After leaving Nick Arden's, Nelson continued to work day jobs, while singing sporadically. In 1949 she performed at the Café Gala, a cabaret on Hollywood's
Sunset Strip; singer-pianist
Bobby Short entertained. Recalled Short in his 1995 autobiography
Bobby Short: The Life and Times of a Saloon Singer: "Portia walked onto the floor of the Gala, tall, poised, goddesslike in floating chiffon – and singing in a way that was all her own. She was a smash." It was at the Café Gala that Nelson was heard by Herbert Jacoby, the owner (with
Max Gordon) of Manhattan's preeminent cabaret, the
Blue Angel. Jacoby invited her to sing there. In January 1950, Nelson moved to New York; soon after she was performing on one of the Blue Angel's four-act bills. She would sing there on and off until 1959, sharing rosters with
Carol Channing,
Pearl Bailey,
Imogene Coca,
Orson Bean,
Wally Cox,
Harry Belafonte,
Johnny Mathis, and other budding stars. Nelson sometimes performed in the front lounge, where her accompanist was
William Roy, a young pianist and composer who was just beginning a fifty-year career as a musical director for many of cabaret's greatest performers. In 1951 Nelson would also appear at the New York lounge Celeste, accompanied by songwriter and pianist
Bart Howard, who soon became the emcee at the Blue Angel. At Celeste, Nelson performed many of the songs (including "
In Other Words," later retitled "
Fly Me to the Moon") that she would gather on her album
Let Me Love You: Portia Nelson Sings the Songs of Bart Howard. She championed Howard for the rest of her career. The singer had made an auspicious recorded debut with the album
Love Songs for a Late Evening, released in 1953 by Columbia's Masterworks division, normally reserved for classical artists. The
New Yorker reviewer
Rogers Whitaker wrote in his liner notes: "One has only to hear the delicate phrasing and effortless command of melody to understand why she could immediately create such a stir." ==Theater and other recordings==