P O D C A S T
This
podcast is for those people who own the songbook, or for those considering buying the songbook,
or for those who just want to hear my music.
I've been very encouraged by all the people who've asked me to make a CD,
however I chose this format because it allowed me to get audio versions
of the songs out into the world all the more quickly.
Admittedly, the sound quality is not even close to that of a professional recording.
These podcasts were taped in my NY apartment,
so they are quite lo-fi, laid back, informal.
There are mistakes. You can hear page-turning, passing sirens, etc.
But hopefully, you can also catch the words and melodies.
Enjoy!
Warning: some episodes contain explicit language.
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Kate Shindle (recorded 9/27/2008)
Sung by Kate Shindle (recorded 9/27/2008)
Special
Episode #6: Kate
Shindle may have come to our attention first as Miss
America 1998, but she has clearly staked out a place of her
own in the
musical theatre world. She's appeared on Broadway in Jekyll and Hide,
headlined as Sally Bowles in the Sam Mendes/Rob Marshall revival of Cabaret, and
originated the role of
Vivienne in Legally Blonde,
the musical.
Kate was always on my radar because a) she's a fellow Northwestern University alum, and b) she was a super cool Miss A., in that she was really talented and she had a great platform (AIDS awareness and education). So when I was asked to write a song for a benefit and I heard Kate was one of the singers I could write for, I snapped her up PDQ.! It's great to finally work with her after years of rubbing elbows at Northwestern events and Julia Murney's annual Pancakes and Bacon Party.
The benefit, called Broadway in South Africa, will take place on October 6th at Symphony Space. Ten songwriters (including Henry Krieger, Michael John LaChiusa and Bill Russell) were asked to write songs inspired by the essays and drawings of South African children. I took my inspiration from Khensoni Mabaso's sketch of Johannesburg, which features a very tall building with the word "Voda" on top. This piqued my curiousity, so off I went to research what turned out to be the Ponte City Tower, a 54-story cylindrically-shaped apartment building with a hollow core. ("Voda" is short for Vodacom, a cellular phone company that owns a huge LED wraparound sign on the top three stories of the building.)
When Ponte was built in 1975, the surrounding neighborhoods were "whites only," but with the end of Apartheid, the area quickly filled with blacks and immigrants, and the white people fled to the suburbs. The building became notorious for criminal activity, suicide jumpers, and the garbage that built up inside the core.
The building is currently being renovated and resold as high-style condos. Last October, before the sales office opened, the building co-sponsored an event with the city to offer people the opportunity to "Abseil off Ponte," i.e. rappel down the building on ropes like mountain climbers use.
(Note: the first version of this episode has some sound issues which have been resolved in the current version.)
Kate was always on my radar because a) she's a fellow Northwestern University alum, and b) she was a super cool Miss A., in that she was really talented and she had a great platform (AIDS awareness and education). So when I was asked to write a song for a benefit and I heard Kate was one of the singers I could write for, I snapped her up PDQ.! It's great to finally work with her after years of rubbing elbows at Northwestern events and Julia Murney's annual Pancakes and Bacon Party.
The benefit, called Broadway in South Africa, will take place on October 6th at Symphony Space. Ten songwriters (including Henry Krieger, Michael John LaChiusa and Bill Russell) were asked to write songs inspired by the essays and drawings of South African children. I took my inspiration from Khensoni Mabaso's sketch of Johannesburg, which features a very tall building with the word "Voda" on top. This piqued my curiousity, so off I went to research what turned out to be the Ponte City Tower, a 54-story cylindrically-shaped apartment building with a hollow core. ("Voda" is short for Vodacom, a cellular phone company that owns a huge LED wraparound sign on the top three stories of the building.)
When Ponte was built in 1975, the surrounding neighborhoods were "whites only," but with the end of Apartheid, the area quickly filled with blacks and immigrants, and the white people fled to the suburbs. The building became notorious for criminal activity, suicide jumpers, and the garbage that built up inside the core.
The building is currently being renovated and resold as high-style condos. Last October, before the sales office opened, the building co-sponsored an event with the city to offer people the opportunity to "Abseil off Ponte," i.e. rappel down the building on ropes like mountain climbers use.
(Note: the first version of this episode has some sound issues which have been resolved in the current version.)
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 4/24/2008)
Sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 4/24/2008)
Special
Episode #5: I had so much to talk about that I simply HAD to do a new
episode. Tune in to hear all about my upcoming UK concert "tour, " and
find out about my limited-time special songbook offer.
Also, check out this never-heard-before trunk song, "My Time with You," written for the now-abandoned Betty Boop musical.
If you can't make it over to Nottingham or London for my June concerts, why don't you hop/skip/jump down to the Jersey Shore for my July 17th benefit concert for the Jewish Community Center in Deal, NJ?
Hope to see you there!
Also, check out this never-heard-before trunk song, "My Time with You," written for the now-abandoned Betty Boop musical.
If you can't make it over to Nottingham or London for my June concerts, why don't you hop/skip/jump down to the Jersey Shore for my July 17th benefit concert for the Jewish Community Center in Deal, NJ?
Hope to see you there!
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Donna Lynne Champlin (recorded 01/11/2008)
Sung by Donna Lynne Champlin (recorded 01/11/2008)
Special
Episode #4: I'm so thrilled to add Donna Lynne
Champlin
to my list of special guest stars, first at my Birdland concert in
November, and now on the podcast. After loving her performances in such
Broadway shows as By Jeeves, Hollywood Arms,
and Sweeney Todd,
it's a real treat for me to get to hear her sing my songs.
I do feel the need to mention: As wonderful as Donna Lynne has been in other people's shows, she could never be better than she is in her own one-woman show, Finishing the Hat. It is, hands down, the most spectacular solo show I have ever seen in my life. Donna Lynne tells a series of stories about herself and her life (chosen from a hat by the audience), and she does so with a level of wit and comedy and pathos and musicality and drama that is truly in a league of her own. DO NOT MISS THIS if she ever does it again. (Donna Lynne, do it again.)
In the meantime, you lucky D.C.er's can catch her at the Kennedy Center in Henry (Dreamgirls) Krieger and Bill (Sideshow) Russell's Up in the Air, playing February 7-10.
In this special episode, she sings "I Burn," from the dearly departed, unfinished musical, Hush. The song is from a show-within-the-show, i.e. the main character, Miles, is writing a musical which deconstructs Dickens' Great Expectations and centers around the character of Miss Havisham. This song finds Miss H. on the morning of her wedding day, before she discovers that her fiancé has been deceiving her and will not marry her after all. The song would later be reprised as a duet between young Miss H and old Miss H, as the latter dies in a fire, still wearing her wedding dress.
By
the way, The BMI Workshop Songbook
Podcast
is now officially up and running. Tune in to hear me interview the
wonderful members and alumni of this acclaimed writers' workshop and to
listen to performances of their songs by our too, too talented guest
stars! You can also subscribe
here via iTunes.
I do feel the need to mention: As wonderful as Donna Lynne has been in other people's shows, she could never be better than she is in her own one-woman show, Finishing the Hat. It is, hands down, the most spectacular solo show I have ever seen in my life. Donna Lynne tells a series of stories about herself and her life (chosen from a hat by the audience), and she does so with a level of wit and comedy and pathos and musicality and drama that is truly in a league of her own. DO NOT MISS THIS if she ever does it again. (Donna Lynne, do it again.)
In the meantime, you lucky D.C.er's can catch her at the Kennedy Center in Henry (Dreamgirls) Krieger and Bill (Sideshow) Russell's Up in the Air, playing February 7-10.
In this special episode, she sings "I Burn," from the dearly departed, unfinished musical, Hush. The song is from a show-within-the-show, i.e. the main character, Miles, is writing a musical which deconstructs Dickens' Great Expectations and centers around the character of Miss Havisham. This song finds Miss H. on the morning of her wedding day, before she discovers that her fiancé has been deceiving her and will not marry her after all. The song would later be reprised as a duet between young Miss H and old Miss H, as the latter dies in a fire, still wearing her wedding dress.
By
the way, The BMI Workshop Songbook
Podcast
is now officially up and running. Tune in to hear me interview the
wonderful members and alumni of this acclaimed writers' workshop and to
listen to performances of their songs by our too, too talented guest
stars! You can also subscribe
here via iTunes.
Special
Episode 3: October 28, 2007 "Why
Can't I Kiss You?"
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Jose Llana (recorded 10/24/2007)
Sung by Jose Llana (recorded 10/24/2007)
Special
Episode #3: After a long break, I'm back! Last month, I finally got to
meet Jose Llana
at, of all places, Broadway
Idol. (He was there as a judge, I was a there as a screaming Alysha Umphress
fan.) As we were talking, I realized that I needed him to sing this
song, so I pounced. And here he is!
