The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast

Special Episode #12: In anticipation of the upcoming release of the cast recording of Encores Off Center's production of God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater starring Santino Fontana, I bring you a podcast  episode featuring Santino himself! I had the privilege of playing a small role in the show, so I got to watch Santino at work, and he is truly a brilliant artist. You'll hear me acknowledge him in this episode, and although it sounds like I'm praising a mere ability to memorize quickly (one of my pet peeve compliments), what I meant and didn't quite articulate was that he seemed to arrive at a full and complete performance, i.e. emotional depth, sense of humor, facility with the language and music, almost immediately with no ostensible effort. It was pretty amazing. And for the record, the name of the complicated song he nailed in the cast recording is “A Firestorm Consuming Indianapolis.”Rosewater aside, Santino has graced many a Broadway production, including Billy Elliot, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Importance of Being Earnest, Cinderella, and Act One. Additionally, he is probably best known for his performance as Greg in the CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and as the voice of Prince Hans in Disney's blockbuster film Frozen. But for me, first and foremost, he'll always be Aaron from the web series Submissions Only.In this episode, Santino sings “At Sea,” a song from the abandoned show Hashi, a piece on which I collaborated with Beth Blatt. Loosely based on the Pollyanna story, the young, recently orphaned boy Hashi has been sent to live with his Aunt Barb, a single, hardened New York City working woman. In this song, Barb's ex-boyfriend and upstairs neighbor Ben is back on a break from the cruiseline doctor job he accepted directly after their breakup. In a conversation with Hashi, Ben reflects on his choices over the past few years. (FYI, the sheet music and piano accompaniment track for "At Sea" have just been added to my online music store.)As for Santino, he is tireless! Here's what he has coming up:On July 21 and 22, he'll be performing in a concert with Laura Osnes and Ted Sperling in ChicagoOn July 28 he'll be doing a concert version of The Music Man with his wife, Jessica, in the PoconosFrom August 12-20, he'll be appearing on the Broadway on the Rhine River Playbill CruiseAlso look out for him in some upcoming episodes of Mozart in the Jungle, returning to play yet another title role, Mozart himself!This episode was recorded on April 20, 2017.

Special Episode #11: Five years later!! Here I am again with a new episode and an extra special guest star, THE bright star of Bright Star, Carmen Cusack! Carmen exploded last season with her highly acclaimed Broadway debut as "Alice Murphy" in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's musical, garnering every lead-actress-in-a-musical nomination that exists. While Bright Star did mark Carmen's Broadway debut, it certainly wasn't her first theatrical outing. Her career began in the UK, including such star turns as Christine in Phantom, Fantine in Les Mis, and then back in the US on the national tours of Wicked as Elphaba and South Pacific as Nellie. Add in regional gigs playing Annie in First Wives Club, Mother in Ragtime and Dot in Sunday in the Park... and you've got a seriously impressive resume! Since Bright Star closed, Carmen has kept busy with numerous concert gigs and a one-woman play, Do This, at the Gulfshore Playhouse. Coming up are appearances at the Kennedy Center for a Pete Seeger tribute on April 15th, a solo show at 54 Below on April 16th, and a concert with me (!) at the Axelrod Arts Center in Deal, NJ on May 20th!Today's selection is a "trunk song" from yet another one of my abandoned musicals, Hashi, on which I collaborated with Beth Blatt. Hashi was loosely inspired by Pollyanna, i.e. a hardened, spinster aunt gets custody of the newly orphaned child of her estranged sister. In our version which takes place today, the aunt, Barb, is a 40something, single NY businesswoman with no time for parenthood, and instead of a niece, Hashi is her nephew, born and raised in Africa and Asia by Barb's free-spirited, hippie sister. Barb has just learned she will have to take custody of the boy, who arrives the next day. With no information about him and his life, she speculates on how "Nothing's Gonna Change."This episode was recorded on March 20, 2017.