Ace Young, Maureen McGovern, Casts of "Glee," Memphis, Rock, Quartet Set for Jerry Lewis Telethon
By Thomas Peter
Play Bill
30 Aug 2010
Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day telethon on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Assocation (MDA) announced most of its performing and co-hosting line-up Aug. 25.
The 21 1/2 hour Labor Day weekend tradition will be hosted by veteran entertainer Lewis and co-hosts Allison Sweeney, Nancy O'Dell and Jann Carl. Guest co-hosts will include "American Idol" and Broadway vet Ace Young; actor, comedian and former Hairspraystar John Pinette; "American Idol" executive producer and "So You Think You Can Dance" co-creator Nigel Lythgoe; actor/comedian Richard Belzer; and actor Brandon Barash.
Tyce Diorio of "So You Think You Can Dance" will choreograph the opening number, and the telethon will also feature performances from the casts ofMemphis, Rock of Ages and Million Dollar Quartet, as well as numbers from the Las Vegas shows Elvis (Cirque du Soleil), Paris by Night and Vegas! The Show.
Broadway and cabaret star Maureen McGovern, Barry Manilow, David Archuleta, Enrique Iglesias, Charo, Jack Jones, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Taylor Dayne will also perform.
Cast members from "Glee" and "The Doctors" will also make appearances, as will Tony and Emmy winner Ken Howard, Ray Romano, Patrick Duffy, Carrot Top, Lou Ferrigno and Olympic Gold medalists Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci.
The telethon will begin Sept. 5 at 9 PM ET and will be broadcast from the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas, ending Labor Day, Sept. 6 at 6:30 PM ET.
Check listings for local start and end times, or visit mda.org.
Maureen will perform on the Telethon Sunday, Sept. 5 between 6:55pm to 7:45pm PDT and Monday Sept. 6 between 10:10am to 11:00am. Check your local TV listing for channel.
July •
2010
SINGER/ACTOR
MAUREEN MCGOVERN RECEIVES
TOP MDA HONOR
TUCSON, Ariz.,
July 29, 2010 -
The Muscular Dystrophy Association has awarded its highest philanthropic achievement honor - the MDA Director's Award - to entertainer and Academy Award-winning singer Maureen McGovern.
MDA Chairman of the Board R. Rodney Howell, M.D., presented the star-shaped Stueben Glass Award to McGovern at a group dinner preceding the Association's annual meeting in Los Angeles. Upon receiving the news, the Ohio native and 30-year MDA volunteer delighted the audience with an a cappella song about gratitude, friendship and her MDA family.
The award, now in its fourth year, honors organizations and people who have made significant and outstanding contributions in supporting MDA's fight against neuromuscular diseases in areas of medical research, corporate and organizational sponsorship, media and entertainment industry support and personal fundraising.
"Ever since her first MDA Telethon performance in 1980, Maureen has been making an important difference for families affected by neuromuscular diseases," said Howell. "Maureen has done extraordinary work behind the microphone, in front of the camera, and as a volunteer leader serving with distinction on the MDA Board of Directors. The only thing bigger than her talent, is her heart."
McGovern, who was re-elected to serve another one-year term on the MDA Board during the July meeting, has a personal connection to MDA's lifesaving mission. Twenty-one years ago, after nine years of dedicated volunteer work for MDA, McGovern learned her then 3-year-old niece, Carolyn, had dermatomyositis, one of the neuromuscular diseases covered by the Association.
"MDA immediately referred my family to one of the nation's top neurologists, Dr. Jerry Mendell, an MDA Clinic Director in Columbus," said McGovern. "Thanks to his excellent medical attention and a myriad of services from MDA, my niece, a recent OSU graduate, is in remission and continues to thrive and lead a happy, healthy life."
McGovern, who has co-hosted both New York and Los Angeles broadcasts of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, is national chair for the Polymyositis/Dermatomyositis Division of MDA. She also chairs the annual "Shamrocks against Dystrophy" campaign that raised more than $20 million for MDA in 2010.
McGovern's professional career spans nearly four decades, beginning with her Academy-award-winning "The Morning After," the mega-hit from the original movie "The Poseidon Adventure." She followed it with "We May Never Love Like This Again" for the disaster movie "The Towering Inferno." McGovern has performed on television, in movies, on Broadway, and with every major symphony orchestra.
The Association, which annually invests more than $40 million in research worldwide, is the first nonprofit to earn a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Medical Association ("for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity").
More than one million people in America are affected by neuromuscular diseases. Residents of greater Columbus affected by any of the 43 diseases covered by MDA's program can receive excellent medical care at the MDA Clinics at Ohio State University Hospital (614-292-1156), and Children's Hospital Outpatient Care Center (614-722-2203). Individuals affected by ALS are encouraged to contact the MDA/ALS Center at Ohio State University (614-293-7715).
MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education.
The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon will be broadcast Sept. 5-6, originating from the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas. The 45th Telethon broadcast, featuring more than 65 top acts, plus special concept hours dedicated to country music; comedy; rock-and-roll; Broadway shows; soap opera stars; and four new artists selected from the national "Get Discovered!" competition being promoted nationwide by 845 Clear Channel radio stations, can be seen on WSYX-TV, Channel 6, in the Columbus area.
-MDA-
May•
2010
Maureen McGovern Joins Boston Pops; Listen Online Saturday, May 29th
The show begins at 7pm with an hour of interviews and features, and the concert begins at 8pm.
Produced in Boston, shared with the world. An evening with Maureen McGovern!!!
Vocalist Maureen McGovern joins the Boston Pops, led by conductor Keith Lockhart, in a concert performance that
features songs from McGovern's newest album, "A Long and Winding Road."
April•
2010
Local troupes dominate the IRNEs
Renowned singer/actress Maureen McGovern won an IRNE for best solo for her work in her autobiographical odyssey with song "A Long and Winding Road" at the Calderwood Pavilion. (Source:Huntington Theatre Company)
By: by Jules Becker � Wednesday Apr 28, 2010
Savvy Hub theatergoers know that their best options often lie right in the South End.
In fact, they had only to look at the top 2008 and 2009 IRNE Awards - annually handed out at the Boston
Center for the Arts's Cyclorama -- to have a good sense of the area's best offerings. Last year, the Independent
Reviewers of New England gave their best play production-small stage and best musical production-small stage prizes
to BCA productions. The respective winners, "The History Boys" and "The Light in the Piazza," were both mounted by
SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Calderwood Pavilion. Recently, the IRNE critics gave top prizes to more local efforts:
best production of a small stage play to "Spring Awakening: The Play," produced by Zeitgeist Stage Company at the BCA,
and best musical-small stage to "Grey Gardens," premiered by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston.
Both best production winners also earned best director prizes -- David Miller for "Spring Awakening: The
Play" and multi-IRNE-winner Spiro Veloudos for "Grey Gardens" and Lyric Stage's "Kiss Me Kate." Also cited for
both Lyric Stage efforts was best music director Jonathan Goldberg. Resident Calderwood troupe SpeakEasy Stage
shared two honors as busy Marianna Bassham won the best actress prize for roles in its "Blackbird" and "Reckless" as
well as one in Boston Playwright Theatre's "Little Black Dress" and Timothy John Smith was picked for parts in S
peakEasy's "Jerry Springer -- The Opera" and Lyric Stage's "Kiss Me Kate."
Kenny Leon, Maureen McGovern, Diane Paulus, Rachel York et al. Receive IRNE Awards
By: Dan Bacalzo � Apr 23, 2010
Winners have been announced for The Independent Reviewers of New England Awards, which were held on Monday, April 19.
Diane Paulus won for Best Director of a Musical for A.R.T.'s Best of Both Worlds, while Kenny Leon won Best Director of a Play for Huntington's production of Fences. Israel Horovitz's Sins of the Mother and David Grimm's The Miracle at Naples received awards for Best New Play. The Color Purple received an award for Best Visiting Production.
