A Tribute to Jerry BOck

A TRIBUTE TO JERRY BOCK

When I heard the brilliant composer Jerry Bock had died last week, I made my own private listening memorial: I programmed a play list of his songs on my iPod -- “I Love A Cop,” “Politics and Poker,” “What Makes Me Love Him?” “Will He Like Me?” “Vanilla Ice Cream” and course the entire score to Fiddler. What joy he gave me, and I know he will continue to give me long into the future.

Fiddler was the first complete Vocal Score my parents bought me; I must have been about eight years old. I was so excited to have the entire score and not just the pathetic-published-for-the-non-professional-vocal-selections, I couldn’t possibly go to school the day the score arrived. I didn’t even have to fake my temperature by sticking the thermometer in the lamp. I was so emotionally overwrought, I ran a fever. I needed to play through the entire show, including I Just Heard, not learn long division.

With no personal stories to tell about Bock, I choose here instead to concentrate on his music; and not just on any song, but one of the great theater songs of all time, “If I Were a Rich Man.” Some may argue that a poor dairyman would never use the subjunctive tense, and it should be, wrong according to grammarians, but correct according to character: “If I Was A Rich Man,” like “If Mamma Was Married.” But I think it’s perfect the way it is, and I know the brilliant lyricist Sheldon Harnick could easily explain his choice.

On to the music, and what glorious music it is:

The melody, on the words “If I were a rich man,” outlines a falling fifth: the “if” down to a “man.” A fifth is the distance of five steps from a C to a G going up; to hear it your head, think of the opening statement of the Star Wars theme. That fifth goes up, but this fifth goes down. Instead of hurling towards outer space, this falling fifth bears the weight of the world, the falling world, the tired world of a dairyman as he sings.

Then comes the quasi-Hasidic Jewish riff, the Daidle-deedle section. Zero Mostel, and most subsequent Teveys, have had great fun playing around with this section, but what I find wonderful is that after the tired, world-weary falling fifth, the music starts to climb upwards. Slowly, cautiously, but ever upward to heaven. Yet, the journey is not a pleasant one. Just before the melody would reach its destination, it falls into a bluesy note called a seventh. That gives the whole melodic line its color, and because it’s only a seventh and not the eighth, which would be an octave and feel resolved, the listeners feels the yearning. Bernstein used that interval of a seventh to great success (as did Beethoven!) in the song “Somewhere.” That “a” in the lyric “There’s a place for us” is set on the seventh, the note of the blues, the note of pain.

A note about the accompaniment, or the harmony: the song starts out in a lilting Broadway “four” feel, everything major, sunny, just a poor dairyman dreaming his little dream. But then five bars in, instead of coming back to the jaunty major, Bock slips into a minor mode (“All day long I’d biddy-biddy-bum”). Everything about the harmony suggests we should simply return to the major mode, but no, this is where the master composer shines: he surprises us. It is, as Bernstein used to say, completely surprising and yet, completely inevitable.

But quick as you can say, “Sounds crazy, no?” we’re back to major, the second “A” section, the repeat of the tune with the lyric, “Wouldn’t have to work hard.” All sunny again. As if nothing just happened. But of course, at the end of the phrase, Bock slips back to the minor; but then the music instanteously “rights” itself and goes back to the major. Major, minor, major, minor. Unsettling to say the least. How strange the change from major to minor, indeed.

Now we arrive at the bridge, or the release; the part of the song that’s a contrasting part to the first statement of the song. Lo and behold, the minor mode wasn’t a little hiccup at all. This release section is about as minor as it gets. What I like even more about the harmony here is the melody. Tevye wants his dream so badly and sees it so clearly, there is virtually no movement in the melody at all! It’s as if he has parked himself firmly in the future and not even a Pogrom can pry him from his place. “Big tall house with rooms by the dozen” and “Right in the middle of the town,” are virtually only two pitches with some embellishments. That’s a far cry (and a sublime aural relief) from the falling fifth and the outlined seventh of the opening.

So, here we have this minor-sounding section and then he repeats it, three times. But the third time -- wait for it -- miracle of miracles, it’s in major! “I’d fill my yard with ducks and turkeys and geese, etc., is the same minor release turned on its head by being major. Is it because Tevye is taking his fantasy even further, this dream of wealth becoming more and more a reality in his mind and thus more and more major?

But no. At “squawking just as noisily as they can,” the song returns to minor and the first complete section of the song finishes in a minor mode.

Now two questions arise: can the lay audience hear this the first time, or even the 100th time they hear the song? Of course not. But it’s all there in the music and adds to the depth, the breadth and the genius of the piece, a reason why Bock’s music appeals to both the lay audience and the sophisticated listener. Question two: did Bock put all this in, or was it an unconscious accident? Answer: it doesn’t matter. It’s there, and as Freud said, “There are no accidents.” Although he probably wasn’t talking about Musical Theater.

The next part of the song proceeds as one might expect, a direct repeat of the two “A” sections and the release, but of course, with additional verses of brilliant Harnick lyrics. A bit of an aside about Broadway lyricists and style: I would say that in 90% of the operas written between 1600 and 1800, when the “song” style operas were in fashion, if there was a musical repeat of whole sections, and there often were, the lyric would also repeat. The melody would be ornamented but the same words would be sung, which led to a stagnant dramatic line, no matter how gorgeous the tune. It’s a particular Broadway invention to change the lyric the second time, thankfully, and move the plot forward to keep the audience interested even as the music repeats. (Another aside: I’ve worked with a few play directors who are attempting their first musicals. Every one of them insists upon trying to cut out second “A” sections of songs, even WITH a new lyric. It’s epidemic. Play directors can’t understand the value of the repeated chorus. As Yenta would say, “Oy!”)

On to my favorite part of the song:

We’ve heard two very complete sections. The song could end here. It would be fine as is, or maybe Bock could have added a coda. But nothing in the previous sections prepares the audience for what happens now.

Suddenly, the entire rhythm of the song breaks down. No more jaunty, Broadway lilting four, no more subtle playing with major, minor, or falling fifths. There’s a completely new section. It’s almost as if the music (and Tevye) is falling prostrate on the floor, begging God to listen.

This is an out-and-out operatic recitative in the middle of a Broadway “want” song. Only Tevye, with his relationship to God, could command this kind of music. And only a great composer like Bock could write it. First we get two measures of stentorian eight notes with a little trill added at the end, Tevye walking into the center of town holding court. Now, listen to the bass line after “fawn on me.” With every chord the bass line plummets another step, like Tevye’s power is filtering through every corner of his little shtetl. Another little Kelzmeric cadenza tops off this section. This writing is truly amazing, a combination of Mozart recitative and Richard Strauss harmonies.

Just when we’re exhausted from the ingenuity, and we figure we’re about to return to the beginning sections, there is another surprise. With “And it won’t make one bit of difference” we are not at the expected first bit of the song but smack-dab back in the release, the third section of the release at that, the major section. Surprising but inevitable. As Tevye sings about his great wish to sit in the “synagogue and pray,” the music is the gorgeous section of the release in the major mode.

What is next? Well, finally, we are back to home base, back to where we’ve started. The music returns to the opening statement, falling fifth and cantorial chant. In four minutes or so we’ve explored every aspect of Tevye’s character. And all through music. No wonder this song is such a joy for performer and audience alike.

Of course, given Bock’s brilliance, he has one more trick up his sleeve. Instead of ending the song, he takes the penultimate phrase of the song, “Lord, who made the lion and the lamb,” and repeats it. Three times. A final prayer, perhaps? A final nod to the minor mode? But this time, the minor is really hitting home because it’s so aggressively repetitive. The rhythm stops, the chords sustain, Tevye insists, cajoles, pleads. What’s next?

Why, a jaunty, Broadway refrain in major for the final note and ride-out. The major mode has triumphed, Tevye has had his apotheosis and we’re right back to where we started. But upon what a journey Mr. Bock and Mr. Harnick have taken us. Gratias.

Glen Roven, four-time Emmy Winner, recently had his show Pandora’s Box produced at NYMF. He will make his third appearance at Carnegie Hall this Spring accompanying Bass-Baritone Daniel Okulitch who is singing Roven’s classical music.

The Bunny and I in the Times

Spare Times: For Children
By LAUREL GRAEBER


THE PREMIERE OF ‘GOODNIGHT MOON,' WITH ‘THE RUNAWAY BUNNY'

A beloved bedtime story for generations of children, "Goodnight Moon" unfolds in "a great green room." So it seems fitting that the tale will come to life on Sunday in a place New Yorkers might consider the greatest, greenest room of all: Central Park.

The park is the setting for the premiere of Glen Roven's "Goodnight Moon, a Lullaby for Piano and Orchestra," his musical reimagining of Margaret Wise Brown's 1947 book in which everything from a tiny mouse to the distant stars receives its own affectionate evening farewell. The young musicians of the Interschool Symphony, the most advanced division of the InterSchool Orchestras of New York, will play the 10-minute piece, part of a Mother's Day concert also featuring "The Runaway Bunny: A Concerto for Reader, Violin and Orchestra," Mr. Roven's 20-minute interpretation of a 1942Brown book. (The program, lasting slightly over an hour, will include a "play-along" of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"; audience members are encouraged to bring their own instruments.)

Mr. Roven structured his pieces differently because " ‘Goodnight Moon' is really a direct narrative between a parent and a child," he said. "I really wanted the parent to sing the child to sleep." He conceived "The Runaway Bunny" as more like "Peter and the Wolf." "I thought I'd have the bunny's adventures musicalized," he said, choosing episodes in which the bunny announces its intentions to flee - as a fish, as a mountain rock, as a trapeze artist.

For "Goodnight Moon," "I set every word," he said, "all 300 of them," using his orchestral writing to mimic the tale's atmosphere. At the end, he said, "the house disappears, and the kid's kind of floating in the universe, talking to the clouds and the air."

The stories' allure has attracted adult luminaries: the soprano Lauren Flanigan, for whom "Goodnight Moon" was written, will sing it, and the actress Kate Mulgrew will read "The Runaway Bunny." The absent star is Brown herself (1910-52), whose brief life Mr. Roven will commemorate by releasing a live recording of the park performances on his new GPR record label on May 23, her 100th birthday. (Above, Adrian Benepe, the city parks commissioner, introducing last year's InterSchool concert.)

Those who miss "Goodnight Moon" in Central Park can hear it on May 19 under very different circumstances: Mark Stone will sing it in Carnegie Hall. "This has to be for daddies too," Mr. Roven said. "So I have a baritone version."

(Instrument "petting zoo" at 2:30 p.m.; concert at 3:30; the Bandshell, midpark at 70th Street, 212-410-0370, isorch.org; free.) LAUREL GRAEBER

AMAY-ZING MAY

This May could be the best month ever for me.

It's really kind of amazing, all these projects.

I'm writing this for myself.

A friend of mine said to remember all this next time I want to jump out the window. I told him, "It's your job to remind me. Ha!"

