Friday, October 12, 2012

Entrevista 2012 con Vikki Carr

Cantante/actriz legendaria Vikki Carr, nacida Florencia Bisenta de Casillas Martínez Cardona en El Paso, Texas, se disparó al estrellato como cantante de pop estadounidense en 1962 con "El es un rebelde", seguido de "It Must Be Him" y "con Pen in Hand ". Años después en los 80 y 90 sus grabaciones españoles le trajeron tres premios Grammy y fue precedente para muchos otros cantantes que se cruzaron y se convirtieron en éxito, tanto en inglés y español. Ahora en el 2012 regresa a Discos Sony con un nuevo álbum Viva la Vida, publicado el 25 de septiembre. En nuestra charla habla sobre el álbum, las organizaciones benéficas que están cerca de su corazón y de cómo se siente ser mexicana-americana.

Felicitaciones por 50 años en el mundo del espectaculo!

-Gracias, ya es 53!
 

Me  imagino que contaba a partir de 1962.

-Bueno, fui a la carretera en 1959. 

Eso es un hito, Vikki.
 Congrats!


-Mil gracias. 

Escuché las tres primeras canciones de Viva la Vida y su voz suena mejor que nunca!

-O Gracias, Don! Muchisimas gracias! 


¿Te grabaste esto en los últimos meses?


-O no, ese álbum Viva la Vida iba a ser mi álbum de aniversario y un agradecimiento a todo México y toda América Latina por todo el éxito que me han dado en los últimos años ... para decirles que mientras Dios continúa bendecirme con mi voz que voy a estar ahí para ellos. Pero fue una de esas cosas que cuando no estás con una compañía de discos ... y mi marido dijo: "Hay que cantar. Estás cantando mejor". Así que invirtió en mí mismo, y qué mejor inversión puede tener? Yo trabajaba y trabajaba y le dije a mi director Carol Peters, "Estoy tratando de conseguir un sello discográfico." Todo se hizo ... la grabación ... Me co-produje junto a José Hernández. Yo supervisaba todo, el fotógrafo, todo el asunto. Fue tan frustrante, Don. 

¿Cuánto tiempo hace de eso?


-Hace tres años.
 Y resulta que oyeron .... Sony. Carol se les presento, y estos jóvenes ... Yo los llamo joven en comparación con la vieja banda que se utilizo para ejecutar las empresas. Fueron criados con mi música, y cuando lo oyeron, dijeron: "Oh, queremos liberarla", yada yada ... y yo acabo de volver de hacer una gira promocional por todo increíble de Miami y Los Ángeles. Son sólo tan emocionadas. Desde su lanzamiento en septiembre, ha pasado de 49 en los charts latinos a 16. Es un best seller. 

Fabuloso! Eso es genial!


-Ya sabes, esto puede abrir la puerta para que haga otras cosas. He estado haciendo conciertos. Lo que más me entero está tratando de presentar lo que soy, una mexicana-americana que tuvo éxito en inglés, y gracias a ese éxito, tuve la oportunidad de grabar el primer álbum todo en espanol. Resulta que cuando regresé de México ... todos ellos le preguntaron: "¿Va a hacer un show de español o su programa de inglés?" Ha sido una lucha. Quiero hacer la demostración de lo que soy. Soy capaz, gracias a Dios, atraeré a todos clases de gente a mis conciertos. ¡Es la cosa entera 
 ¿Eres un artista? ¿Puedes contar historias? ¿Se puede hacer reír a la gente? ¿Lo sientes? ¿Lloran con usted? ( se ríe ) Ahora, en esta etapa de mi carrera , mi idea es que voy a ser quien soy y he sido siempre, no tener que pedir disculpas por ello. 

Eres una gran cantante. Usted ha sido una de mis favoritos desde la secundaria. Cuando escucho a la hermosa música cantada por un cantante increíble, no me importa qué idioma está adentro. Es la música y quién la canta lo que cuentan.

-La música es el lenguaje universal. Descubrí que si yo estaba en un país donde no hablo la lengua, si pudiera hacer contacto visual con la gente, y conseguir una sonrisa o sonrisa en ellos, entonces sentí que había conectado. Cuando vas a ver ópera, no todo el mundo tiene las tablas como lo hacen en el Met que pueden decir que lo que está ocurriendo. Pero sí sé cuando está triste o gracioso, o es trágico ... que habla por sí mismo, y le toca a la persona que está realizando o cantar a afectar a la interpretación.
 

¿Es este el primer álbum que han producido?


-Produje otro ... ¿te acuerdas de
 Live at the Greek ? 

¡Por supuesto!


