Become a Friend of Broadway Cafe Society™.com and sign up for
our free monthly e-newsletter. Membership is absolutely free and you can unsubscribe
at any time. TELL ME MORE...
REBECCA
SPENCER and her musical director PHILIP FORTENBERRY have performed
together and separately on Broadway and in various cabaret venues across
the U.S. They will be presenting their latest cabaret show on July
26th at Birdland Jazz Club in New York City as part
of the Broadway at Birdland series, as well
as a sneak preview of the show on July 25th at Harlan's Cabaret in The Nevermore Hotel in New
Hope, PA.
Special thanks to Kristopher McDowell at
KMP Artists for his
assistance in arranging this interview.
How did the two of you meet and
begin your current professional collaboration?
PHILIP: I think I first met Rebecca when I was an audition
accompanist for some show many years ago back in NY. Our paths crossed a few
times here and there through the years because the theater community is actually
quite small, and we knew quite a few people in common. Becky's version of this
ultimate collaboration is much more interesting than mine, so I'd better let her
fill you in on the rest. But suffice it to say that Rebecca is persistent,
determined, and such a focused artist with the patience required to keep to her
vision of what she knows is the right thing for her, no matter what or how long
it takes. I admire her very much.
REBECCA: I first met Philip at one of my first regional
theatre auditions held in NY, back in 1983. I was just out of college and he
was the hired accompanist for hundreds of singers that day. I asked for his
phone number and he gave it to me. But we laugh heartily now because it took
him 10 years to actually return my phone call. Through the years our paths would
cross often in musical programs, readings or benefits
Rebecca (center) as Lady Beaconsfield
in the original Broadway company of JEKYLL & HYDE
But it was not until I finally made it to Broadway in
JEKYLL & HYDE and Philip was playing for SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL that our real
collaboration began. It is a funny story, but, a mutual friend of ours, Carmen
Yurich, who was also a JEKYLL & HYDE cast member was celebrating a birthday at
his NY apartment. As beautiful as it was, it was filled to capacity with theatre
folks playing on Broadway at the time. He knew we would both be attending and
across a crowded room I spotted Philip and he spotted me. The bathroom acted as
an over flow room decorated beautifully so I followed Philip into the bathroom
and I sat on the toilet seat and he on the edge of the tub as we sipped gin and
tonics and we exchanged our love of music and musical ideas for the rest of the
night!
Not long after that I brought an original song to his
studio which marked our first session in the creation of my first solo debut
recording, WIDE AWAKE AND DREAMING, introducing our collaboration of lyric
driven art song interpretations, which has become our signature. The first song
I brought to that session was an original song that had not been recorded and
subsequently became the title song. It is a song that was written and composed
by my Ithaca College pal, and now established jazz singer and pianist, Peter
Eldridge. That title song inspired this concept recording that would be filled
with all new interpretations of material that would embrace our dreams our
daydreams and our nightmares. Truth be told, this recording was only meant to be
an independent project that I produced with Philip to see what was possible and
was a creative venture that was meant to explore how my theatrical chops and
classical music background could extend beyond just serving a character in a
Broadway show.
To my surprise this first recording for me, that Philip and
I produced together with Manfred Knoop at his New Jersey studio, was picked up
by the LML music label, distributed by Allegro and then was honored by the 2004
BACK STAGE BISTRO AWARD. And that was when we were encouraged to find legs for
this recording and created a full 58 minute concert. WIDE AWAKE AND DREAMING
was performed live, in the exact order of the listen. BACK STAGE and CABARET
SCENES MAGAZINE both reviewed and attended the live performances as well,
embracing our collaboration as solo performers coming together and reflecting
on this listen as a song cycle. Ever grateful to Philip who has remained by my
side as my concert partner, musical director and respectfully my special
featured guest artist from the onset of our discovery. My second CD and follow
up recording entitled, FAIR WARNING offered a chance for us to explore our
collaboration further.
Rebecca &
Philip performing "You Must Love Me" from EVITA in Las Vegas
Your current Birdland show
features selections by Keith Thompson, a composer who’s somewhat unfamiliar to
most musical theatre fans. What it about Keith's music that you find so
appealing?