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #12 (May): It's the final installment of my yearlong song cycle! I did it! And I have the perfect guest with whom to complete the cycle, someone who knows a thing or two about song cycles himself: Michael Winther! I've known Michael since the early 90's, when we were Plaids at the same time (but never in the same production). Since then, Michael has had quite a distinguished theatre career, bouncing between musicals and plays, including the Broadway productions of Artist Descending a Staircase, Damn Yankees (with me!), 1776, The Crucible, Mamma Mia (with last month's guest Dee Hoty!), and most recently, 33 Variations.But the reason I think of Michael when I think of song cycles is that he was at the center of a very distinguished one, Songs from an Unmade Bed, which began as an offhanded idea from the very talented lyricist/librettist Mark Campbell and blossomed into a theatre piece that became part of The New York Theatre Workshop's 2005 season, earning Michael a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance!His interesting collaborations continue, most notably My Coma Dreams with Fred Hersch, the brilliant jazz pianist and composer, and When We Met with another previous podcast guest, Sally Wilfert!The inspiration for this month's song comes from Brett Lowell, who gave me so many great ideas this month that I had to narrow it down. I particualrly liked his idea of incorporating "Mayday!," the distress signal, into a song about how in May, thoughts turn to love, etc. Add to that my own fascination to learn that "Mayday!" springs from the French, "[Venez] m'aider!" and the next thing I knew, there was a samba! (Special thanks to Caroline Bergonzi, David Turner, and Marcy Scott for their help with the French translation.) What a fun way to end the project!In closing, I'd like to express my gratitude once again to Bradley Kaye for the adorable Month Upon a Time logo, to all the wonderful singers who lent their time and talent to my songs, and to all of you who offered up ideas for songs each month. Don't forget, if you want to perform any of these songs, they're available as sheet music in my online music store.Until the next episode...This episode was recorded on May 28. 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #11 (April): Remember last month when I said I wanted to do something special to celebrate my 50th podcast episode? Well, I'd say I hit the jackpot with a visit from the very special Dee Hoty!I've been a big Dee Hoty fan since seeing her as Alaura in City of Angels, and she has never disappointed, giving standout performances in every show she graces. And she has seemingly graced them all! Between her work on Broadway and in national tours, regional theatre, and summer stock, I'm pretty sure Dee has played every leading lady role ever written, and then some. Dee is one of those actors' actors: she'll camp out on Broadway for years in big shows (did I mention she's received three Tony Award nominations?), but then she'll also pursue those labors of love, like The Transport Group's The Audience (which happens to be the only time Dee and I have appeared in the same playbill).After years of saying "We should do something together," what a treat for me to get to hear her sing my little April song.This month's idea comes from an old friend and fellow Plaid, Richard Roland, once actor, now director, whose one-word suggestion was simply "Taxes." (For the record, there were multiple people who suggested taxes, but Richard was officially the first. Thanks to everyone who sent ideas! One more month left... I'm going to miss that process, you guys!)FYI, my love affair with Dee Hoty continues into May, when she will be performing (along with Drew Gehling, Sarah Stiles, and recent podcast guest Dee Roscioli) in my upcoming concert, Trunk and Disorderly: Songs from the Deep, Dark Trunk of Jeff Blumenkrantz. Did I mention that I won the Fred Ebb Award this year? Well, as part of my prize, they're sponsoring a concert of my songs on May 14 at 6:30 at the York Theatre. Seating is limited, so I can't offer you seats outright, but if you want to come, please put yourself on the waiting list by filling out the form on the other side of this link, and I'll let you know ASAP if we can accommodate. (FYI, there is no charge.) This episode was recorded on April 27, 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #10 (March): As you might have noticed, this month I give new meaning to the concept of waiting until the last minute. I'm literally recording, editing, and posting this episode on March 31, so I'm singing the song myself, out of