I think I have to say that May started on Friday at 9:30 AM with an interview with the NY Times about the RunBun and GOODNIGHT MOON concert in the Park. The writer really knew about the concert and my thoughts about the piece, etc. But it was the times. Amazing, actually. I thought for sure that the Times would do a piece on Poetic License. But I'm grateful for the Run Bun push.

Saturday was the Poly Prep auction. It took 30 years but I'm finally popular in High School.

Today was a rehearsal with Kate Mulgrew. She was wonderful. She was pleased that it was rather easy to learn. Naturally she knows and loves the book. Kate is booked on NBC Sunday and Lauren is booked on ABC Sunday. Wow. Kate's show wanted some B roll so we shot the rehearsal and after she left we edited a great minute piece. Then I made a scratch track for Lauren to rehearse to. Ray is out in LA making the Orch track.

Tomorrow I go down to Philly to do my Concert with Mark Stone. Very exciting. The program says THE PHILADELPHIA OPERA presents ... Nice again. This is our pre-Carnegie Show that we're using as a rehearsal. Our last rehearsal went well. I think it's finally coming.

I come back Wed PM to hear the ISO play the pieces for the first time. Sam told me i was going very well and he particularly liked the Goodnight Moon orchestration. Whew. I can't wait to hear it. I'm nervous! But everyone has said it's sounding good.


Thursday is a private presentation of POETIC LICENSE the Stage Version. I'm VERY excited. Joanna Gleason and Chris Sarandon as well as Donald Corren are doing it. What can I say. Hallie and Andrew are singing 10 Songs from the Underground. This actually could work!

Saturday the 8th is the Final Dress of RunBun GNM but we're going to be recording it. I hope we can get it nice and clean at rehearsal. Today, we also recorded Kate's lines very cleanly so if we need to re can lay in all her dialogue.

And SUNDAY is the CONCERT IN THE PARK. With all the Publicity, there could be a HUGE turnout! I hope so!

The next day we start at Sound Associates mixing and mastering. The art work is at the printers, it's available to be pre-ordered on AM. I hope to ship the masters to the printers on Tuesday. We can then have them on the 17th and available to be reviewed and played on the air. Max, who is doing an amazing job with Poetic License, thinks we'll do very well with this. He's also getting tons of air play for the sony cd on mother's day.

Then I can practice practice practice and get to Carnegie Hall on May 19th. That's another career highlight. All my own music at Carnegie. Amazing.

And 5 days later, we do a PANDORA reading. WE FINALLY GOT THE RIGHTS. Kirk Douglas is coming, George and Jolene are coming. Kerry and Cady are doing it as well as James Patrick.

So that's the month. Best month of my life career wise? Maybe.

The Bunny, the Moon and Me

Sadly, for space, I had to cut my own article from the liner notes of the new CD of Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Tant pis. Never mind, they will appear in the program for the concert. Hopefully other places. But here it is:

The Bunny, The Moon and Me

By Glen Roven


Sadly, I did not grow up with The Runaway Bunny or Goodnight Moon. I’m sure I’d be a happier, more well adjusted person now had I read Margaret Wise Brown’s masterpieces as a toddler—but then I might not have embraced these two books with the fervor I did, discovering them in my middle age.

The first time I heard of The Runaway Bunny was when I watched the movie Wit. In the film, Emma Thompson, a brilliant academician consumed with cancer, lies dying in her hospital bed when her kindly first-grade teacher pays her a visit. The teacher has brought The Runaway Bunny, and although Thompson is deep in a coma, the teacher nevertheless begins to read: “Once there was little bunny who wanted to run away.”

I listened. And I was hooked.

As a composer, I keep my ears poised, always alert to any inspiration, and it took about a second to realize that here was a story to investigate further. By the next day, I’d read the book—it only takes a couple of minutes, after all—and by the time the Mother Bunny offered her famous carrot, I knew I had my piece. In fact, the music was swirling through my mind even as I closed the cover.

I knew instantly that a violin soloist would portray the Bunny, with his violin-like impulse to “hop,” “jump,” “misbehave,” and certainly “run away.” I also knew that though I was intrigued by the notion of a female narrator, the primary adventures would be developed entirely in musical terms—so that, for example, when my bunny swims as a trout in the stream, it would be courtesy of the woodwinds and harp, as well as, of course, that solo violin. In this way, my notion of a simple composition for orchestra, voice and solo violin quickly evolved into one of music’s most noble and flexible forms: the violin concerto.

Undoubtedly the greatest pleasure I’ve gotten from this piece is having the children in the audience tell me what the Bunny is up to. For example, as the composer I was surprised to learn that in the Circus segment, the bunny rides in one of those cars packed with clowns and the bunny is the last out of the door. I find this a profound and moving observation. Even the most sophisticated computer cannot make the leap from a violin melody to envisioning a bunny in a car full of clowns. But kids do this as a matter of course! There is no greater reward for a composer: having an audience respond.

***

My selection of Goodnight Moon was more circuitous. After my first encounter with Margaret Wise Brown, I turned, of course, to her many other books. My violin concerto was already enjoying a bit of success; it was recorded by SONY and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Brooke Shields narrating, and for the American premiere at Carnegie Hall, I conducted, with Glenn Close providing the narration. Symphonies around the country were asking for a companion piece.

The obvious choice was Goodnight Moon. But there was a problem. I didn’t understand it. Here I was, an adult man, with no comprehension of a book every nursery child could recite from memory. I had no idea why it was so successful, nor why it spoke so passionately and deeply to children the world over, and in my desperation, I shared this with my sister, a new mother, who whispered in some embarrassment, “I don’t get it either.” (Clearly, she did not want such blasphemy to banish her from the 76th Street playground). Nevertheless, my nephew Myles loved it. Like every other pre-schooler, Myles demanded it be read each night like clockwork, and not only once; Goodnight Moon had to be read over and over and over until he fell blissfully asleep, dreaming, no doubt, of that bowl full of mush. Hush!

Still, I couldn’t write what I didn’t know, understand, or even like. So I read hundreds of other children’s books, hoping to find that same spark that had inspired my concerto. Nothing.

Because of my concerto, I met Leonard Marcus, who is not only one of the world’s great authorities on children’s literature (see his liner notes), but also the author of Awakened by the Moon, The Biography of Margaret Wise Brown. In that book he devotes over thirty pages to Goodnight Moon, a story of barely 300 words, placing the narrative in the context of the progressive Bank Street School where Ms. Brown trained as a teacher—and where the school’s youngest students formed her very first audience. It was this explanation that opened my eyes:

“Goodnight Moon is a here-and-now story, but one supercharged with emotion, with a freewheeling sense of the fantastic as an aspect of the everyday.”

After reading Leonard’s book, I got it. This was a book told from the point of view of a child: a child who discovers new things every day, a child who marvels at a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of a cow jumping over the moon. And it all takes place in the child’s own universe. Which happens to be a “Great Green Room.”

Finally I heard music in my head. I knew I could create that great green room in the orchestra: a magnificent comforting space where a child feels blissfully safe and warm. I would create the kittens, the mittens and the quiet old lady (who is pictorially, of course, the Mother Bunny). And I would create the explosive moment when the great green room bursts open and every grown or young listener wishes goodnight to the stars and goodnight to the air and goodnight to noises everywhere.

Among my many scores, songs and orchestral compositions, these are my two favorites, the pieces of which I am most proud. Just like the cow, I am over the moon to have the great Lauren Flanigan sing the world premiere of Goodnight Moon. I’m thrilled to have legendary Kate Mulgrew lend her husky contralto to the concerto and give voice to The Runaway Bunny. But most of all, I’m ecstatic to join the world’s community of children in appreciating—at last!—the great Margaret Wise Brown. Happy Birthday!

Dylan Thomas and Geraint Wyn Davies

GPR Records finished recording most of its second album: In My Craft or Sullen Art: Poems and Stories by Dylan Thomas Read by Geraint Wyn Davies.

He was magnificent. What a performer. And what poetry.
We recorded the album in about 6 hours.

The poetry is beautiful. Some of it incredibly dense. But Ger made beautiful sense out of it. One of the densest, Authors Prologue, while almost impossible to decipher on the page, reads like Mary Had a Little Lamb when Ger read it. So Lovely.

I can't wait to get two woman to read two poems. And then add some music. And then we'll release.

And another one bites the dust.

Great Press from Best American Poetry

March 31, 2010

So That's How it Should Sound!

Hearing trained actors read poetry is a great pleasure. Actors approach the poems as scripts, and understand how to deliver the lines so that even if they don't make logical sense, they sound beautiful. Listening to an actor read a beloved poem can be like encountering it for the first time. Hearing an unfamiliar poem read beautifully can make one want to find the poem on the page. For the CD Poetic License, Glen Roven enlisted 100 performers to read 100 poems. You'll find some glorious old chestnuts on the disc, and there are surprises, too. See if you can match the actor with his or her poem:

1. Michael Cerveris 1. New Yorkers, by Edward Field
2. Kathleen Turner 2. Love looks not with the eyes by Shakespeare
3. JoBeth Williams 3. Correspondence, by Ariel Dorfman
4. Christine Baranski 4. Tommy by Rudyard Kipling
5. Michael York 5. When I have fears that I may cease to be by Keats
6. Paige Davis 6. The Cinnamon Peeler by Michael Ondaatje

You can hear the correct pairings and more on Poetic License. Buy it here. Now.

Boston Globe Poetry Review

THEATER
Hot couple of the week
E-mail|Link|Comments (0)Posted by Louise Kennedy March 24, 2010 11:17 AM
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OK, I admit it: The first thing that hooked me on a forthcoming recording, "Poetic License: 100 Poems by 100 Performers," was the short list of said performers in the press release: "Patti LuPone, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tyne Daly, Christine Baranski, Jason Alexander, Charles Busch, Florence Henderson..." Just seeing Busch and Henderson in the same sentence made my day. But then I looked at the list of poems and got excited -- besides the usual suspects (Shakespeare, Auden, Donne) there's a Cavafy, a Pinsky, and Kathleen Turner reading Ariel Dorfman. The 3-CD set is due out April 2 (just in time for National Poetry Month) on Amazon and iTunes, but if you can't wait, here's Jason Alexander reading "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll, apparently with the help of a whole shelf of accent tapes.
01 THE WALRUS and the CARPENTER.m4a
And here's Kathleen herself waxing throatily poetic.
02 Kathleen Turner Interview.m4a
Oh, and Busch? He reads the brilliantly theatrical "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning. Perf

MAHLER Ruckert/Roven

And while I'm posting, My friend who runs Barihunk suggested I do
Kindertotenlieder.

So here it is. Again, anyone who wants the score, lemme know.

Songs on the
Death Of Children
By Friedrich Ruckert
Adapted and Translated into English by
Glen Roven

No. 1 TOO SOON THE SUN WILL RISE

Too soon, too soon the sun will rise
As if, As if nothing happened before my eyes.
The horror, This horror is mine alone.
No matter the sun will, will shine as it's always shone!
You must not let darkness of night confound you.
No. Let the heaven's light, let holy light surround you!
The sweet life of ours is dead and done.
Son! Daughter! Let heaven's light out shine the sun,
Let your light out shine the sun.