Individual acting awards went to Marianna Bassham (Reckless/Blackbird), John Beasley (Fences), Shana Dirik (Sweeney Todd), Ben DiScipio (Sweeney Todd), Kate Donnelly (Bash), David Engel (La Cage Aux Folles), James Fitzpatrick (The Producers), Gabriel Kuttner (Speed-the-Plow), Will Lebow (Romance), Crystal Fox (Fences), Jennifer Beth Glick (Seussical), R.Glen Michell (Mame/La Cage Aux Folles), Jacqui Parker (A Civil War Christmas), Robert Pemberton (Speed-the-Plow), Angela Robinson (The Color Purple), Timothy John Smith (Jerry Springer the Opera/Kiss Me, Kate), and Rachel York (Hello Dolly!).
Solo performance awards were given to Maureen McGovern for A Long and Winding Road and Tim Ruddy in Swan Song. Ensemble awards were given to Hartford Stage's Dividing the Estate and Apollinaire Theatre's Dark Play, Or Stories for Boys.
For more information, including a full list of nominees and winners, visit
www.stagesource.org.
Maureen McGovern Guests on "Getting To Know You" Tuesday, April 6th on KSAV.org
April 03, 2010
"Maureen McGovern guests on the next "Getting To Know You" hosted by Susan McCray, Tuesday, April 6 on KSAV.org at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT. Ms. McGovern's nearly 40 year career includes CD's, concerts, Theater, Film, television and much more."
During the interview, selections from Ms. McGovern's new CD - "A Long and Winding Road" which has been praised by he New York Times as "...a captivating musical scrapbook from the 1960's to the early 70's.
Maureen McGovern's nearly 40 year career includes recordings, concerts, theater, film, television, radio and songwriting, all with a voice that defies categorization. Her recording career began with the Oscar winning "The Morning After" and "We May Never Love Like This Again" from the classic disaster films, "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno."
Ms. McGovern's vocal technique is second to none" and was voted by Playbill.com and TalkinBroadway.com among the "Best of 2008 Performances" and "Top 10 Vocal Recordings of 2008." She has also received the "AFTRA AMEE Lifetime Sound Recording Award," the "Nightlife Legend Award" (NYC), the "MAC Lifetime Achievement Award," and "The Imagination Award" from Imagination Stage for her work with children, the arts and philanthropy.
Get to know the lady and her music .... Maureen McGovern known as "The Stradivarius Voice" on "Getting To Know You" hosted by Susan McCray on Tuesday, April 6th at 6:30 p.m. PT/ET on KSAV.org.
Ms. McCray looks forward to reading your comments about the show and requests for future shows. You can send them by clicking on Comments and Requests located at the top of the KSAV.org site.
All shows are archived on Susan McCray's website: www.susanmccray.com. "Getting To Know You" is Podcast via iTunes.
March • 2010
Maureen McGovern, Syracuse Symphony entertain in a night of nostalgia
By The Post-Standard
March 27, 2010, 8:51AM
By James O. Welsch and
Linda Loomis / Contributing writers
Maureen McGovern's vibrant voice and stunning song styling proved a hit with the audience Friday as she sang many of her signature songs with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.
The eclectic nature of the program -- ranging from Broadway to the movie screen and from folk to popular music -- earned this American musical icon adoration along with hearty applause.
For the mostly baby boomer crowd, the years seemed to fall away to tunes like "The Circle Game," and "Let it Be." McGovern not only showed them "The Long and Winding Road," she linked arms with them and they skipped along together, evoking memories of classic performers like the Beatles ("got me through high school") and Joni Mitchell ("got me through my divorce").
Michael Butterman conducted the SSO in the first half of the program, opening with a selection of retrospective Broadway and movie music from the past century. He wisely avoided the trap of sentimentality by setting brisk tempi on Leonard Bernstein's "Candide" overture and medleys from "South Pacific" and "Guys and Dolls," closing the first part of the program with a powerful arrangement of John Williams' theme from "Superman."
But the night belonged to McGovern, whose indomitable spirit was appreciated almost as much as was her performing prowess. Several times she belted out a cappella songs as if she were standing at home in her pajamas or washing dishes in the kitchen sink rather than singing in front of a nearly full house.
She shared a noteworthy dialogue with a bass player on "Feeling Groovy," and she and Jeffrey Harris, conductor/pianist, had several terrific interactions throughout the evening. Their comfortable collaborative relationship was especially evident on "Fire and Rain," as his amazing keyboards supported McGovern's plaintive vocal lament.
A comfortable rapport developed between McGovern and the audience -- so much so, that people began to hum on several of her songs. She turned even that into a joke, remarking, "If you feel like singing along, please ... don't!"
This concert was booked late to accommodate some scheduling issues, but judging by the reaction of the Friday night crowd, it was one of the most highly appreciated Pops of the season.
Singer Maureen McGovern joins Syracuse Symphony Orchestra for Pops Series concerts
Melinda Johnson,arts editor at the Post-Standard
March 24, 2010
Syracuse, NY Syracuse, NY -- Everyone should have the pleasure of speaking to Maureen McGovern when harried. The songstress's honeyed voice lowers the stress level during a phone interview on St. Patrick's Day.
Central New Yorkers can hear that voice when McGovern performs Friday and Saturday in the M&T Bank Pops Series of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.
The concert will include the songs that led up to her recording of "The Morning After" from the movie "The Poseidon Adventure," and her nomination for a 1973 Grammy Award. In her early days, first as a folk singer, McGovern sang the lyrics of Carole King, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Jimmy Webb, among others. Selections from these songwriters are featured on her recent CD, "A Long and Winding Road."
McGovern has performed their songs ("The Times They Are a-Changin'," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" "By the Time I Get to Phoenix") in intimate theaters in a one-woman show. Now, her longtime collaborator Jeff Harris has arranged them for orchestra concerts.
"In rehearsing these (songs) and finding our new arrangements, our new takes on these songs, I would often break down in tears," she says from her home. "I mean because the writing is so rich with these particular singers, songwriters."
With an orchestra, the show is transformed. "It just about blows the roof off the whole building," she says. "It's thrilling."
As someone who is "proud to be 60" and singing, McGovern didn't want to stage a boomer or party show. "I was looking for a more introspective point of view."
The singer's ambition has been to give the songwriters of the '60s the same loving respect as for those of the Great American Songbook -- Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers, Arlen.
"I think there's just a greater appreciation of looking back at the '60s and these particular writers, who have an entire canon of music that they've left behind and continue to write."
McGovern's concert also will cover more of her musical bases, including some Broadway tunes. McGovern appeared on Broadway in "Little Women" as Marmee and in "The Pirates of Penzance," replacing Linda Ronstadt. She was the singing nun, singing "Respect," in the "Airplane!" movies.
In passing, McGovern refers to herself as the "disaster-theme queen."
Huh?
She ticks off the string of songs she sang that were attached to disaster films: " The Morning After"; "We May Never Love Like This Again" ("The Towering Inferno"); and "Wherever Loves Takes Me" ("Gold").
That was one part of her past. McGovern is focused another place in time, the songs of the 1960s and '70s. She will take SSO concertgoers along for the ride.
27th Annual Shamrocks Against Dystrophy Sets
$20 Million Fundraising Record
Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:00:27 GMT
Muscular Dystrophy Association
TUCSON, Ariz., March 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The spirit of St. Patrick's Day is alive and well. The Muscular Dystrophy Association today announced that, with 92 percent of some 10,000 retail locations reporting, its 2010 Shamrocks Against Dystrophy fundraiser is the most successful in the event's 27 year history. As of today, the grass-roots initiative with a St. Patrick's Day theme, has raised more than $20 million to advance MDA's lifesaving mission. More Shamrocks contributions are expected by the end of the month.
"Record numbers of people are sharing the luck of the Irish by purchasing and signing Shamrocks at their favorite restaurants, grocery and convenience stores," said Maureen McGovern, National Chairperson for the Shamrocks Against Dystrophy campaign. "Despite the difficult economy, millions of Americans are helping families affected by muscle diseases by celebrating St. Patrick's Day in a most meaningful way."