necessity. (OK, admittedly, maybe I was ready to sing one of these songs anyway.)This month's idea comes from my friend Nathan Brisby (@nbrisby), who suggested I write a song about St. Baldrick's. Like some of my other favorite Month Upon a Time suggestions, I had never heard of it, so I embarked on a reconnaissance mission and pretty quickly found the official St. Baldrick's website. Instead of my telling you about this amazing and relatively new institution, why don't you listen to the song and then poke around their website. You could also see any number of videos on youtube chronicling various St. Baldrick's events across the country.Next month's episode is going to mark my 50th podcast, so I'm hoping to do something particularly festive... any ideas? Lay 'em on me!Until then...This episode was recorded on March 31, 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #9 (February): I've been a big fan of Dee Roscioli's from the minute I laid eyes on her at the meet-and-greet for the 2010 24-Hour Musicals. Little did I know that she had already distinguished herself as the actress who performed the role of Elphaba in Wicked more times than any other performer in North America, a "title" I believe she still holds! I'm sorry to say, I didn't get to see her in the role, but everyone who has, either from the stage or from out front, is all raves! If you want to know more about her experience as The Green One, check out this adorable backstage video.After five years on the broom, Dee recently appeared in the Off-Broadway play Dedalus Lounge with Anthony Rapp and a full Irish brogue. As for what's next, I predict a slew of starring roles in original Broadway musicals. And possibly a CD? You can play your part by going to her fan page and telling her what you want to hear her sing!Special thanks to my beloved college pal Marjorie Harris Newman (aka Margie Harris) for the idea for this month's song, inspired by her sister Melanie's attitude about her 2/14 birthday. Also, thanks to my friends Suzanne Thomas, Alan Filderman, David Krane, and Chantal Bilodeau for sharing tidbits with me about their 2/14 birthdays....This episode was recorded on February 28, 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #8 (January): January... all about new beginnings, right? Well then, isn't it appropriate that my first special guest of the new year is my new bff, Courtney Balan? I've known about Courtney by reputation, ever since she stood by for both of the superstar ladies of [title of show]. But I'd never met her until last month, when we became fast friends at a mutual friend's Christmas party and then sealed the deal at the same friend's birthday party last week.How fun to find out about all the interesting and varied projects in which she's been involved: the original casts of Broadway's In My Life and Crybaby, as well as Off-Broadway's I Love You Because, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, and I Love Being a Marvelous Wonderette. (OK, that's not really the title, but I couldn't resist.)And this season, we almost got the chance to maybe catch her playing Fanny Brice on Broadway, as she was set to understudy Lauren Ambrose in the now-cancelled revival of Funny Girl. Drat!But wait! There always seems to be a great job awaiting her when another one falls through. This time it's being part of the original cast of the new Off-Broadway musical, Rated P for Parenthood, starting previews on February 8 at the Westside Theatre! Break a leg!Special thanks to my college pal Allyson Rice for her one-word January suggestion that inspired this song: "Dieting." Says it all....This episode was recorded on January 29, 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #7 (December): Remember back in the day when the holiday season would bring all kinds of special episodes of TV shows or even better, all singing/all dancing TV specials? Well, this is my interpretation of the holiday special, and what makes it so special is the fact that it's my first group podcast!Actually, I think it was inevitable. First of all, even though this is the 7th episode of the Month Upon a Time podcast, it will ultimately serve as the 12th song in the final song cycle. So I was thinking I should give it some kind of big finale. Then came Rene Ruiz's (@ReneSRuiz) suggestion that I write a "lament of a Christmas Caroling quartet and you should write it in four part harmony." Bingo! (Meanwhile, do I need to mention that Rene is one of the members/founder of the amazing a cappella vocal group Toxic Audio?)It so happens that I had just seen the Goodspeed Opera