No. 2 OH, NOW I KNOW

Oh, now I know, just why your eyes are burning,
Just why there's heaven's fire in your glances.
Such fire. Such fire.
And with each glance my frail heart dances,
Although I know you will not be returning.
Because the mist of midnight has been churning,
My eyes did not see how your light advances,
Did not see how your precious light advances
To home, to home.
Eternal souls are always yearning.
Oh, how I wish my pain was somehow lightened.
But now I find myself resigning.
Though when I think of you my heart is brightened
For our souls are somehow now combining.
So when at night you're all alone and frightened
Look up, And see.
My eyes are stars and shining.









No. 3 WHEN I’M HOME AT LAST

When I'm home at last,
When the hours have passed,
I don't see your mother.
I look for another
Hiding 'neath the stairs,
There! Behind the chairs.
Where you should be playing.
Be there. Be there! Hear me praying.
Oh, gone without a trace.
Nothing can replace
All the joy,
The blessed joy of your embrace,
Nothing can erase my dear sweet daughter's face.
When I'm home at night I can see the light
Of our candles glowing,
Ev'ry second knowing
You'll run up to me,
Happily I see Your sweet love over flowing.
Oh, you. Oh, you; my sweet endearing, disappearing so soon. I cannot say farewell.
I cannot speak from hell.


No.4 I KNOW THEY’RE OUTSIDE

I know they're
Outside and only playing.
I wish I could hear what my children are saying.
The day is fine.
Oh, bless my soul.
I'm sure there right there behind that knoll.
And if I see them slightly straying.
Why worry? Soon they'll be back from their playing.
Oh, bless my soul.
The day is fine.
They're going for a stroll,
These hearts of mine.
And if we cannot see them playing
We’ll call them back home and they'll come obeying.
And if they run off
Well, that's just fine.
The sun is warm.
Oh, see it shine
For Hearts of mine.

No. 5 THE WINDS ARE HOWLING

The winds are howling.
The rain beats down.
And I didn't realize
My children could drown.
The waters were rising.
The bridges were down.
Why was it so surprising?!
The rivers plowing
Right through the town.
And I could not realize
Our children could drown.
Their father could not protect them.
How could this monster neglect them?
The mud is flowing.
The river's brown.
And I didn't realize
My children could drown.
And then from my self-delusion
Comes this horrific confusion.
The winds are howling.
The rain beats down.
And I didn't realize
My children could drown.
Oh, can't you just hear them crying?
My children scream as they're dying.
The storm is through.
Yes, the rain's died down.
There's peace in town.
I know, I know
My children will have their just reward.
My children have come home to their mother's house
And now they are home,
They're home and with their righteous Lord.
At home with our Lord.

SCHUBERT and Muller/Roven

People who know me know i have this passion for serious music translated into English.
Of course, only translations by...well... me! OR at least someone good.

So here's the latest:

Wintereisse Or The Winter Journey

Translated and adapted into English by me.

Anyone who wants a score, just ask.

Trust me, the audiences will ENJOY hearing it in English. (ask David Poutney!)

G

The Winter Journey

Poems by Wilhelm Muller
Adapted and translated into English by
Glen Roven

BOOK ONE


1. GOOD BYE

I came here as a stranger
And now I realize
I’ll leave here as a stranger
Although I've known your sighs.

I've heard you whisper songs of love
With love-light in your eyes.
But now I know those songs of love
Were cold, embroid'red lies.

And so, I walk this winter road,
The moon to make me wise.
She makes me walk this winter road
Beneath her frozen skies.

I'm on this bitter journey
In silence, on my own.
I make this bitter journey
Too often all alone.

The snow white trees surround me.
The winds begin to moan.
The silences confound me;
The ice begins to groan.

I did not chose this sorry road
Although I've always known
I'm bound to walk this sorry road.
From stone to stone to stone.

Why should I want to stay here
With people whom I know
Despised me for I've stayed here?
And so, I chose to go,



To go and find a greater love,
And bask in her warm glow.
I'll find myself a greater love,
A sweeter love and so

I walk in to this starless night
And come upon a doe
Who's also in this starless night
But dancing in the snow.

It's silent as I steal away.
Sweet heaven knows I'm right
To hurry past and steal away
And leave this cheerless sight.

I'll think of you forever,
My glorious delight.
I'll think of you forever
But walk into the white.

I won't disturb your dreaming.
I'll try with all my might
To not disturb your dreaming
By whispering good night.

Good night, by love, Good night.

II. THE WEATHER VANE

The West wind keeps the weather-vane spinning.
The East wind blows it round again.
How could I’ve known in the beginning
The wind loves mocking foolish men.

I’m sorry it took me so long to discover
My woman was fickle as the breeze.
She wants me; she doesn’t. Oh why is she like
The wind that’s blowing in the trees?

The weather-vanes spinning high above me
While my lover’s warm inside.
I see know she never will love me
For she’ll become a rich man’s bride.



The winds grow cold and as they’re blowing
Hear how they sing but cut like a knife.
With ev’ryone around you’s knowing
This fool, your fool will soon be going.
You will be a rich man’s wife.


III. ICE UPON MY FACE

When ice upon my face
All too suddenly appears
Somehow at once I realize
The ice is from my tears.

I'm crying.
See me crying.
I wish to God I knew
That all my tears, my teardrops
Would freeze like morning dew.

Because my tears come from my heart
Which burns with pure desire,
I thought my tears could melt the snow
And set the world on fire.


The ice upon my face makes me
Feel so cold inside.
Your heart is ice
And now I know
You've frozen the tears I've cried.

IV. Numbness

I search the fields in vain for
Her footprints in the snow.
I'm looking for the road that we
Walked not days ago.

And when the freezing rain
Forms a frozen path, I know
I'll never find that road
We walked not so long ago.



I want to kiss the ground
Where the flowers used to grow.
And have my burning tears
Melt the frozen wasteland, The earth below.

There's not a blade of grass now
Throughout the countryside.
There's not a trace of green here.
The flowers all have died.

I've nothing to remind me
Of what I had with her,
I can't seem to remember.
Oh, did it all occur?

My memories are frozen
And in my heart they'll stay.
But if my frozen heart thaws
I fear her mem'ry will melt away.

My memories are frozen
And in my heart they'll stay.
But if my frozen heart thaws I fear
Her face will melt a way,
Will melt away.




V. THE LINDEN
You see beside your garden
There stands a Linden tree.
I've dreamed there in its shadows.
Its shade protecting me.

I carved into the tree trunk
My poetry for you,
Just like a foolish schoolboy,
So young, without a clue.

But now, I have to pass it
And in the dead of night,
I close my eyes in sorrow
To shield it from my sight.


The rustling of the branches
Seemed calling out to me,
"Stay here beneath my branches.
Find peace beneath the tree."

The winter air was bitter.
The night was cold and black.
The wind then blew my hat off
But I could not look back.

And I'm far from the Linden
I think I always knew
The peace found 'neath the Linden
Was peace I'd share with you.

I still can hear the rustling
It tells me what I knew
The peace found 'neath the Linden was
Peace I'd share with you.
A peace I'd share with you.

VI. FLOODING
See my tears and see how they're dropping,
Raining, staining virgin snow.
Crying for hours on end without stopping.
See how my tears melt ice below.
See them burn the ice below.

When the earth begins it's warming,
When the snow begins to melt,
When the ice has ceased from forming
I'll still feel the pain I felt.
I'll still feel the pain I felt.

See the snow's becoming a river.
Tell me river where you flow?
Can I hope that you will deliver
All my tears to where ever go?
Take my tears where ever you go.


See the river's tossing, churning,
Racing quickly, white with foam.
When my tears in the river start burning,
That's when the river's reached my sweet love's home.
That's when the river's reached my lover's home.




VII. ON THE RIVER
River, you rushed and thundered,
With many tales to tell.
But now you’re calm and silent
And never said, "Farewell."

Oh, river you seem lifeless,
Disguised with frosted ice.
Your thunder's turned to stillness.
You offer no advice.

And on your icy surface
My lover's name I write.
I carve the day and hour
And celebrate the night,

The night of our first meeting.
The day I went away
Is also carved beneath it
And there the two will stay.

My heart is in this river.
Its image down below
And underneath the ice
Does a torrent also flow?
Oh, I know it does. I know.
In my heart, I know it’s so.




VIII. LOOKING BACK
I feel my soles’ consumed by fire
Although there's snow beneath my feet.
Still I won't rest until each spire
Has faded and my trek's complete.

I trip and stumble as I'm racing
Away from this abhorrent town.
The crows themselves seem to be chasing
Me, throwing ice to knock me down.

Not long ago the town was singing
A very diff'rnt song for me.
The steeple bells seemed to be ringing
For us alone. While ev'ry tree

Was blooming for our very pleasure.
The Lindens sweetened ev'ry field.
But then you blinked, my precious treasure.
I knew at once my fate was sealed.

And now I try not to remember.
I try not to remember when
She wanted me. Now, in December.
I pray to see her once again.

Oh, yes I try not to remember
I'd stand outside her door and when
I think about us last September,
I wish that I were there again.

And when I think about September.
I pray I could be there again.
I pray I could be there again.


IX. APPARITION
Now I know some apparition's
Led me to this grievous spot.
Beaten down into submission,
I'm so tired; it matter's not.

I've been cursed with endless travel.
Ev'ry road leads towards one goal,
Where my joys and pain unravel.
Where a ghost controls my soul.

Now, I'm crippled with emotion
As I walk, I'm still your slave.
Ev'ry river finds its ocean.
E'vry sorrow finds a grave.






X. REST
I feel at once how tired I am
And all because I'm stopping.
Till now, I didn't give a damn.
My heart kept me from dropping.

My poor feet didn't need a rest.
My mind has kept me walking,
Though winds were beating at my breast
And cold kept me from talking.

I find my shelter in a shack
And still my back is aching.
Christ, see how both my feet are black
And both my hands are shaking.

My heart has also braved the storm.
It chose the road I'm taking.
And only now, inside and warm I
t feels the pain of breaking.


XI. THE DREAM OF SPRINGTIME
I dreamt of the perfumed flowers
That covered the meadows in May.
I dreamt that the snow white song-birds were
Singing their love songs all day,

But then when I awakened
All beauty disappeared.
Just freezing winds embraced me
While roosters and screech-owls sneered.

But there, outside your window,
I swear I saw flowers grow.
Yes, right there by your window,
Grew lilies. I know. I know.
Go on laugh at the man who saw
Lilies bloom in the snow.


I dreamt of a love who loved me,
An angel from above.
My soul-mate, my companion,
Who'll want to return my love.

But now the rooster's crowing
And all at once it seems
I'm left here now with nothing
Except my pathetic dreams.

I fear I have to dream
If I ever hope to see
The flowers that bloom in winter,
Or hearts so young and free.
Oh, do I have to be dreaming to know
That you still will love me?