Since mid-February, thousands of retail locations -- including Lowe's, Valero, Safeway, Applebee's, Walgreen's and Albertson's ? have been making their walls and windows green and gold with festive paper Shamrock mobiles bearing the names of generous customers having contributed $1 or $5 to help MDA speed research seeking treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases affecting more than 1 million Americans. The mobiles have literally transformed the shopping experience at many retail locations (see extraordinary venues in your area), as employees and customers have been energized by seeing so much goodwill being prominently displayed in stores and restaurants.
The nation's first and most popular mobile giving program, Shamrocks Against Dystrophy owes its success to tens of thousands of cashiers, store associates, waiters and waitresses, who daily ask hundreds of thousands of customers if they'd like to buy a Shamrock to help "Jerry's kids."
"It's absolutely amazing to see how the gentle ask to buy a Shamrock helps nurture an even closer bond between the employee and customers," explains Gerald C. Weinberg, MDA President and CEO. "Shamrocks are about having fun while helping families in need. And, the amazing in-store Shamrocks displays, with the names of so many caring people present, quietly challenge every customer to make a difference. Shamrocks are infectious."
The 2010 national Shamrocks campaign, which concludes at the end of March, is the nation's first fundraising effort to recognize donors texting contributions by cell phone with an electronic badge of honor.
"There are more than 250 million cell phone subscribers in the United States," adds Weinberg. "So it's really great that people can make a difference by simply texting 'Irish' to 20222. Wherever you are, whenever it's convenient, you can text 'IRISH' to 20222 to make a $5 contribution to MDA. It's an easy way to show your Irish spirit. Plus, you'll immediately receive a link to special Shamrocks wallpaper to dress up your cell phone."
MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education. MDA was the first nonprofit organization to be recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Medical Association "for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity." SOURCE Muscular Dystrophy Association
On Monday, March 15th, The Actors Fund presented the next in their series of Musical Mondays in the lobby of the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. This time offering audiences a chance to get Up Close and Personal with Alan and Marilyn Bergman. The evenings special guests included the incomparable talents of Maureen McGovern and Lari White with the evenings moderation by Michael A. Kerker, ASCAP. Dancing with the Stars, Michael Orland, was the Musical Director for Maureen McGovern, while Bill Cantos, served as Musical Director for Alan Bergman and Lari White. The truly enchanting evening was produced by John Bowab and Martin Wiviott. The, oh so very important, Sponsors included Continental Airlines, Sunset Marquis and the Nederlander Organization. ...
... The only complaint for the audience members was that there
wasn't enough time to hear more from Maureen McGovern and Lari White.
Two brilliant performers who captivated the audience.
Nominations for the 13th annual Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards have been announced. The awards will be presented at a ceremony at the Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama on Monday, April 19 at 8pm.
Large Theater BEST SOLO
Maureen McGovern for A LONG AND WINDING ROAD (Huntington)
Chazz Palminteri for A BRONX TALE (Broadway Across America)
Elizabeth Aspenlieder for BAD DATES (Merrimack Repertory Theatre)
AN EVENING WITH Maureen McGovern MAY 25, 26, AND 27, Keith Lockhart CONDUCTING
Maureen McGovern, one of America's most popular vocalists, performs a concert that features songs from her newest album, A Long and Winding Road, celebrating the music that inspired her beginnings as a singer in the late '60s. The album features an eclectic mix of songs from such groundbreaking singer-songwriters as Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Carole King, and Paul McCartney, including "The Times They Are a-Changin'," "The 59th Street Bridge Song," "Fire and Rain," and "Let It Be." The May 27 performance is SOLD OUT. The May 26 concert will feature on-stage performances by the winners of the Fidelity FutureStage Music Competition.
Maureen McGovern burst onto the music scene in the early 1970s and quickly became known for her hit theme songs to The Poseidon Adventure,The Towering Inferno, and Gold, and later for her appearance as Sister Angelina, the singing nun, in the 1980 disaster movie spoof Airplane. Ms. McGovern has also been acclaimed for her success on the Broadway stage, with roles in The Pirates of Penzance, Nine, Three Penny Opera, and most recently as Marmee in Little Women. Her CD, "A Long and Winding Road," was released in 2009 and is a tribute to the music of her baby boomer childhood.
MUSICAL MONDAYS Series Presents 'Up Close and Personal' With Alan & Marilyn Bergman
Friday, February 5, 2010 - by BWW News Desk
Join theatre patrons as they come "Up Close and Personal" with Alan & Marilyn Bergman as well as special guests Maureen McGovern and Lari White at the Actors Fund concert series entitled MUSICAL MONDAYS, a series of Cabaret events in the lobby of the historic Pantages Theatre, Moderated by Michael A. Kerker (ASCAP) and produced by John Bowab, Michael A. Kerker and Martin Wiviott.
WHEN: Monday, March 15th - 7:30pm Cocktail Reception and 8:30pm curtain
Program to be followed by dessert and coffee reception with the performers
WHERE: The Pantages Theater Lobby, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
TICKETS: $125 by calling 323.933.9266 ext. 59
EDITORS/PRODUCERS: The Actors Fund is proud to continue their "Musical Monday" benefits - a special series of intimate concerts with some of theatre's finest performers including Brian Stokes Mitchell, Melissa Manchester, Peter Gallagher, Valarie Pettiford, Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner, Sam Harris and Stephen Schwartz. Proceeds from this evenings benefit will go towards the Actors Fund's comprehensive programs and services. The Actors Fund provides healthcare and clinics, living expenses, housing facilities, social services, career counseling and youth services to all professionals in entertainment - not just actors but professionals in the guilds, unions, box offices and behind the scenes in film, television, theatre, radio, opera, music and dance.
The songs of Alan & Marilyn Bergman have been enriching the great American songbook for over five decades. As lyricists for film, stage and television, they have created unforgettable images with their lyrical mastery. Don't miss this very special evening celebrating two of music's most celebrated lyricists, whose collaborations have earned them 16 Academy Award nominations, multiple Emmys, GRAMMYs and 3 OSCARS for "The Windmills of Your Mind", "The Way We Were" and the score for "Yentl." Maureen McGovern is an award-winning performer whose nearly forty year career includes recordings, concerts, Broadway, film and television beginning with the Oscar-winning song "The Morning After" through to her latest CD "A Long And Winding Road". Lari White is a three-time GRAMMY Award-winning pop and country music singer, actress and songwriter who starred in Broadway's "Ring of Fire".
THE ACTORS FUND is a national human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund - which provides programs and services for those on stage and on screen and everyone behind the scenes in theatre, film, TV, music, dance, radio and opera - is a safety net, providing social services and emergency assistance, health services and health insurance information, employment and training programs and housing support for those who are in need, crisis or transition.
Learn more about what The Actors Fund does in helping over 10,000 people every year at www.actorsfund.org.
Susan Anton, Leslie Jordan, Maureen McGovern, Rita Moreno, et al. Set for All You Need Is Love 2 Benefit Concert in SF
By: Andy Propst Dec 21, 2009
Susan Anton, Leslie Jordan, Maureen McGovern and Rita Moreno will be among the stars of Help Is on the Way's All You Need is Love 2 on February 8 at 7:30pm at Marines Memorial Theatre in San Francisco. David Galligan will direct this benefit concert, which will raise money for STOP AIDS Project and Aguilas. Bill Keck and Richard Berent will serve as musical directors.
Also scheduled to participate are David Burnham, Tim Hockenberry, Nick Lazzarini, La Toya London, Maria Muldaur, Kim Nalley, Carly Ozard, Jeanie Tracy, and Tracy Wicks. Other performers will be announced at a later date.
Maureen McGovern takes the crowd along for a trip down memory lane
If you only think of "The Morning After" and "We May Never Love This Way Again"when you hear the name Maureen McGovern, think again.
Although dubbed the "disaster theme queen" for Oscar-winning songs from "The Poseidon Adventure" and the "Towering Inferno,"this four-octave stylist has not only brought rich interpretation to a variety of musical genres but also demonstrated sharp acting skills in Broadway musicals as different as "Nine" and a New York edition of "The Pirates of Penzance." Now she is chronicling her long, distinguished, and on-going performing career in an informative musical memoir called "A Long and Winding Road," in an engaging Huntington Theatre world premiere at the Boston Center for the Arts's Calderwood Pavilion. If the text by writer/director Philip Himberg and McGovern often comes across as a standard bio-play, it still resonates with great feeling and exuberance thanks to the latter's wide-ranging talents and appealing way with an audience.
