Cole
Field Hall Presents: Tenderly – The Life and Times of Nat King Cole
August 18th, 19th, and 20th @ 6PM | Sunset Bar & Lounge
*Tickets $40, 2 item food and beverage minimum | CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
*Our ticketing platform Ludus charges a 5% service fee for all card transactions. To avoid this fee, visit our Box Office at 201 W. Front Street and pay via cash or check. Hours: Monday-Saturday 10AM-2PM.
Award-winning artist Duane Forrest blends the timeless music of Nat King Cole with powerful storytelling in a captivating, heartfelt exploration of legacy, identity, and quiet resistance.
From Off-Broadway stages to international festivals, Forrest invites audiences into an intimate, soul-stirring journey through the life and influence of one of the 20th century’s most iconic voices. Blending velvety renditions of Cole’s classics with deeply personal reflection, he explores how a Black man in 1950s America became a cultural pioneer — the first to host a nationally broadcast television show — while navigating a world that celebrated him onstage but resisted him off it.
Raised in Toronto, Forrest reflects on his own relationship with jazz — a genre born from Black roots, yet often presented as distant or elite — and how discovering Cole’s music opened the door to spaces he once felt were not meant for him.
Through song, story, and striking theatrical imagery, Tenderly is a moving meditation on influence, dignity, and the quiet power of simply showing up.
Uplifting, personal, and unforgettable: this is a must-see performance!
ABOUT DUANE FORREST
Duane Forrest is a professional singer-songwriter and multimedia artist from Toronto, Ontario.
His unique sound blends jazz, reggae, bossa nova, soul, and smooth vocals. Over the past decade, Forrest has released two full-length original albums and toured in Canada three times, in Europe four times, and in Central America three times. He has secured radio play in Canada, Germany, Honduras, Iceland, Italy, Nicaragua, and the United States. His latest album, The Climb, reaches more than 4,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
In 2017, Duane debuted his first theatre production, Climb, a live album experience based on his concept album, The Climb. Duane also presented Climb at the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival, where Toronto Fringe founder Gregory Nixon described the show as “one of the highlights of this year’s Fringe.” Most recently in 2019 & 2022 Climb received glowing reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2023 Duane performed CLIMB at the Milan Fringe Festival and was runner up for “show of the festival”. He also debuted a new show called “Bob Marley: How reggae changed the world” that received a 5 star review from Broadway Baby. As he furthers his career, Forrest aims to continue to push the boundaries of his art by delivering music in diverse storytelling formats.
Our ticketing platform Ludus charges a 5% service fee for all card transactions. To avoid this fee, visit our Box Office at 201 W. Front Street and pay via cash or check. Hours: Monday-Saturday 10AM-2PM. Is cost a barrier? Click here to apply for financial assistance through our #fieldhallforall program.