XII. Loneliness

See how a snow white cloud floats
So calmly through the sky
And feel the temp'rate breeze
As it gently passes by.

Now, see the way I travel,
So bitter, wracked with pain.
Despite, the world's great pleasures
This ache beats on my brain.

Although the skies are calm now
And storms have been assuaged.
I've never felt so wretched
As if the storms still, the storms still raged.

Entertainment Weekly

Great piece about us today in EW (as it's called in the trades!)

It's honestly, exactly what I wanted to happen with the CD. A crossover!

EW Exclusive: Poetry reading by Cynthia Nixon and Catherine Zeta-Jones
by Thom Geier
Categories: Audiobooks, Celebrity, Poetry, Sex and the City
Image Credit: Bill Davila/Startraksphoto.com; Andy Fossum/StartrWho said poetry readings had to be stuffy, unglamorous affairs? Scores of celebrities, including Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon (pictured, far left) and Catherine Zeta-Jones, are creating their own verse-case scenarios. On April 2, GPR Records will release Poetic License, a three-CD set that features 100 poems performed by 100 famous names. (The disc will be available on Amazon and iTunes.) Each star picked a favorite poem to read on the spoken-word compilation, which is arriving just in time for National Poetry Month. Selections include Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter” (Jason Alexander), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Day Is Done” (Florence Henderson), Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” (Kate Mulgrew), and Edward Field’s “New Yorkers” (veteran TLC host Paige Davis).
EW is pleased to share two advance tracks from Poetic License. First, it’s Cynthia Nixon reading A.A. Milne’s “Vespers,” the first work the author wrote featuring his son, Christopher Robin. (Milne went on to write a book of children’s poetry, When We Were Very Young, that included a verse about a then-unnamed teddy bear who “however hard he tries grows tubby without exercise.”) You can easily imagine Nixon reading “Vespers” at bed-side to her own children.

Cynthia Nixon reading “Vespers”
In our second audio clip from Poetic License, Catherine Zeta-Jones reads William Wordsworth’s springtime classic “Daffodils.” She intones the poem in classic fashion, with more of a trained stage voice (the actress is now appearing on Broadway, after all, in A Little Night Music) than the Welsh lilt of her childhood.

Catherine Zeta-Jones reading “Daffodils”

lots of great press today:

Glen Roven, Peter Fitzgerald, and Richard Cohen are pleased to announce the formation of a new CD label, GPR Records, (www.GPRRecords.com) which will record and distribute Broadway, classical, spoken word, and children's music. GPR aims to surprise listeners with recordings that are both unusual and entertaining.

GPR Records' first release will be "Poetic License" featuring 100 poems read by 100 performers of the stage and screen. The CD will be released on April 2nd in celebration of National Poetry Month and will be available on Amazon.com and on itunes. There has never been a spoken word recording that has included so many performers reading such a wide variety of poetry, each selection a personal choice of the performer. GPR Records is presenting this collection in hopes of inspiring audiences with a new appreciation of the spoken word.

"I love poetry. I love reading it. I love memorizing it. I love hearing great actors recite it," said GPR Records artistic director Glen Roven. "In the past, I have had the audacity to set poetry to music. But, on this CD, the only music you will find is the music of the poems. Poetry unadorned. Great poetry needs nothing but a great actor with a voice as eloquent and expressive as the poem itself to lift the poem off the page and into the heart."

"It is very exciting to begin this new CD label with such a great group of people," said GPR Records CEO Peter Fitzgerald. "Our goal is to record new material, standards, and old favorites while giving audiences exposure to some amazing up-and-coming artists."

Chief financial officer Richard Cohen added, "We created GPR Records to add something special to the landscape. It is important for us to push boundaries with these unique compilations."

The list of poems and performers on "Poetic License" is as follows:


1. Jason Alexander (Robinson: Richard Cory)
2. Glen Seven Allen (Shakespeare: Sonnet 131)
3. Nancy Anderson (Blake: Mary)
4. Linda Balgord (Strand: Eating Poetry)
5. Christine Baranski (Shakespeare: How Happy Some)
6. James Barbour (Kipling: If)
7. Brent Barrett (Shakespeare: Sonnet 29 When In Distress)
8. John Belhamm (Shakespeare: Hang My Poems)
9. Reed Birney (Blanding: Some Lines Scrawled on a Door of a Vagabond's House)
10. Charles Busch (Browning: My Last Duchess)
11. Danny Burstein (Hayden: Those Winter Sundays)
12. Zoe Caldwell (Caldwell: On Behalf of Trees)
13. Ann Hampton Calloway (Rilke Sonnet 3 from Orpheus)
14. Alan Campbell (Lux: A Little Tooth)
15. Douglas Carpenter (Whitman: To What You Said)
16. Len Cariou (Shakespeare: Ye Elves)
17. Donna Lynne Champlin (Cadell: The Job Interview)
18. Philip Casnoff (Thomas: Fern Hill)
19. Michael Cerveris (Ondaatje: The Cinnamon Peeler)
20. Chuck Cooper (TBA)
21. Donald Corren (Poe: Annabel Lee)
22. Veanne Cox (Milton: Paradise Lost)
23. Tyne Daly (Auden: But I Can't))
24. Daniel Davis (Cavafy: Waiting for the Barbarians)
25. Paige Davis (Field: New Yorker)
26. Ed Dixon (co Producer) (Frost: Bearer of Evil Tidings
27. Mike Doyle (S.L. Johnson) Lovers on a Park Bench
28. Melissa Errico: (Kenyon: Otherwise)
29. Francesca Faridany (Rukeyser: Myth)
30. Barbara Feldon (Atwood: I Would Like to Watch You Sleeping)
31. Lauren Flanigan (Weinstein: Grosz)
32. Peter Friedman (Levertov: Psalm Concerning the Castle)
33. Penny Fuller (Lawrence: Terra Incognita)
34. David Garrison (Frost: Road Less Traveled)
35. Joanna Gleason (Neruda: Sonnet XVII)
36. Amanda Green (Carroll: You Are Old Father Williams)
37. Harriet Harris (Spice: Any Fool Can Get Into an Ocean)
38. RoxAnne Hart (Moore: Poetry)
39. Florence Henderson (Longfellow: The Day is Done)
40. Edward Hibbert (Bentjamin)
41. George S. Irving (Fearing: Elegy in a Theatrical Warehouse)
42. Dana Ivey (Henley: Invictus)
43. Beth Howland (Parker: Sympton Recital)
44. Moises Kauffman (Williams: Life Stories)
45. Cady Huffman (Taylor Mali: A Dog Named Bodhidsattva)
46. Byron Jennings (Yeats: When You Are Old and Grey)
47. Judy Kaye (cummings: I thank God for this...)
48. Lauren Kennedy (Stevens: The House was Quiet...)
49. Charles Kimbrough (Browning: Meet At Night)
50. Marc Kudisch (Frost: Fire and Ice)
51. Claire Lautier (Donne: A Valediction...)
52. Judith Light (Stoher: Soft Knife)
53. Patti LuPone (TBA)
54. Rebecaa Luker (Rosetti: Remember)
55. Ramona Mallory (Silverstein: The Nap-taker)
56. Jeff McCarthy (Collins: Conversion)
57. Carolyn McCormick (Millay: Dirge Without Music)
58. Roberta Maxwell (Stevie Smith: Not Waving But Drowning)
59. Kate Mulgrew (Dickinson: I Could Not Stop for Death)
60. Tom McGowan (Lawrence: Afternoon in School)
61. Keith McDermott (Yeats: Second Coming
62. Michael Minarek (Ammons: Beautiful Woman)
63. Julia Murney (TBA)
64. Cynthia Nixon (Milne: Vespers)
65. Diedre O'Connell (Harrison: Barking)
66. Cieran O'Reilly (Yeats: Cloths of Heaven)
67. Nancy Opel (Clampitt: The Sun Underfoot Among...)
68. Daniel Okulitch (Hoaglund: Self Improvement)
69. Patrick Page (Shakespeare: Our Revels)
70. Peter Paige (Anne Sexton)
71. Guy Paul (Marvell: To His Coy Mistress)
72. Michele Pawk (Karr: Last Love)
73. Dean Pitchford (Parker: Song of a Hopeful Heart)
74. Alice Playten (Kushner: An Undoing World)
75. Sam Robards (Bunan: Die While You're Alive)
76. John Rubinstein (Coleridge: Ancient Mariner)
77. Michael Rupert Ginsberg: A Supermarket in CA)
78. Chris Sarandon (Tennyson: Ulysses)
79. Lynn Sherr (Rich: Heroines)
80. Paul Schoeffler (Owens: Dulce et Decorum Est)
81. Matthew Schechter (Silverstein: The Poem Tester))
82. Emily Skinner (Millay: Love is not All)
83. Douglas Sills (Monette: Context)
84. Carole Shelley (Wordsworth: Composed Upon Westminster)
85. Bobby Steggart (Naruda: If You Forget Me)
86. James Patrick Stewart (Pinsky: Doctor Frolic)
87. Richard Thomas (Hopkins: Spring and Fall)
88. Maria Tucci (Yeats: A Prayer for My Daughter)
89. Kathleen Turner (Dorfman: Correspondence)
90. Harriet Walter (Hardy: The Walk)
91. Tony Walton (Cook: Blue Football)
92. Brenda Wehle (Hirshfield: Lake and Maple)
93. Chandler Williams (O'Hara: To The Harbour Master)
94. JoBeth Williams (Keats: When I have fears)
95. Geraint Wyn Davies (Thomas: In My Craft or Sullen...)
96. Michael York (Kipling: Tommy)
97. Chip Zien (Longfellow: Mezzo Cammin)
98. Catherine Zeta-Jones
99. Louis Zorich (Tennyson: Crossing the Bar)
100. Alan Campbell (Lux: A Little Tooth)
101. Gregory Jbara (Shakespeare: Bottom's Dream)
102. Michael Learned (Millay: An Ancient Gesture)
103. Paul Provenza (Justice: Men at Forty)


"Poetic License" will be released on April 2nd and will be available on Amazon.com and itunes.

Future recordings for GPR Records include:

GOODNIGHT MOON / RUNAWAY BUNNY
· This will be a live recording of a MOTHER'S CONCERT in Central Park and will feature The InterSchool Orchestra Performing Live.

· These are two highly acclaimed new concert pieces for children written by GPR Artistic Director Glen Roven.

· Margaret Wise Brown wrote the original books for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny which have been in print for 60 years and annually sell more than 2 million copies.

· The concert celebrates Ms. Brown's 100th Birthday.

· Stars will be announced to Narrate and Sing. For more information, visit: runawaybunnyconcerto.com


Daniel Okulitch
· Classical album for Baritone Daniel Okulitch (recently Don Giovanni at New York City Opera)

· The album will be a celebration of the new American art songs.

· Composers include: Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie and Lowell Leiberman.


THE GREAT NEW YORK PIANISTS: New York State of Mind
· The great pianists of New York City doing what they do best.

· Featuring Dick Hyman, Lee Musiker, Robbie Kandor and many others.