As the fitting title suggests, McGovern certainly paid her dues as a singer and performer on the way to becoming a singer's singer and a respected actress. Without the slightest disingenuousness, she recalls her childhood as "a good Midwest Catholic school girl minding my own business," the encouragement of her musical father-who sang in a barbershop quartet-and a modest late 1960s stint as a part-time folk singer while at Kent State. Even as she sang Oscar winners, she candidly reminds the Huntington audience, she had to deal with gigs at unglamorous venues with names like the Trolley Bar Lounge and being dropped by a record company. Eventually her "Stradivarius Voice," a title she still deserves as a 60-year-old songbird, could not be denied, and albums, concerts and stage roles came her way ever more frequently. Early in the memoir, she counts jazz giant Ella Fitzgerald, Broadway first lady Mary Martin and opera diva Montserrat Caballe among her role models. Surely there are budding vocalists throughout America who speak as admiringly of her.
Longtime fans and newcomers alike know that her multi-decade success has never gone to her head, and that her stage demeanor remains delightfully unassuming. Never do her personal responses and connections to historical events-among them the assassination of JFK, the arrival of the Beatles and the Vietnam War-seem self-serving or glib. Along the way, there are fond remembrances of Ringo Starr (her favorite Beatle) and western film star Roy Rogers. Smoothly interacting with the audience, she calls on theatergoers to fill in the words "Gideon's Bible"as she sings the Beatles hit "Rocky Raccoon." A sonorous rendition of "Let It Be" ends with an impressively high, extended delivery of the final title word. Another highlight is a brief tribute to Carole King and her multi-hit album "Tapestries," including a warm version of the enormous hit "You've Got a Friend."
McGovern never loses sight of the more serious themes and elements that have affected her life and art. Here her father figures prominently. Praising his army air corps heroism during World War II, she provides a beautifully understated rendition of "The White Cliffs of Dover." Later, she frankly describes "a wall between my father and me" over the Vietnam War. Happily, they later agreed to disagree about it. With regard to her career, there are telling passages about her exploitation by her manipulative early agent/husband and difficulties collecting royalties.
While the narrative sometimes sounds overly schematic about the various decades, her consummate musicianship-along with longtime piano accompanist Jeff Harris-trumps any soft stretches in the writing.
Look for a snappy "Feelin' Groovy" (Simon and Garfunkel), a smartly reflective "And When I Die " (Laura Nyro), and a breezy "Sweet Dreams"(Eurythmics). For those who are wondering, she does include "The Morning After" with a delivery as fresh as her approach to life and career. A standout highpoint is McGovern's heart-wrenching delivery of the irony-rich Stephen Schwartz song "Life Goes On" during a touching stretch recalling such AIDS victims as entertainer/composer Peter Allen and actor Larry Kert, which features footage of the AIDS Quilt (credit to Maya Ciarrocchi's evocative projection design).
At one point in "A Long and Winding Road," the indomitable talent invokes the view that life has "Infinite Joys." The same instantly will be said of McGovern and her limitless musical repertoire.
"The Long and Winding Road,"presented by Huntington Theatre Company, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, runs through Nov. 15.
Gliding through history on a song
Theater Review | 3 out of 5 stars
'A Long and Winding Road' uses projected images as the backdrop to monologues.
Bob Dylan. Joni Mitchell. The Beatles. James Taylor. Simon andGarfunkel. What do these artists have in common? Right now it's the Huntington Theatre Company's production "A Long and Winding Road," an autobiographical tribute to Grammy Award-nominated singer and actress Maureen McGovern. McGovern's voice is the strong and stirring vessel through which this captivating performance celebrates and pays respect to the musicians and music that defined a generation.
McGovern and Philip Himberg were the joint conceivers and writers of "A Long and Winding Road," a production that has no ordinary narrative. The play uses popular and well-loved songs to recall important moments, funny memories and traumatic events that occurred throughout McGovern's life. The result is a musical scrapbook that McGovern shares and sings wholeheartedly, and that the audience hears and appreciates.
The music, which McGovern strings together and breaks up with comedic anecdotes and personal short stories, is the attraction for this show. Each song is symbolic, and when McGovern sings, specific memories are effortlessly evoked. The songs and stories distributed throughout the performance are a reminder that the production is not only a memorial to great music, but also a commemoration of a great life -- and one that continues with gumption.
Parsing the mixture of songs and memories is like solving a puzzle -- one that McGovern helps to solve with her own personal history, but that audience members can solve for themselves on an individual level. From World War II to John F. Kennedy's assassination to the Vietnam War, the decades that make up McGovern's life are momentous historically as well as musically. Broader associations and historical context make the show a shared walk down memory lane for McGovern and the audience, more like a conversation with an old friend than a self-indulgent monologue.
McGovern's voice remains impressive at age 60, as she continues to belt out lyrics from Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and The Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon" with confidence. Also on stage is Jeffrey Harris on piano, whose playing nicely complements McGovern's voice and presence and who provides small moments of comedy. Though he could be easily forgotten on the side of the stage, Harris makes a few jokes to help remind the audience that he is there, and his humor is refreshing in an otherwise McGovern-dominated performance.
The set is the only element lacking in "A Long and Winding Road." While the curtains and tapestry on the piano are appropriately simple and elegant, they are also vaguely reminiscent of a lounge -- an environment that doesn't seem to fit revolutionary music from the '60s, '70s and '80s. The curtained background also creates an uneven surface for the photo and video projections displayed throughout the performance, making it difficult to read some of the slides shown.
McGovern is perhaps best known for her Oscar-winning recordings of "The Morning After" and "We May Never Love Like this Again," which garnered fame in the 1970s from their use in the classic disaster films "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) and "The Towering Inferno" (1974), respectively -- earning her the nickname "Maureen the Disaster Queen." McGovern's diverse career also includes appearances in "Little Women: The Musical" (2005) and "The Pirates of Penzance" (1981), and a cameo as the singing, guitar-playing nun in the film "Airplane!" (1980).
"A Long and Winding Road" is showing Oct. 9 through Nov. 15 at the Virginia Wimberly Theatre, Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Student rush tickets are $15 and are available two hours before the performance
Photo Flash: Maureen McGovern stars in
LONG AND WINDING ROAD Back to the Article
by BWW News Desk
The Huntington Theatre Company continues its 28th season - a season of American Stories - with Grammy Award winner, Broadway star, and pop icon Maureen McGovern's world premiere musical memoir A Long and Winding Road, conceived and written by Philip Himberg and Maureen McGovern and presented in cooperation with Arena Stage. Chronicling the moments that define the Baby Boomer Generation, Ms. McGovern returns to her roots as a folk singer as she performs the classic songs The New York Times has dubbed "the second half of the Great American Songbook." Sundance Institute Producing Artistic Director Philip Himberg directs; Jeffrey Harris provides musical direction and accompaniment.
A Long and Winding Road revisits the hope-filled years of the 1960s, the tumultuous era of Vietnam, Watergate, the Civil Rights movement, the AIDS crisis, and on to today and its hope of a better tomorrow. It includes beloved music by Bob Dylan ("The Times, They Are a-Changin'"), Carole King ("You've Got a Friend"), The Beatles ("Let it Be"), Joni Mitchell ("All I Want," Paul Simon ("America"), Laura Nyro ("And When I Die"), and many more.
Maureen McGovern's (Performer, Conceiver, Writer) almost 40-year career includes Grammy Award nominations for "Best New Artist" and "Best Traditional Pop Vocal," a Grammy Award for "Best Musical Recording for Children" for her participation in "Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers," and the Academy Award-winning Gold Records "The Morning After" (Billboard #1) and "We May Never Love Like This Again." Her PS Classics release A Long and Winding Road was praised by The New York Times as "a captivating musical scrapbook from the 1960s to the early '70s. Ms. McGovern is blessed with a vocal technique second to none." Other critically acclaimed musical tributes include her Gershwin, Arlen, Rodgers, Marilyn and Alan Bergman CDs and more.