-Bueno, esa fue mi producción. No era mi dinero, pero ... es tan divertido, porque lo que estoy queriendo es volver a la Griega y celebrar ... ¿cuántos años desde que hice esa primera y ahora ser capaz de incorporar todo lo que soy, con una big band. Mi sueño es hacer un homenaje a Sinatra, mi manera. No quiero decir eso para ser gracioso ni nada, pero cómo podría yo cantar. Esa era la música con que me alce. No me crié con el rock and roll, pero eran las grandes bandas y los sonidos españoles, la gran música de mi padre y de mi madre. Esa fue mi base musical entero.
 

Memorias, el homenaje que hicieron por PBS hace unos años con la música de los años 40 y 50 era una maravilla!


-O, gracias. Hace unos tres años, yo también hice
 Fiesta Mexicana. Fui a México y nos mostramos algunas de las ciudades más bellas y las danzas y la música. Era exquisito, visualmente tan bello, dirigido por Leo Eaton. ¿Has visto eso?

No, pero yo voy a buscarla. Volviendo a Viva la Vida, gracias por el segundo CD con muchos de sus éxitos de todos los tiempos españoles.


-Se presentó con una visión diferente esta vez, lo que mis sentimientos eran y por qué he elegido esas canciones. Les dije a la compañía discográfica lo mucho que aprecio todo reenvasado siguen haciendo, pero agregue: "¿No sería bueno tener algo de material nuevo?
 Voy a seleccionar las canciones y escribir por qué son tan especiales para mí." A ellos les gustaba la idea. 

Háblame de las organizaciones benéficas más cercanas a su corazón.

-El que yo he sido tan identificado con mi fundación es beca que me comence en California en 1971 . He podido ayudar a más de 350 jóvenes mexicanos-americanos los estudiantes hispanos a continuar con su educación. Me cansé de toda la negatividad y yo tuvimos una maravillosa dama PR / gerente, quien se hartó de mi queja y me dijo: "Mira, si no te gusta, haz algo al respecto." Pensé qué diablos iba a hacer? Entonces, Dios me envió ese comercial de la Asociación Nacional de Productos Lácteos antes de que alguna vez fue el bigote blanco. Esto fue en el al oeste y al norte. Funcionó por dos años. El dinero que me gané fue a las becas. Decidí ayudar a un estudiante, y cuando me senté en la cama leyendo estas aplicaciones de las familias, algunas de ellas las familias migrantes que tenían tantos hijos sino que se encargó de que todos y cada uno de ellos tiene una educación. Uno de los chicos se graduó con un 4.0 y quería ser un criminólogo. Lloré y dije "tengo que continuar con esto." Desde 1971, he tenía un astronauta, el primer astronauta mexicano-americano José Hernández, un juez de la corte superior, los médicos que tienen consultorios, abogados, tengo personas que están de moda en Nueva York ... Nunca he tenido hijos biológicos, pero en un Así, estos han sido mis hijos. Nosotros no eramos ni son la base grande, pero nos preocupamos por los niños,
 ¿tienen la ropa que necesitan y lo que necesitan, además de eso? Ha sido mi bebé. (ella se ríe) Tengo que decirte esto. Este álbum ... Lo consideré como mi bebé y hemos estado diciendo a la gente: "Dios mío, tomó años para que este bebé salga, por amor de Dios" ... salió y dijo: "Hola, mamá. Hola, papá. "Y luego fue directamente a la escuela. Cuando usted realmente, realmente crees en algo, tienes que luchar por ello. Tuve que luchar por" It Must Be Him ", tuve que luchar por" con la pluma en la mano", "Luché por la primera álbum en español. Es un poco irónico que las cosas que he luchado por han sido unos de mis mayores éxitos. Está confirmado que en mí tienes que hacer lo que tú crees en tu corazón, lo que quieres hacer, porque nadie más puede sentirlo. Ellos no eres. Es mejor ir todos hacia fuera para él y decir: "Lo intenté, pero no fue así" en lugar de quejarse y decir: "Oh, Dios mío, no lo hice esto o eso. "Todos caemos en esa trampa.

¿Quiénes son tus cantantes favoritos de todos los tiempos? Sé que ya has mencionado Frank Sinatra.


-Uno de mis favoritos de todos los tiempos es Tony Bennett. Me sentí mal que nunca me pidieron que hiciera su
 Duets álbum. Otros son Judy Garland, Kay Starr, Teresa Brewer, me refiero a la música con que me crié. 

Cualquier de la nueva cosecha que te gusta?


-Adele, ella tiene una gran voz.
 

Al igual que usted, yo prefiero escuchar sobre todo los oldies but goodies.


-Necesito escuchar una melodía,.. Quiero oír la voz. Me siento tan aburrido con algunas de las cosas que oímos. Tengo nietos y van a jugar este y decir: "Vamos, abuela.
 Puede ranura para esto. "Y yo les digo:" Yo no lo creo. " 

Te vi en Follies hace unos 10 años. ¿Le gusta hacer comedias musicales?