House's wonderful production of City of Angels (with amazing costumes by my best friend Tracy Christensen), and the great sounds of their Angel City Four were still in my head. So who better to sing this? However, given that it was the middle of the hectic holiday season, only half of the Angel City Four (Mick Bleyer and Sierra Rein) were available, so I brought in my friend and Broadway (Wicked, Legally Blonde, 9 to 5) ringer, Gaelen Gilliland, to sing the soprano part, with me on tenor completing the quartet.What should we call ourselves? How about "Swingers Unlimited," since I found myself thinking about that popular Singers Unlimited Christmas album as I wrote this?It should also be mentioned that Mick and Sierra are 2/5's of the singing group, Marquee Five, the 2010 MAC Award winners for Best Vocal Duo/Group, who've just released their first recording, 8-Track Throwback! And those of you in the Cleveland area can look forward to Gaelen's performance in the upcoming production of Sondheim on Sondheim at the Great Lakes Theater.Best wishes to all for a Happy New Year!This episode was recorded on December 29th, 2011.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #6 (November): Look who I got for this month's episode: Ghetto Superstar Billy Porter! Billy has been a friend since the early days, and it was only a matter of time before he popped up on here. What an interesting journey and varied career he's had - everything from Star Search winner (1992) to Broadway musical theatre star to recording artist to film/TV actor to one-man-show diva to serious dramatic ekhtor, with some stops along the way for writing, directing, arranging, and choreographing. Kind of amazing.Right now he's gearing up to play one of the leads in the upcoming workshop of the new musical Kinky Boots, based on the film of the same name. Jerry Mitchell + Cyndi Lauper + Harvey Fierstein + Billy Porter sounds like a pretty fabulous combo! Additionally, he'll be choreographing the cool new musical Pop at the City Theatre in Pittsburgh and continuing his affiliation with the fledgling theatre company Exit Pursued By a Bear. He does like to keep a full plate!This month's song idea comes courtesy of the beautiful and talented Alexandra Silber (@alexandrasilber), late of this year's Master Class revival and the Transport Group's Hello Again. I guess having spent all those years in the UK studying and living and working, she came to regard Guy Fawkes Night as a holiday of her own. I, myself, had never heard of it until now. Special thanks to my Brit friends Suzanne (Squeezie) Thomas and John Blakey for confirming that it's really a holiday :-) and sharing their 11/5 experiences with me.This episode was recorded on November 29, 2011.

Warning: ADULT SEXUAL CONTENT in this episodeOK, you're been warned.Month Upon a Time, Episode #5 (October): For a podcast that avoids repeat guests, I sure do a lot of double-dipping. But as you'll soon see, it's obvious why nobody but Julia Murney could sing this song....As I was reviewing the October ideas that had been sent to me, I couldn't help noting Eloise Akehurst's suggestion that I write a song about "Julia Murney's Cocktober." It was certainly a noteworthy trio of words, but probably not a song. Meanwhile, I was working with Jason Robert Brown at the time, and I asked him to give me an idea for an October-themed song, and he replied, "Julia Murney's Cocktober." Well, then it started to seem like a downright challenge. Besides, when two people give you the same idea and it's as specific (and outrageous) as this one, it's time to do some research. So I tracked down Julia to get the first-hand version of the story, and thus this song was born.It's not an accurate retelling - the names and dates have been changed to protect the innocent - but it was certainly inspired by her oh-so-true story.Since her last visit to the podcast, Julia has kept busy as the belty green gal on tour and Broadway, not to mention pursuing an active concert and, as evidenced here, voice-over career. Also, her debut CD, I'm Not Waiting, which had yet to be released the last time she was on the podcast, is now available!This month finds her back on the boards in the new Michael John LaChiusa musical, Queen of the Mist, with The Transport Group. It's so nice to have her back where she belongs.This episode was recorded October 30, 2011.