On Broadway, Ms. McGovern appeared in Little Women, The Musical, creating the role of Marmee, for which she was nominated for a 2005 Drama Desk Award, The Pirates of Penzance, Nine, 3 Penny Opera, and the recent national tours of Little Women, The Musical and The King and I. Off Broadway, she appeared in Brownstone, originating the role of Mary. Regionally, she has performed in Maureen McGovern: A Long and Winding Road (world premiere at Arena Stage, presented in cooperation with the Huntington), Elegies, Dear World, Letters From 'Nam (originating the role of Eleanor Bridges, at the North Shore Music Theatre), The Lion in Winter, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Of Thee I Sing, Let 'Em Eat Cake, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Guys & Dolls, I Do, I Do, and The Bengal Tiger's Ball (composed the music, co-created, and starred). She also appeared in The Towering Inferno and as the guitar-strumming nun in the film Airplane!, and lent her voIce To DreamWorks' animated feature Joseph: King of Dreams.
The Huntington's season of American stories is the first in the Company's 28-year history comprised entirely of shows by American writers. The plays of the season relate to one another through stories of opportunities lost and found, of intergenerational struggles and successes, and of the most intimate and meaningful relationships. Drawn from some of the best writing the country has to offer, the Huntington will engage its audience in a season-long conversation about issues of race, class, values, and a shared American experience.
It's probably time to forgive Maureen McGovern for "The Poseidon Adventure" (though I still have a bone to pick with Ernest Borgnine).
McGovern, of course, sang "The Morning After," that waterlogged disaster movie's unforgettable (try though we might) theme song. Now she has come to Boston with "A Long and Winding Road," a musical memoir of her own life and the collective experience of the baby boom generation.
As generational history, "A Long and Winding Road" is thin and cliched, overly reliant on the invocation of played-out boomer touchstones (where were you when JFK was assassinated, weren't the Beatles dreamy, that sort of thing). But as a chronicle of her own up-and-down showbiz career and her bumpy-but-dogged journey toward self-knowledge, "Road" has surprising potency.
This is especially true when McGovern sings, for her voice remains, at 60, powerful, supple, and expressive. It has to be, because the song list for "Road" reads like a greatest-hits playlist for an unimaginative oldies station: "Let It Be," "You've Got a Friend," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," "America," "If I Had a Hammer," "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)." Your eyes are rolling right now, aren't they? When you hear McGovern deliver these songs, though, it's a reminder of how well-constructed they are, and how much they deserve to live on. Well, maybe not "Feelin' Groovy." And I longed for Bob Dylan's raspy croak as I listened to McGovern's too-pristine version of his anthem of youthful rebellion, "The Times They Are A-Changin'. "
But it's easy to see why McGovern is such a highly regarded cabaret performer: She knows how to navigate a song's emotional peaks and valleys, and she knows, too, how to woo and win an audience with self-deprecating humor and unabashed corn. The structure of "Road" is simple: McGovern reminisces, sings, and tosses off observations while a backdrop features images of social change (antiwar rallies, protests on behalf of civil rights, gay rights, and women's rights) and personal change (photographs of herself through the years, from gawky preteen to flaxen-haired folkie). She got the idea for "Road," she tells us, when she was hospitalized - she's fine now - and asked herself: "How did the young girl with the guitar become the old girl on the gurney?"
"A Long and Winding Road" gives us a few answers to those questions while making clear that the old girl is still plenty spry. In decidedly non-chronological fashion ("Welcome to the iPod shuffle that is my mind," she says), McGovern tells of her Catholic girlhood; her clash over the Vietnam War with her beloved father; the breakthrough success of "Morning After" while she was going through a divorce; and her forays into theater, jazz, and the Great American Songbook.
McGovern brings a purity of voice to songs as various as "White Cliffs of Dover" and Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game," marches stirringly through Gil Turner's "Carry It On," and utterly nails the buoyant defiance of Laura Nyro's "And When I Die." By show's end, McGovern does launch into "The Morning After." And you know what? It sounds pretty good.
Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin@globe.com.
October 15, 2009 Maureen McGovern's Long and Winding Road One-woman show revisits an era, in song By Vicky Waltz
BU Today
Stage Photos by Eric Antoniou
In the slide show above, Maureen McGovern discusses the inspiration that brought her to A Long and Winding Road.
"It was 1969, and by God, we were determined to change the world."
Maureen McGovern is best known for her Billboard-topping hit "The Morning After," the theme song from The Poseidon Adventure, which catapulted her to stardom and landed her an Academy Award.
But before she became America's "disaster theme queen," the strawberry blonde from Youngstown, Ohio, was singing tunes composed by folk icons Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Judy Collins. "It was a very exciting and volatile time," McGovern recalls. "Amidst the Vietnam War, there were these remarkable songwriters singing incredible songs of peace, hope, and justice."
McGovern revisits the songs of that era in her one-woman show A Long and Winding Road, the current production of the Huntington Theatre Company. Part memoir, part concert, the play is a musical scrapbook chronicling the singer's recollections from four decades: the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Kent State University shootings, the AIDS crisis. "I've always been a storyteller through song," McGovern says, "so recounting the story of my own long and winding road through the music of my youth wasn't such a stretch."
Although some may dismiss A Long and Winding Road as "just another Boomer show," director Philip Himberg, who cowrote the script with McGovern, maintains that audiences of all generations will relate. "It's less of a 'me' and more of an 'our' story," he says. "It's the universal tale of a woman finding her personal and artistic voice during a time of tremendous uncertainty."
McGovern believes that the songs she weaves through the narrative -- among them Paul Simon's "America," Mitchell's "The Circle Game," and Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer" -- are still relevant. "In many ways, 1969 and 2009 parallel each other," she says. "Dylan's 'The Times They Are a-Changin' ' could have been written yesterday."
The melodies may be mellow, but there's an underlying sense of urgency. "Time is precious," McGovern says, "and 'someday' is not in my vocabulary. The time to act is now. Raise your voice, raise your fist, and pass along the torch to the next generation."
A Long and Winding Road runs at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St., Boston, through Sunday, November 15. Tickets range from $20 to $82.50 and may be purchased online, by phone at 617-266-0800, in person at the BU Theatre box office, 264 Huntington Ave., or at the BCA box office. Patrons 35 and younger may purchase $25 tickets (ID required), and there is a $5 discount for seniors and military personnel. Student rush tickets are available for $15 at the box office two hours before each performance, and members of the BU community get $10 off (ID required). Members of the BU community are eligible for a special subscription rate. Call 617-266-0800 for more information.
Vicky Waltz can be reached at vwaltz@bu.edu.
A Road' well-traveled McGovern traces personal journey through songs
If a disaster took place on celluloid in the early 1970s, it seemed that Maureen McGovern was there and ready to offer comfort with a song. Best known for her blandly optimistic No. 1 hit "The Morning After," theme for "The Poseidon Adventure," McGovern quickly became known as the "Disaster Theme Queen" when she scored more hits with songs from "The Towering Inferno" and the British mine-flood action film "Gold." She even scored a hit with the theme for an unintentional disaster - a flop TV show called "Angie."
But through the skyscraper fires and the watery Shelley Winters heroics, McGovern says her heart wasn't entirely invested in singing big '70s anthems that swelled with heavy orchestration and syrupy lyrics. Though they were worldwide hits, they didn't satisfy her artistically, and she always longed to return to her days as a folk singer. Now, decades later, she's singing the songs she says she has always wanted to perform - works by her personal heroes such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Webb, and Laura Nyro. McGovern is presenting the world premiere of "A Long and Winding Road," a one-woman show told through the music of the 1960s, at the Wimberly Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, presented by the Huntington Theatre Company.
"I'll obviously be grateful to 'The Morning After' until the day I die, but it was a frustrating time for me because the producers kept picking the songs, the keys, and the orchestration," she says one morning before rehearsal for "Road." "What I wanted was to go back to my folk roots and sing meaningful things."