-Me encanta hacer shows. De hecho, mi primera Fue
 Pacífico Sur . Era increíble, y también hice Insumergible Molly Brown El  y yo estoy haciendo mi actuar juntos y Taking It On the Road . Me encanta que usted está contando una historia con su música. Eso es realmente lo que trato de hacer con toda mi música. Es increíble para mí que todas estas colecciones que están saliendo de Inglaterra, como EMI, tienen algunos de mis más grandes éxitos que eran muy grandes en Europa. ¿Quién sabía? Hijo de un arma ... 

Usted tiene una pasión en su voz que no tiene la mayoría de los cantantes!


-Me alegro porque esa es una de las cosas que mi padre siempre decía:
 
"Lo que haces en tu vida, haz con todo su corazón!
 El día que usted no puede hacer eso, parar, porque el público lo sabrá. "Y lo harán. Cuando llegue esa reacción visceral, ya sabes. 

¿Cómo te sientes acerca de pasos que los hispanos han hecho en el mundo del espectáculo?

-Me gustaría el latino de ser aceptado por ellos mismos como el talento y no tienen ese estigma de ser latino. Al igual que Ricardo Montalban jugando un japonés en
 la pelicula Sayonara , él es  actor . He hecho algunas cosas en la televisión como en Baywatch, yo era una de esas chicas (se ríe), no, yo era la madre de un socorrista. He audición para los roles y siempre me ven ... no se ajustan a su caricatura de lo que ellos piensan que debo ser. No todos están de oliva de piel clara. Mi madre era muy, muy ligera. Traté de permanecer en el sol (se ríe) y todo lo que tengo cáncer de piel. Así que, obviamente, tengo que ser feliz con el color que tengo. 

Bueno, usted es hermosa exactamente como eres, y te queremos!


-Muchas gracias, Don.
 

Vikki Carr es un ser humano cálido, atento estar con un gran sentido del humor que se traduce en todo lo que hace. Comprar Viva la Vida y vivir su pasión!
 

www.vikkicarr.net
Entrevista en ingles - abajo!
Interview in English - below!



PUBLICADO POR DON GRIGWARE EN 11:56

 AM NO HAY COMENTARIOS:

Thursday, October 11, 2012

2012 Interview with Vikki Carr



Legendary singer/actress Vikki Carr, born Florencia Bisenta de Casillas Martinez Cardona in El Paso, Texas, skyrocketed to superstardom as an American pop singer in 1962 with "He's a Rebel" followed by "It Must Be Him" in 1967 and "With Pen in Hand" in 1969. In the 80s and 90s her Spanish recordings brought her three Grammy Awards, and she set the precedent for cross over artists becoming successful in both English and Spanish. Now in 2012 she returns to the Sony label with a new album Viva la Vida, released on September 25. In our chat she talks about the album, the charity that is closest to her heart and how she feels about being a Mexican-American in show business.

Congratulations on 50 years in the business!


-Thank you, it's already 53!


I guess I was counting from 1962.


-Well, I went on the road in 1959.


That's a milestone, Vikki. Congrats!


-Thanks so much.


I listened to the first three tracks of Viva la Vida and your voice sounds better than ever!


-Oh, thank you Don! Thank you so much!

Did you record this over the last several months?

-Oh no, that album Viva la Vida was going to be my anniversary album and a thank you to all of Mexico and to all of Latin America for all the success that they have given me over the years...to tell them that as long as God continues to bless me with my voice that I will be there for them. But it was one of those things that when you're not with a record company... and my husband said "You've got to sing. You're singing better." So I invested in myself, and what better investment can you have? I worked and worked and said to my manager Carol Peters, "I'm trying to get a record label." Everything was done...the recording...I co-produced it with Jose Hernandez. I oversaw everything, the photographer, the whole thing. It was just so frustrating, Don.

How long ago was this?

-Three years ago. And it turns out that they heard it....Sony. Carol presented it to them, and these young people...I call them young compared to the old gang that used to run the companies. They were raised with my music, and when they heard it they said, "Oh, we want to release it", yada yada... and I just got back from doing an incredible promotional tour throughout all of Miami and LA. They are just so excited. Since its release in September, it's gone from #49 on the Latin charts to #16. It's a best seller.



Fabulous! That's great!

-You know, this can open the door for me to do other things. I've been doing concerts. My whole thing is trying to present who I am, a Mexican American who had success in English, and thanks to that success, I was able to record the first all Spanish album. It turns out that when I came back from Mexico...they all asked, "Is she going to do a Spanish show or her English show?" It's been such a struggle. I want to do the show of who I am. I'm able to, thank God, draw all kinds of people to my concerts. It's the whole thing Are you an entertainer? Can you tell stories? Can you make people laugh? Do they feel it? Do they cry with you? (she chuckles) Now, at this stage of my career, my whole idea is I'm going to be who I am and have always been, not having to apologize for it.