· Never before heard compilation of pianists on the same CD for the first time.

BIOS

Peter Fitzgerald Founding partner in GPR Records, a new recording company devoted to classic and unexpected works. Peter is a noted Broadway sound designer represented currently by, Looped and All About Me. A prolific designer including last season's: Will Farrell's Your Welcome America, Blithe Spirit, Speed the Plow, and such past designs as: New York Philharmonic's production of My Fair Lady, in 2006 and Camelot in 2007. Billy Joel's Movin' Out, La Cage Aux Folles, Victor/Victoria with Julie Andrews, City of Angels, Gypsy, Falsettos, Paul Simon's The Capeman, The Will Rogers Follies, Swing, Minnelli on Minnelli with Liza, Dream, Threepenny Opera with Sting, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas to name a few. Noted plays: The Odd Couple, M. Butterfly, Stones in His Pockets, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and A Thousand Clowns. Peter is President and co-owner of Sound Associates, Inc a premier provider of sound and video systems to the theater and business community with locations is New York, Yonkers, and Atlanta. He was instrumental in developing the recording studio at the New York location, home of GPR Records. Peter and his wife, Maritza, are the proud parents of daughters Lori and Mallori.

Glen Roven, a four-time Emmy winner, recently conducted his Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall and will accompany Baritone Mark Stone this season at Carnegie when Stone performs a full evening of Roven's music. He has conducted The Israel Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Munich Philharmonic, The Radio Luxembourg Orchestra, The American Symphony, as well as many others. He has produced for Julie Andrews, Kathleen Battle, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Aretha Franklin, Kenny G., Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Quincy Jones, Kermit the Frog, Patti LaBelle, Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross to name a few. Career highlights include conducting the original Broadway production of Sugar Babies, conducting four Presidential Inaugurations, conducting Frank Sinatra's last television appearance and Sammy Davis Jr,'s last televised appearance. Next season sees the debut of his Broadway musical, Dr. Seuss's The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

Richard Cohen has over forty years in technical theater, film and television. He has worked for the Metropolitan Opera and on Broadway, from Company in 1970 to Smokey Joe's Cafe in 2000. His film credits include, among others "Billy Bathgate" and "The Thomas Crown Affair." He has also done commercials for every brand of detergent on the market. His television credits include soaps, news, and variety shows. Outside the biz, he has developed real estate in New Jersey. Richards daughter Alison is pursuing a career in the fine arts in Boston

For More Information, Visit: www.GPRRecords.com

Liner Notes by Jane Hirshfield

Jane Hirshfield wrote these beautiful liner notes, I just had to post!

This poem’s lake and maple, its quicksand and egret, all still exist, or their descendents do, going through the same motions of eternity and subtraction, of surface breaking and quick disappearance, of one existence moving into another. It’s a bit like the child’s game of “scissors, paper, rock.” Maple drinks lake, lake becomes maple, leaves fall and feed fish, fish are eaten by egret, moonlight adds its weightlessness to them all, rain comes and leaves, then returns. Consuming and consumed, vanishing and returning, are what we are made of, and of all our loves and longings, as well. This poem signs on for longing – for the human grief of human longing, and for the enlarging longing that calls us into the lake a 14th c. Indian mystic once sang of, limitlessly large. Transparence restores beauty. Inclusion restores beauty. And when those consolations cannot be found or felt, there’s still the beak of the egret touching the water, and the water’s answering shiver. There’s still Lal Ded’s human-voiced singing, if not her lake.
Poems live in people, one by one, as powerful secrets do. They pass between us in silence and on the voice – yet even read in silence, they are meant to be heard. A written poem is a score that wants to awaken inside the instrument of a single human life—right now, yours. Poems are, for me, the deepest voice we hear, one whose overtones and undertones hold the music of full existence. It’s good to think that this poem and its 99 companions are traveling here between larynx, breath, and ear, each becoming an audible secret.

“Lake and Maple” comes from upstate New York, where I still go often, but I’ve lived for 35 years now in the San Francisco Bay Area, writing poems and essays, travelling to teach and give readings, talking with as many kinds of people as I can—biologists, animal psychologists, geomorphologists, physicists, carpenters, artists, farmers, practitioners of all the many forms of awareness. Every one of them, it seems to me, is trying as best they can to save this world.

The last big day Feb 22

All good things have to come to an end and sadly our recording is almost over. Just two or three late ones coming in and we're done with the taping part. But now comes some fun for us: we get to mix everything and master it all and HEAR IT ALL AGAIN! So I'm really looking forward to that!

Here's my last long-day recount:

The day started with a bang. The great Tyne Daly come in (thanks to David Garrison who also named the CD--Gratias!) and set the room on fire. At 9:30!! Wow. Turns out she's a real poetry maven; in fact she's on the board of the Edna St. Vincent Milley Organization. She read a beautiful Auden poem called But I Can't. But she could! Indeed!

Next in came Edward Hibbert (thanks to Harriet Harris.) He read a divine poem by one of Britain's most famous poets, John Betjemin. Sun and Fun is a short story of a poem all about a Proprietress of a sleazy bar who is dining and remembering the good old days. Edward was hysterically funny and remarkably poignant all at the same time. I'm thrilled he read that poem and is on the album.

We had a rights problem with a poem that Nancy Anderson chose to read so Nancy kindly offered to come in and re-record a public domain piece. I asked her to investigate some William Blake as he is not represented on the album. She didn't really respond to the ones I suggested, so I thought she'd pick something else. Then when she came in she said she found a Blake that she really loved called Mary. What a great poem. I didn't know it. It's all about a beautiful girl in town who gets ostracized for BEING beautiful. The perfect Blake on this album. Of course, Nancy knocked it out of the park. Wonderful.

Thanks to George S. Irving, we were introduced to Louis Zorich and he did Passing The Bar. Those of you who know Lou can just imagine the power he brought to that piece. Those of you who don't, well you only have 38 days to wait!!!!

The day finished up with a special surprise visitor from the UK, Harriet Walker! Guy Paul suggested her and we've been trying to fit her in during her few days in NYC. Well, her plane was delayed and she came in to read before going to the airport! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I suggested a few poets to her, poets that weren't yet represented and when she said that Thomas Hardy was her "local" poet, naturally I jumped. She read two gorgeous poems that he wrote about his wife after she had died. In the interview, she told about how Hardy was not very kind to his wife during her lifetime, but after she passed, the poetry about her flowed and flowed.
Now I have the unhappy task of trying to pick one of the two.

Peter Fitzgerald (the P in GPR) and the head of Sound Associates came to do some work and mixing for us in between Dame Edna rehearsals. Yesterday, Dame Edna taped the pre-show Cell phone announcement but decided she didn't want to do it. But she wrote out a speech. Guess who got to do it? Me! I'm back on Broadway! Must be all the good poetry Karma.

So, that's the latest.

Hopefully GPRRecords.com will be up tonight.

Hopefully people will be able to pre-order the CD on Amazon tomorrow.

Hopefully Peter, Richard, Megan and I will be able to master the album in time.

Very soon, I'm going to send out a blanket e-mail asking for a Head shot and a bio of 100 or so words for the web site.

But for now,

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!

the first email I sent regarding poetry

Dear Old Friends and New,

I'm thrilled you're interested in participating in this poetry CD and giving so generously of your time. I think it will be a very elegant CD as well as a blast to record.

For those of you who aren’t quite sure what we’re doing (and I’ve seen some people in the street who are saying to me, “Now what exactly are we recording??”), here’s the simple description: I’ve just been made head of a new record label; the first CD we’re putting out is a poetry record. I’ve approached all my colleagues and colleagues of my colleagues to read a poem (their favorite?) for this CD celebration poetry. Simple as that! The title is 100 Poems/100 Performers.
Ed Dixon, Donna Lynne Champlin and Scott Mauro are co-producers on this and have obviously been in touch with their comrades.

The business: I've attached a formal release. First, let me apologize in advance for the legalize in the release. It's just that with SOOOO many participants, we had to be very clear up front. (Oh, those lawyers.)



All favored nations. We'd like to shoot video of the sessions for B roll and publicity. If you want to participate in that, great. If not, not a problem at all. We understand. (Check the NO box.)

NOW FOR THE FUN:

Start picking the poems. I really want "official" poems, if you know what I mean. Not song lyrics that sound like poetry, or a pretty bit of prose that reads like a poem. The masters would be great: Shakespeare, Shelley, Keats, Kipling, Auden, Whitman, Frost, Thomas, etc. etc. Modern guys like Wallace Stevens, Williams, Derek Walcott, Maya Angelou. Sonnets, Verse, Blank Verse, There are thousands. If you'd like me to suggest, I would be happy to pick a few that I think would be good for the individuals.

I'd like to start recording in December!!!! We want to release this on April 1, 2010 for National Poetry Month.

Here's how I'd like to schedule the recording. I can offer blocks of time at the studio. You tell me what works with you and then we can officially book you into that time slot. (We can also record in LA for my LA pals.)

I know there will be questions. Please feel free to e-mail me or call me directly and I will answer everything.

Again, thanks for the participation. I think this will be a great tribute to the Broadway Community and a project to be really proud of. For generations to come.

Yours,

Glen

Feb 18, Back from LA

I just spent four hours in LA. Was it worth it? Two words: Hell, yeah!

I got up at 4AM, was on the plane at 6, in LAX at 9 and at the studio at 10. Whew.

But this was a wonderful, poetic day.

First in was a great pal, Jason Alexander. We've done tons of stuff together and always have a great time working together. I love him! We kept circling on what to do. Jason loved a few but I had to tell him they were already done. (He really wanted to do ULYSSES and COY MISTRESS but Chris Sarandon and Guy Paul beat him to it!) Just Wednesday night we hit on THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER. And boy was that the right choice. He came in with all the voices down and then after nailing it two times said, I think I want to change the voices and came up with MORE! What a tour de force. Amazing!!!!

Next in were another set of old friends, Beth Howland and Charles Kimbrough. (I adore having my old theater pals make it so huge in TV!) But of course Beth and Charlie will always mean COMPANY to me! (And tons of other fans.) Beth knew she wanted to do Dorothy Parker right away and you've never heard a more wonderfully vulnerable performance of LOVE SONG. Charlie's poet of choice, who shall remain nameless, has an agent who is being way to difficult, so we moved on to Browning's MEETING AT NIGHT. You can "feel" him galloping on a horse, racing to the house of his beloved. Fantastic.

This section of old friends was capped off with our National Treasure, Greg Jbara. I'm so thrilled about his Tony this year. And his speech is etched in my conscience. (I haven't counted the Tony Winners on this CD but there are TONS. And Oscar winners, Emmy Winners, Obie Winner, and just WINNERS.)
He and I knew what he was going to do from the very beginning: BOTTOM'S DREAM. Greg is and always will be the definitive Bottom for me. And he didn't disappoint. Wait until you hear it. He said to me, "Can I do my dream Bottom?" What do you think I said? So we have Greg's Dream Bottom's Dream. Or something like that. I was busy listening to the recording but my pals in the studio said, "You gotta see this." He was performing Bottom full out for the session. So I asked if we could video him doing it again. He said yes and now we have his performance on tape! Wow!

