DIVA TALK: . . .McGovern Gets Jazzy. . .
By Andrew Gans
20 Aug 2004

I've often said that a performer can't truly be appreciated until seen live. As much as I've enjoyed Maureen McGovern's recordings throughout the years, I had never seen the former 3 Penny star perform live until this past Saturday night. In person, the sound of her voice is even more beautiful than on disc. I was most impressed with her amazing control of her instrument — whether she's singing softly, belting full-out or occasionally scatting, McGovern has exquisite vocal agility. The performer, who will soon be seen in the new musical Little Women, has also grown tremendously as an interpreter throughout the years. On Saturday, she imbued a medley of Bacharach and David's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" and "A House Is Not a Home" with a touching sincerity. Other highlights of the show — dubbed "Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night" — included her opening, a beautiful rendition of William Finn's "I'd Rather Be Sailing"; a great take on that classic sultry song, "Fever"; a wonderful duet with bass player Jay Leonhart on Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"; and her belty finale, "Blues in the Night." She also did well with two little-heard ditties, Jule Styne's "Put 'Em in a Box, Tie 'Em with a Ribbon" and William Bolcom's humorous "Lime Jell-O Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise." McGovern was warm, funny and extremely appealing at Le Jazz Au Bar, where she concludes her run Aug. 22. The comfortable space, located within the nightclub Au Bar on East 58th Street, has standard cabaret tables and chairs as well as oversized couches, and is a great new addition to the cabaret scene.

Playbill

My favorites are those in a jazzy idiom, especially a tribute with skat to Ella Fitzgerald, who at 17 wrote “A Tisket, A Tasket,” a little yellow basket.

Also nice and jazzy are Julie Styne and Sammy Cahn’s “Put ‘Em in a Box, Tie ‘Em with a ribbon,” throw ‘em in the deep blue sea, because love and I we don’t agree. And Harold Arlen’s “Blues in the Night,” (My momma done told me….) . . . .

McGovern does not waste our time or assault our ears with silly patter. A rare spoken commentary, emphasizing her sophisticated cynicism about love, is this delicious quote from Dorothy Parker: "By the time you swear you're his, / Shivering and sighing, / And he vows his passion is / Infinite, undying - / Lady, make a note of this: / One of you is lying."

Le Jazz Au Bar is the most attractive cabaret I’ve seen, with well-spaced red-covered tables (every sight-line is perfect) and a British country-house ambience enhanced by old paintings and a crystal chandelier. It’s a perfect place for McGovern’s polish.

TravelLady Magazine

Maureen McGovern
Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night

Le Jazz Au Bar
Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes

With Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night, Maureen McGovern stirs up some smooth and spicy flavors at the Le Jazz Au Bar. She opens with William Finn’s I’d Rather Be Sailing, a vision of cool relief confirming that McGovern can smoothly send her lustrous notes sailing in any direction she chooses. Clearly she is commanding in a rainbow of music genres, jazz, pop, theatre, her astounding voice effortlessly skimming over four octaves.

Music director Jeff Harris created some intriguing arrangements, like Nice ‘n Easy (Bergmans and Spence) in a jazzy waltz time with McGovern sprinkling in a peppery scat to kick up the rhythm. It is in a trio of Ella Fitzgerald favorites, however, that her scatting chops get a charged workout – Oh, Ella Be Good (Gershwins), Eckstine and Gillespie’s bop tune Cool Breeze, and A Tisket, A Tasket (Fitzgerald and Webb). She barely breaks a sweat, and if she does, she can focus it into a trio of fervent love standards – More Than You Know, The Very Thought of You, My One and Only Love.

Showing her comic side with the wry Humidity (Harris/Harris), she puts a deliciously nasty slant on Put ‘Em in a Box, Tie ‘Em With a Ribbon (Styne and Cahn), punctuated by Leonhart’s bass rhythm and Lime Jell-O Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise by William Bolcom is a bizarre-o touch of humor in high drama, Ohio matron style.

Her actress side emerging stronger than ever, McGovern reaches for wit, heart, and the blues, deepening her vocal tone for The Meaning of the Blues and a no-nonsense Blues in the Night. She grasps the heart of A House Is Not a Home (Bachrach/David) and, with focused sensuality, delivers The Island by Lins and the Bergmans. Interesting is the feel of determined dignity reflected in a romantic narrative beginning with the Gershwins’ Love Walked In, heating up with Embraceable You, cooling down to the poignant Nobody’s Heart (Rodgers and Hart) and, finally reconciled, Just One of the Things by Cole Porter.

Jeff Harris supports McGovern’s renditions with colorful embellishments in the interludes. Jay Leonhart brings in a punchy bass drama, highlighted in a scorchy Fever and My Heart Belongs to Daddy. There is not a false note in this show. Maureen McGovern is one of the music world’s Essentials.

Reviews - Variety

Maureen McGovern
Fri Aug 13,12:17 AM ET
Robert L. Daniels, STAFF
Le Jazz Au Bar, New York City

Musicians: Jeffrey D. Harris, Jay Leonhart.

In her debut at Gotham's Le Jazz Au Bar, vet songstress Maureen McGovern (news) is offering a creamy set of seductive romantic standards that cover all the bases, from unrequited love and love forsaken to such ardent statements of commitment as Vincent Youmans' "More Than You Know." Under the collective banner of "Sultry Songs for a Hot Summer's Night," the glam 55-year-old chanteuse creates a subtle, lush and captivating mood.