You're a great singer. You've been a favorite of mine since high school. When I listen to beautiful music sung by a terrific singer, I don't care what language it's in. It's the music and who's singing it that count.

-The music is the universal language. I found out that when I was in a country where I didn't speak the language, if I could make eye contact with the people, and get a smile or smile at them, then I felt I had connected. When you go to see opera, not everybody has the boards like they do at the Met that can tell you what is transpiring. But you certainly do know when it's sad or it's funny, or it's tragic...it speaks for itself, and it's up to the person who is performing or singing to achieve the interpretation.

Is this the first album you have produced?

-I produced another one...do you remember Live at the Greek?

Of course!

-Well, that was my production. It was not my money, but...isn't that funny because what I'm wanting to do is to go back to the Greek and celebrate...how many years since I did that first one... and now be able to incorporate everything of what I am, with a big band. My dream is to do a tribute to Sinatra, my way. I don't mean that to be funny or anything, but how I would sing. That was the music I was raised with. I wasn't raised with rock and roll, it was big bands and the great Spanish sounds, the music of my father and my mother. That was my whole musical foundation.

Memorias, the tribute you did for PBS a few years ago with the music of the 40s and 50s was wonderful!

-Oh, thank you. About three years ago, I also did Fiesta Mexicana. I went to Mexico, and we showed some of the beautiful cities and the dances and the music. It was just exquisite, visually so beautiful, directed by Leo Eaton. Did you see that?

No, but I'll look for it on DVD. Getting back to Viva la Vida, thank you for the second CD with many of your all-time great Spanish hits.

-It was presented with different insight this time: what my feelings were and why I chose those songs. I told the record company how much I appreciate all the repackaging they keep doing, but I added, "Wouldn't it be nice to have some new material? I'll select the songs and write why they are so special to me." They liked the idea.

Tell me about the charities closest to your heart.

-The one I have been so identified with is my scholarship foundation that I started in California in 1971. I've been able to help over 350 young Mexican-American Hispanic students to continue with their education. I just got tired of all the negativity, and I had a wonderful PR lady/manager who got fed up with my complaining and said, "Look, if you don't like it, do something about it." I thought what the heck could I do? Then, God sent me that commercial for the National Dairy Association before there ever was the white moustache. This was in the west and north. They ran it for two years. The money that I earned went to the scholarships. I decided to help one student, and as I sat in bed reading these applications from families, some of them migrant families who had so many children but they saw to it that every single one of them got an education. One of the kids graduated with a 4.0 and wanted to be a criminologist. I cried and said "I've got to continue this." Since 1971, I've had an astronaut, the first Mexican-American astronaut Jose Hernandez, a superior court judge, doctors that have clinics, attorneys, I have people that are into fashion in New York...I've never had any biological children, but in a way, these have been my kids. We weren't and aren't the big foundation, but we care about the kids, do they have the clothes that they need and what they need besides that. That has been my baby. (she laughs) I have to tell you this. This album...I considered it like my baby and I've been telling people, "My God, it took years for this baby to come out, for heaven's sake"... It came out and said "Hi, mom. Hi, dad." and then went straight to school. When you really, really believe in something, you have to fight for it. I had to fight for "It Must Be Him", I had to fight for "With Pen in Hand", I fought for the first all Spanish album. It's kind of ironical that the things that I fought for have been some of my biggest successes. It's reconfirmed in me that you have to do what you believe in your heart, what you want to do, because nobody else can feel it. They are not you. It's better to go all out for it and say "I tried but it didn't happen" rather than complain and say, "Oh my gosh, I didn't to this and I didn't do that." We all fall into that trap.

Who are your favorite singers of all time? I know you've already mentioned Frank Sinatra.

-One of my all time favorites is Tony Bennett. I felt bad that I was never asked to do his Duets album. Others are Judy Garland, Kay Starr, Teresa Brewer, I mean this was the music that I was raised with.

Any from the new crop that you like?

-Adele, she has a great voice.

Like you, I prefer to listen mostly to the oldies but goodies.

-I need to hear a melody; I want to hear the voice. I get so bored with some of the stuff that we hear. I have grandchildren and they'll play this and say "C'mon, grandma. You can groove to this." And I'll say, "I don't think so."


I saw you in Follies about 10 years ago. Do you enjoy doing stage musicals?

-I love doing shows. In fact, my first one was South Pacific. It was incredible, and I also did The Unsinkable Molly Brown and I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road. I loved that, because I think what you do as a performer is you become that character, you're telling a story with your music. That's really what I try to do with all my music. It's amazing to me that all of these collections that are coming out from England, like EMI, have some of my greatest hits that were very big in Europe. Who knew? Son of a gun...

You have more passion in your voice than most singers!

-I'm glad because that's one of the things that my father always said,
"What you do in your life, do it with all your heart! The day that you can't do that, stop, because your audience will know." And they will. When you get that gut reaction, you know.