Jose is remembered, most recently, for his portrayal of the adorable Chip Tolentino ("My Unfortunate Erection," anyone?) in the Drama Desk Award-winning original cast of the Off-Broadway/Broadway hit, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. A Broadway "veteran" at 31, he made his debut at the tender age of 19 as Lun Tha in the '96 revival of The King and I, and he's been working non-stop ever since. On Broadway, he's also appeared in Street Corner Symphony, as Angel in Rent, and as Ta, the leading man, in the '02 revival of Flower Drum Song. Add to that his stints in Off Broadway's Saturn Returns (aka Myths and Hymns) and On the Town at the Public, the National Tour of The Return of Martin Guerre, appearances on the HBO series Sex and the City and the feature film Hitch, and an eponymous solo album, Jose, that reached #2 on the charts in Manila, and you'll realize we are talking about an amazingly accomplished young guy!
Jose will be singing a self-contained song I wrote this past year, "Why Can't I Kiss You?" After having spent the preceding six months writing songs for a project that was set in the 30's, clearly I was still in the mood. As for what inspired the song, I'll never tell....
But if you want to hear this and lots of other never-heard-before songs of mine, then hop on over to Birdland on November 4th at 7PM for a concert where I'll be bringing out the secret goodies, with the help of my amazing guest stars , Adinah Alexander, Donna Lynne Champlin, Laura Patinkin, David Perlman, and Alysha Umphress. Call 212 581-3080 for reservations, or get your tickets online now.
Jose is remembered, most recently, for his portrayal of the adorable Chip Tolentino ("My Unfortunate Erection," anyone?) in the Drama Desk Award-winning original cast of the Off-Broadway/Broadway hit, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. A Broadway "veteran" at 31, he made his debut at the tender age of 19 as Lun Tha in the '96 revival of The King and I, and he's been working non-stop ever since. On Broadway, he's also appeared in Street Corner Symphony, as Angel in Rent, and as Ta, the leading man, in the '02 revival of Flower Drum Song. Add to that his stints in Off Broadway's Saturn Returns (aka Myths and Hymns) and On the Town at the Public, the National Tour of The Return of Martin Guerre, appearances on the HBO series Sex and the City and the feature film Hitch, and an eponymous solo album, Jose, that reached #2 on the charts in Manila, and you'll realize we are talking about an amazingly accomplished young guy!
Jose will be singing a self-contained song I wrote this past year, "Why Can't I Kiss You?" After having spent the preceding six months writing songs for a project that was set in the 30's, clearly I was still in the mood. As for what inspired the song, I'll never tell....
But if you want to hear this and lots of other never-heard-before songs of mine, then hop on over to Birdland on November 4th at 7PM for a concert where I'll be bringing out the secret goodies, with the help of my amazing guest stars , Adinah Alexander, Donna Lynne Champlin, Laura Patinkin, David Perlman, and Alysha Umphress. Call 212 581-3080 for reservations, or get your tickets online now.
Special
Episode 2: January 16, 2007 "Vonce"
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Michael McElroy (song recorded 11/20/06, interview recorded 1/13/07)
Sung by Michael McElroy (song recorded 11/20/06, interview recorded 1/13/07)
I'm
so thrilled to be joined today by the uber-talented and outrageously
foxy Michael
McElroy.
You probably remember his stand-out, Tony-nominated performance as Jim
in the Deaf West/Roundabout revival of Big River
a few
seasons ago. Or perhaps you have been enjoying his fantastic
performances on the original cast recordings of Michael John LaChiusa's
The
Wild Party or Violet
or Blue
or Tommy.
Or maybe you watched him in the Chenoweth/Lupone Candide
telecast (with Yours Truly). Or maybe you're a fan of The
Broadway
Inspirational Voices, the gospel choir that he founded and
directs.
Or maybe you heard his killer gospel arrangement of Sondheim's "Sunday"
for Billy Porter's
CD, At
the Corner of Broadway and Soul. Or maybe you just
like
checking out pictures
of his cute self. No matter how you slice it, he comes up delicious and
nutricious.
For this second special episode, I'm breaking tradition. Instead of a performance recorded live at my piano, I'm using a recording from a concert of my music presented at Birdland on November 20th, 2006. The song, "Vonce," like "Man in the Moon," is a spec song I wrote this past summer to audition to be the composer/lyricist of a new musical. (I'm currently working on that show, although I'm still not at liberty to discuss it freely.) It's unlikely that this song will end up in the show, but I wanted to share it with you all, because Michael sings it so beautifully. As it is a jazz tune, I felt that this concert recording with band was a much better way to present the song. Michael and I got amazing support that night from Todd Groves on sax, Peter Donovan on bass, and Sean McDaniel on drums.
Bonus video! My friend (and Freefall star) David Perlman was kind enough to videotape that Birdland concert for me, so you can also check out Michael singing the song on YouTube!
For this second special episode, I'm breaking tradition. Instead of a performance recorded live at my piano, I'm using a recording from a concert of my music presented at Birdland on November 20th, 2006. The song, "Vonce," like "Man in the Moon," is a spec song I wrote this past summer to audition to be the composer/lyricist of a new musical. (I'm currently working on that show, although I'm still not at liberty to discuss it freely.) It's unlikely that this song will end up in the show, but I wanted to share it with you all, because Michael sings it so beautifully. As it is a jazz tune, I felt that this concert recording with band was a much better way to present the song. Michael and I got amazing support that night from Todd Groves on sax, Peter Donovan on bass, and Sean McDaniel on drums.
Bonus video! My friend (and Freefall star) David Perlman was kind enough to videotape that Birdland concert for me, so you can also check out Michael singing the song on YouTube!
Special
Episode 1: November 7, 2006 "Man
in
the Moon"
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Nancy Anderson (recorded 11/3/06)
Sung by Nancy Anderson (recorded 11/3/06)
When
I decided I wanted to use "Man in the Moon" for a *special* podcast
episode, it came to me in about a millisecond who HAD to sing it: Nancy Anderson.
Not only
because she's an amazing talent and friend, but also because no one
captures the sound of the 20's and 30's like Nancy.
Check out
her wonderful new solo CD, Ten
Cents a Dance, for conclusive proof.
Nancy and I met in 2001, performing together in the Broadway production of A Class Act, where she was my "show girlfriend." Nancy created the role of "Mona" in the Manhattan Theatre Club production and subsequently made her Broadway debut in that role when the show moved to the Ambassador. She had already created a sensation Off-Broadway in Jolson & Company, which earned her her first Drama Desk nomination.
Since then, she has been dazzling audiences with her many stellar performances, most notably as Lois/Bianca in the revival of Kiss Me, Kate, first on the US Tour and then in the West End production, which was later filmed for PBS. (Does she nail the period or what?) Don't forget her wonderful performance in the 2003 revival of Wonderful Town! (Period!!) This past season, at the York Theatre, she won over critics and audiences alike in the title role of Fanny Hill. (She even nailed the 18th Century, as well as a second Drama Desk Nom!)
If you're wondering whether she can pull off a contemporary role (yes!), then you must have missed her hot, hot performance in this year's Off-Broadway play, Burleigh Grime$.
In this episode, Nancy sings "Man in the Moon", an audition spec song I wrote this summer. (What this means is, when producers are considering several different people or teams to write their new show, sometimes they'll ask them all to write songs for that project as part of the audition process.) The project in question takes place around 1930, and that's about as specific as I can be right now.
Luckily, you'll have some opportunities to see and hear Nancy coming up! Foremost among her many November appearances is her engagement at The Metropolitan Room, two Tuesday night shows, November 14 and November 28, at 9:30 PM. Not to be missed!
And speaking of other things not to miss, I'd also like to remind you about the Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Concert at Birdland on Monday, November 20th at 7PM, featuring Liz Callaway, Victoria Clark, Michael McElroy, Mary Testa, and Alysha Umphress! Call 212 581 3080 to reserve, or buy your tickets online.
Nancy and I met in 2001, performing together in the Broadway production of A Class Act, where she was my "show girlfriend." Nancy created the role of "Mona" in the Manhattan Theatre Club production and subsequently made her Broadway debut in that role when the show moved to the Ambassador. She had already created a sensation Off-Broadway in Jolson & Company, which earned her her first Drama Desk nomination.
Since then, she has been dazzling audiences with her many stellar performances, most notably as Lois/Bianca in the revival of Kiss Me, Kate, first on the US Tour and then in the West End production, which was later filmed for PBS. (Does she nail the period or what?) Don't forget her wonderful performance in the 2003 revival of Wonderful Town! (Period!!) This past season, at the York Theatre, she won over critics and audiences alike in the title role of Fanny Hill. (She even nailed the 18th Century, as well as a second Drama Desk Nom!)
If you're wondering whether she can pull off a contemporary role (yes!), then you must have missed her hot, hot performance in this year's Off-Broadway play, Burleigh Grime$.
