Blumenkrantz Videos

Special Episode #7: It's been so long since I've done one of these episodes that I omitted a word from my intro! (Did anyone catch it?) I'm thrilled to welcome back the incomparable Sutton Foster. Not just a ridiculous talent, but also one of the warmest, most generous people with whom I've had the privilege of collaborating. Sutton is currently giving a stellar performance as Princess Fiona in the musical Shrek, but only through January 24, 2010, so if you haven't seen her in it yet, get moving! With one Tony Award and three Tony nominations under her belt, she is one of Broadway's great leading ladies, infusing everything she does with her idiosyncratic charm, humor, and heart. Sutton is here to sing "My Heart Was Set on You," the song I wrote for her wonderful debut CD, Wish. A new activist, Sutton has been outspoken in her support of Marriage Equality and has sponsored a bus to take people to the National Equality March in Washington DC this weekend. Check out Sutton's video for the organization Broadway Impact. Coming soon is her eponymous website, a concert tour, and a teaching stint at NYU! Those lucky kids!! To see what kind of soup I served her from my Jeff and Martha cooking project (a la Julie and Julia), visit my blog! This episode was recorded on October 9, 2009.

Bonus Episode #6: 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." Recorded 5/16/06. 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!

Bonus Episode #5: 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. Recorded 5/5/06.

Bonus Episode #4: 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. Recorded 5/2/06. 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!

Bonus Episode #3: 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. Recorded 4/24/06. 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!)

Episode #10: 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? Recorded 2/12/06. 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, I'm Not Waiting, on Sh-K-Boom Records!

Episode #16: 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. Recorded 4/10/06. Keep an eye out for the cast recording of The Pajama Game (aka Harry on Broadway), as well as Kelli's solo recording debut!

Episode #15: 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. Recorded 4/2/06. 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."

Episode #14: 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. Recorded 3/14/06. 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!

Episode #13: 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. Recorded 3/14/06. 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!

Episode #12: 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. Recorded 3/5/06. 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.

Epidose #5: Look who came over this week! Victoria Clark, "the most talented person in the world," and this year's Tony winner for her spectacular performance in my favorite new show, The Light in the Piazza, dropped by to sing "I Won't Mind," lyrics by Annie Kessler and Libby Saines, music by me. Recorded 1/6/06. Don't miss Vicki's Lincoln Center American Songbook Series Concert on February 10th! She's a magnificent concert performer, plus there's a handful of Blumenkrantz songs on the program! (And some great Jane Kelly Williams songs too!) And if you haven't seen The Light in the Piazza yet, quit stalling and go! Vicki gives a must-see performance, the whole show is wonderful, and the score features the most ravishing music I've ever heard. In my life. Ever. The end.

Bonus Episode #1: 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!) Recorded 2/22/06.

Episode #11: 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. Recorded 2/14/06.

Episode #8: 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." Recorded 1/31/06. (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.

Episode #6: 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 inspired this song?) I wrote music and lyrics for this one. After the song, Judy and I chat about Bernarda Alba as well as Judy's mystery contribution to The Light in the Piazza. Recorded 1/12/06. I'm thrilled to report that Judy will be among the special guest stars appearing with me at Birdland on February 13th. In the meantime, check out Judy's tracks on these two recordings: Leonard Bernstein's New York and Hello Again. Amazing! Take a minute to browse Judy's impressive Amazon.com discography.

Episode #3: Jeff sings "Independence Day," the songbook's sole pop song. Recorded on 12/26/05. Also, listen for Jeff's celebrity pop singer impersonation.... Happy New Year! For more info about the songbook, check out: http://jeffblumenkrantz.com/songbook.htm

Episode #7: 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. Recorded 1/15/06. 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 #4: Hooray!! Another special guest star, this time the amazing Sally Wilfert (Assassins, Tom Sawyer, King David), who sings "I'm Free," from the one-act musical, Precious Little Jewel, with lyrics (and book) by Libby Saines and music by me. Recorded 12/29/05. Look for Sally in Rob Kapilow's upcoming What Makes It Great concerts in LA and Boston, as well as The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Concert live at Birdland in NYC on February 13th. For more info about Jeff, the songbook, and upcoming concerts, visit jeffblumenkrantz.com.

Episode #1: For this first installment, I somehow cajoled Broadway songbird, Rebecca Luker (The Music Man, Showboat, The Sound of Music, The Secret Garden), to sing "Love Is Not All," my setting of an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem. Recorded 12/5/05.