How do you feel about strides that Hispanics have made in show business?

-I would like the Latino to be accepted for themselves as talent and not have that stigma of being Latino. Like Ricardo Montalban playing a Japanese in the film Sayonara, he's an actor. I've done some stuff on television like on Baywatch, I was one of those babes (she laughs); no, I was the mother of a lifeguard. I've auditioned for roles and they always see me...I don't fit their caricature of what they think I should look like. Not all of us are olive-skinned. My mother was very, very light. I tried to stay out in the sun (she laughs) and all I got was skin cancer. So obviously I have to be happy with the color that I am.

Well, you're beautiful just the way you are, and we love you!

-Thank you so much, Don.

Vikki Carr is a warm, caring human being with a delightful sense of humor that translates into everything she does. Buy Viva la Vida and live her passion!
www.vikkicarr.net

Interview with Group rep's Julia Silverman and Liza de Weerd


Donald Margulies, winner of a Pulitzer for his Dinner With Friends, was also nominated for the same prestigious award for Collected Stories, a taut two-character drama about a complicated relationship between a renowned short story writer, Ruth Steiner, and Lisa Morrison, a talented graduate student she is mentoring.  The relationship deepens beyond mentor/pupil to best friend and confidant.   Several years pass and Lisa publishes her own work of fiction…or is it? 
Sherry Netherland directs actors Liza de Weerd and Julia Silverman in Collected Stories, opening Friday, October 12th at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in the NoHo Arts District. Silverman recently received critical praise for her role in Group rep's The Paris Letter and de Weerd for her role in Group rep's Wait Until Dark.

Both actresses, who are GRT veterans, recently sat down to discuss the play and its challenges.
julia silverman
liza de weerd

When did you first get involved with theater (acting)?

Julia:  My parents and grandparents have always gone to the theatre.  My grandparents would keep their playbills, and mark notes (Gertrude Lawrence - "wonderful as always").  I think it was in my early teens I started tip-toeing into the world of theatre. In high school, I was lucky to have had an amazing theatre teacher who set high artistic standards.  I was hooked.

Liza:  I'm one of those people who pretty much came out of the womb knowing what I wanted to do.  I’ve been involved in performing as long as I can remember.  I think I did my first play around age six.

 How do you know each other?

Liza:  We met two and a half years ago doing a play called A Shayna Maidel at ICT.  Julia played my mother and Larry Eisenberg, one of GRT's co-artistic directors, played my father. 
We all had a wonderful experience working together and were looking for something else to collaborate on.

What attracted you to this play; how did this project come about?
 
Julia:  This play has two great roles for women, and it is pretty rare to have such a wonderful role to play as an actress "matures”; so that was very attractive.  But also, the material is complex.  It's not just about how relationships shift and change between teacher/student, mentor/artist over time - but it's about ideas of art and ownership, that is to say, are all stories ever told collected from all other stories ever told or do we own our own stories?  I think it's exciting that the material is provocative.

Liza:  As Julia said, I am always drawn to plays with complex, challenging roles for women and this is the epitome of that.   It's just two characters, who each transform over a six-year period. Getting to play that many sides of a character in one play is really exciting.  That aside, the questions it raises are all topics that I hope will be debated on our audience members' car rides home.

We did a staged reading last year for the company (the Group Repertory in NoHo).  It was well received by them, so we were encouraged to move ahead with it as a full production.


What was the most challenging aspect of portraying your character?

Julia:  One of the challenges inherent in doing a two-hander, a two person play, is that, well, there are only two of you.  No pauses for rest or backstage blather or whatever, it's all on all the time.  There is a good amount of physical endurance in acting that isn't normally thought about, and it shouldn't be from the audience’s point of view.  But I'm reminded of a story Kevin Kline told of Meryl Streep while they were rehearsing Mother Courage in Central Park.  He said he would exhaustedly hail a cab after rehearsal to head home 6 blocks away.  She would hop on her bike to pedal home 6 miles south saying, "I have to build up my endurance!"  That's a bit what it's like. 

Liza:  Actors get asked, “How do you memorize all those lines?”  The question always makes me smile, because for an actor, although it is our first duty to honor the text and that certainly involves learning the lines verbatim, it has little to do with the actual character work that goes on when working on a play.  In this case, however, I suddenly understand why people ask that question!  The sheer volume of dialogue in this piece was daunting at first and definitely a challenge.  Lines must be learned backwards and forwards so an actor has the freedom to play and explore without worrying what comes next.  That process took longer this time than it normally does.  That and tracking the transformation of a character over six years makes this play a wonderful challenge.


What surprised you about your character, the play, or something that personally had an effect
on you?

Liza:  It is very even handed. What Donald Margulies has done so brilliantly is set up a conflict in which I truly believe both sides are justified and can be argued for.  I don't feel the play is weighted to favor one character or the other and that is an incredible achievement.