In this episode, Nancy sings "Man in the Moon", an audition spec song I wrote this summer. (What this means is, when producers are considering several different people or teams to write their new show, sometimes they'll ask them all to write songs for that project as part of the audition process.) The project in question takes place around 1930, and that's about as specific as I can be right now.
Luckily, you'll have some opportunities to see and hear Nancy coming up! Foremost among her many November appearances is her engagement at The Metropolitan Room, two Tuesday night shows, November 14 and November 28, at 9:30 PM. Not to be missed!
And speaking of other things not to miss, I'd also like to remind you about the Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Concert at Birdland on Monday, November 20th at 7PM, featuring Liz Callaway, Victoria Clark, Michael McElroy, Mary Testa, and Alysha Umphress! Call 212 581 3080 to reserve, or buy your tickets online.
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 6/25/06)
Sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 6/25/06)
Wow,
I
can't believe this is the last episode! Doing this podcast has been
such a wonderful experience for me. I've had the great privilege of
hearing my songs performed by the creamiest of the crop, I've received
beautiful emails from some very kind and supportive listeners, and I've
even sold a bunch of songbooks
along the way. Doing this podcast has left me very inspired to embark
on my new projects!
Meanwhile, I'd like to close out this series with a song I wrote a few years ago for my father's 60th birthday, which coincided with Thanksgiving that year. It's called "Giving Thanks," exactly what I wanted my last episode to be about.
My sincerest thanks to the amazing singers (and cellist!) who donated their time and talent to support me in this endeavor, to the lyricists who okayed the inclusion of their songs on the podcast, and to the listeners who invested their time in me, my guests, and my songs. Thank you all for your incredible generosity.
Incidentally, if you have techno-phobic friends who you think would enjoy these songs, please do explain to them that they don't need an iPod to listen to the podcasts. (I've found that that is the most common response when I tell people I have a podcast.) Give them the url for my podcast page: http://jeffblumenkrantz.com/podcast.html and show them how to click on the song names for their instant listening pleasure.
If you like what I do and want to keep hearing about what I'm up to, the best way to stay in the loop is to sign up for my mailing list. If you have something you want to tell me or ask me, you can always post a message on my message board or email me at jeff@jeffblumenkrantz.com.
Until my next songbook or podcast or concert (or full-length musical!), this is the ever-grateful Jeff B., saying "G'byeeeeee!"
Meanwhile, I'd like to close out this series with a song I wrote a few years ago for my father's 60th birthday, which coincided with Thanksgiving that year. It's called "Giving Thanks," exactly what I wanted my last episode to be about.
My sincerest thanks to the amazing singers (and cellist!) who donated their time and talent to support me in this endeavor, to the lyricists who okayed the inclusion of their songs on the podcast, and to the listeners who invested their time in me, my guests, and my songs. Thank you all for your incredible generosity.
Incidentally, if you have techno-phobic friends who you think would enjoy these songs, please do explain to them that they don't need an iPod to listen to the podcasts. (I've found that that is the most common response when I tell people I have a podcast.) Give them the url for my podcast page: http://jeffblumenkrantz.com/podcast.html and show them how to click on the song names for their instant listening pleasure.
If you like what I do and want to keep hearing about what I'm up to, the best way to stay in the loop is to sign up for my mailing list. If you have something you want to tell me or ask me, you can always post a message on my message board or email me at jeff@jeffblumenkrantz.com.
Until my next songbook or podcast or concert (or full-length musical!), this is the ever-grateful Jeff B., saying "G'byeeeeee!"
Episode
20: June 20, 2006 "Lament"Sung by Megan Mullally (recorded 6/19/06)
I
can't
imagine a better person to have as my final special guest star than the
super-special star of TV's Will
and Grace,
Megan Mullally.
Megan
and I met twelve
years ago when we were mere children performing on Broadway in our
respective revivals, Megan in Grease
and myself in Damn
Yankees. Soon thereafter, I had the amazing
opportunity to
actually perform with her in yet another revival, How
to Succeed.... From the first read-through, it was
obvious she
was a talent super-power, turning even the dullest lines into sparkly
gems.
Since then... well, I don't have to tell you what she's been up to for the past eight years, but suffice to say, it has involved an Emmy Award, three SAG Awards and countless DVDs. Let me take this opportunity to say how a) thrilled I am to know some of the people at the center of that amazing show, b) how proud I am to have appeared in an episode, and c) how appreciative I am to the creators of that show for the significant world shifts that I believe it generated.
Yeah, yeah, back to Megan:
So everyone in America knows that Megan is a genius comedienne, but how many know about her flourishing singing career? Have you heard her duet with Carly Simon on Will & Grace: Let the Music Out? Or my all-string arrangement of "Silent Night" which Megan sang so beautifully on the NBC Celebrity Christmas CD? And above all, have you checked out her own CD with her band, The Supreme Music Program, Big as a Berry, where she first recorded the song she sings on this episode? It's packed with stellar singing, great style, and interesting song choices, like this one!
"Lament" is a setting of yet another Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, and it's also the last song from the songbook to be recorded for this podcast. I'm so pleased that Megan is here to bring the song and podcast into "home."
Be sure to tune in to your local NBC station this fall for the premiere of Megan's new daytime talk show, The Megan Mullally Show. I don't care what she says... I'm watching all five hours a week.
Since then... well, I don't have to tell you what she's been up to for the past eight years, but suffice to say, it has involved an Emmy Award, three SAG Awards and countless DVDs. Let me take this opportunity to say how a) thrilled I am to know some of the people at the center of that amazing show, b) how proud I am to have appeared in an episode, and c) how appreciative I am to the creators of that show for the significant world shifts that I believe it generated.
Yeah, yeah, back to Megan:
So everyone in America knows that Megan is a genius comedienne, but how many know about her flourishing singing career? Have you heard her duet with Carly Simon on Will & Grace: Let the Music Out? Or my all-string arrangement of "Silent Night" which Megan sang so beautifully on the NBC Celebrity Christmas CD? And above all, have you checked out her own CD with her band, The Supreme Music Program, Big as a Berry, where she first recorded the song she sings on this episode? It's packed with stellar singing, great style, and interesting song choices, like this one!
"Lament" is a setting of yet another Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, and it's also the last song from the songbook to be recorded for this podcast. I'm so pleased that Megan is here to bring the song and podcast into "home."
Be sure to tune in to your local NBC station this fall for the premiere of Megan's new daytime talk show, The Megan Mullally Show. I don't care what she says... I'm watching all five hours a week.
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 6/11/06)
Sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 6/11/06)
Wow,
I can't believe it's almost the end of the podcast!
When I started this bad boy, it seemed like such a long road ahead of
me, and now here it is, just weeks from the GRAND FINALE! OK, enough
sentimental talk. I'll save that for the actual last episode.
I'm here with another bonus/filler song (i.e. a song not in the songbook). It's the song I wrote for my best friend, Tracy Katz, on the occasion of her wedding to Mark Paladini ten years ago.
Tracy and I met as teens at Stagedoor Manor, Performing Arts Training Center, a summer theatre camp where theatre geeks like me could thrive amongst fellow theatre-lovers all summer, while we mustered up the courage to return to the oppression of our local high schools. (For more about this, check out the excellent, new documentary, Stagedoor.)
Tracy went on to build a career around the role of Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods, which she still occasionally and convincingly/brilliantly plays today, although her main gig is raising my two gorgeous godkids in Virginia Beach.
In 1996, after 17 years of best-friendship, Tracy insisted I write a song specifically for her wedding, and I didn't even bother putting up a fight. After all, I was her Man of Honor, and Men of Honor must often go above and beyond the call of duty. After multiple, failed attempts to come up with a funny song, I ultimately opted to write this song from the heart, "When It Comes to You."
By the way, I don't know what I was thinking when I said Mark had been a casting director in NY. Most of his casting career has happened in LA. And the name of the sci-fi series I couldn't think of is Babylon 5!
I'm here with another bonus/filler song (i.e. a song not in the songbook). It's the song I wrote for my best friend, Tracy Katz, on the occasion of her wedding to Mark Paladini ten years ago.
Tracy and I met as teens at Stagedoor Manor, Performing Arts Training Center, a summer theatre camp where theatre geeks like me could thrive amongst fellow theatre-lovers all summer, while we mustered up the courage to return to the oppression of our local high schools. (For more about this, check out the excellent, new documentary, Stagedoor.)
Tracy went on to build a career around the role of Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods, which she still occasionally and convincingly/brilliantly plays today, although her main gig is raising my two gorgeous godkids in Virginia Beach.
In 1996, after 17 years of best-friendship, Tracy insisted I write a song specifically for her wedding, and I didn't even bother putting up a fight. After all, I was her Man of Honor, and Men of Honor must often go above and beyond the call of duty. After multiple, failed attempts to come up with a funny song, I ultimately opted to write this song from the heart, "When It Comes to You."