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #4 (September): The last time she made a guest appearance on this podcast, Alysha Umphress was just getting her feet wet in the New York talent pool. Now, five years later, she is positively drenched!First came her Off Broadway debut understudying the two female roles in the Bill Finn revue, Make Me a Song. Then followed a very happy run, first at Berkeley Rep and then on Broadway, in Green Day's American Idiot (Check out her hot duet from the cast recording: "Too Much Too Soon".)Along the way, she's performed in countless cabaret shows - here are youtube videos of her definitive performances of two of my songs "Celebrate" and "I Just Wanna Have Fun" in concert. Happily, one of her solo concerts was preserved with a live recording, which you can purchase from her outrageously not-up-to-date website: Alysha Umphress - Live at the Laurie Beechman.This coming season, you'll be able to catch her on Broadway again (!!) in the upcoming revival of On a Clear Day..., as well as on television as a guest star on Showtime's Nurse Jackie. She's on fire!!September inspired a flurry of song ideas, 95% of which were rooted in back-to-school, which made Karen Buerkle's idea stand out that much more: she wrote "That's when the Bennys go home." Not knowing what this cryptic sentence meant, I did a little research, which led me to this website and this Facebook page. (At the time of uploading this episode, the Benny Go Home website was experiencing technical difficulties. Hopefully, it will be live again soon, so you can see what I found.) In a nutshell, a Benny is a summer tourist visiting the Monmouth or Ocean County Jersey shore. While there are several explanations for the origin of the name, the favored one is that it's an acronym for the cities these tourists primarily came from back in the day, namely Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark, and New York. The locals frown upon what they perceive to be disrespectful Benny behavior. A grass roots campaign called "Benny Go Home" has evolved, with logos, bumper stickers, and things like these three beach scenes.... Given that I grew up in Monmouth County (in fact, Karen Buerkle played the title role in our community theatre production of Annie Get Your Gun back in the early 80s), I couldn't resist this subject matter for the September song. And since I've been making it a habit of sneaking musical quotes into several of these Month Upon a Time songs, this title offered up a no-brainer. Thanks, Karen!For the record, I think the members of the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore would definitely be considered Bennys.This episode was recorded September 12, 2011.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #3 (August): How does one find words to describe the force of nature that is Brooks Ashmanskas? "Funny," "outrageous," "fearless" - they just don't seem to do him justice. Brooks and I crossed like ships in the night 15 years ago, when he made his Broadway debut taking over the role of Bud Frump from me in the last (first) Broadway revival of How to Succeed.... That marked the start of a truly impressive Broadway career that has included such plays and musicals as Dream, Little Me, the Bernadette Peters Gypsy, The Producers, The Ritz, Present Laughter, Promises Promises, and of course his Tony-nominated turn in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. Add to that a bunch of Off Broadway and regional productions and wonderful recordings (Songs for a New World, It's Only Life) and you start to get a sense of how versatile and accomplished and BUSY a guy he is! Big thanks to Dan Adler, who put forward this month's song idea and is about to participate in his fourth consecutive Burning Man! If you don't know what Burning Man is, you should definitely check it out. It seems like an amazing event.... And special thanks to the wonderful composer Debra Barsha for her great song idea, which isn't the central idea for this song but is woven in nonetheless. This episode was recorded August 19, 2011.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #2 (July): I know this probably isn't a big deal to most tech-savvy people, but I'm feeling very 21st Century announcing this, my first virtual episode!Last month, I selected Jon Orton's Twitter suggestion to write a song about July at the summer theatre camp Stagedoor Manor, which I attended in the 70's and where Jon was a musical director the summer of 2002. Once I started conceiving "Pure Acceptance," I knew that it needed to be sung by my friend, the stellar film and TV actor/wonderful singer-songwriter, Helen Slater. Not only did Helen and I attend this camp at the same time, but also Helen has a teenage daughter, and I knew I wanted to explore the mother/daughter