PHILIP: As a composer who is also a very fine pianist,
Keith Thompson seems to be able to write a piece with a much more complete
perspective of what an actual performance might ultimately become. I think he
is at his best as a composer when he has specific elements in mind, like who
will actually be performing a specific piece, or if there is a commissioned
message to be communicated.
Keith has a fabulous sense of humor, and he's smart. He's
gaining much recognition and success for his novelty pieces particularly in the
world of cabaret. His ability to serve the creation and/or the development of
character through musical composition is quite amazing, whether the character is
fictitious or the actual person revealing himself (or herself) through the
performance of one of his pieces.
I'm only a pianist--I don't call what I do even as an
improviser 'composing' in the same perspective as what Keith and so many others
do. But because I am an interpretive artist, I must be able to study a piece of
music, take the information we have been given, and give it a sound, a voice.
In fact, we, the performers, are just next in line in the whole creative
process.
What I've learned about our work as interpreters of music
is that we are, in a certain sense, cooperators with a composer, or 'continuers'
along the line of the musical thought and its adequate expression. When a
composer commits something to the page, they leave a record that must be born
again every time it is brought to mind. This rebirth is the very essence of all
that is best in interpretative skill. New life goes into a composition at the
very moment it passes through the soul of the performer. To have the privilege
of working with a composer in this creative process is humbling, to say the
least. To have the blessing and trust from a composer to study, to find the
most truthful expression we can as performance artists as we take on a given
piece is what we crave.
I've had many opportunities in my career to work closely
with composers as they are creating songs, theatrical scores, orchestral works,
chamber pieces. Keith is also a performer in his own right, so he brings into
his composition and understanding of what the rest of us do. I don't even know
if he is conscious of this. When Rebecca and I need something specific, though,
Keith has often been the perfect source to find what we need, especially when
seeking something original. Anyway, Keith's deep and broad understanding of the
many aspects of music and musical performance, particularly in the theater, is
most exciting and satisfying.
REBECCA: Keith has been composing for many years while
actively carving out his prominent Broadway conducting career. I was first
introduced to the composer side of him just after Philip and I launched WIDE
AWAKE AND DREAMING. At that time, Keith presented his critically acclaimed
theatrical review entitled KOOKY TUNES, directed by the late Tommy Walsh. He is
best known, for his clever, sophisticated and complex comic numbers.
But when I was stuck in my research in seeking material to
serve the listen to FAIR WARNING it was Philip that suggested I turn to Keith to
explore interpreting original material. Not only did Keith compose two songs for
me for the recording he generously tailored his existing material, that had not
been recorded as yet to suit my concept and my collaboration with Philip.
VIRGINIA’S RESPONSE, and FAIR WARNING I describe the back-story to those
compositions below, but he and Philip arranged and tailored with me, EAT DRINK
AND BE MARY! originally composed for Jay Rogers, THE MEMORY originally conceived
as a choral anthem and INSTEAD from Keith’s musical Idaho!, of which Philip was
able to weave in a little Chopin to embrace our listen. I learned so much in how
to collaborate with a composer and in turn was honored how Keith entrusted us
with his material by allowing for it to be tailored made! It is an honor to have
encountered such a gifted composer in this lifetime, in the early part of my
musical recording journey who also takes care and has generously pushed the
limits, both in support of my theatrical range and color.
Wonderful Jim Caruso (host of BROADWAY AT BIRDLAND), who
has been a fellow colleague to both Philip and Keith and has since researched my
creative partnership with both gentlemen, and requested that I would include a
number from Keith Thompson’s KOOKY TUNES as well. We will be offering three
Keith Thompson songs. And I am most honored and as a special reveal for New
York, Keith gifted me a brand new song, back in March for my 50th Birthday in
April. The song is entitled, MY LIFE! In March, just two days after I learned
the song, we debuted this special piece at the Las Vegas Composer’s Showcase,
which is hosted monthly at the Liberace Museum.