McGovern has the most remarkable range and crisply tailored diction in town, and she offers a lesson in dynamics, from her whispery take on "Nice 'n' Easy" to the sweaty seductiveness of "Fever." She also unearths "Put 'Em in a Box (Tie 'Em With a Ribbon)," the fun tune that Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn designed for Doris Day (news) in her breezy 1948 film debut, "Romance on the High Seas." McGovern puts a hold on the rush of romance with this jaunty dismissal of love as comfortably as she embraces it with a sublimely haunting take on "The Very Thought of You."

On the sultry side, McGovern reminds us that Cole Porter raised more than a few eyebrows when he penned "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" for Mary Martin in 1938. The hip arrangement by composer-bassist Jay Leonhart is heightened by a witty walkin' bass line and a humming scat, inspired by the late bowing master Slam Stewart.

In a tribute to the first lady of song, Ella Fitzgerald, McGovern sails into a mix of Dizzy Gillespie's bop-flavored "Cool Breeze" and Ella's girlish trademark tune "A Tisket, a Tasket." McGovern's wide-ranging scat singing and her sense of jazz phrasing is just another facet of her skillful vocal talents.

McGovern gets the jump on the forthcoming Harold Arlen centennial year with "Blues in the Night," framing Johnny Mercer's lyrics with a deep-seated sense of sadness.

The stately diva is Broadway-bound this winter. She will appear as the family matriarch, Marmee, in the musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" at the Virginia Theater.

A Hot Summer Night's Dream
By: Barbara & Scott Siegel

The club is called Le Jazz Au Bar, but don't let the word "jazz" limit your expectations. With the appearance of Maureen McGovern through August 22, the room has started to become a bigger umbrella covering a wider range of musical styles. The same might be said of McGovern herself; she is such an extraordinary talent that she excels in virtually every idiom from jazz to standards, from pop to the blues. In years past, a McGovern show was all about her instrument; more recently, she has become a consummate entertainer with an extremely appealing performance persona and an ability to make the lyrics count as much as the notes.

Her new show, Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night, provides about two dozen reasons why you should make it your business to see her before she returns to Broadway in Little Women later this season. Those two dozen reasons are the songs that she sings in a generous program in which she displays dazzling musicality. Lushly accompanied on the piano by musical director Jeffrey D. Harris and buoyed by Jay Leonhart's sweet work on bass, McGovern puts on quite a performance.

She begins by turning William Finn's lovely "Sailing" into a swelling anthem for the sailboat set, then gracefully bringing it ashore as the indirect love song that it is. She makes a bow to Ella Fitzgerald, singing a song about her ("Oh, Ella Be Good") as well as one that Ella co-wrote: "A Tisket, A Tasket" (E. Fitzgerald/C Webb). Her measured rendition of "My One and Only Love" (R. Mellin/G. Wood) brings out the lyrics for a fresh read and serves as a perfect companion piece to Dean Martin's recording of the tune. And who knew that McGovern was so funny? Her take on "Lime Jell-O Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise" (William Bolcolm) is as peculiarly tasty as the song itself. Finally, her performance of "Blues in the Night" (Harold Arlen) is an incredible display of vocal virtuosity that, at the same time, serves the words beautifully. It's a boffo finale.

Read more here: Theater Mania.com

August 12, 2004

A CurtainUp Cabaret Review

Maureen McGovern: Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer Night

By Brad Bradley

Maureen McGovern, a versatile singer with a remarkable voice and an equally remarkable career that has spanned three decades, is currently appearing in a very enjoyable program at New York's newest elegant night spot, Le Jazz Au Bar. The venue is especially comfortable, although the sound system at Thursday's opening was experiencing a few kinks in balance. No kinks in Ms. McGovern's performance, though. Even when she realized that she was unconsciously rearranging lyrics on one especially difficult song, she made an enjoyable comic moment of it, and started anew with the flawless delivery that marks her set, and in fact her career.

This program is a particularly low-key one, terrific for anyone needing a dose of calming comfort after a hard day. She opens with a glidingly smooth version of William Finn's hardly known lovely tune, "I'd Rather Be Sailing," and quickly slides into a slightly more up-tempo piece, "Nice and Easy", which gives her a chance to show off her signature scatting style. No surprise then, that later in the program she offers an evocative tribute to scat icon Ella Fitzgerald.

Other highlights include a number of famous standards, including "Fever," "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," and, anticipating the Harold Arlen centennial next year, "Blues in the Night." The show songs remind us (she does not give herself a plug) that Ms. McG soon will be on Broadway in the coming musical production of Little Women. Another song that deserves mention even in an abbreviated review is "My One and Only Love," particularly because it reminds us how really gorgeous this singer's voice is. There is no hyperbole tolerance required to buy the promotion of this artist as "the Stradivarius Voice."

By Andrew Gans
12 Aug 2004

Actress and singer Maureen McGovern

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

MAUREEN McGOVERN

Though I had heard Maureen McGovern's beautiful vocal tones on various television programs, it was not until college — when the singing actress released her solo album "Another Woman in Love" — that I truly recognized her gifts as a performer. At the time I was hosting a radio program on my college station, and McGovern's versions of "I Remember," "Rainy Days" and "Some Other Time" got lots of air play. But I probably played no song from that album more than I did "I Could've Been a Sailor," the best rendition of the Peter Allen tune I've yet to hear.