In fact, at one point in the 1970s, McGovern was so disillusioned with the direction her career was taking, and so broke because of managers who had taken advantage of her business naivete, she dropped out of the music business altogether and went to work as a secretary under an assumed name, she says. It was only when she found a new outlet for her creative energies - Broadway - that she eased herself back into show business.
It is this circuitous path that brought her to "A Long and Winding Road." The production began as an album and a cabaret show in New York, but she has spent the past year turning the song cycle - which follows her life, politics, and career - into a full stage show. It stretches from the idealistic 1960s to the materialism of the 1980s and to a milestone that McGovern faced this year: turning 60.
"We call this a theatrical concert," McGovern says. "So it's not Rodgers and Hammerstein, but it's not strictly a conventional concert. It really has a spine and a story. The songs spring naturally from the dialogue that is taking place. We conceived this ultimately as a one-woman show that takes the '60s generation on a journey with me. My life mirrors theirs in a lot of ways. Every generation has their breaking away from the past, but in the 1960s that was particularly explosive because of the Vietnam war."
McGovern has no shortage of musical stage experience. She took over for Linda Ronstadt in Broadway's "Pirates of Penzance" with Kevin Kline, created the role of Marmee in "Little Women: The Musical" on Broadway, and starred with Sting in a Broadway production of "Threepenny Opera," in addition to touring and playing regionally with "Elegies," "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," and "The Sound of Music," among other shows. She did not have experience, however, when it came to writing productions for the stage. That's when she turned to Philip Himberg, who serves as co-writer and director of "The Long and Winding Road."
Himberg is the producing artistic director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program - part of Robert Redford's Sundance empire - which has overseen the development of hit shows such as "Spring Awakening," "Grey Gardens," and "The Light in the Piazza." Himberg met McGovern when he directed her in "Umbrellas of Cherbourg."
"It was her idea to look at her coming of age in the 1960s and 1970s," Himberg says. "The songs that she chose are really the second part of the Great American Songbook. The first time I heard her sing 'The Times They Are A-Changin' I was blown away. I could actually hear the words. It really meant something, and you realize how much resonance those words have."
All involved in "Road" are shying away from labeling it a baby boomer show. Both Himberg and McGovern say they feel any generation can relate to experiencing periods of personal growth and change, no matter what era they happen to take place in. The challenge both faced was first narrowing down the number of songs in the show - McGovern started with a list of hundreds - and then transforming the show from a straightforward cabaret program to a theatrical evening. They first worked on the show in Florida before bringing an early version of it to Washington, D.C.
It was while in Florida that Himberg contacted Peter DuBois, who had recently been named artistic director of the Huntington Theatre. DuBois went to Florida to hear the show in its developmental stage and was immediately impressed. He agreed to add the show to the Huntington's schedule.
"Listening to the songs and to the dialogue, I thought there's really something here," DuBois recalls. "This is like an exploded cabaret. You have Maureen, and you have these arrangements with real drive. The projection designer has created this big theatrical event."
Since that early run in Washington and a few invitation-only performances at the Huntington in March, more than half the story has been rewritten and songs have been added and removed.
"I've had my meltdowns because the contents of the show are highly personal," says McGovern. "I'm singing, and I get to Joni Mitchell's 'Circle Game,' and I started weeping because the words are so incredibly moving. I believe that music really reaches inside you emotionally. We are instantly taken back. We exercise to music to get the heart rate going. We lower the blood pressure with music. It's just a very strong, profound vehicle. Telling a story through songs makes it just that much more powerful."
Christopher Muther can be reached at muther@globe.com
Mad about McGovern
Who knew '70s siren Maureen McGovern was such a draw? The singer, who had a No. 1 hit with her milquetoast movie theme "The Morning After," is doing brisk box-office business with "A Long and Winding Road," a one-woman show that's set to open at the Wimberly Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts. We're told "A Long and Winding Road" has the largest pre-sale of any show presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the BCA...
After 37 years on the American music scene, Maureen McGovern's seen it all. The Grammy-winning singer and actress has feet planted in the worlds of folk music, musical theater and pop. During the 1970s, the Ohio native made a name for herself recording such movie themes as "The Morning After" from "The Poseidon Adventure" and "Can You Read My Mind" from "Superman."
But McGovern's heart will always be in the '60s, when she was coming into her own as a singer and as a person. She takes audiences down the path of her life, and that of her generation, in "A Long and Winding Road," a theatrical concert directed and co-conceived by Philip Himburg that opens Friday, presented by the Huntington Theatre Company.
In the course of the show, McGovern, 60, will sing nearly 30 songs by the likes of the Beatles, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and Connie Francis.
We caught up with the singer recently during a break in rehearsal at the Boston Center for the Arts.
Herald: How did you go about putting together the song list?
McGovern: We went through about 400 songs trying to find the spine of what is relevant about them now. Back then, so many of these songs were considered just kids music that you're supposed to outgrow. But when you look at the body of work from the '60s and early '70s and the incredible iconic singer/songwriters, they were so much more.
What is it about folk music that particularly speaks to people?
It's very conversational and it's very direct. It's always getting to the heart of the message. Before things could be written down, people passed on folk music from town to town, all through the ages. These songs will continue.
What was it like going back over the story of your life to create the show?
This is a highly emotional show because it's obviously reliving my life. So it's a very cleansing, uplifting thing. But you also have to be willing to go to those places that you haven't dealt with over the years. The '60s were a time of separation. We were turning our back on a lot that came before, which had its negatives as well. So it was a nice healing moment in the show to deal with some closure with my mother and father. We shared music, but our political beliefs were diametrically opposed. Young people asserting your personhood, every generation goes through that.
You're a big believer in music therapy. Is performing "A Long and Winding Road" therapeutic for you?
Oh, absolutely. Every time I sing. The ancients knew the inherent healing qualities of music. The first thing a mother does is sing to a child. That's the first voice they hear. Music reaches a place inside us more profound than just about anything. We're all water and vibrations, and it reaches inside on a cellular and emotional and spiritual level. I had a friend whose mother was in a coma, and he sat with her the whole time and told her jokes, talked to her, sang hymns that they had sung when he was a kid. And she came out of the coma, didn't remember anything that he said, but she corrected him on the wrong lyrics.
September • 2009
Still going strong: 44th year...
2009 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon Airs this Labor Day Weekend
MAUREEN's 30th consecutive MDA Telethon PERFORMANCE
LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS
Hour [3] - between 8:00-8:50 PM PST
Sunday, September 6
Maureen will be performing two classics from her current CD
A LONG AND WINDING ROAD
on PS Classics
FEELIN' GROOVY with jazz legend Jay Leonhart and
LET IT BE with Jeffrey Harris and the MDA Orchestra
Broadcast live from the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas, the marathon show begins at
9 PM EST / 6 PM PST Sunday, Sept. 6. It will be carried by 180 "Love Network" stations in the United States and Canada, and on MDA's Web site, www.mda.org. Check MDA's site for local stations and start times.
The show will be broadcast to nearly 40 million viewers in the United States and Canada by some 180 television stations comprising MDA's "Love Network." Millions more worldwide will be able to see the Telethon on the Internet via RealNetworks at mda.org. Check local listings for times and stations.
For the second year, an online auction will take place in conjunction with the Telethon. The Telethon Online Auction, which runs from Sept. 1-15, includes a wide array of unusual and one-of-a-kind items, many provided by MDA sponsors and celebrity friends.
For the first time, social media followers of MDA's Twitter, Facebook and YouTube sites will be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the show during the broadcast.
Maureen McGovern /... Pizza on the Park, SW1 / Bellamy's, W1
Clive Davis
Readers old enough to have endured the golden age of disaster movies may recall that Maureen McGovern had a No 1 hit with The Morning After, from The Poseidon Adventure and sang the Oscar-winning theme to The Towering Inferno. She also played the guitar-toting nun in that magnificent parody Airplane! before becoming a sleek cabaret performer who was sometimes a little too eager to display her multi-octave talents.
