Introduction
Ariana Savalas is an American singer, songwriter, and burlesque performer.She is the daughter of Academy Award-nominated film and TV actor Telly Savalas. Savalas is a resident headlining performer and emcee for Postmodern Jukebox. She was one of the original members of the group alongside Haley Reinhart, Casey Abrams, Robyn Adele Anderson, and Morgan James. She tours with the band and has appeared in a number of the group's YouTube videos. Often referred to as The Pussycat, Savalas is known for her risqué on-stage music and comedy. She has been called the modern day Mae West and the Dita Von Teese of music, fusing her original songs with elements of traditional vaudeville and burlesque.. She was described by Las Vegas Magazine as "the musical burlesque queen" and "the mistress of the modern Moulin Rouge".
Early years
Savalas was born in Los Angeles but was raised in Minnesota following her father's death in 1994. She attended an all-girls Catholic Convent school in her teenaged years before graduating early and moving to London to pursue a career in performance. She studied Shakespeare and acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and is a member of Playhouse West, a repertory theater directed by Jeff Goldblum. Before turning to jazz, Savalas toured and recorded in Europe as a pop singer in her teens with European producer Jack White. She made a guest appearance as Bobby Lainsford on the CBS hit drama Criminal Minds in 2010. Savalas began her music career in Los Angeles as a singer/songwriter playing venues on the Sunset Strip, such as the Whisky a Go-Go and Hard Rock Cafe, before transitioning into jazz.
Jazz and Burlesque
Her first jazz album, "Sophisticated Lady", is a combination of Savalas' original compositions as well as two standards from the Great American Songbook, including the song Sophisticated Lady by Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish, and Irving Mills which she named the record after. Savalas was widely known in the cabaret world headlining in venues such as the New York Friars' Club and Michael Feinstein's late New York cabaret Feinstein's. In a departure from the traditional cabaret world, Savalas began incorporating her own music into her live shows, drawing influences from the Weimar Republic era of German Cabaret and the Moulin Rouge. Her 2019 live album, "The Ménage a Tour! Live from Las Vegas" is a showcase of music, songwriting, dance, comedy, and burlesque. Since her departure from traditional cabaret, Savalas tours with her solo act and with Postmodern Jukebox as a headlining artist and their first female emcee. They have performed at venues such as Radio City Music Hall, The Greek Theater, and the O2 Academy in London.