Although McGovern has appeared on Broadway in three musicals — The Pirates of Penzance, Nine and the Sting revival of 3 Penny Opera — she has yet to enjoy an official pop-the-cork-on-the-champagne opening night. That should all change this season, when Little Women, the new musical based on the beloved Louisa May Alcott novel, opens at the Virginia Theatre Jan. 23, 2005, with McGovern in the role of family matriarch, Marmee. McGovern will bring her terrific, multi-octave voice to the role as well as her acting skills, which she has been honing this past decade in acclaimed productions of Dear World, The Lion in Winter and, most recently, the West Coast premiere of William Finn's Elegies. I recently had the chance to chat with the good-humored McGovern, who is currently offering an evening of "Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night" at the new Manhattan hotspot, Le Jazz Au Bar. That interview follows:

Question: How did you get involved with Little Women?
Maureen McGovern: Well, actually, [director] Susan Schulman has been a friend for 23 years since we first worked together. She directed me in my very first theatrical adventure, The Sound of Music, for Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. We subsequently did South Pacific and Guys and Dolls at Pittsburgh CLO. I was hired to do The Sound of Music, never even having done a high school play! On my way to Pittsburgh I was asked to come audition for Joe Papp for Pirates of Penzance. He hired me on the spot, never even having done anything. [Laughs.] I was hired for Pirates, went and did my one week of summer stock with Susan, who gave me a master class in those two weeks there, and literally stepped foot on Broadway. And, so, I went back to Pittsburgh CLO on my vacation from Pirates. I did that show for a year and two months and did a week of South Pacific with Susan.

We've wanted to do a project together for years, and Danny Davis, one of the producers, and Randall Wreghitt, had seen me in a workshop of Robin Hood that Martin Charnin and Tom Eyen were working on, [playing] the elder Lady Marian, and they said right then, "We have our Marmee." So, Susan and I started talking, and I said, "Oh God, I've loved this piece since I was a child." I read it as a very young child, a condensed version of it. And, of course, I've seen all four or five of the movies and have loved them. It's every young girl's dream — Jo is the great character to live out your dreams and keep your individuality and still have a glorious life. . . . I have not been able to participate [in the workshops] because of my working schedule. I was doing Elegies in Los Angeles at the time and had to honor a couple concerts that I had back East, [but] I took a red eye in time to see a reading last spring of Little Women, and oh my God, Sutton Foster is the definitive Jo. The part is transcendent with her. It's a great part to begin with, and she has just taken it to new heights. She's astounding. Susan has cast the show beautifully. Every person, the minute they walk out on the stage, you know who they are.

Q: What's the score like for the musical?
MM: The score is absolutely gorgeous. I have two specific songs and then sing part of others with people. I absolutely adore the music that I'm doing. A beautiful piece called "Here Alone" — Marmee is trying to write a letter to her husband and be positive. She's struggling with trying to find the words to say to him that don't let him know how alone and how fragile she is. She's a very strong inventive woman, which is wonderful because Marmee informs all the other girls. You see pieces of her — she's their rock — in their personalities. This is a very vulnerable moment for her. "How will I make it through all this? And how can I not worry my husband about how difficult life is at home without him?" She's a very strong woman and compassionate and creative, so she's just a wonderful character to play. She's like everyone's dream for their mother.

The other song is called "Days of Plenty," which is a beautiful, wonderful anthem of courage and hope and belief in the future even though she sings it after Beth has died. Jo says to her, "How do you go on? How do you keep going — you don't fall apart." And she says, "I don't have the choice. If I fell apart, I would take away from what her life meant. I have to keep going." She's the strength, she's the backbone and the rock for all of these girls. It's a delicious story, and the score is glorious. Jason Howland and Mindi Dickstein have done a beautiful job, and Allan Knee's book is exquisite and very faithful to the story. I'm so excited. This has been a long process. It's been delayed many times and just kind of in the offing, and I'm so thrilled that it's finally going to happen.

Q: And you're having out-of-town tryouts at Duke?
MM: Yes, at Duke — September rehearsal and October performances.

Q: And then you'll come to Broadway, and you'll finally get your Broadway opening night.
MM: Yes! [Laughs.] Your words to God's ears. Knock word.

Q: With 3 Penny, I remember seeing you on television talking about missing your opening night. What happened?
MM: What happened was the [Kurt] Weill estate and the musical director insisted — this is what I understood anyway — that the only way the Weill estate would allow it to be done was if the score and the book and everything was done in the original order and the original key. They must have had some wonderfully freakish soprano — that's what Michael Tilson Thomas said to me. It must have been some freakish soprano who could sing the score in the keys that it was in — because basically they wanted soprano roles belted. And I could get it out and sing it, but I knew for vocal health it was wrong for eight shows a week. I kept saying to them, "This is painful. This is very painful." [Director] John Dexter was fine with him to change anything, but the music end of the production refused. A week before we opened, I kept vocal silence and went at six o'clock to the theatre to do my warm-ups, and I got to the beginning of my belt, and nothing but air and squeaks came out! I saw my whole life pass before me. [Laughs.] I had to go on that night — my understudy's costumes weren't ready and she wasn't ready — so I kind of talk-sang around that area. I went to Dr. Gould the next day and his associate, Gwen Corovan, she came in and literally saved my life. She said, "No way [you can perform]. You have got a ruptured blood vessel on the right vocal chord." She conferred with Dr. Gould and said if I kept silence for the next week — Dr. Gould said, "My opera divas have never missed a performance!" — if you keep total silence and write notes, perhaps by the following Friday you'll be able to open. . . . [But] by the day before, it wasn't any better, so I missed the opening, which was devastating. It's like preparing for the wedding and no honeymoon. [Laughs.] So I missed 22 shows, and when I came back, I think we just had a week-and-a-half, and it closed. So it was frustrating.

