Cookin’ at the Cookery: The Music and Times of Alberta Hunter

Direct from a standing ovation-filled tour throughout America, the acclaimed musical celebration about Alberta Hunter, Cookin’ at the Cookery: The Music and Times of Alberta Hunter comes to San Diego. This is the unforgettable true story of a heroic woman who clawed her way to the top to become a star of Broadway, the Casino de Paris and the London Palladium.

Set in 1977, this production presents 82-year-old Alberta Hunter as she prepares to perform her first show in over 20 years at the infamous “Cookery” in Greenwich Village. With indomitable spirit, song, and dance, the premiere blues artist recalls her life’s journey from Memphis, Tennessee to the heights of show business fame. Beginning as a cabaret singer at age 15, Alberta found herself the toast of American and European audiences in the 1920s, sharing stages with Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith and others. She retired after the death of her mother, started another career as a nurse and later, at the age of 82, returned to the ranks of international cabaret stardom at the Cookery, prior to touring the world again. This features Hunter’s signature tunes “My Castle’s Rockin’,” “Handy Man” and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.”