By the way, I don't know what I was thinking when I said Mark had been a casting director in NY. Most of his casting career has happened in LA. And the name of the sci-fi series I couldn't think of is Babylon 5!
Music
and Lyrics by Jeff
Blumenkrantz
Sung by Carolee Carmello (recorded 6/5/06)
Sung by Carolee Carmello (recorded 6/5/06)
Episode
#19: Carolee
Carmello
wouldn't let me gush about her on the podcast as much as I wanted, so
I'm going to have to do it here! Carolee
and I met
doing a production of Grease
at
Pittsburgh Civic
Light Opera
in 1989, and her career since then has been continuously and completely
jam-packed with goodies, many of which we didn't even get to discuss!!
Broadway shows like Mamma
Mia!,
Urinetown,
and Kiss
Me,
Kate, which took great advantage of Carolee's
ridiculously
powerful and versatile voice and great sense of humor. Or Parade,
The
Scarlet
Pimpernel, and this season's Lestat,
which let her flex her impressive dramatic leading lady muscles. And
let's not forget her brilliant performances in such high-profile
Off-Broadway productions as john
& jen, Hello
Again, Infinite
Joy, A
Class Act, and Elegies,
all of which were recorded, fortunately for us!
Add to all that a few more Broadway shows (City of Angels, Falsettos, and 1776), a slew of regional and tour productions (Arthur, Chess, Bells Are Ringing, The King and I, etc.), a TV show (Remember WENN), and a Broadway star husband and two beautiful kids, and you start to realize that Carolee is a true Wonder Woman.
In this episode, Carolee sings "My Book", the "Sloth" song from the Audra McDonald song cycle, The Seven Deadly Sins. Clearly meant to be performed in front of a live audience, Carolee gamely rolled with it and chose me for all the audience participation duties. I have to add: given how dense this song is, can you believe that this is literally Carolee's third time singing through it... ever?? DIVA!
Look for Carolee in the upcoming Broadway by the Year: 1978 concert on June 19th at Town Hall. And you can hear her wonderful performance on the Lestat recording when it's released in July. Don't forget to watch for her (and several other podcast guest divas) on the Tony Awards this Sunday, June 11!
Add to all that a few more Broadway shows (City of Angels, Falsettos, and 1776), a slew of regional and tour productions (Arthur, Chess, Bells Are Ringing, The King and I, etc.), a TV show (Remember WENN), and a Broadway star husband and two beautiful kids, and you start to realize that Carolee is a true Wonder Woman.
In this episode, Carolee sings "My Book", the "Sloth" song from the Audra McDonald song cycle, The Seven Deadly Sins. Clearly meant to be performed in front of a live audience, Carolee gamely rolled with it and chose me for all the audience participation duties. I have to add: given how dense this song is, can you believe that this is literally Carolee's third time singing through it... ever?? DIVA!
Look for Carolee in the upcoming Broadway by the Year: 1978 concert on June 19th at Town Hall. And you can hear her wonderful performance on the Lestat recording when it's released in July. Don't forget to watch for her (and several other podcast guest divas) on the Tony Awards this Sunday, June 11!
From
The Audience
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Rita Gardner (recorded 5/22/06)
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Rita Gardner (recorded 5/22/06)
46
years ago this month, Rita
Gardner was opening as Luisa in The
Fantasticks, a then unknown Off-Broadway musical.
Could she
ever have imagined at the time that the show would have such an
historic run, that she would be rapping on Broadway today, that there
would be such a thing as podcasts and that she'd be on one? Lucky for
us, it's all true.
I met Rita last year in rehearsals for The Transport Group's production of The Audience, directed by Jack Cummings III. I was fortunate enough to have been one of the songwriters on the show, and my assignment was to write a piece for Rita's character, Rosie, a woman who attends the theatre with her dead husband's ashes. In a private moment, she sings to the urn. Rita stopped the show every night with her sensitive rendition of "I Think."
Now, Rita's stopping another show with a very different kind of performance! She's appearing as Rosie, the rapping grandma, in this season's Broadway crowd pleaser, The Wedding Singer, based on the Adam Sandler film of the same name. She sings, she raps, she does gymnastic tricks (well... not really) - she's wonderful!
And next month marks the release of Rita's new CD, Try to Remember: A Look Back at Off-Broadway, a live recording of her show chronicling her career Off-Broadway. It's filled with stories, songs, both classic and unknown, and of course, Rita's glorious voice.
P.S. Rita appeared in a ten-minute Raw Impressions movie musical in RIPFest #6 and was kind (read "game") enough to make a cameo appearance in my RIPFest #6 film, Freefall!
I met Rita last year in rehearsals for The Transport Group's production of The Audience, directed by Jack Cummings III. I was fortunate enough to have been one of the songwriters on the show, and my assignment was to write a piece for Rita's character, Rosie, a woman who attends the theatre with her dead husband's ashes. In a private moment, she sings to the urn. Rita stopped the show every night with her sensitive rendition of "I Think."
Now, Rita's stopping another show with a very different kind of performance! She's appearing as Rosie, the rapping grandma, in this season's Broadway crowd pleaser, The Wedding Singer, based on the Adam Sandler film of the same name. She sings, she raps, she does gymnastic tricks (well... not really) - she's wonderful!
And next month marks the release of Rita's new CD, Try to Remember: A Look Back at Off-Broadway, a live recording of her show chronicling her career Off-Broadway. It's filled with stories, songs, both classic and unknown, and of course, Rita's glorious voice.
P.S. Rita appeared in a ten-minute Raw Impressions movie musical in RIPFest #6 and was kind (read "game") enough to make a cameo appearance in my RIPFest #6 film, Freefall!
Music
by Jeff Blumenkrantz, Lyrics
by Libby Saines
Sung by Marin Mazzie (recorded 5/19/06)
Sung by Marin Mazzie (recorded 5/19/06)
Marin Mazzie has
established
herself as one of Broadway's great leading ladies, and it's easy to see
why: with her rangy and beautiful voice, her serious acting chops, her
comic bent, and her cover girl looks, who wouldn't want to cast her? Marin
made her Broadway
debut in Big
River,
and next was Into
the Woods, where we met as fellow understudies and
I got to see
Marin perform Cinderella, Rapunzel, and the Witch in the same week!
After that came Marin's three Tony-nominated performances, as Clara in Passion,
as Mother in Ragtime,
and as Lilli/Kate in Kiss
Me Kate. She also took over the role of Aldonza,
opposite Brian
Stokes Mitchell, in the revival of Man
of La Mancha.
Most recently, she has been wowing audiences in the staged concerts of On
the Twentieth
Century as Lily Garland, and Kismet
as Lalume. What a resumé! (And I haven't even touched on her
extensive regional, stock and television credits!)
On this episode, Marin sings a song that's actually in the songbook! "Walking the Wrong Way" is a self-contained, cabaret-type song with lyrics by Libby Saines ("I Won't Mind," "I'm Free") and music by yours truly.
On the concert and recording front, her leading man (onstage and off) is her adorable and talented husband, Jason Danieley. Marin and Jason recently released a duet CD, appropriately titled Opposite You. They'll be appearing together with the Boston Pops on June 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Check them out - they do a great show!
On this episode, Marin sings a song that's actually in the songbook! "Walking the Wrong Way" is a self-contained, cabaret-type song with lyrics by Libby Saines ("I Won't Mind," "I'm Free") and music by yours truly.
On the concert and recording front, her leading man (onstage and off) is her adorable and talented husband, Jason Danieley. Marin and Jason recently released a duet CD, appropriately titled Opposite You. They'll be appearing together with the Boston Pops on June 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Check them out - they do a great show!
From
The Living Room OCD
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Alysha Umphress (recorded 5/16/06)
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Alysha Umphress (recorded 5/16/06)
Hey
everybody, it's time for another episode celebrating Raw Impressions!
This
organization enables artists to produce new projects VERY quickly,
which is how I met my lovely guest star of the day, Alysha Umphress.
Alysha, a recent graduate of The Boston Conservatory, made a splash last year at the Chelsea bar, XL, winning their American Idol-type competition, XL Star. (Check out her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" recorded live in the XL Star finals.)
I fell for Alysha this past March, when she was one of the cast members assigned to me when I wrote a ten-minute musical for Raw Impressions Music Theatre #20. My collaborator for that project, playwright Chantal Bilodeau, and I came up with a piece called "The Living Room OCD." Alysha played a lesbian stalker chick who broke into her true love's perfect little house while she was away on vacation, tied up her house-watcher, and wreaked havoc on the place. When the show begins, the homeowner is just returning and discovering the damage, the bound-and-gagged housewatcher, and Alysha singing this song: "You're Not Perfect Anymore." Reminder: this is Raw Impressions, i.e. I had two days to write this score. Raw.