experience in this song. Jackpot!!Once Helen said yes, I wasn't going to let the fact that she was shooting a TV series in Austin, Texas stop me from making this episode happen. Luckily, Helen was game: she recorded the song in a studio in Austin and then did the interview via phone from her home in Los Angeles! And it pretty much sounds like all my other episodes. Amazing and space-age!! (Wait, are we post-space-age now?)Back to Helen - her credits are an embarrassment of riches, so I'm only going to list a few of her films: you may remember her in the title roles of Supergirl and The Legend of Billie Jean, not to mention her performances in Ruthless People, City Slickers, and The Secret of My Success. She's also appeared on countless TV programs, but you can check all that out yourself on her IMDB page.As distinguished as her acting career is, her singing and songwriting is equally impressive. She has three CDs: One of These Days, Crossword, and Shine, and each one is as yummy and wonderful as the last. She somehow manages to blend folk and pop and jazz and warmth and charm and beauty and clarity, and I just love listening to her music. And maybe there's a musical or two on the horizon? Please??This episode was recorded July 14 and 16, 2011.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #1 (June): It's opening night of my new podcast series/song-cycle, Month Upon a Time! And I'm thrilled to have the super-talented Kate Wetherhead on the bill to sing the first song, "Drink My Way!"Kate first caught my eye in TheatreworksUSA's wonderful production of Sarah Plain and Tall, and she has continued to impress with performances in Broadway's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Legally Blonde, the Off-Broadway production of Adam Gwon's great musical, Ordinary Days, and most recently as Sally Bowles in the Dallas Theater Center production of Cabaret.Meanwhile, as if that weren't enough, she and fellow super-talent Andrew Keenan-Bolger created, wrote, directed, and produced an original web series,Submissions Only, which is a knock-out! Six beautifully executed, fun, funny episodes which I highly recommend! Can't wait for Season Two!!And if you want even more Kate, you can check out some of hermany terrific youtube performances....Special thanks to the outrageously talented actor, Steve Rosen, whose idea inspired this month's song.And one last big thank you to my old college buddy, set designer Bradley Kaye, for the adorable artwork for Month Upon a Time. (Don't you just love the little Twitter bird perched on March?)If you're interested in singing "Drink My Way," the sheet music is now available from my online music store.This episode was recorded on June 9, 2011.

Special Episode #10: Look who's blown back into podcastville! I've come around again, and this time, I've brought a special guest - I'm so happy to introduce the young and talented Gillian Goldberg!I had the good fortune to catch Gillian in the Barrington Stage production of Barry Wyner's Calvin Berger a few years ago. (If you listened to The BMI Workshop Songbook Podcast, you might remember Neil Patrick Harris' performance of another song from that show, "It Just Wasn't Meant to Happen.")Gillian's wonderful performance in the role of high school student Bret in that production was indelibly imprinted in my mind, so when I needed someone to sing the role of a teen-aged girl for a demo, I knew who to call...A graduate of The Boston Conservatory (aka BoCo), she's played other musical theatre high school gals as well: Cassandra in Saved (at The Kansas City Repertory Theatre) and Candi in Zanna, Don't (at Speakeasy Stage Company in Boston.)Today, Gillian sings "Just Because," one of two spec songs I was commissioned to write to audition to be the composer of an upcoming new musical. I didn't end up getting the gig, but I did get this song!Originally conceived as a trio for Gillian's character and her two best friends, today Gillian sings a retooled solo version, and as a bonus, I play the original demo as well, which, in addition to Gillian, features Nikki James and Dana Steingold as the two friends, Liz Callaway as Gillian's offstage mother, and in the role of Peg's Mother, my neighbor, Darcy, in her musical theatre debut. :-)Other places you can find Gillian these days? Check out the fashion blog she co-writes, A Gal's Right 2 Style.Incidentally, if you are a teen-aged girl (or an actress who plays teen-aged girls) and would like to sing "Just Because," the sheet music is now available from my online music store.This episode was recorded on March 14, 2011.