So I'm very much looking forward to this [opening night]. The keys are wonderful, the part is just a delicious role to play, and Susan, aside from being a dear friend, she is just one of my favorite directors. She bonds the cast in a way that is just wonderful. It's just a wonderful experience, and she has a perfect eye for this period. She's the consummate person to direct this piece. And Janet Carroll, a friend from California, she's playing Aunt March, and she's wonderful. But, seriously, every single person they've cast is wonderful.

Q: You mentioned a little about Pirates of Penzance. What was it like making your Broadway debut with so little stage experience?
MM: It was just one of those nights you bring your whole life to, and it will always remain one of the most thrilling nights of my life. I didn't know enough to be as terrified as I should have been. [Laughs.] I was terrified, absolutely, but I didn't know the enormity of it. It was great fun. That show was such a valentine, and it could have gone on for years and years. I guess it was hard to cast everybody. It was just a joy to come to work every night.

Q: And after that you replaced Karen Akers . . .
MM: Yes, Karen Akers in Nine with Raul Julia. I loved that piece. I did not get to see the revival, and I heard Antonio [Banderas] was wonderful. Tommy Tune's vision of that piece, the stark black and white. I actually watched Nine on my day off from Pirates for weeks before going into it. And every single time I'd think, "Oh my God, they've added something," which they hadn't. It was just so multi-layered. It was a show you could see a million times and still catch something new. It was an exquisite piece.

Q: And you got to sing two of the best songs in the show.
MM: Yes, "Be On Your Own" and "My Husband Makes Movies." I think it's Maury Yeston's finest score.

Q: Your career has had so many twists and turns, but I guess it all started with "The Morning After." Did you think at the time that that would be such a big hit, and how does the song resonate for you now?
MM: You know, it's interesting. At the time I thought it was a nice song, and I was grateful for it — being an unknown artist — to have an Oscar-winning song. The song almost did not happen. They wrote it for Barbra Streisand, and she turned it down. My producer had sent a tape to all the record companies, and everybody had turned me down except for Twentieth Century Records, and Russ Regan, who was head of the label at the time, heard something in my voice and literally signed me sight unseen and said, "We'll look for something." This was October of '72, and so in November they sent me this song and said, "This is going to be a huge movie. You're an unknown artist, this will be a great vehicle." So, we recorded it in Cleveland. I had a cold at the time. I had flown in from Canada — they had prerecorded the tracks, and I just put my voice on there.

The song was released in December along with the movie. The movie took off, and the song did nothing, so they dropped it. And then it was nominated for an Oscar in the spring of '73 and subsequently won the Oscar, so radio stations all across the country were playing it, and this huge groundswell of song requests happened all across the country that forced Twentieth Century Records to rerelease it, and by August of '73 it was a gold record. So it was kind of a Cinderella story for the first time out.

At the time I was going through [many things] — my mother had colon cancer, we'd gone through her first series of operations for that, I was going through a divorce, a lawsuit with my first manager. My life was falling apart, and so it was ironic that I'm singing the hopeful anthem. I think what people heard in that was my desperate need to believe it. It's kind of the generic hope song. I still get letters today from people who had a death in the family or are going through illness or trying times or depression and how the song still resonates and still means things to people. It really didn't come full circle to me until my [experience with my] youngest niece. I've done the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon — this will be my 25th year, and I've sung "The Morning After" umteen times on the show. And, about ten years ago, my youngest niece [Carolyn] was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis, which is one of the neuromuscular diseases. And we were just devastated, and I had to go on the telethon and sing "The Morning After" that year, and I could barely get through the song. It was like my "ah-ha" moment as to what people really got from this song for years and years and years. And, gratefully she's in her second remission, and [is involved in] swimming team championship, she rides horses, and she's doing exquisitely well. So we're very grateful, but it brought home the real message of "The Morning After" to me, personally.

So I've started the Maureen McGovern Works of Heart Foundation for Music and Healing. All the letters that I've gotten from people through the years, and I know how I personally respond to music in times of joy, in times of triumph, in times of terror and depression. Music has really been a touchstone in my life. And I started working with the American Music Therapy Association. I'm one of the national spokespersons. And music therapists are these wonderful folks who have a music degree plus a clinical degree on top of that, and they have one-on-one consultations with patients, and I've gone on rounds with them around the country, and it's just extraordinary how music — it's not the cure to cancer — but it really aids in the healing process, and so it's a real passion of mine. End of my soapbox [laughs], but it's a real passion for me.