An aside: This group--plus Patti LuPone--, being friends, was the first group I asked to be on this CD. I figured if they were interested, I might have something. Needless to say, they all responded immediately and said yes. I was encouraged to move forward. So this was a very special morning for me and SO WORTH THE TRIP TO LA.

Next in were a bunch of new friends. Peter Paige, who I so loved in Queer As Folk came in doing Ann Sexton's, TO A FRIEND WHO'S WORK HAS COME TO TRIUMPH. And Peter came to Triumph with that performance. He also knew what poet he wanted to do right away so I had to ask him about that on the interview. I won't give away what he said, but it's terrific! I love that all these great actors are all so classical trained and we can talk about the great Shakespeare parts they've performed. I guess I'm still naive but when I see an actor so deeply committed to a character, I think of them as that character. Dumb me! But Peter has a LONG history with the classics! That was clear from his beautiful performance of the Sexton. (An aside for my INTO THE WOOD fans: there wouldn't have been INTO THE WOODS without Sexton!)

Another great friend, James Patrick Stewart was next. I showed him Robert Pinsky's Doctor Frolic. He loved it and agreed to perform it. He was perfect. James is one of the funniest actors I know --quick story: we were doing a reading of a musical I wrote with a big star as the lead. The nameless big star, during one of their scenes together, looked over to James and said, er...er...can you...er...BE LESS FUNNY! James's sense of irony and his unerring comic timing really brought Doctor Frolic off the page. Boy can he act!

Another new friends was the lovely Michael Learned. Ed Dixon set that up. I called Ed the night before and told him I was going to LA and in my best Max Bialystock voice I said, "Who do ya got in LA, Ed?" He said he could ask Michael. I said, YES! Well, Ed called me right back and said Michael agreed instantaneously and the rest is history. Boy was she great. She also knew what she was going to do right away, MILLAY'S An Ancient Gesture. It was sensational. One take and done. SOOOO BEAUTIFUL. I'm thrilled Millay is so represented on this CD. I feel she's fallen out of favor in the last few decades and I know with these performances, she's going to once again be a favorite. Thanks Ed! Thanks Michael!

The last reader of the day was Paul Provenza. Another late booking. I met Paul for 5 seconds at my friend Joan's birthday. I am a huge fan, so it was fun to meet him. And I loved, like everyone, The Aristocrats. So I asked Joan to ask him and yet another actor replied within seconds, YES.
I sent him a few to chose from and he chose Justice's Men at Forty. I knew he would. He read it beautifully. He brought such a deep pathos to it, without sounding heavy, that I was in tears. An aside about Paul and Jason: When I was interviewing Jason earlier, he said Doing Poetry was rather like the film Aristocrats where you can ask 100 actors to do the same poem and you'll get 100 completely different performances. I told him Paul was coming in later. We both smiled. So it was meant to be. I also love the sense of universality Paul brings to our cast. We have stage actors, opera performers, a news caster, people at the beginning of their careers, legends, icons, etc and now one of my favorite stand-ups! Talk about a mix!

So then, with the tapes in hand, I got back on the plane and was in bed by 1 AM.

THANKS AGAIN.

One more day in the studio, one trip to Chicago and we are done!!!

More to come.

Lots of love.


G

PS. I just heard Dame Edna is going to do a poem! Is the Poetry World ready for that. HELL YEAH!

If it's Monday... (poetry February 1, 2010)

...we must be in the studio recording Poetry.

And a lovely day it was.

Today's first reader was Sam Robards who brought in the shortest poem we have. A mere four lines! But what lines. So size doesn't matter. Seriously, Sam brought more intensity to those four lines than I thought humanly possible. Well done!

My great friend Marc Kudisch came in next. Mark is really in Philadelphia doing Terrance McNally's new play but came in to do this. THANKS MARC. The last time I saw Marc he was in his PJ's doing his hysterical show called, "The Holiday Guys." If you didn't see it, check it out next year. Of course, everyone knows Marc is one of the greatest singers on Broadway, but today he was waxing poetic with Frost's seminal, Fire and Ice. it was chilling. No pun intended.

A new friend, the magnificent Judith Light, came in next. She's a new friend, but of course I've been a fan for years from TV. Who knew she was such a poetry expert. She chose to do Soft Knife by a poet friend of hers, Jonathan Stoler, and we're glad she did. It's a great poem. I look forward in sharing it with everyone on the CD.

Bobby Steggert came next and knocked us out with Naruda's If You Forget Me. It was a deep, heartfelt gorgeous performance. Wonderful.

Another new friend, Romona Mallory had us in stitches with her version of Naps by Shel Silverstein. I saw Ramona in Night Music a few weeks ago and she so knocked me out that I thought I had to get in touch with her and see if she'd read for us. Dreams come true and there she was. Lovely!

TV Icon Barbara Feldon, another major poetry person, graced the studio with her elegant presence. I didn't know Barbara but when I started spreading the word about this project, many people said, "You have to get in touch with Barbara Feldon." And so we did. And boy are we glad. She picked a very personal and sensitive poem by Margaret Atwood. I didn't know Ms. Atwood was a poet. But I'm glad I know it now.

Alice Playten, one of my oldest and dearest friends in NYC, had a wonderful poem. She performed an unpublished poem by Tony Kushner. It was everything one might expect from such a distinguished writer. Complex, surprising, warm, sensitive and GORGEOUS. And what can I say about Alice: she's a national treasure. I'm so glad she came in and read. And I'm so glad she picked that piece. And when she asked Tony for permission, he quickly granted it and said he was thrilled that we were doing it. Are people involved with this project great or what?

Tony Walton brought the project to Melissa Errico and Ciarin O'Reilly. It seemed like a second after they received Tony's e-mail, they e-mailed me to accept. Wow again. In fact Tony is directing Melissa in the Irish Rep's production of Candida where Ciarin is Artistic Director. We're talking about doing a recording of this production. Go GPR Records.

Back to poetry, Melissa read Otherwise by Jane Kenyon. I'm continually amazed at the contemporary poets people are bringing in. I'm thrilled that the audience for this CD will be exposed to all these poets and I'm thrilled that these poets will have some more exposure. Melissa nailed it in two takes. So beautiful.

And talking about beautiful: Ciarin reading Yeats. As you know, just about everyone picked their favorite poem, or one of their favorites. As the album is nearing it's completion, I realized that MY favorite poem was missing. (And God knows I wasn't going to read it with my nasal, Jewish Whine.) But when Tony suggested Ciarin, I thought, Oh wouldn't it be great if he could read Yeats' Cloths of Heaven. He accepted and I WAS in heaven. Of course, as he said, it's many people's favorite poem. He did not disappoint. What music he brought to it. What power. One of my favorites!!!! Thanks.

We ended with another Shel Silverstein delivered by young 9 year old Matthew Schechter. Matthew is one of my favorite kid performers currently starring in Mary Poppins. Before that he was in Waiting for Godot with Nathan Lane. Not bad, huh? Well, he's amazing. Boy can he act. The poem was great. And he's a spectacular singer. Thanks for coming!!!!
So that's today's blog.

More tomorrow.

As always,

THANK YOU!

Poetry 2 February

Please welcome Zoe Caldwell to our group! Thanks to Roberta Maxwell!

Today's update:

It couldn't have started better. Moises Kaufmann came in to read! Moises came in through Donna Lynne Champlin's recommendation and I am really thrilled that he wanted to participate. I love the fact that in addition to "traditional" theatrical performers we have Tony Walton, Newscaster Lynn Sherr and from the opera world Lauren Flanigan (more later) and Michael Okulitch. And now we have Moises. Wow!

Moises read a Tennessee Williams poem. I knew he wrote a bit of poetry but Moises told me about more aobout it. And, LIFE STORIES, which he read, is a gem. With possibly the greatest last line of any poem on the CD. And that's saying something. (Well, maybe ONE of the greatest last lines.) It was a great joy to hear him read and his melodic accent only added to the piece. This was great!

The great Harriet Harris came in and read an amazing Jack Spicer poem. I'm thrilled to have another "beat" poem on the CD. Harriet brought unparalleled depth to this poem. And then on the interview told about a meeting between her mother and Alan Ginsberg. Wonderful.

THEN WE HAD A SCHEDULING GLITCH! The first one and I can't believe it happened. Those of you who know me well, know I'm close with Patti LuPone. In fact Patti was the first person I asked to be on this record. AND WE DIDN'T HEAR HER RING THE BELL! I can't believe it. Patti was in town for the day and we screwed it up! CRAP! The only screw up and it was with one of my oldest pals. NEVER MIND.
Patti is going on tour and I'm going to Chicago to get her on this CD. Can you believe it?!

But then we were back on schedule.

The great opera star, Lauren Flanigan came in next and it was a thrill. First of all, I'm such a fan. More importantly, she read a sensational poet by the late Arnold Weinstein. Lauren worked a great deal with Arnold; I knew him as well. She did Arnold proud. And I believe Arnold was right there in the room with us.
Lauren and GPR Records are talking about doing some CDs together. I can't wait.

Then we had another musical moment: Ann Hampton Calloway came in and was dazzling. Of course! She read a beautiful sonnet by Rilke, from his Orpheus sonnets. Hearing Ann recite about Art and Singing and Music was...well...music. So moving. And then in the interview, Ann improvised a song setting of the poem. AND WE GOT IT ON TAPE! I'm afraid she's going to win the most original interview award! If we had one!

We closed the day with Richard Thomas reading one of my favorites: Hopkins' Spring and Fall. Richard had an amazing affinity with this poem and boy did it show. I have to admit Hopkins is sometimes difficult. Richard soared through the poem and made it as accessible as any poem on the CD.

So, that's the update. We're mixing and mastering. It's going well.

No recording tomorrow. More on Wednesday.

Thanks for reading!!!

G

P

Poetry Thursday 4 February

Dear All,

Today was the last big recording day marathon.

In the last two weeks we've recorded over 60 poems! Not bad, huh?

Here's today:

We started with a new friend, Diedra O'Connell. Reed Birney roped almost the whole cast of his play at Playwrights Horizons to be part of this project. Thanks so much, Reed. Deidra read a beautiful poem by Jim Harrison, Barking. Only about 15 lines, but what a poem and what a performance. I guess size doesn't matter. (Have I used that line already? I've forgotten.)

Another new friend, Chandler Williams came in doing when of my favorite poets, Frank O'Hara. Try as I might, I couldn't get any interest in recording O'Hara's Fire Island, a poem I dearly love. But Chandler read my other favorite by FO'H, The Harbour Master. Chandler brought such warmth and passion to the reading I know O'Hara would be happy. Beautiful. Thank you Frankie for introducing us.