After a long absence, she has returned to London with a show -- part of the American Songbook season -- in which she courts listeners with controlled displays of emotion rather than grandstanding high notes. It is a feast for baby-boomers, McGovern celebrating the era of Simon & Garfunkel, Lennon & McCartney and Joni Mitchell. Now approaching her 60th birthday, the singer has aged gracefully. Her voice is warmer and darker, and she weaves songs into a gently self-mocking study of her generation's hopes and dreams.
Her musical director Jeff Harris supplies subtle accompaniment. McGovern's enunciation is so pure that you sometimes catch phrases that are indistinct on the original recordings. She is at her most vulnerable on Carole King's Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, while her anguished treatment of Jimmy Webb's The Moon's a Harsh Mistress is a tour de force. John Lennon's Imagine was too obvious and sentimental a choice, but McGovern had great fun revisiting her Catholic schooling with the help of Tom Lehrer's Vatican Rag.
"There's got to be a morning after," Maureen McGovern once sang in the 1973 Oscar--winning theme tune to The Poseidon Adventure. And more than 35 years later, the one-time 'disaster theme queen', as she was dubbed, is back again, radiant and resplendent under a canopy of flame-coloured hair, still holding on through the night.
And what a night. She may have taken, as the title song of her new album and cabaret set has it, a long and winding road to bring her back to Pizza on the Park for the first time in more than 15 years, but it has been one both well travelled and worth a detour to visit yourself. Just as vintage wine improves with age, so McGovern - always possessed of one of the most technically proficient and lovely voices in cabaret - has matured with a new darker, mellower quality to her sound that resonates more beautifully than ever.
The last time she was here in the early nineties, her programme centred around Gershwin and her magnificent 1990 album Naughty Baby. Now there's not a showtune in sight, as she visits a repertoire of classic pop songs by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Lennon and McCartney, Jimmy Webb and Carole King, amongst others.
That both expands the reach of the American Songbook (under whose umbrella this season is presented) and also allows her to find different emotional colours to paint with. There's a liltingly haunting version of Mitchell's The Circle Game that finds her "captive on a carousel of time", and could sum up the place where she finds herself and we now find her: "We can't return/we can only look behind from where we came/and go round and round and round on the circle again."
Now cheerfully admitting to 59, she is entering a new phase of life that sees her at the height of her vocal powers - she doesn't just sound beautiful, but she is connecting to the lyrics as never before. There's a similarly wistful spirit of enquiry to her wondrous version of King's Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Yes, and for years to come, I hope.
As accompanied by Jeff Harris, who also provides the gorgeous, movingly effective arrangements, this is the classiest cabaret London has seen for some time. It was also, incidentally, one of the poorest attended I've been to -- on the second night, there were just 19 of us there when the show started. But if there's any justice, it should be full for the rest of the run.
Maureen McGovern in London
March • 2009
The Arena Stage Blog I'll Give You Something to Cry ... March 23 , 2009
Where Were You When...?
by David Dower
I'm back in DC after the final presentation of Maureen McGovern's Long and Winding Road workshop at the Huntington in Boston. The performance on Saturday night was a surprising finish to a great three weeks of development. As I've written here, the show has an alchemical capacity to sneak up on you, particularly if you are of the Baby Boomer generation as I am. About half an hour in, the show directs our attention to Martin Luther King (Carry It On) and then to John F. Kennedy---- two indelible moments of tragedy in our lifespan (we Boomers and our parents, that is) which are so seared we remember exactly where we were when we first heard.
She then makes a surprising personal connection to another tragedy which followed closely but has receded behind so many others of that era. As she asks, "How could we possibly know what was to come?", a photo of a high school classmate appears. And then she gently reminds us why this person is familiar. I won't tease---- it is a photo of Sandy Scheuer.(Sorry, you'll have to look that one up yourself, or just come see the show!) There have been, at every public presentation of the piece so far, gasps of recognition but on Saturday, the gasps were followed by a period of weeping that swept the theater as Maureen sang Let It Be. I couldn't tell from my seat, but I think it got Maureen as well. And it kept going 'round the audience as song after song triggered deep emotional memories of this generation. See this show with someone you shared this era with.
The evening has an equal share of comic high points as well. She's got a gift for self--deprecating humor that connects us. On Friday night she began her "Nantucket" story, which starts with "In my mid--forties I was on Nantucket, nursing a broken heart..." and a woman in the front row said, gently "Weren't we all, honey. Weren't we all." The audience and Maureen cracked up as one. Of course, this was Boston. Is there a DC equivalent to the Nantucket cure?
Maureen McGovern premieres A Long and Winding Road at D.C.'s Arena Stage
Cabaret singers are extraordinary artists who bring a depth of interpretation
and emotion to love songs, Broadway show tunes and "personal" songs, those intimate tunes that break our
heart or bring us to the edge of tears. Maureen McGovern is among that rarified group of artists, though her choice
of music is unabashedly American. Washington's Arena Stage has collaborated with Boston's Huntington Theatre Company
on this production, the latter having recently sponsored a workshop of this show last month. This evening promises
to be something quite original ---- an evening with the other American songbook.
A Long and Winding Road is an entertaining and introspective look at the songs that
inspired Maureen McGovern before her Academy Award--winning hit song "The Morning After." A nostalgic tribute to
Maureen's roots as a folk singer, this theatrically infused concert celebrates her love affair with the early
works of James Taylor, Jimmy Webb, Carole King, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman and other groundbreaking singer--songwriters
from her youth. The repertoire includes an eclectic selection of iconoclastic singer--songwriter material
including "The Circle Game,""Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" "The Moon's a Harsh Mistress," "Imagine," "Fire and
Rain" and many others.
Co--conceived and written by McGovern and director Philip Himberg, with musical direction
by Jeffrey D. Harris and production design by Clifton Taylor, A Long and Winding Road runs March 27 ---- April 12, 2009
at Arena Stage in Crystal City.
"At this time in my life, looking back, what interested me most were those introspective
singer/songwriters who influenced my musical coming of age on the way to 'The Morning After,'" says McGovern. "I
started out as a folk singer in the late '60s, so it was an emotional journey for me to go back and explore this
particular section of my musical influences. The concert takes us on a vivid journey back to a time when everything
was possible and people set out to change the world."
Arena's Artistic Director Molly Smith observes, "Maureen McGovern has the kind of voice
you never forget. In this intimate show, she shares her personal perspective on her years growing up and into
her talent. These songs and stories take us back to a time many will remember dearly, and it's a true pleasure
to share an evening with her."
Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at (202) 488--3300 or at the Arena Stage Sales
Office at 1800 S. Bell Street, Arlington, VA 22202.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009. Air America Media
By Lionel
Maureen McGovern joins us. The Stradivarius Voice.
Her career spans over 37 years, including recordings, concerts, the Broadway stage, film, television, radio and compositions, all with a voice that defies categorization. Her newly released CD, A Long and Winding Road is now available on PS Classics, and garnering rave reviews. The New York Times has praised the collection as "[a] captivating musical scrapbook from the 1960's to the early 70's. Ms. McGovern is blessed with a vocal technique second to none." Grammy nominated for Best New Artist (1973) and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance (1998), she received a Grammy for Best Musical Recording for Children (2005) for her participation in the CD/DVD Songs from the Neighborhood: The Music of Mister Rogers. She won the coveted Tokyo Music Festival Grand Prize Award (1975) for her performance of Paul Williams' "Even BetterThan I Know Myself."
During the week of March 7 -- 13, tune in to the syndicated
program "Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli" [one of the main national radio outlets to hear classic American pop
and jazz] and listen to John's interview with Maureen. They discuss Maureen's new CD "A Long and Winding Road,
her new one--woman show of the same name and her career highlights. The program will air the week of March 7--13
on more than 70 stations around the country, and available for download
here.
Click here to watch your Diva in her role as National Chairperson for the Shamrocks for Dystrophy.