Rebecca as Carlotta in THE PHANTOM OF
THE OPERA
You both have extensive musical
theatre credits. Will you be including any tunes from shows you've done in the
Birdland show?
REBECCA: Yes, for this evening, we have carved out a lovely section
that honors our experiences and the music that embrace the year that both
RAGTIME and JEKYLL & HYDE ran on Broadway, both opening in 1997….and more
surprises from Mozart to Jerry Herman, from Copeland to Marvin Hamlisch, and
from Broadway to Las Vegas….
Philip, You have a one-person
show LIBERACE AND ME that you perform regularly at the Liberace Museum in Las
Vegas. Liberace was such an intriguing personality and everyone seems to have a
different opinion about him. What's yours?
Just hearing that name, "Liberace", automatically brings to
mind visions of all the bling that surrounded him. Unfortunately, that seems to
be what almost everybody thinks of him, and that's about as far as it goes.
What I've learned and have come to appreciate more and more is that he was first
and foremost a pianist. He could seriously play the piano, and so many of his
'tricks', so much of his flashy playing, was directly inspired by his knowledge
of the classics from the greats -- Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, etc. I also
learned that he was incredibly generous.
For example, through the Liberace Foundation, he
established a scholarship program that has given well over $5 million through
the years to colleges and universities all over the country. He also was known
to help people buy a house, or he'd give somebody a new pet. Those I've met who
actually knew him absolutely loved him. To be honest, I keep my ears open
because I love gossip as much as anybody, and you'd think there'd be all sorts
of crazy stuff around the Liberace Museum where I do my show.
But quite frankly, I'm quite moved at the love and respect
those who really knew him or knew of him seem to be. I've never heard anything
but admiration and real respect when people mention his name. So when I was
first asked about putting together a concert for the Museum, I initially
declined because I didn't want to be considered a Liberace knock-off, and I'm
certainly not an impersonator! What I had to do was research the man, his
music, his life, and the more I did this, I discovered that as a pianist growing
up in this country, I would inevitably become as aware of Liberace as I would
Van Cliburn.
LIBERACE AND ME simply refers to this influence I have
found in my own playing, whether it came from hearing him on records, the radio,
television, or because he played the same classics I played. I also love the
famous story about how, once when he was trying to claim his costumes as a
deduction for income tax purposes, the IRS apparently challenged this. His
defense was that those huge costumes were only for the stage, and so he should
be allowed this deduction since these were essentially his 'uniforms'. They
still didn't budge. So he dressed up in one of those huge things and went to
the IRS office, which caused an enormous commotion, disrupting all business at
the office, of course. When the IRS agent asked him what in the world he was
doing, he said that he was simply there making a point. So Liberace is the
reason we are allowed certain wardrobe allowances in our work as performing
artists when it comes to tax time!
I wish I had known Liberace. He was an enormous supporter
of other artists, and he was always introducing others to the world. I love the
old pictures I've seen where Liberace's name is all in lights, and underneath is
a sign where he would be introducing someone like "Barbra Streisand' or the
like. And he also was a huge influence on that over the top wardrobe that Elvis
used to wear..... I do not dress like that myself, mind you. How could I???
Rebecca: I'm a huge fan of
your "Fair Warning" CD. Such a beautifully sophisticated mix of old and new
songs. I heard it was inspired by an encounter with some ladies of the
Red Hat Society. Could you please
share that story?
I am so delighted that you have taken the time to listen to
and appreciate the musical reveal of FAIR WARNING. I must say that it felt like
this recording took on a life of it's own with so many mystical twists and turns
from the moment I first laid eyes on the ladies adorned in their red hats and
purple dresses. Just on the heels of having released WIDE AWAKE AND DREAMING,
LML Music was encouraging me to come up with a follow up recording because of
the positive attention that WIDE AWAKE AND DREAMING was receiving. I thought I
had run out of ideas and I certainly had run out of money.