This episode is particularly timely because:
a) Alysha's going to be appearing with me in a Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook concert this Friday (5/19) at 7PM at The Duplex! My other special guest stars will be David Perlman (one of the stars of my Raw Impressions/RIPFest movie, Freefall) and **just added!** the amazing leading lady of Urban Cowboy, Jenn Colella. For reservations, call (212) 255-5438.
and
b) I'm going to be making my Raw Impressions acting debut in a RIPFest #8 movie musical this coming week! Screenings are 5/23-24 in New York and 5/23 only in Los Angeles. It's amazing what people are able to create, with only 16 days... Check it out!
Alysha, a recent graduate of The Boston Conservatory, made a splash last year at the Chelsea bar, XL, winning their American Idol-type competition, XL Star. (Check out her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" recorded live in the XL Star finals.)
I fell for Alysha this past March, when she was one of the cast members assigned to me when I wrote a ten-minute musical for Raw Impressions Music Theatre #20. My collaborator for that project, playwright Chantal Bilodeau, and I came up with a piece called "The Living Room OCD." Alysha played a lesbian stalker chick who broke into her true love's perfect little house while she was away on vacation, tied up her house-watcher, and wreaked havoc on the place. When the show begins, the homeowner is just returning and discovering the damage, the bound-and-gagged housewatcher, and Alysha singing this song: "You're Not Perfect Anymore." Reminder: this is Raw Impressions, i.e. I had two days to write this score. Raw.
This episode is particularly timely because:
a) Alysha's going to be appearing with me in a Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook concert this Friday (5/19) at 7PM at The Duplex! My other special guest stars will be David Perlman (one of the stars of my Raw Impressions/RIPFest movie, Freefall) and **just added!** the amazing leading lady of Urban Cowboy, Jenn Colella. For reservations, call (212) 255-5438.
and
b) I'm going to be making my Raw Impressions acting debut in a RIPFest #8 movie musical this coming week! Screenings are 5/23-24 in New York and 5/23 only in Los Angeles. It's amazing what people are able to create, with only 16 days... Check it out!
Music
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Peter Sachon, Cello
Jeff Blumenkrantz, Piano (recorded 5/5/06)
Peter Sachon, Cello
Jeff Blumenkrantz, Piano (recorded 5/5/06)
If
Yo Yo Ma is the cello star of the classical world, I'm
going to say that Peter
Sachon is the cello star of the musical theatre world. Not
only has
he played on such wonderful shows (and recordings) as the recent
Broadway revival of Fiddler
on the Roof, Off Broadway's A
Man of No Importance and The
Thing About Men, and the magically delicious The
Light in the Piazza, but he's an entrepreneur as
well.
Peter hatched the idea to approach a handful of composers/orchestrators/musical directors and ask them each to contribute an original cello piece to a program he called The Cello Project, which he performed in March 2005 at Symphony Space, courtesy of The New Voices Collective. (Some of the composers represented on that bill were Stephen Schwartz, Michael John La Chiusa, Bruce Coughlin, Steve Marzullo, and myself.)
The evening was such a success that he followed it up with The Cello Project II roughly a year later, adding Stephen Flaherty, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jeff Marx, Andrew Lippa and Ted Sperling (among others) to the list of contributors. The music was wonderful, and the playing was virtuosic. (Not to mention, he's pretty easy on the eyes.)
On today's bonus episode (and just to be clear, bonus episode means that the featured song does NOT appear in my published songbook), Peter plays my contribution to The Cello Project, "Vouloir," written for cello and piano.
Peter hatched the idea to approach a handful of composers/orchestrators/musical directors and ask them each to contribute an original cello piece to a program he called The Cello Project, which he performed in March 2005 at Symphony Space, courtesy of The New Voices Collective. (Some of the composers represented on that bill were Stephen Schwartz, Michael John La Chiusa, Bruce Coughlin, Steve Marzullo, and myself.)
The evening was such a success that he followed it up with The Cello Project II roughly a year later, adding Stephen Flaherty, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jeff Marx, Andrew Lippa and Ted Sperling (among others) to the list of contributors. The music was wonderful, and the playing was virtuosic. (Not to mention, he's pretty easy on the eyes.)
On today's bonus episode (and just to be clear, bonus episode means that the featured song does NOT appear in my published songbook), Peter plays my contribution to The Cello Project, "Vouloir," written for cello and piano.
Music
and Lyrics
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 5/2/06)
Sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 5/2/06)
I
warned you that there'd be a few bonus episodes coming
up....
This week it's "He'll
Never Get What I Do", written for a musical entitled Hush,
which dealt with the relationship between a gay theatre composer and a
deaf video artist. This song is sung by the composer and is pretty
self-explanatory. Music and lyrics by me.
As for Hush, I worked on it for a while with the marvelous playwright, Tina Howe, but we couldn't crack the story to our mutual satisfaction, so it's on the shelf. Writing an original musical is a complicated proposition, to say the least. Makes me REALLY appreciate the ones out there that work...
...like, for instance, my favorite new musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, which opened on Broadway last night. It's directed by a certain Mr. Casey Nicholaw, whom I met doing my first show in NY (The Pajama Game at the Equity Library Theatre - Does that date us or what?). Seeing his spectacular production of The Drowsy Chaperone left me awestruck and in tears (literally, hysterical tears of pride, joy, and awe). The show is heaven - don't miss it!
Meanwhile, some of the fabulous people I got to chat with at the opening night party:
George Lee Andrews, the longest-running actor on Broadway, and star of my favorite teen-years album, Starting Here, Starting Now. George is an admitted listener of this podcast, and I'm honored.
Nellie McKay is the brilliant Polly Peachum in the new Threepenny Opera at the Roundabout. She has no idea who I am or that I have a podcast, but I enjoyed chatting with her, and I love her songwriting and her fancy debut double CD, Get Away From Me.
And last but not least, the kids from [title of show] were all there. They recently ended their initial run at the Vineyard, but they'll be back there this summer for a recently-announced return engagement! Dare I see it a 6th time? I dare! Don't miss this one either.
Check out my recommendations page for more things I like!
As for Hush, I worked on it for a while with the marvelous playwright, Tina Howe, but we couldn't crack the story to our mutual satisfaction, so it's on the shelf. Writing an original musical is a complicated proposition, to say the least. Makes me REALLY appreciate the ones out there that work...
...like, for instance, my favorite new musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, which opened on Broadway last night. It's directed by a certain Mr. Casey Nicholaw, whom I met doing my first show in NY (The Pajama Game at the Equity Library Theatre - Does that date us or what?). Seeing his spectacular production of The Drowsy Chaperone left me awestruck and in tears (literally, hysterical tears of pride, joy, and awe). The show is heaven - don't miss it!
Meanwhile, some of the fabulous people I got to chat with at the opening night party:
George Lee Andrews, the longest-running actor on Broadway, and star of my favorite teen-years album, Starting Here, Starting Now. George is an admitted listener of this podcast, and I'm honored.
Nellie McKay is the brilliant Polly Peachum in the new Threepenny Opera at the Roundabout. She has no idea who I am or that I have a podcast, but I enjoyed chatting with her, and I love her songwriting and her fancy debut double CD, Get Away From Me.
And last but not least, the kids from [title of show] were all there. They recently ended their initial run at the Vineyard, but they'll be back there this summer for a recently-announced return engagement! Dare I see it a 6th time? I dare! Don't miss this one either.
Check out my recommendations page for more things I like!
Music
by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz and Tracy Christensen
Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz and Tracy Christensen
Sung
by Jeff
Blumenkrantz (recorded
4/24/06)
Stalling...
stalling.... There are only three more songbook
songs left! And the amazing singers who are scheduled to record them
aren't available for a spell, so it's time for another bonus episode.
This week, I took a little detour down memory lane and picked a song in honor of my upcoming trip to my alma mater, Northwestern University, for the 75th anniversary of the big, splashy, student-written extravaganza, The WAA-MU Show. As a student at Northwestern, I contributed songs to all four WAA-MU shows (1983-1986) and performed in two of them, as well. It was an amazing and formative experience, particularly as a young songwriter, to see and hear my songs so fully realized (i.e. professional orchestrations for a 30 piece orchestra, huge ensemble, major production values, etc.).
"P.A.'s Turn" was written for the '84 show. It was a tribute to the great pull the show has over its participants, as a production assistant (PA) aspires to WAA-MU greatness.
The song has music by me, and lyrics by myself and my (still to this day) dear friend, Tracy Christensen, whose name you may recognize as the wonderful costume designer of such productions as this season's Broadway charmer, Souvenir, starring Judy Kaye, and Candide at the New York Philharmonic, filmed for PBS/Great Performances, starring Patti Lupone and Kristin Chenoweth (and featuring yours truly as Maximillian).
"P.A.'s Turn" was originally sung by my WAA-MU muse, Marietta DePrima, whom you may know from her extensive TV acting career. (Check out her reel from The Hughleys!)