Next a dear old friend, Cynthia Nixon, came by to perform. I've known Cynthia since we both were 16 or 17. And while the world knows her as Miranda, she will always be Lydie Breeze to me, a play I wrote the music for that Louis Malle directed. One of my favorite experiences. And I also remember Cynthia as Juliet. Anyway, Cynthia offered us two poems and we got to chose. Hard choice. First was the famous Mending Wall by Robert Frost. I always thought that poem was hard to get into, but Cynthia opened the verbal door as wide as possible and I understood and enjoyed the poem more than I ever had. And then she did a Vespers by AA Milnes. So sweet. I don't know which to pick! But I love problems like that!

Another great friend, Douglas Sills did a Paul Monette poem. I had a lovely conversation with Judith Light about her relationship with Monette and I was thrilled that Douglas picked that poem. He gave a very, very moving interview about how he knew the person the poem was dedicated to.
Douglas gave a herculean performance. It's a rather long poem about writing poetry and what it means to be a poet, but Douglas made every word count in such a magnificent way. I was honored to have him in.

The last person of the day was Carole Shelley. She's not on e-mail, so I can gush a bit and she won't get embarrassed. I love her. I've always loved her. She knocks me off my feet. There. I've said it. What a classy lady; what an actress. She wanted to read a poem by Shelley for obvious reason. So I, in my exuberance, suggested my favorite Shelley, Composed Upon Westminster Bridge. She loves the poem as well, But gently pointed out it was Wordsworth not Shelley. Mr. Poetry-Mavin Producer was put RIGHT in his place! No matter. We recorded that poem. I've set this poem to music. I now wish I heard Carole's performance before I set it because she revealed nuances of the poem that I never heard. But at least, she can share the right way to perform it with the world!

Well, now that the marathons are over, I will concentrate on the Web Site, the bios, the liner notes, etc. etc.

Once we have the site up, I'll be asking all of you to submit to us a jpeg picture and a 100 Word Bio. Start thinking about that now and I'll tell you where to send it and when we need it.

I'll still send notes when I have info I want to share.

Especially about the drop party. (That's the record term for opening night party!)

It's been an honor to work with you all.

Thanks to my old friends and my new ones.

This has been the most wonderful project I have ever worked on.

Gratias.

99-100 February 9, 2010

We're just filling in now with the last few and talk about filling in!

Today started with the amazing Maria Tucci who came to us via Chandler Williams! THANKS! Maria did such a sensitive and delicate reading of Yeats's A Prayer for My Daughter. TUrns out (via the interivew) Maria used to recite that to her ouwn daughter. Not surprising that she gave such an honest performance. I'm also please to say Yeats, one of my all time favorites is now the second most represented poet on the CD. After the Bard.

And speaking of the Bard. The one and only...the elegant...the gorgeous...here she is boys, here she is world... Christine Baranksi came in and did the famous Helena speech from Midsummer Night's Dream. I have to admit I rather suggested this to her out of a selfish reason: her performance as Helena in the park was the greatest Helena I had ever seen. I was thrilled when she told me it was one of her happiest experiences. The perfermance today exceeded all expectations. In fact we have three completely different versions of Helena on tape. Brilliant. And the interview. She talked all about her classical training and the roles she played. I can't wait for people across America who only know her from lighter roles, see this interview. Fantastic.

The day closed (it was short, as a mentioned, just fitting people in) with my dear friend Florence Henderson. I wrote Florence's one woman show for her and I also am the MD when she performs so I know FH really well. We tried to pick the poem together, the perfect poem for her, but it was my pal Alex in San Francisco who came up with the great choice: Longellow's The Day is Done. It turns out, Greg and Mike Brady performed that poem on THE BRADY BUNCH!!! In a school show, with comical results. I honestly don't remember that episode, but Florence's performance was anything but comical. It was a deep, heartfelt, honest reading of a gorgeous poem. A great way to end the day.

One more day in NYC, one day in LA and then we are in the can. (Oh, and Patti in Chicago!)

Press release is done. Onwards

Thursday, Jan, 28 Poetry Blog

Here's to another great start:

Two of my oldest friends and most favorite performers began the day: Jeff McCarthy and Michael Rupert.

Jeff did a Billy Collins poem, Conversions. One of the most interesting things about this experience is seeing how many actors love contemporary poetry. Billy Collins has been the most requested poet but I only thought I could use one. So Jeff got it! And what a beautiful, sensitive performance. Jeff brought out all the complexities and subtleties in this seemingly simple poem.

Michael came in and NAILED Ginsberg's Supermarket in California. I've known Michael since I was a rehearsal pianist for Pippin. This was a spectacular performance. When I asked him about his connection to Ginsberg, he said he was writing a piece about San Francisco during the beat period and he had been reading and listening to Ginsberg. If the new piece is anything like the reading we're in for a treat.

Next came Lynn Sherr who has had a distinguished career as a newscaster. Lynn couldn't decide on her poem until this morning but she chose well! Now we have an Adrianne Rich poem about Suffragettes called Heroines. I'm so glad she performed this. We have lots of women in love poems, women hurting poems, women thinking poems, but this is a great political diatribe, and yet still deeply emotional. Another great performance.

Ed Dixon, our co-producer, who contacted so many of you, finally got a chance to perform. His version of Frost's Bearer of Evil Tidings was spot on. He handled the verse and the rhythms so beautifully I know Robert F would be proud. And I loved his interview when he talked about Frost being the first poet he ever knew. Many thanks to Ed for introducing you to GPR Records and this CD. We couldn't have done it without Ed!!

The gorgeous, brilliant and legendary Dana Ivey was next with one of my favorite poems, Invictus. Honestly, I knew this would be sensational but I had no idea HOW sensational it would be. Her performance was masterful. She did it 4 times, each one better than then next! How will we chose which take to use? Maybe we'll just use all four. And Dana also was so kind with her friends. She introduced us to so many people. Who introduced us to more. And now we're almost at 100! GRATIAS.

Amanda Green came next. I've know Amanda for a long time. Since I was 16! I was thrilled she picked Lewis Carroll's You Are Old Father Williams. I'm so glad that's on the CD. Amanda had us in stitches. A truly hysterical and at the same time, a whole original reading. A little side note: we had just finished the interview and had stopped rolling tape when Amanda casually mentioned her father used to recite this to her when she was young. I screamed at Richard, "ROLL THE TAPE AGAIN!" and asked Amanda to tell that story on tape. At the end, I asked her to imitate how her father sounded reading that poem. And she did. And it was wonderful!

Linda Balgord, a new friend but a great friend of Ed's, read after our lunch. She took a suggestion of mine and read one of my favorites, Mark Strand's Eating Poetry. It turns out it was the perfect choice with a perfect performance. Wait till you hear her read, "Ink drips from my lips/I have been eating poetry. Delicious.

Another old dear friend, Chip Zien brought in Longfellow's Mezzo Cammin. This is a devastating poem that I always thought was sad and depressing. But no. Chip made me discover it was actually life affirming and beautifully contemplative. I loved it.

Another husband and wife team closed the day: Danny Burstein and Rebecca Luker. I'd never met Rebecca before although of course I've seen her on stage many times. We both we kind of surprised we had never met. But no matter. Now we have. Over poetry. Danny read first and he performed Hayden's Those Winter's Nights. I suggested this poem to Danny and he said, "That's amazing. Someone gave me that poem and I had it framed and in my dressing room for two years at Drowsy Chaperone. Talk about synergy. Well, of course, Danny was brilliant as always. The perfect dad reads the perfect poem about fatherhood.

Rebecca seemed a bit nervous at first before she read with Rosetti's Remember. I don't know why because even her sound check was amazing! She read it with such an inner beauty that our studio started glowing. It was a glorious way to end a glorious day and an amazing week.

Thank you all for everything.

And welcome Cynthia Nixon to our group.

I will do you proud with the mixing, mastering, and marketing.

We had our press agent, Keith Sherman, come afterwards and he is overflowing with ideas. We also had Max Horowitz there who is in charge of getting radio play for the CD. Both guys are confident this CD will get lots of attention.

Next blog on Monday!

Wednesday Poetry Blog Jan 27, 2010

I think I would like every day of my life to start with Len Cariou reading Shakespeare! Talk about a day borrowed from Heaven. Len made the Bard proud with his reading of Prospero's famous I'll burn my book speech. Also Len has agreed to be Lear in our Shakespeare's Kings CD. Wow.

A new friend, Chuck Cooper, and his beautifully resonant basso profundo voice brought us all (well us three) to our feet with his rendition of Maya Angelou's Still I Rise. Boy, did we ever.

We had a morning of Sweeny Todds today. MIchael Ceveris introduced me to Michael Ondaatje's The Cinnamon Peeler. The performance was as sweet and as tasty as the title implies.

Frankie Faridany, or rather, the divine Frankie Faridany, read Rukeyser's Myth, I poem I urge all of you to seek out. Frankie was simply astonishing.

Nancy Anderson who is an dear old friend came and brought us to tears with Marge Piercy's To Have Without Holding. We loved her interview where she talk about how the poem was an inspiration to her years ago and how she recently picked it up again, and surprise, that was her life philosophy.

(If you're still reading, I have to interrupt myself with a little editorial comment: doesn't this sound amazing?!!! The talent coming in is lighting up Broadway!)

Daniel Davis came in with a worldly wise version of Ithaka. Perfect. But then he he mentioned he had another Cafafy prepared and I said why not give it a go? He then knocked our socks off with Waiting for the Barbarians. I was originally sold on Ithaka but when I heard Barbarian and Danny portraying the multitudes of Ancient Rome I knew that was the way to go. So Barbarians it is. And also, a special thank you to DD for being so generous with his friends and inviting them to perform on the CD.

Byron Jennings, a new friend, read one of my all time favorite Yeats poems, When You Are Old and Grey. Quite honestly, I spent days setting it to music (World premier this May 19th at Carnegie Hall) but I sadly realized when you have a performer like Byron reading so sensitively, music is unnecessary.

Carolyn MCormick brought unpparelled depth to Millay's Dirge Without Music. It was a full course meal in four stanzas. What a pleasure spending the day with the McCormick/Jennings family.

I'm a huge fan of Michele Pawk and was thrilled to meet her and work with her. She gave an incredibly raw and personal performance of Last Love by Mary Kerr, another poet new to me, but I'm so grateful I now know both Michele and Mary Kerr.

Legendary actor George S Irving commanded the studio and for one half hour we were all given a master class on how to act! What a actor! He did a beautiful poem called Elegy in a Theatrical Warehouse, a magical piece about the place where a set for a show goes to rest. And wait till you hear his interview. This alone is worth $1099. Let alone $10.99!

Reed Birney (who I will always remember from his performance in Gemini despite all the brilliant performances he's given since) did Blanding's Lines Scrawled on a Door. He told a story about how Blanding's book was his father's favorite and he had known it since childhood. His father would love his sensitive performance of this poem.

I really don't have the words to write about Paul Shoeffler rendition of the famous war poem Dulce et Decorum Est.
Suffice it to say we were all in tears.

