NITA WHITAKER, recently made her Broadway debut as Wiletta Mayers in Alice Childress’ Trouble in Mind in 2021. As the 2019 NAACP Best Supporting Actress award winner for her role of Mom Winans in the Broadway bound musical Born For This. Nita is also a favorite singer of legendary producer David Foster. Having sung with some of the most famous voices of our time including duets with Andre Bocelli, Michael Bolton and Josh Groban. She also sang the original demos for Whitney Houston’s standards, “I Will Always Love You”, “I Have Nothing” and “I Look to You”, and worked with greats Carol Bayer Sager, Walter A. and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Burt Bacharach, James Ingram, Steve Tyrell, Patti LaBelle, Lionel Ritchie, Yolanda Adams, Nathan East, and Barbara Streisand. She has entertained thousands as well hundreds in her own intimate one woman shows, charity galas and corporate events; her expansive talent and humor continues to find new avenues to be expressed. Nita has recorded 4 independent records, appeared in movies, television shows and multiple studio recordings. 

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana this former ICU registered nurse, former Miss Louisiana and Star Search Hall of Fame Grand Champion continues to champion literacy through her 501c3 non-profit In A World With Books (www.inaworldwithbooks.org) which has put 18,500 new books in the hands of 8500 underserved children and counting. She continues to expand as an artist having performed in four world premiere musicals, “Ragtime”, “Ten Commandments the Musical”, “Breaking Through”, and “Born For This”.  Nita has contributed articles for Inspired Women online magazine, and penned an independent award-winning memoir entitled: Finding My Voice: My Journey from Grief to Grace. She released her newest book release, When Your Hand is in the Lion’s Mouth: The Life and Wisdom of a Man named Green, is available online everywhere in print and audiobook.

Still the greatest delights of her life are her robustly talented daughters Skye and Liisi LaFontaine as they continue to soar. The best is yet to come.

The American dream came true for Catalina Popescu in October of 1986 when she and her husband Bob created a supper club devoted to serving an experience of superb eats and the shared magic of live performance. That grand experience began at the door where every night her mother Maria would greet each guest as family and share in their love of music. Housed in Hollywood and decked out in a timeless charm, the club offers a cozy ambience under sparkling stage lights garnished with its signature concoction — Jazz. The first artist to grace the stage was the masterful flutist and saxophonist Buddy Collette, and ever since then, over the past 36 years, the Catalina Jazz Club has hosted the most illustrious legends of all time — from the powerful puffers of Dizzy Gillespie to the electrified fingers of McCoy Tyner, the bubbly belt of Dee Dee Bridgewater and Lynda Carter, the flirtatious saxophone of Joshua Redman, the slick strumming of Kenny Burrell, the insane drum clinic of Steve Gadd, the romance of Steve Tyrell, and the masterclass of Mike Stern.

For Catalina, Jazz is our way of life. It breathes pain. It knows love. It dreams hope. It bleeds courage. Whether we’re showcasing Broadway, Soul, R&B, or stand-up comedy, the lesson learned from all the greats who have serenaded our spirits is how to connect to one another. And that’s why the Catalina Jazz Club will always have a table ready for you.

The Catalina Jazz Club has been honored by A.S.M.A.C., California Jazz Foundation, Los Angeles Jazz Society, and a City of Los Angeles Certificate of Appreciation on their 25th Anniversary, which was awarded by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the LA City Council which included then City Council member and current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.