Q: You're also about to do two weeks in Manhattan at Le Jazz Au Bar. What type of music will you be doing there?
MM: The show is called "Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night," so they'll be sensual, playful, summer thematic things. I did Elegies in the West Coast premiere of Bill Finn's piece, which I absolutely loved. And I'm doing one of his pieces from A New Brain, "I'd Rather Be Sailing." Jeff Harris, my musical director, and James Harris wrote a wonderful piece called "Humidity." You couldn't do "Sultry Songs" without doing "Fever," the sultry song anthem. [Laughs.] And some Gershwin, one little Rodgers and Hart gem, a Cole Porter piece, some Jule Styne. I do a very deliciously bizarre piece by the classical composer William Bolcom called "Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise." I met him on a previous occasion, and I can't wait to ask him what inspired that [song], but it's something from my childhood. It's a universal song. [Laughs.] Bobby Troup's "The Meaning of the Blues." I just did a Peggy Lee tribute in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl and the Ravinia Festival, and I was shocked at the amount of lyrics that she had written, and she even composed some things. I do a piece called "The Shining Sea" that she wrote with Johnny Mandel from "The Russians are Coming" and "The Island."

Q: Final question: When people hear the name Maureen McGovern, what would you like them to think?
MM: In three words or less? [Laughs.] Well, obviously, she sings. But, you know, I used to think of myself as a singer who acts. But over the years I've been fortunate to do work with Philip Himberg at Sundance and different places, doing Dear World and doing The Lion in Winter, and I'm really an actor who sings. That's what I've been working on in my middle life. [Laughs.]

[Maureen McGovern is currently playing Manhattan's Le Jazz Au Bar through Aug. 22. The new jazz club is located at 41 East 58th Street; call (212) 308 9455 for reservations.]

Read More Here: PLAYBILL

While the program features standards such as "Embraceable You," "Fever," and "Blues in the Night," there are two newer songs that McGovern is most looking forward to singing. "I'm doing William Bolcom's 'Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise,' which really defies description," she says. "I consider it my one dementia moment in the show. And I'm opening with Bill Finn's 'Sailing.' He's such a brilliant writer. I did the West Coast premiere of Elegies earlier this year. My dad was really sick while I was doing it -- we lost him on July 4th -- and the show went right to my heart. I think it's a timeless piece and the most tasteful and powerful expression of 9/11 I know. We're a country that doesn't deal with death very well; to have something that celebrates the lives of people and finds humor and passion in this subject is so important."

After a brief return to California, where she'll record a song for an independent film and appear on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, McGovern heads to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina on September 7 to begin rehearsals for the pre-Broadway run of Little Women. She's playing the family matriarch, Marmee, in the musical, which will arrive at the Virginia Theatre on December 2. "People ask me which role I'm playing, which I think is hilarious. Don't you think I'm a little long in the tooth for Jo?", rhetorically asks McGovern, who turned 55 last month. "As a kid, Jo was my favorite character, but what I love about Marmee is that she is the real rock of the family."

Read more here: Theater Mania.com

By Andrew Gans
19 Jul 2004

Maureen McGovern, who will play Marmee in the Broadway-bound musical Little Women, is set for a two-week run at Manhattan's Le Jazz Au Bar next month.

The singer-actress will present "Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night" Aug. 11-22 at the new jazz club. Accompanied by Jeffrey D. Harris on piano and Jay Leonhart on bass, McGovern will perform such standards as "When the Sun Comes Out," "Lazy Afternoon," "Embraceable You" and "Blues in the Night." Show times are 8 PM Wednesday through Saturday evenings with additional 10 PM shows on Friday and Saturday nights.

Maureen McGovern's performing credits are numerous and varied. She appeared on Broadway in Nine, The Pirates of Penzance and The Threepenny Opera, and her many recordings include the Grammy nominated "The Pleasure of His Company" and the Academy Award-winning song "The Morning After." She was also seen in the films "The Towering Inferno," "Airplane!" and "The Cure for Boredom," and she appeared at the Sundance Theatre in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Jerry Herman's Dear World.

There is a $35 cover charge on weeknights and a $50 cover on weekends but no minimum. Le Jazz Au Bar is located at 41 East 58th Street, between Madison and Park avenues. Call (212) 308-9455 for tickets or visit www.ticketweb.com.

PLAYBILL

JAZZ REVIEW

A swinging tribute to Peggy Lee

With few off notes, a strong lineup of singers finds a common chord in performing the late artist's classics.

TRIBUTE TO PEGGY LEE

ggy Lee herself, via a television video. That record, and her composed presence on the big screens, castRichard S. Ginell, STAFF
VARIETY

Presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. Reviewed July 14, 2004.

Jazz at the Bowl is getting mighty good at putting together tributes. Like last summer's "To Ella With Love," "A Tribute to Miss Peggy Lee" flowed like a dream -- superbly paced, each singer performing one song before giving way to the next vocalist, a single band of experts backing them, with reminiscences and videos serving as connecting tissue. It was a carefully sequenced show, with some emotional depth for those who remember Lee and those who didn't have the chance.

Miss Peggy Lee -- that's how she wanted to be billed -- was a paradox, a study in cool and subtlety who could radiate sensual heat through a Scandinavian reserve. While she had a smash hit as late as 1969 -- the sublime "Is That All There Is," which oddly got lots of airplay on top 40 radio -- she always belonged to an earlier, now nearly extinct era of show business, which this tribute definitely reflected.

The organizers reached deep into their Rolodexes for some sterling serial hitmakers who don't receive much exposure in the 21st century. Petula Clark was perfectly comfortable with Lee's Afro-Cuban-accented treatment of "Heart" (authentic right down to the chanted "corazons" from the band), as was Nancy Sinatra in the understated delivery of "He's a Tramp." Rita Coolidge had a minor hit with "Fever" early in her career, and she performed it with the sultry restraint with which Lee stamped the tune. For Jack Jones, the model for his "Well Alright, OK, You Win" remained Joe Williams.