"Thanks to the tireless efforts of volunteers, participating businesses and sponsors nationwide, the
Shamrocks Against Dystrophy program continues to offer help and hope to families served by MDA," said McGovern,
whose niece is affected by one of the muscle--wasting disorders covered by the Association. "We're creating a
future of hope, and we're doing it one Shamrock at a time. Shamrocks Against Dystrophy is the perfect way for
people to share the green, and show their generosity and compassion for 'Jerry's kids.' Americans in every
community can support MDA's quest for cures and contribute to colorful displays of Shamrocks at local businesses."
MDA's Shamrocks program is in its 26th year.
Arena Stage Presents Maureen McGovern in A Long and Winding Road
As part of the Arena Presents series, Maureen McGovern comes to Arena Stage with A Long and Winding Road, an entertaining and introspective theatrical concert based on her recent album of the same name. Co--conceived and written by McGovern and director Philip Himberg, with musical direction by Jeffrey D. Harris and production design by Clifton Taylor, A Long and Winding Road is a tribute to the early works of Jimmy Webb, Carole King, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Paul McCartney and other ground--breaking singer/songwriters from the 1960s and '70s.
Produced in cooperation with Huntington Theatre Company, this powerful performance features the songs "The Times They Are A--Changin'," "The Circle Game," "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?," "Imagine," "Fire and Rain" and many more. A Long and Winding Road runs March 27--April 12, 2009 at Arena Stage in Crystal City. The press opening is Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m.
"At this time in my life, looking back, what interested me most were those introspective singer/songwriters who influenced my musical coming of age on the way to 'The Morning After,'" says McGovern. "I started out as a folk singer in the late '60s, so it was an emotional journey for me to go back and explore this particular section of my musical influences. The concert takes us on a vivid journey back to a time when everything was possible and people set out to change the world."
Artistic Director Molly Smith observes, "Maureen McGovern has the kind of voice you never forget. In this intimate show, she shares her personal perspective on her years growing up and into her talent. These songs and stories take us back to a time many will remember dearly, and it's a true pleasure to share an evening with her."
These songs have become "the second half of the Great American Songbook," notes The New York Times, which praises A Long and Winding Road as "a captivating musical scrapbook from the 1960s to the early '70s. Ms. McGovern is blessed with a vocal technique second to none."
Maureen McGovern's 37--year career includes Grammy nominations for "Best New Artist" and "Best Traditional Pop Vocal," Grammy Award for "Best Musical Recording for Children," Oscar--winning Gold Records "The Morning After" (Billboard #1) and "We May Never Love Like This Again." In addition to the current PS Classics release A Long and Winding Road, other critically acclaimed musical tributes include her Gershwin, Arlen, Rodgers, Marilyn and Alan Bergman CDs. Broadway credits include: Little Women, The Musical (2005 Drama Desk Award nomination as Marmee), The Pirates of Penzance, Nine, 3 Penny Opera and the recent first national tours of Little Women, The Musical and The King and I. Off--Broadway: Brownstone (originated the role of Mary). Regional: Elegies, Dear World, Letters From 'Nam (originated the role of Eleanor Bridges), The Lion in Winter, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Of Thee I Sing, Let 'Em Eat Cake, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Guys & Dolls, I Do! I Do! and The Bengal Tiger's Ball (composed the music, co--created and starred). Features: Airplane! (guitar strumming nun) and The Towering Inferno. Video: DreamWorks animated Joseph: King of Dreams.
February • 2009
This Sunday, February 15 you will have two opportunities to listen to Maureen discuss her new CD "A Long And Winding Road" on live radio interviews.
At 12:30 PM EST, you can hear Maureen talk to Thomas Henry of WHUS 91.7 FM, based out of the
University of Connecticut, and covers New London and Hartford, and also heard in parts of Massachusetts
and Rhode Island. To listen online, visit www.whus.org.
Then at 9:30 PM Central / 10:30 PM Eastern she will be interviewed by Al Becker on "Voices In The Dark" on
KDHX 88.1 FM, one of the major stations in the greater St. Louis area. To listen online, visit www.kdhx.org.
January • 2009
The Arena Stage Blog January 26, 2009
Inside the Development Process:
Maureen McGovern's A Long and Winding Road by David Dower
I often say I have the best job in the world. This is one of those times I remember why.
I'm at White Oak in Florida with director Philip Himberg, musical director Jeff Harris, and the wonderful Maureen McGovern. People of a certain age will have priceless, silly memories of belting out her "disaster hits" Can You Read My Mind and A Morning After back in the 1970's. She's got one of the great voices of a generation. If you don't believe me, take a listen to the samples from A Long and Winding Road on Amazon.com. (The album was just named one of the Top Ten Vocal Albums of 2008 by TalkinBroadway.com)
So we're here at this eccentric and beautiful retreat, a mix of animal sanctuary (there are Rhinos on the road in and Antelope outside my bedroom window) and artists' retreat (this is where Baryishnikov launched his White Oak Dance Project). Philip is the Artistic Director of the Sundance Theater Lab, which also uses this place for developing ensemble and musical projects. The Women of Brewster Place had a residency here two years ago.
And what I'm doing is listening to Maureen sing. ...
by Randy Cordova -- Jan. 25, 2009 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic
Maureen McGovern knows something about great songwriters. After all, she has recorded discs filled with material by the likes of the Gershwins, Harold Arlen and Cole Porter.
Her latest album is also devoted to great songwriters, but of a different sort: A Long and Winding Road features a collection of material from the '60s written by Jimmy Webb, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Laura Nyro and the Beatles,among others.
"Songs like this are evocative of a whole generation," McGovern says, calling from New York City. "But the thing is keeping them relevant today."
That is one of the intentions of both the album and the show that McGovern is touring around the country. The songs are not presented as dusty museum pieces surrounded with a whiff of incense. Instead, within a delicate cabaret framework, McGovern delves into the material, finding the immediacy and honesty.
For instance, the singer offers an intensely moving MacArthur Park that rescues the tune from Vegas purgatory. One listen, and you'll forget every cheese--filled lounge rendition you've ever heard.
"I was listening to a whole series of CDs to research the album," McGovern says. "I came upon this one CD with Richard Harris and MacArthur Park. I sat there, knowing that the song has been done a million times, almost to the point of being a cliche. But you listen to how adventurous it is. By the time I got to the middle adagio section, I just burst into tears. I knew I had to do it."
Other songs take on different meanings. Nyro's And When I Die is much more poignant coming from someone who has lived for several decades. When McGovern sings Webb's By the Time I Get to Phoenix, you get the sense that the sad couple in the lyrics has a long history together.
McGovern says approaching this type of material isn't any different from handling the classic American songbook.
"I try to find the simple, truthful way of telling the story," she says. "I look for songs that have a beginning, middle and end. Maybe you're changed by the end, maybe you're not. But something has happened."
McGovern turns 60 this year -- "Thank you for bringing it up," she deadpans with a laugh. Like most Baby Boomers, she came of age with this music.
"It's an immense section of your life," she says. "It's freedom, and a time in your life when all things are possible. There's a longing and sadness and restlessness in all these songs from the '60s, but they're filled with hope.
"When you fast--forward to today, and we're all worried about 401(k)s and our retirement, the music is so hopeful to me."
Hope is something for which McGovern is known. Before establishing herself as a hugely successful star on the New York cabaret circuit in the '80s, her big claim to fame was The Morning After, the Oscar--winning theme tune from The Poseidon Adventure. Her recording of the song reached No. 1 on the charts in 1973, and it still brings the house down in concert.
"I am always grateful to the song, and to this day I am glad to sing it," she says. "When I recorded it, my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer. I was going through a divorce. I had a lawsuit with my first manager. Basically, my life was tanking and, here I am, singing the ultimate 'hope' song. I think there was a desperate need for myself to believe in the lyrics."
Just as that song still resonates with listeners today, McGovern is finding the same truth with the material on A Long and Winding Road. Her stirring interpretation of Bob Dylan's The Times They Are a--Changin' is perhaps the most notable example.
"It could have been written this morning," she says. "It's so interesting to sing it today. I used to play guitar and sing it against the war in the '60s. Now, in the advent of the Obama administration, it's gone from a cautionary tale to being such a hopeful anthem. It's taken on a whole new life of its own."
Thanks to everyone who has written and left guestbook entries!