This week, I took a little detour down memory lane and picked a song in honor of my upcoming trip to my alma mater, Northwestern University, for the 75th anniversary of the big, splashy, student-written extravaganza, The WAA-MU Show. As a student at Northwestern, I contributed songs to all four WAA-MU shows (1983-1986) and performed in two of them, as well. It was an amazing and formative experience, particularly as a young songwriter, to see and hear my songs so fully realized (i.e. professional orchestrations for a 30 piece orchestra, huge ensemble, major production values, etc.).
"P.A.'s Turn" was written for the '84 show. It was a tribute to the great pull the show has over its participants, as a production assistant (PA) aspires to WAA-MU greatness.
The song has music by me, and lyrics by myself and my (still to this day) dear friend, Tracy Christensen, whose name you may recognize as the wonderful costume designer of such productions as this season's Broadway charmer, Souvenir, starring Judy Kaye, and Candide at the New York Philharmonic, filmed for PBS/Great Performances, starring Patti Lupone and Kristin Chenoweth (and featuring yours truly as Maximillian).
"P.A.'s Turn" was originally sung by my WAA-MU muse, Marietta DePrima, whom you may know from her extensive TV acting career. (Check out her reel from The Hughleys!)
Music
and Lyrics by Jeff
Blumenkrantz
Sung by Ruth Gottschall and Mary Testa (recorded 4/12/06)
Sung by Ruth Gottschall and Mary Testa (recorded 4/12/06)
Twice the
talent,
twice the laughs, twice as long! But when you're in the room with Ruth Gottschall
and Mary
Testa, you
just don't want to leave! I had a fantastic afternoon with the two of
them, chatting and websurfing and singing "Moving
Right Along", the women's version. Yes, this is the same explicit song that you heard back
in January for two guys in a gay bar, rewritten for two women
in a
singles bar. (The lyrics for this version appear in the back of the songbook.)
Where to begin? Ruth is a veteran of eight Broadway shows, most recently Jackie Mason's Laughing Room Only, however her longest run of late was as Eulalie Shinn in the revival of The Music Man, a role she will recreate this summer at the Sacramento Music Circus. Before that, you can catch her as Mrs. Upson in the sure-to-be-fabulous Kennedy Center production of Mame. Also, let PBS know that you want to see the educational series, Character Studies, so you can catch Ruth on the "Harold Hill" episode.
Mary Testa's resumé is so impressive, I don't know what to mention first! Should I start with her two Tony nominations, for On the Town and 42nd Street? Her numerous Off Broadway credits and the Obie award for On the Town and From Above? Her amazing performances on the original cast recordings of In Trousers, Lucky Stiff, A Funny Thing Happened...Forum (with Ruth too!), A New Brain, Marie Christine, and most recently, Michael John La Chiusa's See What I Wanna See? Or should I just mention that she loves Faith, the Biped Dog and Michelle Collins' blog, You Can't Make It Up? Mary fans can catch her in the concert, Hands Across the Sea, at Merkin Hall on May 16th and 17th, as well as in Jam & Spice, a Kurt Weill revue at the Westport Playhouse in June.
Where to begin? Ruth is a veteran of eight Broadway shows, most recently Jackie Mason's Laughing Room Only, however her longest run of late was as Eulalie Shinn in the revival of The Music Man, a role she will recreate this summer at the Sacramento Music Circus. Before that, you can catch her as Mrs. Upson in the sure-to-be-fabulous Kennedy Center production of Mame. Also, let PBS know that you want to see the educational series, Character Studies, so you can catch Ruth on the "Harold Hill" episode.
Mary Testa's resumé is so impressive, I don't know what to mention first! Should I start with her two Tony nominations, for On the Town and 42nd Street? Her numerous Off Broadway credits and the Obie award for On the Town and From Above? Her amazing performances on the original cast recordings of In Trousers, Lucky Stiff, A Funny Thing Happened...Forum (with Ruth too!), A New Brain, Marie Christine, and most recently, Michael John La Chiusa's See What I Wanna See? Or should I just mention that she loves Faith, the Biped Dog and Michelle Collins' blog, You Can't Make It Up? Mary fans can catch her in the concert, Hands Across the Sea, at Merkin Hall on May 16th and 17th, as well as in Jam & Spice, a Kurt Weill revue at the Westport Playhouse in June.
Music
by Jeff Blumenkrantz,
Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Sung by Kelli O'Hara (recorded 4/10/06)
Sung by Kelli O'Hara (recorded 4/10/06)
I'm
gay and
even I have a crush on Kelli O'Hara,
the dreamy,
creamy-voiced Broadway "Babe." For the past six years, she has been
accumulating street cred with her lovely performances in such Broadway
and Off-Broadway shows as Jekyll
& Hyde,
Follies,
Sweet
Smell of Success, My
Life with
Albertine, and Dracula.
Finally, last year, she hit pay dirt, when her spectacular, break-out
performance as Clara
in The
Light in the Piazza earned her a Tony-nomination
and a
permanent place in the hearts of musical-lovers far and wide. Now this
season, she has confounded expectations by taking on the belty role of Babe
opposite Harry
Connick
Jr. in the current hit revival of The
Pajama Game
at the Roundabout. Two strikes in a row, Kelli!
(Bowling
strikes, that is.)
And somewhere in there, she managed to shoot a film, an adaptation of Craig Lucas' play, The Dying Gaul, which is now available on DVD.
Today Kelli sings "The Spring and the Fall", another setting of an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem.
Keep an eye out for the cast recording of The Pajama Game (aka Harry on Broadway), as well as Kelli's solo recording debut!
And somewhere in there, she managed to shoot a film, an adaptation of Craig Lucas' play, The Dying Gaul, which is now available on DVD.
Today Kelli sings "The Spring and the Fall", another setting of an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem.
Keep an eye out for the cast recording of The Pajama Game (aka Harry on Broadway), as well as Kelli's solo recording debut!
Music
and Lyrics by Jeff
Blumenkrantz
Sung by Jenn Colella (recorded 4/2/06)
Sung by Jenn Colella (recorded 4/2/06)
Jenn
Colella gives new meaning to the word "irresistible." The
second I
laid eyes on her, I fell hard, and the love affair continues. I daresay
that goes for anyone who's ever met her. She is the most fun-loving,
open-hearted, life-affirming person working in the theatre, not to
mention ridiculously gorgeous and outrageously talented. She made her
big Broadway debut in the lead role of Sissy in Urban
Cowboy,
and I was the lucky duck who got to write her first song in the show, "Another
Guy," which she sings on the podcast today.
Seems like playing Sissy in Urban Cowboy started a casting trend for Jenn, as she subsequently appeared in workshops of The Great American Trailer Park Musical and Ring of Fire, the Off-Broadway production of Slut, the musical, as well as Twyla Tharp's new piece, The Times They Are A-Changin', which recently finished its premiere engagement at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Let's hope that this show (or High Fidelity, another upcoming Broadway-bound musical) will put Jenn back on Broadway where she belongs.
In the meantime, if you act fast (i.e. tonight), you can catch Jenn singing with the amazing Jason Robert Brown at Birdland, April 4th, where you can hear another one of her original songs from Urban Cowboy, JRB's "Hopalong Heartbreak."
Seems like playing Sissy in Urban Cowboy started a casting trend for Jenn, as she subsequently appeared in workshops of The Great American Trailer Park Musical and Ring of Fire, the Off-Broadway production of Slut, the musical, as well as Twyla Tharp's new piece, The Times They Are A-Changin', which recently finished its premiere engagement at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Let's hope that this show (or High Fidelity, another upcoming Broadway-bound musical) will put Jenn back on Broadway where she belongs.
In the meantime, if you act fast (i.e. tonight), you can catch Jenn singing with the amazing Jason Robert Brown at Birdland, April 4th, where you can hear another one of her original songs from Urban Cowboy, JRB's "Hopalong Heartbreak."
Music
by Jeff Blumenkrantz,
Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Sung by Emily Skinner (recorded 3/14/06)
Sung by Emily Skinner (recorded 3/14/06)
Well,
it was
only a matter of time before I dragged my friend Emily Skinner
onto
this podcast. Emily has all my favorite actor-ingredients: a boundless
and beautiful voice, a major sense of humor, fearlessness, creativity,
intelligence, and above all, a ton of heart. She's given some of the
most memorable performances on Broadway in recent years: Vicki in The
Full Monty, Mary Jane in The
Dead,
Kitty in Lincon Center's production of Dinner
at Eight,
and of course, as Siamese twin, Daisy Hilton, in Side
Show, a performance which earned her a Tony
nomination for Best
Actress.
This doesn't even touch on her appearances Off-Broadway, at the Kennedy Center, in the Encores Series productions, and at various regional theatres across the land. And she always manages to deliver a show-stopping or heart-breaking or gut-busting or all-of-the-above performance. I'm so excited to feature her on this podcast singing "The Philosopher,", my setting of the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem of the same name.