There was balance, too, in the singers' entries -- most got two numbers, often a ballad and an uptempo tune (Jane Monheit received three, including a vocal treatment of "Samba de Orpheus"). None provided more contrast than Maureen McGovern, the romantic balladeer in "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" giving way to the belter who delivered "Come Back to Me."

The superb, swinging rhythm section was Peggy's own: John Pisano on guitar; pianist Mike Renzi; Jay Leonhart on bass; and drummer Grady Tate, who got to display his underrated pipes with Jolie Jones in "Angels on Your Pillow."

In the end, though, "Is That All There Is" was entrusted to Miss Pe

the deepest spell of the night.

Maureen To Take Part in Tribute to Peggy Lee At Hollywood Bowl and at Chicago's Ravinia Festival.

Los Angeles, CA -- An encore presentation of one of the most popular concerts at last year's JVC Jazz Festival in New York at Carnegie Hall, "There'll Be Another Spring: A Tribute to Miss Peggy Lee," will be presented for Los Angeles music fans at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, July 14 at 8:00 pm. The event is the kickoff concert of the 'Jazz at the Bowl' 2004 season.

Scheduled performers include stars from jazz to Broadway to current pop music and beyond, including such entertainment legends and contemporary favorites as Bea Arthur, Petula Clark, Freddy Cole, Rita Coolidge, Lorraine Feather, Nnenna Freelon, Jack Jones, Jolie Jones, Maureen McGovern, Jane Monheit, Rita Moreno, Nancy Sinatra, and a number of special guest artists to be announced.

Lee's personal favorite rhythm section, Mike Renzi (Music Director, piano), John Pisano (guitar), Jay Leonhart (bass) and Grady Tate (drums), backed by a traditional big band, will accompany the performers. Featured will be the original arrangements by her esteemed colleagues, collaborators, friends and fans, including Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, Randy Newman, and Quincy Jones.

Produced and created by Richard Barone, the evening will highlight Peggy Lee's compositions and collaborations -- revealing her undeniable and lasting influence on the American pop/jazz songbook -- as well as songs written specially for her legendary voice by some of America's greatest composers.

Barone explains, "This is more than a tribute concert to a great artist. It's a unique musical biography of Peggy Lee's life told through her songs -- performed by the people who knew and loved her, and newer artists who have felt her influence on their own work."

"The music will be fabulous and the vocal stylings by some of the world's great singers will make Peggy's dynamic songs come alive again," added George Wein, CEO of Festival Productions, Inc., and presenter of Jazz Festivals around the world.

Lee is remembered for a long list of award-winning tunes including "Fever," "Mañana," "It's A Good Day," "Why Don't You Do Right?" "Lover," "Black Coffee," "Don't Smoke in Bed," "The Folks Who Live on the Hill," "Is That All There Is?," and many other unforgettable songs.

World-renowned as the epitome of pop/jazz sophistication for over six decades, and a favorite of music festivals around the world, Lee performed her final concert at The Hollywood Bowl in 1995, adding to the significance of this very special evening of legendary music.

The Hollywood Bowl is located at 2301 N. Highland Avenue, Hollywood, CA. Phone: (323) 850-2000. For ticket info, please visit the Hollywood Bowl web site, HollywoodBowl.com.

There'll Be Another Spring: A Tribute To Miss Peggy Lee is also being presented to Chicago Fans at The Ravinia Festival Tuesday, July 20, 2004 at 8:00 PM. For Ticket info, please visit Ravinia Festival.

May 9-15, 2004

AMERICAN PROFILE INTERVIEW
Nancy Henderson

1. You've had pop success, done Broadway, television, sung with Placido Domingo and Mel Torme. Which aspects of your very varied career in entertainment do you find most rewarding? Most challenging?--------

   To have sung with Mel Torme, Placido Domingo and with Sting on Broadway-- it hardly gets better than that! I feel very fortunate to have carved out a career that is as multi-faceted as my imagination will allow. I love a challenge. With acting, one can never know enough -- there is always some new aspect of life staring you in the face and challenging you to expand your creativity and point of view. I love stepping inside the heart and soul of a character and experiencing the world through someone else's eyes.

   As a "storyteller through song," I have to say that whenever I perform one of my special concert/lectures, "Works Of Heart / Musically Speaking," for patients and caregivers, it is one of the most rewarding facets of my career. I'm a strong believer that HOPE is half the battle and this particular audience and I experience a wonderful journey together during these evenings.

2. In your letter explaining how you came to form Works Of Heart, you talked about seeing the effect that music could have on people dealing with illness - either their own or a loved one's -- and realizing how powerful that was. How did that affect the way that you saw yourself and/or your gift of singing?---------

Since my childhood, music has always been a touchstone in my life -- comforting me during tragedy and loss, inspiring me to carry on, voicing my joy in times of triumph, soothing, calming and relaxing away the stress of a stressful world.

In the years since recording "The Morning After," I've received countless letters from people who have used my music during surgery, recovery, chemotherapy and during particularly difficult times in their lives because of the life-affirming message they provide.

I was asked to sing at a Pittsburgh Hospital's Pediatric ICU on Christmas Eve years ago. Most of the children were sent home for the holidays and only the very critically ill children remained, along with their caregivers. I sang several children's songs and holiday favorites and ended with "The Morning After." Most of the children were on IVs and breathing machines and were heavily medicated, but the weary parents received the hopeful message of "The Morning After" with grateful, open hearts. As the children's beds were being wheeled back to their rooms, one by one, each parent clung to me with tears in their eyes. One mother thanked me over and over again for making her heart "smile" -- something she hadn't felt in over a year. I will never forget their faces. I knew, then and there, that I was put on this earth to sing music that comforts and inspires.

