Old-fashioned talents — like the ability to command a stage, large or small, and hold an audience in the palm of your hand for an hour and a half just through song and a little bit of banter — feel like they're endangered in today's abbreviated, reality TV and tweet-obsessed, jump-cut culture. We saw it when Kevin Spacey came to town last year to perform his Richard III — a history play that could have been mildly boring in the hands of a lesser actor. And we saw it in the breezy, elegant, seemingly effortless set by Tony-winner Sutton Foster that we saw Wednesday night at Feinstein's at the Nikko.

The new cabaret venue had its opening night on Wednesday, replacing The Rrazz Room which closed in December, and Ms. Foster is breaking it in with shows through Sunday. (Look for tickets here.) She performed a set of new and previously performed and recorded material — some of which came out of an earlier cabaret act she did at The Carlyle in New York with collaborator, arranger, and accompanist Michael Rafter. In addition to being a terrific and well-curated selection of songs, this was a a group of songs that displayed the range of Foster's voice, from lounge standards to poignant love songs to bouncy and funny comedic numbers like the summer-desperation song "Air Conditioner" (example lyric: "Don't matter what kind of lovin' you're into, or how big your apartment may be/ all you need's an air conditioner and you are the man for me.").

Foster also did a moving job with songs like "My Heart Was Set on You" (about a breakup that all one's friends can predict, but which they let you experience without saying 'I told you so.'); a medley sang to her adopted dog Linus, whom she dubbed "the man in my life," "“It Only Takes a Moment / Time After Time” [Sidenote: This brought SFist's pet-loving Brock Keeling to tears]; and the John Denver classic "Sunshine on My Shoulders."

If Foster is any indication of the caliber of performers that Feinstein's will draw to San Francisco, everyone is in for some pretty big treats in the coming months.

Foster's presence, and her range as a performer, were on display as much in the moments between songs as during them. She's a genuine performer, one who you know loves being up there in the spotlight, but not so much that it's obnoxious. She was enough at ease, cracking self-deprecating jokes and goofing around during those interim moments like we were all just in her living room on a weeknight. And yet that casualness belied the precision and power she showed as a vocalist. There wasn't a single unclear note or rushed phrase, and she left the room clearly wanting more after doing two encores, including "Anything Goes" from her Tony-winning turn as Reno Sweeney in 2011, which resulted in a standing ovation. Even Mrs. Brady herself, Florence Henderson, who was in the audience, called out "Thank you" when Foster tried to thank us for the applause.