The day finished off with another theatrical legend: Tony Walton (Honestly, can you believe the people who are participating?) Tony, set designer, costume designer, illustrator, acting teacher, director, song writer, all-around great guy, my neighbor, came and did a poem that Peter Cook gave him as a gift. The poem is called Blue Football, all about a kid who thinks he is a...blue football..and it turns out he is! Well, this is simply hysterical. Tony pulled out all the stops doing 6 different voice including the Queen of England. This is a classic. Tony is a classic.

Well, I'm about to watch the President.

But all can say is

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU VTHANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

January 26 Poetry Blog

Too many have told me how much you like my updates. So here comes another.

I'm back in NYC and had a full day of recording. In fact by the end of next week we'll have recording almost 90 Performers. I have a lot of energy, as you know, but this is almost a record! What a great record. And a great record.

Please welcome our new artists: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kathleen Turner, Judith Light, Peter Friedman, Reed Birney, Heidi Schreck, Deidra O'Connell, Bobbie Steggert. We're just about at 100. Thanks to everyone for their friends and friends of friends!

Here's today's blog:

We started with Keith McDermott who did the terrifying Yeats poem: The Second Coming. He also did one of my favorite Bishop's: Art of Losing. Both were definitive. I've known Keith for a long time when he was primarily an actor. Now a successful novelist, it was a real thrill to hear him perform again. He also gave me a book of poems by Poets who died from AIDS. We will start working on that as an album.

Next came Penny Fuller, not only a great actress but my next door neighbor. After dishing our horrible new lobby (yuk!) Penny really nailed Lawrence's Terra Icognita. This is an amazing poem and Penny treated it as if she were a soloist in a great concerto. It was pure music.

Cady Huffman, who has sadly just had shoulder surgery, introduced me to a new contemporary poet, Taylor Mali. She read A Dog Called Bodhidsagttva. It was real tour de force. Wait till you hear Cady's magnificent performance! Wait till you hear this poem!

Guy Paul, who is a new friend, did an amazing job on TO MY COY MISTRESS. I'm so glad to have met Guy. He can REALLY do verse. He breathed new life into this poem. He made it sound as if it were written yesterday.

Kate Mulgrew, another new friend, read one of my favorite poets, Emily Dickinson. We both decided to narrow down Dickinson's poems to our favorite few and surprise, we both landed on BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH. I know Emily would have been proud of Kate. Her sultry voice and twinkle in her eye made one of my favorite poems into my favorite!

My third new friend of the day was Peter Freidman. Peter introduced me to another new poem, PSALM CONCERNING THE CASTLE, by Denise Lavertov. What a delight. I can't imagine anyone doing this poem better than Peter. What a voice.

Lastly, another old friend, Brent Barrett read my favorite Sonnet, WHEN, IN DISGRACE WITH FORTUNE AND MEN'S EYES. It was a beautiful way to close the day. Brent really captured the pathos and sense of the sublime in this beautiful Sonnet. His performance was deeply moving.

So, more tomorrow. (And I heard the Times was coming to watch us record! Exciting!)

Here's the current list.

THANK YOU ALL!

G

1. *Jason Alexander (Robinson: Richard Cory)
2. Caroline Aaron
3. ****Glen Seven Allen (Shakespeare: Sonnet 131)
4. *Nancy Anderson (Piercy: To Have Without Holding)
5. *Linda Balgord (Strand: Eating Poetry)
6. Christine Baranski
7. ****James Barbour (Kipling: If)
8. ****Brent Barrett (Shakespeare: Sonnet 29 When In Distress)
9. Bryan Batt
10. John Behlmann (Shakespeare: Orlando)
11. *Reed Birney (Blanding: Vagadon’s House)
12. **** Charles Busch (Browning: My Last Duchess)
13. *Danny Burstein
14. *Ann Hampton Calloway (Rilke)
15. ****Alan Campbell (Lux: A Little Tooth)
16. ****Douglas Carpenter (Whitman: To What You Said)
17. *Len Cariou (Shakespeare: Ye Elves from Tempest)
18. ****Donna Lynne Champlin (Cadell: The Job Interview)
19. ****Philip Casnoof (Thomas: Fern Hill)
20. *Michael Cerveris (Ondaatje)
21. *Chuck Cooper (Angelous: Still I Rise)
22. ****Donald Corren (Poe: Annabel Lee)
23. ****Veanne Cox (Milton: Paradise Lost)
24. Tyne Daly
25. *Daniel Davis (Cavafy: Ithaka)
26. ****Paige Davis (Field: New Yorker)
27. *Ed Dixon (co Producer) R.L.Frost: Bearer of Evil Tidings
28. ****Mike Doyle (S.L. Johnson) Lovers on a Park Bench
29. Christine Ebersole
30. *Francesca Faridany (Rukeyser: Myth)
31. *Barbara Feldon (Atwood: I Would Like to Watch You Sleeping)
32. *Laruen Flanigan (Weinstein)
33. ****Peter Friedman (Levertov: Psalm Concerning the Castle)
34. ****Penny Fuller (Lawrence: Terra Incognita
35. ****David Garrison (Frost: Road Less Traveled)
36. ****Joanna Gleason (Neruda: Sonnet XVII)
37. *Amanda Green
38. ****Roxanne Hart (Moore: Poetry)
39. Florence Henderson
40. *George S. Irving (Fearing: Elegy in a Theatrical Warehouse)
41. *Dana Ivey (Henley: Invictus)
42. *Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (Whitman: Captain! My Captain!)
43. *Beth Howland (Parker: Sympton Recital)
44. *Cady Huffman (Taylor Mali: A Dog Named Bodhidsattva)
45. *Gregory Jbara (Shakespeare Bottom’s Dream)
46. *Byron Jennings (Yeats: When You Are Old and Grey)
47. ****Judy Kaye (cummings: I thank God for this…)
48. ****Lauren Kennedy (Stevens: The House was Quiet…)
49. *Charles Kimbrough (Bishop: The Fish)
50. Marc Kudisch (Frost: Fire and Ice)
51. ****Claire Lautier (Donne: A Valediction…)
52. *Patti LuPone (Oliver: Wild Geese)
53. Judith Light
54. *Rebecaa Luker
55. *Ramona Mallory
56. *Donna McKechnie (Oliver: The Journey)
57. *Jeff McCarthy (Collins: Conversion)
58. *Carolyn McCormick (Millay: Dirge Without Music)
59. ****Roberta Maxwell (Stevie Smith: Not Waving But Drowning)
60. ****Kate Mulgrew (Dickinson: I would not stop for Death)
61. ****Tom McGowan (Lawrence: Afternoon in School)
62. **** McDermott (Bishop: Art of Losing, Yeats:Second Coming
63. ****Michael Minarek (Ammons: Beautiful Woman)
64. ****Julia Murney (Angelous: Ailey, Baldwin…)
65. Greg Naughton
66. *Deidra O’Connell (Harrison or Sharon Olds)
67. Kelli O’Hara
68. ****Nancy Opel (Clampitt: The Sun Underfoot Among…)
69. ****Daniel Okulitch (Hoaglund: Self Improvement)
70. *Michelle Pawk (Karr: Last Love)
71. ****Patrick Page (Shakespeare: Our Revels)
72. *Peter Paige (Anne Sexton)
73. ****Guy Paul (Marvell: To His Coy Mistress)
74. ****Dean Pitchford (Parker: Song of a Hopeful Heart)
75. Alice Playten
76. Roger Rees
77. ****John Rubenstein (Coleridge: Ancient Mariner)
78. *Michael Rupert Ginsberg: A Supermarket in CA)
79. ****Chris Sarandon (Tennyson: Ulysses)
80. Heidi Schreck (Ashbury: What is Poetry)
81. *Lynn Sherr
82. *Paul Schoeffler (Owens: Dulce et Decorum Est)
83. *Matthew Schechter (Silverstein)
84. ****Emily Skinner (Millay: Love is not All)
85. Douglas Sills (Monette: You Probably Won’t be Needing)
86. *Carole Shelley (Wordsworth: Composed Upon Westminster)
87. *Lewis J. Stadlen (Kipling: Gunga Din)
88. *Bobby Steggart
89. *Richard Thomas (Hopkins: Spring and Fall)
90. Kathleen Turner
91. *Tony Walton (Cook: Blue Football)
92. *Brenda Wehle
93. Chandler Williams (O’Hara: To the Harbor Master)
94. ****JoBeth Williams (Keats: When I have fears)
95. Tony Yasbeck
96. ****Geraint Wyn Davies (Thomas: In My Craft or Sullen…)
97. ****Michael York (Kipling: Tommy)
98. *Chip Zien
99. Catherine Zeta-Jones

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ANOTHER SHOW....ANOTHER RAVE!

Cabaret review: Lovely lady Florence Henderson

David Wiegand, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, January 7, 2010

If you grew up wishing Florence Henderson was your mom, your older sister or even your kid sister, here's a lovely lady, as the song goes, who tells you her story over 90 minutes at the Rrazz Room through Sunday, and it's one you really don't want to miss.

In life and in art, Florence Henderson is a survivor who grew up in rural Kentucky and Indiana, headed for New York like some real-life Judy Garland character, caught one break and then another, and has packed a career full of starring roles on Broadway, national tours in parts made famous by others, a TV show that made her a pop culture goddess for all time, gigs guest-hosting talk shows, filling a Hollywood Square, selling cooking oil and denture cleaner on TV, divorcing one husband, burying the second, raising four kids and, at 75, she's still here.

Henderson doesn't actually sing all that much at the Rrazz Room, but when she does interrupt her captivating autobiographical patter, she offers up the most unlikely bunch of tunes you've never heard at a cabaret: "You Are My Sunshine," "My Dad," "Moonshine Lullaby," and, I kid you not, "My Old Kentucky Home." (Too bad Stephen Foster isn't collecting royalties these days.)

There are a few standards, such as "Where or When," "Me and My Baby" and "A Wonderful Guy," but those seeking the usual catalog of Gershwin and Porter are advised to apply elsewhere.

In truth, Henderson, svelte and terminally perky in a white pantsuit accented with sequins, sings only about a dozen numbers over the course of her 90-minute show, and a couple of those songs are novelty numbers cleverly meant to concede the fact that she may not be a spring chicken, she may or may not have had work done, she really, really likes men, regardless of her squeaky-clean TV image, and so what?

Ably backed by pianist Glen Roven, three backup singers and a cellist and a multi-instrumentalist, Henderson deceives the audience as only a superb performer can: Within minutes, you'll think she's in your living room, chatting over cocktails.

Recalling how her mother would take her down to the general store and prompt her to sing for the customers in order to get free food, Henderson leaves the stage with an old battered hat in hand to collect money from the audience (worry not - the money will go to the Richmond Ermet AIDS Foundation at the end of her all-too-brief week).

When she gets to the inevitable "Brady Bunch" segment, she not only leads a sing-along of the show's theme song but even takes questions from the audience.

By the end of the show, the only question you'll want to ask is, do you really have to go?

Florence Henderson: "All the Lives of Me ... A Musical Journey." Through Sun. The Rrazz Room, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St., S.F. $40-$47.50. 8 p.m. today-Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. (415) 468-3399. www.therrazzroom.com.