…this particular song – it just gives me the chills every time I hear it. It’s the captivating melody, the serenity, the orchestration with the utterly human English horn and the etherial harp, and most of all, it’s the heart-wrenching dissonances. The music alone is enough to break your heart, but Friedrich Rückert’s poem takes it over the edge, and Mahler couldn’t have set it more perfectly.
Read More‘THE PALACE OF SANS SOUCI’ FROM THE MUSICAL OF THE HAPPY PRINCE WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY HAL CAZALET As a child I loved reading Oscar Wilde’s fairytales and The Happy Prince became embedded into my psyche. I have been adapting the story for the musical stage, and I hope you don’t think it too self indulgent […]
Read More“LOVE ME STILL” SUNG BY BETTYE LAVETTE WITH HERBIE HANCOCK AT CHAKA KHAN TRIBUTE IN 2011 (with original also attached) “Sometimes this life is a bitter pill…I love you now, do you love me still?” As I was passing London’s legendary Jazz venue Ronnie Scott’s the other night, I asked a man who was […]
Read MoreDUDLEY MOORE PERFORMS BRITTEN’S ‘LITTLE MISS MUFFET’ & ‘THE BALLAD OF GANGSTER JO’ BY WEILL/BRECHT INTRODUCED BY DR JONATHAN MILLER ‘Witty, genius, obscene, maverick, cuddly, unique’ are just some of words that are often used to describe my musical hero Dudley Moore. His career was tragically cut short by a long and brave struggle with […]
Read More‘DAYBREAK’ FROM THE MUSICAL FLOYD COLLINS BY ADAM GUETTEL I was at the first performance of the musical Floyd Collins at Playwrights Horizons, New York in 1996 and its haunting beauty has remained with me ever since. It was baffling to me how a man down a mine shaft with a leg trapped under a […]
Read MoreDAVID BOWIE SINGS ‘CHANGES’ I am so grateful to be sharing these songs with you this week. It’s an eclectic mix as my tastes have never been particularly grounded in one musical style. I grew up with Bowie’s music and loved it. It is extraordinary to think that throughout his career & even up to […]
Read MoreIn closing, I have to share a song from the show that changed my life – A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. It also seems fitting as we gear up for the Gilbert & Sullivan NYFOS Gala event on April 5th. GGL&M is a very G&S-style musical! This number was always my favorite to […]
Read MoreThe Light in the Piazza is one of my favorite musicals of all time and this song is one of my favorite pieces from that show. I find it incredibly heart-breaking. The whole show is really a meditation on love its various forms. This song is about what happens to love when it starts to change, […]
Read MoreGrowing up in Austin, TX – this was one of the first songs I learned to sing. Toni Price is a local Austin legend and never performs without a bottle of Jack on stage. This song typifies Austin-style Texas blues. I love the cheekiness of the lyrics and the easy country twang of her voice. […]
Read MoreGrace McLean is not only an amazing theater actress but also an inspiring singer-songwriter. I love the way she layers her voice in this song to achieve such a rich sound. I also am smitten with the slightly throwback vibe of her voice. The lyrics are fun and witty until you reach the end and […]
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