Need more Emily Skinner in your diet? Go see her at the 92nd Street Y from April 8-10 in the concert, Other People's Lyrics. Or take a trip to DC in June for what promises to be a great Mame, with Emily as "Gooch."
Or maybe you need some CDs! There's her solo CD, Emily Skinner, there are her duet CDs with Side Show co-star, Alice Ripley: Duets and Unsuspecting Hearts, as well as performances on the following show/concert CDs: Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens, Dreamgirls in Concert, and My Life with Albertine.
But wait! There's more! She directs: Broadway by the Year - 1956 on April 3, tickets at Ticketmaster. And she's narrated a book on tape! Jennifer Weiner's Goodnight, Nobody. You can listen to it as you're driving to DC to see Mame!
This doesn't even touch on her appearances Off-Broadway, at the Kennedy Center, in the Encores Series productions, and at various regional theatres across the land. And she always manages to deliver a show-stopping or heart-breaking or gut-busting or all-of-the-above performance. I'm so excited to feature her on this podcast singing "The Philosopher,", my setting of the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem of the same name.
Need more Emily Skinner in your diet? Go see her at the 92nd Street Y from April 8-10 in the concert, Other People's Lyrics. Or take a trip to DC in June for what promises to be a great Mame, with Emily as "Gooch."
Or maybe you need some CDs! There's her solo CD, Emily Skinner, there are her duet CDs with Side Show co-star, Alice Ripley: Duets and Unsuspecting Hearts, as well as performances on the following show/concert CDs: Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens, Dreamgirls in Concert, and My Life with Albertine.
But wait! There's more! She directs: Broadway by the Year - 1956 on April 3, tickets at Ticketmaster. And she's narrated a book on tape! Jennifer Weiner's Goodnight, Nobody. You can listen to it as you're driving to DC to see Mame!
From Urban Cowboy, the musical
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Sally Mayes (recorded 3/14/06)
Howdy!
I'm so excited to be reunited with the great Sally Mayes
on this week's
episode. It was Sally who gave birth to my first Broadway song baby (Is
that a horrible metaphor or what?) in the 2003 production of Urban
Cowboy,
the musical. Unfortunately, that score was never recorded, but here, on
the JBS
Podcast,
we are making Sally's first act solo, "All
Because of You,"
available for your listening pleasure.
Sally has enjoyed an incredible career on stage and in the recording studio. Her albums are wonderful and many: The Dorothy Fields Songbook, Our Private World, The Story Hour, Boys & Girls Like You and Me, and the most recent release, Valentine. And that's not even counting the recordings of her many, brilliant stage performances: Closer Than Ever (who doesn't love "Miss Byrd"??), Das Barbecü, her Tony-nominated turn as Ilona in She Loves Me, and the hysterical Pete 'n' Keely. Also, that was Sally as Mrs. MacAfee in the Jason Alexander TV version of Bye Bye Birdie!
Sally has enjoyed an incredible career on stage and in the recording studio. Her albums are wonderful and many: The Dorothy Fields Songbook, Our Private World, The Story Hour, Boys & Girls Like You and Me, and the most recent release, Valentine. And that's not even counting the recordings of her many, brilliant stage performances: Closer Than Ever (who doesn't love "Miss Byrd"??), Das Barbecü, her Tony-nominated turn as Ilona in She Loves Me, and the hysterical Pete 'n' Keely. Also, that was Sally as Mrs. MacAfee in the Jason Alexander TV version of Bye Bye Birdie!
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Becca Ayers, Joe Cassidy, Jessica Grové, and David Perlman (songs recorded 5/11/05)
Yes,
it's another "very special episode" - a song... well,
songs really... that are NOT in the songbook.
None of
my upcoming
guest stars were available to record this week, so I'm taking
this
opportunity to tell you about a wonderful organization called Raw Impressions,
which
brings random artistic people together to accomplish some specific
creative endeavor unreasonably quickly. My first involvement with R.I.
was last spring when I participated in RIPFest
#6, a 16 day event during which seven short movie musicals
were
conceived, written, recorded, shot, edited, couriered cross-country,
and screened in NY and LA. "WHAT??" you say? It's true, it's all true.
You can't believe it until you've lived it.
Freefall is the name of the RIPFest film for which I wrote the songs. The Freefall experience was heaven, start to finish, even amidst all the craziness. The stars were aligned when our team was assembled: the creators were Lonny Price-director , David Simpatico-screenwriter, Jessica Hendricks-choreographer, and myself-songwriter. Our amazing cast included Becca Ayers, Joe Cassidy, Jessica Grové, and David Perlman. And our producers were the wonderful Jane Abramson and Laura Penney. These songs were recorded 5/11/05, with Jeff Greenwald on drums, Randy Landau on bass, Peter Sachon on cello, Gary Sieger on guitar, and myself on piano. Watch the movie online!
RIPFest was such a great experience that I'm taking the plunge again this coming week, albeit in a different genre. This time it's Raw Impressions Music Theatre #20, which means we're creating short musicals (to be performed live, not on film), and we only have ten days to do it! Come check out our performances on March 26 and 27!
Also, don't miss Jessica Grové in the upcoming musical Iron Curtain (April 8-30, West End Theater) and Becca Ayers in the title role of Sarah, Plain and Tall (March 19-April 30, Lucille Lortel Theater).
Freefall is the name of the RIPFest film for which I wrote the songs. The Freefall experience was heaven, start to finish, even amidst all the craziness. The stars were aligned when our team was assembled: the creators were Lonny Price-director , David Simpatico-screenwriter, Jessica Hendricks-choreographer, and myself-songwriter. Our amazing cast included Becca Ayers, Joe Cassidy, Jessica Grové, and David Perlman. And our producers were the wonderful Jane Abramson and Laura Penney. These songs were recorded 5/11/05, with Jeff Greenwald on drums, Randy Landau on bass, Peter Sachon on cello, Gary Sieger on guitar, and myself on piano. Watch the movie online!
RIPFest was such a great experience that I'm taking the plunge again this coming week, albeit in a different genre. This time it's Raw Impressions Music Theatre #20, which means we're creating short musicals (to be performed live, not on film), and we only have ten days to do it! Come check out our performances on March 26 and 27!
Also, don't miss Jessica Grové in the upcoming musical Iron Curtain (April 8-30, West End Theater) and Becca Ayers in the title role of Sarah, Plain and Tall (March 19-April 30, Lucille Lortel Theater).
Music by Jeff Blumenkrantz, Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Sung by Sutton Foster (recorded 3/05/06)
It
is
impossible to ignore the sparkle that is Sutton
Foster.
If you've ever seen her onstage or heard her sing, you must be as
dazzled and as charmed by her as I am. While her early-career Broadway
resumé is impressive (Les Mis,
Grease,
The
Scarlet Pimpernel,
Annie),
her Tony-winning
performance in the title role of Thoroughly
Modern
Millie and her follow-up appearance as Jo in Little Women
declare her an official Broadway star. I'm sure you're all eagerly
anticipating her performance in this season's The Drowsy
Chaperone,
which I had the good fortune to see in its out-of-town
tryout
last fall in LA. I'm happy to say, you will not be disappointed! She's
spectacular, as ever, and the show is an absolute treat!
In this episode, Sutton gives a sensitive rendition of "Time Does Not Bring Relief," my setting of the sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Don't miss Sutton's "sparkly" performances on the cast recordings of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Little Women, as well as The Maury Yeston Songbook.
In this episode, Sutton gives a sensitive rendition of "Time Does Not Bring Relief," my setting of the sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Don't miss Sutton's "sparkly" performances on the cast recordings of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Little Women, as well as The Maury Yeston Songbook.
Music by Jeff Blumenkrantz, Lyrics by Beth Blatt
Sung by Rebecca Luker (recorded 2/22/06)
Becca's
back! I've made it a policy to avoid repeat guest
appearances, but I had to make an exception for Rebecca Luker:
a) because she
was my first podcast guinea pig, back before I was able to separate the
piano and the vocals, and I wanted to have an opportunity to record her
magnificent voice with better sound, and b) because this song was
written expressly for her.
Rebecca Luker is the quintesssential Broadway leading lady. Not only has she led the casts of such high-profile Broadway revivals as The Music Man (Marian), The Sound of Music (Maria), Nine (Claudia) and Showboat (Magnolia), but she has also appeared in such original musicals as The Secret Garden (Lily) and The Phantom of the Opera (Christine). Lately, she has been enjoying a rather busy concert career, including a solo evening in the 2005 Lincoln Center American Songbook Series, a highly-acclaimed stint at Feinstein's at the Regency, and many symphonic gigs across the country, not to mention the odd Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Concert and seemingly every New Voices Concert at Symphony Space. She has two wonderful solo CDs (Leaving Home, Anything Goes - Rebecca Luker sings Cole Porter) and a deservedly impressive discography.