What most folks don’t realize is that the recording was
actually released before the red hat ladies were as well known as they have come
to be known today, believe it or not. I had a hard time explaining my idea and
even pitching the recording at the time, but it was Philip who supported and
mentored my idea from the downbeat to the final cadence after I shared with him
my encounter and my concept. Choosing and researching all of the musical
material references and arrangements were very specific. I wanted each song to
represent one pearl of wisdom; each song defined by one word that built a
lifetime pearl necklace. As our year long collaboration continued, we profoundly
realized that the recording was emotionally layered, honoring those ladies and
gentlemen in both Philip’s and my very own family tree whose lives had made a
lasting impression on our hearts. Ultimately the listen embraces the wisdom of
the human spirit, in how we all, men and women alike, have earned our laugh
lines and our cry lines!
On a side note, FAIR WARNING released in March 2006 on the
LML label, just on the heels of when I was cast to premiere, PHANTOM - THE LAS
VEGAS SPECTACULAR, in the role of Madame Giry. It took all of 2005 to
collaborate on this recording and at that time Philip had moved to Las Vegas to
take on the job as the first associate conductor for WE WILL ROCK YOU! So I
flew out several times in that year to create and collaborate on FAIR WARNING!
We recorded at Knoop Studio’s in New Jersey and recorded the cello
orchestrations in Las Vegas by LV based concert cellist, Moonlight Tran. We
squeezed in a CD release party at Don’t Tell Mamma’s and at Any Wednesday,
thanks to Bart, but it was only after relocating to Las Vegas and after PHANTOM
opened that we finally launched FAIR WARNING, in Las Vegas, as a fully realized
concert, presented by the Performing Arts Society of Nevada in February 2007.
Excerpt from the FAIR WARNING CD liner notes:
“Something
wonderful happened to me one summer afternoon in Vermont in July. I was playing
the role Of Dolly Levi at the Weston Playhouse. Weston is a picturesque New
England town and home to the Vermont Country Store.
One matinee
day, as I walked from the Victorian cast house to the theatre, I saw bouquets of
ladies throughout this quaint town, all dressed in purple and topped in radiant
red hats. A surreal picture was brought to life Before my eyes: Grand ladies in
red and purple, strolling the great lawn of the playhouse, sitting in the town
square gazebo, and rocking easily in rockers on the front porch of the Vermont
Country Store.
There was
laughter in the air and so much color illuminated against the summer greenery. A
spell was cast over me. It was several weeks later when I first shared this
encounter with these ladies with Philip Fortenberry, my Musical Director. He was
speechless. Speechless because that very same magical day that I saw the ladies
in Weston he and my orchestrator, Keith Thompson had been keeping a promise and
had followed through on a wish from their mentor, professor, and dear friend
whom they both had known since they attended college together in Mississippi.
Her name was Virginia Scott and sadly that Summer she had passed away.
She was a
grand lady who loved the Broadway community. One of her final wishes was that in
celebration of her life Purple and Red balloons be released at midnight in Times
Square. Again, Red and Purple and intrigue.
With
determination, I set out to discover more about The Red Hat Society and these
vibrant ladies. I read two charming books by their founder and Queen Mother,
Sue Ellen Cooper. The ladies adopted a poem entitled WARNING, by Jenny Joseph,
which inspired their dress code of red hats and purple dresses as well as their
“Hattitude” for frivolity. Their hearty philosophy, at age 50, is that life is
just beginning, again.
Energized, I
was challenged to seek a collection of songs with poignant lyrics that would
embrace the wisdom and gratitude in how we ALL, men and women alike, have earned
our “laugh lines and our cry lines.”
Collaborating
with my musical director, Philip Fortenberry, we created a tapestry of music
with contemporary art song interpretations. Completely inspired by the lyrics,
each selection is woven together with carefully chosen tonalities and
arrangements that embrace the emotional overtones harmonized by the voice, piano
and cello - revealing each song as an intimate scene or sentiment riding on
classical folk songs as well as contemporary melodies.
For tickets and more information on Philip and Rebecca's show at Birdland,
visit www.birdlandjazz.com. For
info on the performance in New Hope, PA at Harlan's Cabaret, visit
www.harlanscabaret.com.