Julia:  I completely agree with what Liza said.  I can only add, I'm sure I will continue to be surprised by my character as we move into our run of the play.  This play delightfully lets you keep digging.

What's up next for you (career-wise)?

Julia:  What actor is ever sure about the next project?  Although I'll be on “Grey's Anatomy”  
Oct. 18th.  “General Hospital” the 15th or 16th of October.  But I'm looking forward to seeing what new theatre projects may come up. 


Liza:  Like Julia said, what actor knows?  I do have a few irons in the fire, so hopefully I'll have some exciting news soon!

-interviewed by guest interviewer Steve Peterson

The Group Rep’s production of Collected Stories runs October 12 - November 10.  Friday and Saturday at 8pmSunday at 2pm.  There will be Talk-back with the cast and director,  Sunday, October 21 after the show. Admission: $22; Seniors/Students: $17; Groups 10+: $15.  Ladies Night ½ Price Fridays.   Buy tix: www.thegrouprep.com or (818) 763-5990.



Thursday, September 13, 2012

Interview with Cortes Alexander

I first encountered actor/singer Cortes Alexander when he performed his show Swell - also the title of his solo CD - at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal in August. The man is a whirlwind of talent as a musician/singer. When I heard he was doing a play entitled Dangerous Corner at Crown City Theatre - opening September 27 - I immediately sought him out for an interview. In our chat he talks about the challenges of doing this play and his musical work, including how his group The Tonics skyrocketed to fame.

Tell me about Dangerous Corner.

Oh boy...well, it's a play that was written by J.B. Priestley in the early 30s in England. It's a murder mystery whodunit. Gary (Lamb, director) has updated it to the early 60s. The whole play revolves around my character, who, in the original production physically is never seen.

So you are written in.

He wrote me in. Now, I...I lurk.  I'm the one that is the catalyst for all the action in the play. I can't give away anything else.

How are rehearsals going?

Well. Gary, I have to say, is really talented. He really does know what he's doing. I've worked with a lot of different kinds of directors and seen a lot of different styles, and every day, I see a different thing that he does that is really smart. What he's done with my character is, he's musicalized it. So it's really fun. There are little snippets of music in there, I don't want to say too much, but...

Do you get a chance to sing?

...Maybe. (we laugh) The cast is wonderful, so talented. Matt Williamson plays my brother; he's fantastic. They're all great; it's fun to see how everyone works. Gary gets what he needs out of different actors. It's a hard role for me, though, I have to say, because there's no dialogue, there's a lot of blocking and you really have to pay attention to who's saying what to whom throughout the whole piece. I'm onstage almost the entire time. I've never done anything like this before. It's a challenge for me.

What other roles have you played?

I did a play some years ago with Robert Reed and Florence Henderson. It was his last play. Alone Together at La Mirada that Glen Casale directed. I played their youngest son going off to college. We got extended and were supposed to move to the Westwood Playhouse, but unfortunately Robert got sick, and that was the end of that.

I love Florence.

She's amazing. Gorgeous and smart. Raunchy and fun, in the best possible way.

Any real dramatic plays?

As a kid I did Equus and... Amadeus and was able to play my own piano in that. Now later in life, the music thing is rearing its ugly head, so I've been getting full opportunities to do more music stuff.

Was it your dream to be a musical star?

Not really. I saw myself as just a straight up actor, but I got into Juilliard when I was a kid. I took a left turn there...I was thirteen when I got in and I say it lasted about thirteen minutes because it was not the right place for me. I was born here in Los Angeles and my whole family moved to New York so that I could do this. It just wasn't the place for me at all; it took all the joy of music right out of me, but I went to a professional children's school.  A lot of kids were in the arts: actors, athletes, kids that couldn't attend school on a regular basis, so academics were arranged around your touring or whatever you had going on. A lot of kids were auditioning for Broadway shows, and I found myself playing and arranging songs for their auditions.
You studied piano, correct?

Of course, but I'm not the greatest piano player in the world, by any means. I do well enough so that I can play the parts for my show, and to my Swell girls I'll say "OK, you sing E flat, you sing the G!"
I play well enough. In my little tiny scope of skill, I'm very accomplished.

I loved Swell and your two girl backup singers.

Thank you. We're doing another one at the Federal, a Christmas show on December 12.

With a lot of original Christmas material?

We're working on a couple right now, and Kay Thompson has her Christmas song...how can I not do that? She wrote "Holiday Season". It's a lot of work for one gig, but I love it and the girls are game,so...

Who are the girls again?