Special Episode #9: Here's something you don't come across everyday: a song commissioned for a cancer event.Through my association with Amy Southerland of AWOL (aka Artists WithOut Limits, producers of the highly acclaimed NYMF productions of The Mistress Cycle, The Shaggs, and the upcoming 8 Minute Musicals), I was asked to write and perform a song for an American Cancer Society benefit.After seeing a video about Hope Lodge on the A.C.S. website, the seed for the idea for "Touched" was planted. (I think the video must have been removed, because I can't seem to find it now.)Thank you to Barbara Davis and Bob Iandoli, who commissioned this song in memory of Barbara's mother, Mimi.This episode was recorded on July 23, 2010.

Special Episode #8: It's the day before Valentines Day, and I thought I'd offer up this little musical "Valentine," even in the wake of the performance of Anti-Valentines, the 24 Hour Musical that I wrote with Julia Jordan during one long, harrowing night last weekend to benefit The Exchange.After listening to my chat about it on this episode, I realize I didn't properly acknowledge my feelings about our leading lady, Celia Keenan-Bolger, so I would like to officially say that she is a genius and one of my favorite people to write for. (Yes, David, I know this should be "for whom to write," but I think it sounds and looks weird.)Coming up for me, a benefit concert with Liz Callaway (!!) at The Axelrod Arts Center aka my hometown JCC in Deal, NJ.Also, I'm in the last stretch of my year in Martha Stewart's Cooking School. You can check out my appearance on her television show here and here by following those links and playing the videos.Here's my little, old-timey musical "Valentine" - sorry about the out-of-tune piano.This episode was recorded on February 12.

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

Special Episode #6: Kate Shindle may have come to our attention first as Miss America 1998, but she has clearly staked out a place of her own in the musical theatre world. She's appeared on Broadway in Jekyll and Hide, headlined as Sally Bowles in the Sam Mendes/Rob Marshall revival of Cabaret, and originated the role of Vivienne in Legally Blonde, the musical.Kate was always on my radar because a) she's a fellow Northwestern University alum, and b) she was a super cool Miss A., in that she was really talented and she had a great platform (AIDS awareness and education). So when I was asked to write a song for a benefit and I heard Kate was one of the singers I could write for, I snapped her up PDQ! It's great to finally work with her after years of rubbing elbows at Northwestern events and Julia Murney's annual Pancakes and Bacon Party.The benefit, called Broadway in South Africa, will take place on October 6th at Symphony Space. Ten songwriters (including Henry Krieger, Michael John LaChiusa and Bill Russell) were asked to write songs inspired by the essays and drawings of South African children. I took my inspiration from Khensoni Mabaso's sketch of Johannesburg, which features a very tall building with the word "Voda" on top. This piqued my curiousity, so off I went to research what turned out to be the Ponte City Tower, a 54-story cylindrically-shaped apartment building with a hollow core. ("Voda" is short for Vodacom, a cellular phone company that owns a huge LED wraparound sign on the top three stories of the building.)When Ponte was built in 1975, the surrounding neighborhoods were "whites only," but with the end of Apartheid, the area quickly filled with blacks and immigrants, and the white people fled to the suburbs. The building became notorious for criminal activity, suicide jumpers, and the garbage that built up inside the core.The building is currently being renovated and resold as high-style condos. Last October, before the sales office opened, the building co-sponsored an event with the city to offer people the opportunity to "Abseil off Ponte," i.e. rappel down the building on ropes like mountain climbers use.(Sorry to those who downloaded the original version of this episode with the audio issues. This new version is issue-free.)"The Core of Ponte" was recorded on 9/27/08.

Special Episode #5: I had so much to talk about that I simply HAD to do a new episode. Tune in to hear all about my upcoming UK concert "tour, " and find out about my limited-time special songbook offer.Also, check out this never-heard-before trunk song, "My Time with You," written for the now-abandoned Betty Boop musical. (Recorded 4/24/08.)If you can't make it over to Nottingham or London for my June concerts, why don't you hop/skip/jump down to the Jersey Shore for my July 17th benefit concert for the Jewish Community Center in Deal, NJ?Hope to see you there!