Today, she sings a song that does not appear in the songbook. (Something for Volume Two!!) It's called "Lovely Lies," and it has lyrics by the wonderful Beth Blatt (The Mistress Cycle) and music by me. It was written for Rebecca's recent engagement at Feinstein's, and hopefully she will sing it again when she returns there this May 9-20 for her encore engagement. (Call 212-339-4095 to reserve now!)
Rebecca Luker is the quintesssential Broadway leading lady. Not only has she led the casts of such high-profile Broadway revivals as The Music Man (Marian), The Sound of Music (Maria), Nine (Claudia) and Showboat (Magnolia), but she has also appeared in such original musicals as The Secret Garden (Lily) and The Phantom of the Opera (Christine). Lately, she has been enjoying a rather busy concert career, including a solo evening in the 2005 Lincoln Center American Songbook Series, a highly-acclaimed stint at Feinstein's at the Regency, and many symphonic gigs across the country, not to mention the odd Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Concert and seemingly every New Voices Concert at Symphony Space. She has two wonderful solo CDs (Leaving Home, Anything Goes - Rebecca Luker sings Cole Porter) and a deservedly impressive discography.
Today, she sings a song that does not appear in the songbook. (Something for Volume Two!!) It's called "Lovely Lies," and it has lyrics by the wonderful Beth Blatt (The Mistress Cycle) and music by me. It was written for Rebecca's recent engagement at Feinstein's, and hopefully she will sing it again when she returns there this May 9-20 for her encore engagement. (Call 212-339-4095 to reserve now!)
Music by Jeff Blumenkrantz, Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Sung by Judy Kuhn (recorded 2/14/06)
Judy Kuhn
can do
(and has done) it all! She's a legit soprano (Cosette in Les
Miserables),
she's a classic musical theatre leading lady (She
Loves Me),
she's a dramatic belter (Chess),
she's a dramatic actress (Two
Shakespearean
Actors), she's a pop singer (Eli's
Comin'), she's a voiceover artist (Pocohontas),
she's a recording artist (Just
in Time - Judy Kuhn sings Jule Styne), and she's a
concert
singer. She keeps you guessing!
Broadway audiences were to have been treated to another Judy Kuhn performance this month, as an interim replacement in The Woman in White in the role of Marian. However, due to that show's untimely closing notice, her engagement was cancelled. Instead, get your Judy Kuhn fix here, as she sings my setting of the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, “Departure.” Check out the text of the poem.
Broadway audiences were to have been treated to another Judy Kuhn performance this month, as an interim replacement in The Woman in White in the role of Marian. However, due to that show's untimely closing notice, her engagement was cancelled. Instead, get your Judy Kuhn fix here, as she sings my setting of the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, “Departure.” Check out the text of the poem.
Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Julia Murney (recorded 2/12/06)
Until this
year, Julia
Murney was the biggest Broadway musical theatre star to have
never
actually appeared on Broadway. As we all know, that distinction was
dashed with her performance in this season's Lennon,
and
it was about time! New York audiences know her from her fantastic
performances in three Manhattan
Theatre Club musicals, namely Time and Again, A
Class Act, and Andrew Lippa's The
Wild Party, not to mention some high-profile
concert
appearances (Chess, Hair,
Funny Girl).
Julia's songbook selection today is "Take the Filter Off," from the unfinished musical, Fits and Starts, with music and lyrics by me. In this song, Randy is encouraging her now-gay ex-boyfriend to subvert his judgmental nature and find himself a man to love. (Think Will and Grace.) A fortuitous choice for this Valentine's Day podcast, no?
Warning: this song has a curse word in it!
FYI, Julia is a fellow Stagedoor Manor alum. (Think Camp.)
Coming up- Don't miss:
Julia's songbook selection today is "Take the Filter Off," from the unfinished musical, Fits and Starts, with music and lyrics by me. In this song, Randy is encouraging her now-gay ex-boyfriend to subvert his judgmental nature and find himself a man to love. (Think Will and Grace.) A fortuitous choice for this Valentine's Day podcast, no?
Warning: this song has a curse word in it!
FYI, Julia is a fellow Stagedoor Manor alum. (Think Camp.)
Coming up- Don't miss:
Julia as
Elphaba in the Wicked
tour!
and
Julia's debut
solo CD on Sh-K-Boom
Records!
Sung by Celia Keenan-Bolger (recorded 2/6/06)
Celia
Keenan-Bolger is Broadway's newest "it" girl, and if you've
seen
her perform, you know why. Yes, she has a great voice, but she also
brings enormous charm, intelligence, and creativity to everything she
does (including party games!). A Tony-nominee for her beautiful
performance as Olive in The
25th
Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Celia has worked
with most,
if not all, of the new composers writing today. If a musical has had a
recent pre-Broadway workshop or recording or concert, Celia was one of
the leads in it. Check out all the cute
pictures of her at Broadway
World!
Today, she sings "Toll," a song written for a never-produced revuesical which explored themes of traveling. Music and lyrics are by me. Meanwhile, if you haven't seen Celia in the wonderful ...Spelling Bee, quit stalling and go! Also, check out the original cast recording.
(I tried in vain to find the rules for Running Charades online. If you have them handy, send me an email, and I'll post them or link to them! Otherwise, if you're desperate to know the rules of the game, let me know, and if I get enough emails about it, I'll write out the rules myself.)
Today, she sings "Toll," a song written for a never-produced revuesical which explored themes of traveling. Music and lyrics are by me. Meanwhile, if you haven't seen Celia in the wonderful ...Spelling Bee, quit stalling and go! Also, check out the original cast recording.
(I tried in vain to find the rules for Running Charades online. If you have them handy, send me an email, and I'll post them or link to them! Otherwise, if you're desperate to know the rules of the game, let me know, and if I get enough emails about it, I'll write out the rules myself.)
Sung by Liz Callaway and Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 1/31/06)
Singing with
Liz Callaway
is literally a
dream-come-true for me. Ever since I first heard her spectacular voice
on the Baby
cast recording, I have marveled at the purity and musicality
of her
voice. What a privilege to have her on this podcast today, singing my
duet setting of the Edna
St. Vincent Millay poem, "Recuerdo."
(Click here
to see the text of the poem.)
Since her Tony-nominated performace in Baby, she's maintained flourishing careers on Broadway (Miss Saigon, Cats, The Look of Love), in film (providing the singing voice for the title characters in the animated films The Swan Princess and Anastasia), and in cabaret and recordings (check out her most recent CD, The Beat Goes On, and Sibling Revelry, the terrific recording of her show with her super-talented sister, Ann Hampton Callaway). Liz's discography is incredibly impressive, and rightfully so.
Music and Lyrics by Jeff BlumenkrantzSince her Tony-nominated performace in Baby, she's maintained flourishing careers on Broadway (Miss Saigon, Cats, The Look of Love), in film (providing the singing voice for the title characters in the animated films The Swan Princess and Anastasia), and in cabaret and recordings (check out her most recent CD, The Beat Goes On, and Sibling Revelry, the terrific recording of her show with her super-talented sister, Ann Hampton Callaway). Liz's discography is incredibly impressive, and rightfully so.
Sung by Ryan Perry and Jeff Blumenkrantz (recorded 1/15/06)
So you've been wondering why that explicit rating has been hovering over this podcast? Finally! Here it is: one of two songs in the book with dirty words in it! Parents (and prudes), be warned. Remember last week's episode with Judy Blazer as the Jewish mother whose son has just come out? Well, this week it's that son and his best friend at a gay bar. The song is "Moving Right Along" (from the abandoned project Fits and Starts), with music and lyrics by me.
I'm thrilled to be joined by one of my best friends, the super-funny Ryan Perry, who inspired this song in the first place. (Yes, we went to gay bars together. No, we weren't nearly as horrible as these guys.) Ryan hasn't been acting and singing much lately (Booooo!), but those of you lucky enough to have caught him in Forever Plaid or Whorehouse Goes Public or the tours of The Full Monty and Floyd Collins will remember how fantastic he is.
And I'm happy to report that I have lured him back to the stage to appear in my Birdland concert on February 13th, along with former podcast guests Judy Blazer, Vicki Clark, Rebecca Luker, and Sally Wilfert. Call (212) 581-3080 for reservations.
Episode
6: January 17, 2006 "It'll
Work for You"Music and Lyrics by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Sung by Judy Blazer (recorded 1/12/06)
How did I
get so
lucky to have such talented friends?? This week, it's the remarkable Judy Blazer,
who
stopped by after a day of rehearsing for Michael
John
LaChiusa's latest, Bernarda
Alba, coming soon to the Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center. Judy
lends her comic
genius to "It'll
Work for You," a Jewish mother's reaction to her composer
son's
recent coming-out. (Can you guess who
might have insp