As a spokesperson for The American Music Therapy Association, I have gone on rounds in hospitals with many qualified professional Music Therapists and have seen first ßhand their extraordinary work using the powerful tool of music to aid in the healing process. From a child facing cancer treatments, to a young man recovering from a brain injury, to a woman with Alzheimer's disease, Music Therapy can make the difference between fear, pain and isolation and comfort, empowerment and fulfillment.

I have recently realized a life-long dream by founding The McGovern "Works Of Heart" Project for Music and Healing to provide a recorded library of life-affirming, positive, "musical milligrams of hope" for patients and caregivers. My "Works Of Heart" CD and related Works Of Heart materials from the Project are being used by hospitals, hospices, music therapists, churches, senior care facilities, medical summer camps for kids and caregiver support groups. The need is great and the application is endless. It gives me great joy to "give back" in this lasting and tangible way.

3. What can you tell us about the Broadway musical version of Little Women? --------

Little Women - the musical. Broadway Winter, 2005.
Book by Allan Knee,
Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein,
Music by Jason Howland.
Directed by Susan H. Schulman.

It's a beloved story with a beautiful musical score. Twenty-three years ago, Susan Schulman directed me in "The Sound Of Music" for Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera-- my theater debut. Susan is an extraordinary Broadway director and I can't wait to play "Marmee" in her production of "Little Women" with Tony-Award winning, Sutton Foster as "Jo."

'Out of this World' Maureen McGovern'
by Gregg Shapiro
2004-01-14

** Maureen McGovern at Centre East, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, (847) 673-6300, on Jan. 24, 2004

Maureen McGovern was extremely busy during 2003. Two of her CDs, Out of This World: Maureen McGovern Sings Harold Arlen (from 1996) and The Music Never Ends: The Lyrics of Alan & Marilyn Bergman (from 1997), were rescued from obscurity when they were reissued, in expanded editions by the Fynsworth Alley label. In addition to that McGovern has been very involved with The American Music Therapy Association and released a CD titled Works Of Heart (www. maureenmcgovern. com). Subtitled "songs of hope," Works Of Heart includes McGovern's trademark tune "The Morning After." I recently spoke with the acclaimed singer about her many projects.

Gregg Shapiro: I want to begin by acknowledging that you marked your 30th anniversary in show business during 2003. How does one celebrate such an auspicious occasion?

Maureen McGovern: (Laughs) It's been a very reflective and exciting year for me. What I'm doing this year is really getting my Works of Heart project for music and healing up and running in full force. I recorded an album called Works of Heart that's all life affirming and positive music for patients and caregivers. I'm most grateful to be doing, as my life's work, something that I absolutely love; singing and acting, traveling all over the world. I feel very fortunate, and most entertainers want to give back in some way. The Works of Heart project for music and healing is a permanent way of saying 'thank you' and giving back. I'm working with the American Music Therapy Association as one of their national spokespersons. Music therapists are the unsung heroes out there in the hospitals and clinics because they work one on one with patients. Music has a profound effect on people physically, emotionally and spiritually.

GS: In the liner notes for Works of Heart, which is a benefit disc for the American Music Therapy Association, you wrote about the letters you received from people who have found comfort, strength and healing in your music. Can you please describe what that means to you?

MM: People have written to me for years about how 'The Morning After' has gotten them through horrible times in their life of depression, loss, grieving, or confusion and how it was a beacon of light to them. Literally countless letters through the years. I thought, "If I have that gift, then that's what I've been put here for." I should focus that and use that for a greater good. That's really why I started the Works of Heart project. We all respond to music. I'll give you a couple of examples. A friend of mine's mother was in a coma, and he flew to her side. He read to her and talked to her, and sang hymns to her that she had sung with him while he was a child. For about three weeks there was no response. She did briefly come out of the coma before she died, and she didn't remember anything he had said but she corrected him on the wrong lyrics. As only a mother could do (laughs). The point being music reaches inside in a very profound way; we're all water, vibrations and energy basically. Music is a powerful energy vibration that really reaches inside. You couple the sound of music with an inspiring lyric and it's a very powerful tool. Obviously it's not the cure to cancer, but it enhances the body's ability to heal.

GS: In addition to the American Music Therapy Association, you are also known for your generosity to charitable organizations such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and AIDS organizations including Project Angel Food, Desert AIDS Project, The AIDS Memorial Quilt. Do you find yourself bombarded by requests from charities, and if so, how do you select the ones with which you want to be associated?

MM: I actually have only done a couple things for Project Angel Food, but I think they're an incredible organization. The AIDS Quilt, I've done many things through the years for them and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. (AIDS) should still be at the forefront of everyone's mind. We've been doing this for 20 years now. We've been hoping for a cure and certainly the quality of lives for those living with AIDS or HIV have drastically improved, but there is still so much more that needs to be done. With the AIDS epidemic worldwide that is decimating whole countries. It should always be in the forefront of our minds to keep looking for cures and better ways of helping people. I personally feel I don't do enough. That's always in my mind, I must do more.