Melissa Bailey and Julie Garnier. Wait til you hear Julie; she wasn't in the last show. Melissa I met in my first Broadway show Marilyn: an American Fable. I was playing piano for someone else's audition, we were leaving the studio at Midstock, New York. Just as I was about to close the door behind me, behind the table they said, "Excuse me, do you sing?" I didn't really think of myself as a singer, but I sang to show other people what to do. I said "Yeah". I looked at this piece of music. It was the only time in my life where my Juilliard training helped me, because I was able to sight read the music. I said (he laughs) "Can you put it in A flat?" They transposed it for me right there on the spot, and I sang it. This was a Friday and on Monday morning they called and asked "Are you available to start rehearsals tomorrow?"  Well, what do you know? How about that? That wasn't hard. Here's the thing that I just found out. Kenny Ortega's ( choreographer) assistant Greg Smith, who I hadn't seen since Fable, came to my show at the Federal in August and said to me, "You realize that we wrote that part for you", which I did not know. They said when they saw me, they wrote this role for me. What a nice thing to know!

Let's talk about how The Tonics got started.
What an incredible thing! I had a singing group in the early to mid-nineties called The Tonics. We started out here in LA at open mic every Tuesday night at the Rose Tattoo. I was just starting to sing on my own. It was very cliquish. There were the good people, the cool kids and then there were the novices. I definitely saw myself in that group. The cool group got to go up right away at open mic; the newbes had to wait until 11, 12 o'clock... when there are 2 or 3 people left in the audience. OK, I just wanted to see if I could get up and do it. I met Lindy Robbins, Gene Reed and Brian Lane Green. Gene had just come back from the road with Al Jarreau. Brian had just come back from New York after Starmites had closed. Lindy was sort of the resident diva of the place and asked me if I would sing backup for her. I did it; it was fun. When I saw what our blend (all four) was, I thought "Let me get my hands around this". Around the piano I said, "Hey guys, I have an idea of something that might be really cool". It was an arrangement of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from Oklahoma with "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" from My Fair Lady. I blocked it out for all of us and we made a couple of little adjustments, and we sang it. It stopped the show. Every week we did another one and each week it was huge. After six weeks, Brian got a soap opera job in New York that was a great break for him, so we planned one last show for LA. We did all six numbers that we had learned and tagged four solos and got oohs! and ahs!


We decided to go to New York, so off we went. We sang at a little club called 88s, downtown West Village cabaret at the time. On a Friday, it was packed with people. I was at the piano, we were sharing mics... and it was difficult. On "Beautiful Morning" the place fell to a hush, and the owner of the club ended up giving us a gig at 12: 30 on a Monday night for four weeks. We took it because we wanted to be able to say we did it and get it out of the gate. We started singing in the street, passing out fliers and going to every open mic in town trying to get people to come. We met Jason Robert Brown, and he became our musical director. Amazing! He became such an integral part of our development. Anyway, we sold out the place and on the fourth week, the owner came to us and offered us Friday nights at 8 pm. The Times, the Post and Daily News came and gave us half a paragraph in each paper, saying we were the next Manhattan Transfer. From that point we never looked back. Daisy Prince, Hal's daughter came the first night and said "I'll introduce you to everyone you need to know!"

What luck! You were in!

Yes. Billy Stritch came, Liza (Minnelli) came and it completely steamrolled. We sang at the Prince's annual Christmas party and didn't know what to expect. We were so undisciplined. We would get into fights onstage. We would tell jokes, insult each other. We were four friends talking. I've watched tapes and now know what people were responding to. Somehow we would go from these fights into this incredibly disciplined, detailed harmony, that we were all fussy about. At the Christmas party, we walked into this great townhouse and there's Stephen Sondheim, there's Liza, there's Carol Burnett, Linda Lavin. All these incredible people! We did our thing, and Steve (Sondheim) came up to me afterwards and said, "Look, if they're doing another one of those God forsaken benefits honoring me - they make me so anxious and nervous - we're trying to get a group in there. Would you guys be interested and available?" Wow! When we got the list of songs, they were all ballads. This is how self-serving we were. We made them all up tempo. That was the idea for "Good Thing Going" and "Company", which we ended up doing at Carnegie Hall the following summer. I stayed with the group for 4-5 years, and we had a great deal of success.
I know you became great friends with Liza. How did this germinate?

She came to all of our shows; we would go to her shows. We sat in the front row at Carnegie Hall. She said she wanted to put together a new vocal trio and call it the Cortes Alexander Trio. She asked me to pick two guys and told me we'd go all around the world and do our thing. She didn't want the guys from The Tonics; she wanted it fresh, brand new. I auditioned and got Clarke Thorell and Jonathan Dokuchitz, who were just out of Tommy, and we did it. We went out on the road with her and went all over the world. The tour was crazy. We played the Kremlin in Moscow and then on to Michigan State University, to Bloomingdale's in San Francisco and then to Paris. An incredible, wild time! When the tour ended, I came out here to California, and Liza and I stayed in touch on the phone and at Christmas and New Year's. And when I'd go to New York, we'd have lunch. Then five years ago, I bumped into her on the way from the dentist, literally in the street, at the time I was starting my record Swell. She asked what I was doing, I told her about the CD, and she told me she wanted to do Kay Thompson's show in her show and asked me to be a part of it. I knew a lot of the material, but was starting to do my own thing, so I had to think about it. But I ended up saying yes, just like doing this play. I haven't done a play in a while and it's better to say yes to stuff and see what happens. It sure beats waiting around for the next thing. Jump in and see what happens! That's how I got Liza's show and that went on for 4 years. We played in Uruguay and Belgium, all over the place and ended up winning a Tony Award on Broadway: Liza at the Palace.

