Jeanne Brei hails from Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she spent her childhood tap dancing (her mother married her tap teacher and the dance studio was in the basement!) and singing to the music of the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. She grew up on stage, performing in musicals from The Sound of Music, Anything Goes, Fiddler on the Roof, Music Manand Oklahoma (as Ado Annie) to Death Valley Daze Melodrama (as the heroine) and100 Years of Song & Music, a revue with special guest Ruth Etting.

     After graduating from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, she headed for New York and the Great White Way. She appeared off-Broadway in Give My Regards To Broadway, co-starred in a national tour of No, No Nanette with Phil Ford and Mimi Hines and performed with the American Tap Dance Orchestra at The Cotton Club with Honi Coles and Tommy Tune. She also performed at Tidewater Dinner Theater in Norfolk, Virginia (in Applause!) and as a singing waitress on The New Spirit of Norfolk harbor lunch cruise. She wrote, produced, directed and starred in three cabaret shows in New York: Wild Women Don’t Get The Blues, Sweet & Hot and Wish I May, Wish I Might. Two of those shows featured her own five-piece band, The Tin Pan Alley Cats. While in New York she had the pleasure of studying with and hobnobbing with the greatest--including Margaret Whiting, Anne Francine, Sylvia Syms, Ann Reinking, Brenda Bufalino and Gerald Marks (the then 92-year-old lyricist of All of Me and Is It True What They Say About Dixie). She's continued her education with stints at the Eugene O'Neill Cabaret Symposium in 1991 and the Cabaret Conference at Yale in 2003 - studying with Jason Graae, Tovah Feldshuh, Amanda McBroom, Sally Mayes, Julie Wilson, Lina Koutrakos, Marilynn Lovell Matz, and fabulous musicians Tex Arnold, Paul Trueblood, Rick Jensen, Billy Philadelphia & Jeff Klitz.       

She’s sung with bands all over the country including The Boomtown Stompers in Denver, Smilin’ Jack Meihlan’s Quintet out of Chicago and Bob Cantwell & His Stompersat the Red Blazer Too and T.J. Bentley's in New York. She recorded with The Showboat Casino Dixieland Band in Atlantic City and sang on a Mediterranean cruise hosted by AMC’s Richard Brown. In 2006, she had the honor of singing at Jeff Healy’s jazz club in Toronto with the extraordinary Jeff Healy& his band (his vocalist needed a sub!) and in San Francisco in 2007 with the marvelous Cottontails  (their vocalist was recovering from nodes) and she was thrilled to be asked by concert pianist/showman extraordinaire Hershey Felder to sing on his latest album recorded live July 11, 2007 (the 70th anniversary of George Gershwin's death) at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles. Since moving to Las Vegas, she’s sung with the Nevada Opera Theater, the Nevada Chamber Symphony, the Brown Bag Lunch Cabaret series for The Nevada Performing Arts Society at Debbie Reynolds’ Hotel and for SuperSummer Theater at Spring Mtn. Ranch (as Gloria in Damn Yankees). She performed with the legendary Treniers and Sweet Louie (from the CheckMates) at the Moulin Rouge for its 41st anniversary benefit and she’s performed her lounge act at the Rainbow Vegas Hotel & Casino and the Westward Ho -- now both imploded :( She’s still dancin’ as well--enjoying gigs tap dancing with the (now deceased) Pat Rico at the Union Plaza Casino and exhibition ballroom dancing with Will Collins in Sun City. And she was thrilled to originate the role of an elf named "Christmas Carol" in NextStage Entertainment's workshop of 'Twas: A Christmas Musical at Cashman Field in December 2000. And even more thrilling, in 2006, she had the good fortune to do an infomercial for Flirty Girl Fitness (a dance studio out of Toronto) that taught her how to pole dance to lose weight -- and she lost 47 pounds in 5 months! She highly recommends pole dancing for weight loss & fun!

     Beginning in 2000, she produced a series of “Holiday” shows at the Las Vegas Sun Cities—Summerlin, Anthem and MacDonald Ranch—including Thanks For The Memories (Thanksgiving with special guest Phil Ford), My Foolish Heart (April Fools’ Day with special guests The Dunhills), Red Hot & Cool For The Fourth of July, In The Good Old Summertime and Falling In Love With Fall (Veteran's Day with special guests The Cunninghams). She adores working with the great talents she’s found in Las Vegas, including jazz stylist John Hayes, comedic actor Bobby Rodgers, and fabulous pianists such as Charlie Shaffer, Dehner Franks, Jimmy Hendrickson, Bill Kane, Eddie McKeta and Billy Stevenson.

    In addition to producing her live theatrical shows, she's made the jump to television! She was the Associate Producer, Writer and Narrator for the Las Vegas PBS show, Watch Your Step, Brother! The Life of Maceo Anderson, which aired in September 2001 and featured interviews with Donald O'Connor, Phil Ford, Mimi Hines, Jerry Kurland, Prince Spencer and many more! In 2004, she and PBS executive producer Michael McCartney teamed up again to produce the four-part series Dancin’ Nevada which featured tap, ballet, jazz, modern, folk, social and ethnic dancing throughout the Silver State and aired each Wednesday in May 2004. For the Las Vegas Centennial in May 2005, she and nine extraordinary musicians (Billy Stevenson (piano), Don Hill (tenor sax), Burt Eshelman (clarinet), Ed Sherry (trumpet), Kevin Stout (trombone),Ed Pucci (drums), Dick Smith (bass), Vic Fouquet (banjo) and  Fred Kirschner (gutbucket) teamed up to perform at the Alexander Dawson school with music from the turn of the century.