To give you another example of the power of music to heal; "And I'll Be There" is the beautiful song by Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Dave Grusin that closes the Works of Heart CD and I gave the CD to a woman in Boston who was working on a show I was doing. She volunteered at a hospice and I thought some of the songs would benefit some folks there. There was a young woman, with a four-year-old and a seven-year-old, in the end stages of breast cancer. She was sitting on the edge of her bed really despondent, she was going to have the last talk with her kids. She didn't know where to begin or what to say, obviously profoundly distressed. So this woman said, "I've just been given this CD, perhaps 'And I'll Be There' might give you some comfort and also give you some idea of what you want to say."So she left her, came back a couple hours later and the woman was sitting on the edge of her bed, swinging her feet, radiant. She said, "Not only do I know what to say to my kids, but I want to leave them this record so they will always have this song to listen to." (Quoting from song) "Though you may not always see me, I'm right there by your side." It's just a gorgeous song, really for anyone you care about, but certainly in her circumstance to leave that as her legacy to her children.

GS: That's very fitting.

MM: There's nothing that can compare to something like that. That's what I'm setting out to do with music and I think that's the gift and the power of music. I'm setting out to do a whole series of CDs that have quality lyrics and a strong positive message. I'm completely for freedom of speech and freedom of expression, so I don't think there should be change or restriction, but I do think there should be a balance, and I don't see a balance in today's music. That's one of things I want to do is provide that. What's happening is the American Music Therapy Association is talking about doing a booklet that will go along with the Works of Heart CD or a CD for children with cancer and chronic illnesses. Also an album for Alzheimer's caregivers; to me the caregivers are, certainly in the AIDS epidemic, incredible people. It's really important to restore the caregiver to help the patient. There are many areas and avenues that this project will take. I mentioned the booklet along with the CD that will show the Music Therapy application for these particular songs. I can't replace what a Musical Therapist does. That's a one-on-one, concentrated hour of the day that a therapist spends with a patient for their specific needs. I want to be the cheerleader for the rest of the day, which gives them a library of music that they can say, "When I'm not here listen to this for this particular application."

GS: You are providing the soundtrack. Long before you became involved in AIDS activism, you had established a considerable gay following. What do you think it is that sets your gay fans apart from your other fans?

MM: I think they're very discerning listeners (laughs). People ask me that often times. I don't know. I think gay listeners particularly love great music and great singers and I love and embrace you all.

GS: For some people, your name is often assoiated with movie theme songs from "The Morning After, "We May Never Love Like This Again" and "Can You Read My Mind?" through the songs of Marilyn & Alan Bergman. What is it about these songs that make them appealing to you?

MM: I was very fortunate in the beginning of my career to have the generic hope song. "The Morning After" was offered to me sight unseen by a record company who had signed me as the first thing to record because I was an unknown artist and they believed the movie would be huge and felt it would be the perfect vehicle for me to be attached to. But the song was dropped when it was released, but the movie took off. When the movie was nominated for an Oscar the following Spring, all of a sudden radio stations started playing it and huge phone requests came in and the record company was forced to re-release it. By August of 1973 it was a gold record. I became known as 'the disaster theme queen.' I followed that up with The Towering Inferno, which won the Oscar as well. "Can You Read My Mind?" I had been dropped by record companies from 1976 until 1979 when I recorded "Can You Read My Mind"from Superman. They said, "We have another movie theme for you." I thought, Oh God, not another movie theme. I want to show the world I can do something else. But I loved the song, John Williams and Leslie Bricusse. Although it was not actually sung in the movie, Margot Kidder spoke the words in that lovely flying scene the first time she flies with Superman. Due to that technicality, it was not eligible to be nominated for an Oscar, which was a shame. So, I became the disaster theme queen, but I think some of the most enduring and endearing music has been from film.

GS: The Music Never Ends, your album of Marilyn & Alan Bergman covers, has been reissued in an expanded version which includes three newly recorded songs. What attracts you to a Bergman song?

MM: There is somewhat of a poverty in today's music. It's hard to find prolific writers like the Bergmans who write in all genres with all different kinds of composers from great jazz (Dave Grusin and Dory Caymmi and Ivan Linz) to Marvin Hamlisch and of course the body of work with Michel LeGrand. They've written with the creme-de-la creme of composers for the last 50 years. I just scratched the surface the first go round with this CD. Fynswoth Alley graciously agreed to re-release it, because three of my most beloved albums were in limbo after Sept. 11 (when) the (original) record company and their distributors went belly up. I (also) just finished two cuts for my Harold Arlen CD, Out of This World, so we have two new bonus cuts for that as well.

GS: With such a wealth of material from which to choose, what can a person expect to hear at a Maureen McGovern concert?

MM: I'm sort of an odd duck in today's world (laughs). My audience comes because they know they're going to be taken on a journey. They're going to laugh, they're going to cry, and they're going to hear some classical music, some jazz, some theater and pop. I was the disaster theme queen in the '70s and a schizophrenic singer in the '80s because of all the genres I love to explore. I'm not a jazz singer per se, but I inhabit the world of jazz. I love theater. I love light classical music, and certainly the great American songbook standards. I did an album of baby boomer favorites called Baby I'm Yours. I'm putting a show together of baby boomer classics. I'm going to be doing a jazz album with another artist that I'm a big fan of, which will be a thrill for me. A straight-ahead jazz album is what I've always wanted to do. Whatever interests me at the moment, and challenges me, is what I tend to dive head first into.

The Windy City Times