What do you think is Liza's greatest attribute?

Her loyalty and her sense of humor. Those are two things that few people get to see. She's had the same group of people around her for 20 years. I've known her 21 years, and it's the same core people. Even though I could go months and months without seeing her, when we get together, it's as if we had seen each other last week. In August I was back stage at the Hollywood Bowl trimming her bangs and she was supposed to come with Billy Stritch to see my show at the Federal, but unfortunately that was the week that Marvin Hamlisch passed. By the way, when I was 16, Marvin came to my high school and spoke. He came up to me after I performed and said "If there's one person that I can think of that's going to put me out of business, it's you. If you love this, stick to it, and I promise you good things will come!" He was a very sweet man.

As is Cortes Alexander! He's nonstop talkative, confident yet humble and oh so super talented. See him in his musical show Have a Swell Christmas on December 12 at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal! And, with his mouth closed ...opening September 27 at Crown City Theatre in Dangerous Corner.

http://www.crowncitytheatre.com/

http://www.cortesalexander.com/

Interview with Steve Jarrard


Steve Jarrard is the Managing Director of Collaborative Artists Ensemble.  He has directed 7 of their 10 previous productions including Nicky Silver's The Food Chain, How I Learned to Drive, Eleemosynary, and Lucia Mad.   Some of his other directing credits include Civilization, Doubting Thomason, and Noel Coward’s Present Laughter at the Edgemar Center for the Arts. 
He is currently directing The Square Root of Wonderful, which is being revived from September 14-October 14 at the Raven Playhouse in NoHo.

How did you first get involved in theatre?

About a decade ago I was walking through the NOHO Arts Festival and, on a whim, signed up for an acting class. As luck would have it, the class was taught by Michael Holmes, who appeared in the original Broadway production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, who is an award-winning director, and who is a master acting coach. Turns out I could act a bit and was asked to join his company, The Action/Reaction Theatre Company. I fell in love with theatre then and have been involved in theatre ever since.

How did Collaborative Artists Ensemble come to be?

Meg Wallace has been making theatre all of her life and when she moved to Los Angeles, she wanted to keep making theatre. But she kept running into the lets-do-a-play-to-get-an-agent mentality. And she wanted to make theatre for theatre’s sake. So she and a few like-minded people started a company that would put on plays that are challenging to the actors and meaningful to an audience. A company where actors could be actors.

Member of the Wedding is the play that Carson McCullers is best known for. How did the rarely produced The Square Root of Wonderful come to your attention?

Meg is a big fan of Carson McCullers and was looking up Carson online when she came across the title. And the title, the beauty of it, grabbed her. She had to read anything titled The Square Root of Wonderful.

What drove you to choose this particular play for production?

When Meg and I read the play, we found it to be this beautiful mixture of funny and sad, of heartbreaking and heartwarming, of tragic and life affirming. We wanted to find out why this play that moved us so much was not well received in 1957. Digging into it, we felt that the mixing of tone along with the issues of suicide and spousal abuse, things that were not talked about in Eisenhower’s America, were the reasons. We also felt that those very things would resonate deeply with modern audiences. And the only way to find something out in the theatre is to do it. So we decided to give it a go.

You directed this play last spring and are now reviving it. What have you learned from having directed the play the first time around?

What I learned is that audiences today do respond to it; that they are moved by it. One person who saw it emailed us to say that she had to walk around NOHO for a half-hour before she could drive home. We also had High School students, who came as a class assignment, stay and talk to us after the show because they loved it so much.

What do you want your audiences to experience and come away with having seen the play?

We want them to experience the Joy and the Heartbreak that was Carson McCullers. We want them to come away wanting more of Carson McCullers, to discover, or rediscover her.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about The Square Root of Wonderful?

That this was her most personal work. Her life echoes loudly throughout this play. She wrote it in response to her husband’s suicide and her mother’s death. She poured her heart and soul, her life really, into this play. And when it didn’t do well on Broadway, it devastated her.

What is up next for Collaborative Artists Ensemble?

We have produced five plays a year for the past five years and next year we will do the same. We have several balls in the air at the moment and are trying to work out various things like rights, schedules, etc., for the spring and fall. One of the plays on our radar, that we’re very high on, is a musical version of They Shoot Horses Don’t They?

-guest interviewer Steve Peterson