     In November 2007 Jeanne opened Jazzin' with Jeanne!, a  musical variety show, & Jammin' with Jeanne! a loosely scripted cabaret/jam for a limited run of Wednesdays in November at Fitzgeralds Casino in "Vintage Vegas" (that's PR speak for the fabulous new downtown -- CityWalk Vegas-Style") is . Each show showcased her many extraordinarily talented friends and they recorded her Jazzin' with Jeanne: Live in Las Vegas CD on the closing night.

    The CD launch party was held at Bugsy's Supper Club in Las Vegas on June 25, 2008 and the line of people waiting to get inside led to a weekly gig at Bugsy's beginning July 19, 2008. The Speakeasy Swingers have become a big hit with both jazz lovers and swing dancers in Las Vegas and frequently host such wonderful sit-ins as the late Harry Walker (from the Treniers), Artie Schreck & Linda November, Larry G. Jones (from The Man of 1,002 Voices which played at The Royal Hotel on the Strip), Larry Liso (from Shades of Sinatra), John Kaye (from  John Kaye & The Overlords), Charlie Okahura and many others!

   In late 2010, the Speakeasy Swingers began hosting Throwback Thursdays/The Swanky Supper Club Soiree at the very vintage Vegas Italian American Supper Club after stints at Caylix Jazz Supper Club, the Mezza Restaurant & the Rhythm Kitchen.
   In 2015, she appeared as a contestant on ABC-TV's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," with host Terry Crews and in 2007 she was a contestant on "Master of Dance," with host Joey Fatone.  And on March 17, 2012, "The Vintage Vegas Variety Show: Goin' Retro with Jazzin' Jeanne Brei!" debuted on VegasTV (KTUD).  The old-style TV variety show is currently available on YouTube on the VintageVegasVariety channel and is currently looking for sponsors to return to television. She's certain that there's an audience for live musicians playing The Great American Songbook, standards, Dixieland & big band music as well as for barbershoppers, Lindyhoppers, swing dancers, tap dancers & ballroom dancers. Let's give today's performers who aren't into rock & roll or country a venue to strut their stuff! 

Written, Directed & Starring Jeanne Brei

Wild Women Don’t Get The Blues, 6/90, Avalon Theater, NYC

Sweet & Hot, 6/93, Adelaide’s Supper Club, NYC

Wish I May, Wish I Might, 4/95, Don’t Tell Mama, NYC

Thirties Jazz: Sweet & Hot, 7/96, Debbie Reynolds Hotel, Las Vegas

Second Time Around, 10/96, Debbie Reynolds Hotel

Best Foot Forward,1/97, Debbie Reynolds Hotel

Keep On Smilin’, 3/97, Debbie Reynolds Hotel

Younger Than Springtime, 6/97, Debbie Reynolds Hotel

Red, Hot & Cool, 8/97, Debbie Reynolds Hotel

Jingle Jangle Wonderland,12/97, Debbie Reynolds Hotel

Just A Song, A Dance & You, 3/98, Debbie Reynolds Hotel

The  cast of Thanks For The Memories: A Tin Pan Alley Thanksgiving (back row) Charlie Shaffer, Kimberly Brent, Jeanne Brei, Phil Ford, John Hayes, Will Collins, Scott Honeycutt (front row) Jerry Kurland, Christine Moore, Jean Henninger, Celia Ellis & Phyllis Truman

Written, Directed & Hosted by Jeanne Brei

New York, New York: A Tribute, 3/97, Nevada Opera Theater Benefit, NY/NY Casino

Best Foot Forward!  3/97, Westward Ho Casino High Roller Parties

A Cavalcade of Talent Goin’ Places, 3/97, Sun City Summerlin Desert Vista

This Is The Moment: A Celebration of the Classic Broadway & Hollywood Musical, 1/98, NV Performing Arts Society, Starbright Theater

Two Hearts In ¾ Time: A Valentine’s Celebration, 2/99, NV Performing Arts Society, Starbright Theater

La Scala To Las Vegas: Two Harps Beat As One, 4/99, Co-directed, co-choreographed with Jeffry Williams at The Orleans Showroom. Filmed for PBS.

Around The World, Down The Strip, 8/00, Las Vegas Ambassadors Benefit, Desert Inn Estates.

Thanks For The Memories: A Tin Pan Alley Thanksgiving,11/00, TPAC Productions, Starbright Theater, Sun City Summerlin

My Foolish Heart: April Fool’s Tin Pan Alley Style! 4/01, TPAC Productions, Starbright, MacDonald Ranch & Anthem

Red Hot & Cool For The Fourth of July!  7/01,TPAC Productions, Starbright, MacDonald Ranch & Anthem

In The Good Old Summertime!  8/01, TPAC Productions, Summerlin Women’s Club

Falling In Love With Fall: Tin Pan Alley Style! 11/01, TPAC Productions, Starbright & MacDonald Ranch

It's Make Believe Ballroom Time, 5/03, TPAC Productions, Summerlin, MacDonald Ranch & Anthem