Special Episode #4: I'm so thrilled to add Donna Lynne Champlin to my list of special guest stars, first at my Birdland concert in November, and now on the podcast. After loving her performances in such Broadway shows as By Jeeves, Hollywood Arms, and Sweeney Todd, it's a real treat for me to get to hear her sing my songs.I do feel the need to mention: As wonderful as Donna Lynne has been in other people's shows, she could never be better than she is in her own one-woman show, Finishing the Hat. It is, hands down, the most spectacular solo show I have ever seen in my life. Donna Lynne tells a series of stories about herself and her life (chosen from a hat by the audience), and she does so with a level of wit and comedy and pathos and musicality and drama that is truly in a league of her own. DO NOT MISS THIS if she ever does it again. (Donna Lynne, do it again.)In the meantime, you lucky D.C.er's can catch her at the Kennedy Center in Henry (Dreamgirls) Krieger and Bill (Sideshow) Russell's Up in the Air, playing February 7-10.In this special episode, she sings "I Burn," from the dearly departed, unfinished musical, Hush. (Recorded 1/11/08.) The song is from a show-within-the-show, i.e. the main character, Miles, is writing a musical which deconstructs Great Expectations and centers around the character of Miss Havisham. This song finds Miss H. on the morning of her wedding day, before she discovers that her fiancé has been deceiving her and will not marry her after all. The song would later be reprised as a duet between young Miss H and old Miss H, as the latter dies in a fire, still wearing her wedding dress. By the way, The BMI Workshop Songbook Podcast is now officially up and running. Tune in to hear me interview the wonderful members and alumni of this acclaimed writers' workshop and to listen to performances of their songs by our too, too talented guest stars! Subscribe here via iTunes.

Special Episode #3: After a long break, I'm back! Last month, I finally got to meet Jose Llana at, of all places, Broadway Idol. (He was there as a judge, I was a there as a screaming Alysha Umphress fan.) As we were talking, I realized that I needed him to sing this song, so I pounced. And here he is!Jose is remembered, most recently, for his portrayal of the adorable Chip Tolentino ("My Unfortunate Erection," anyone?) in the Drama Desk Award-winning original cast of the Off-Broadway/Broadway hit, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. A Broadway "veteran" at 31, he made his debut at the tender age of 19 as Lun Tha in the '96 revival of The King and I, and he's been working non-stop ever since. On Broadway, he's also appeared in Street Corner Symphony, as Angel in Rent, and as Ta, the leading man, in the '02 revival of Flower Drum Song. Add to that his stints in Off Broadway's Saturn Returns (aka Myths and Hymns) and On the Town at the Public, the National Tour of The Return of Martin Guerre, appearances on the HBO series Sex and the City and the feature film Hitch, and an eponymous solo album, Jose, that reached #2 on the charts in Manila, and you'll realize we are talking about an amazingly accomplished young guy!Jose will be singing a self-contained song I wrote this past year, "Why Can't I Kiss You?" (Recorded 10/24/07.) After having spent the preceding six months writing songs for a project that was set in the 30's, clearly I was still in the mood. As for what inspired the song, I'll never tell....But if you want to hear this and lots of other never-heard-before songs of mine, then hop on over to Birdland on November 4th at 7PM for a concert where I'll be bringing out the secret goodies, with the help of my amazing guest stars , Adinah Alexander, Donna Lynne Champlin, Laura Patinkin, David Perlman, and Alysha Umphress. Call 212 581-3080 for reservations, or get your tickets online now.

Special Episode #2: I'm so thrilled to be joined today by the uber-talented and outrageously foxy Michael McElroy. You probably remember his stand-out, Tony-nominated performance as Jim in the Deaf West/Roundabout revival of Big River a few seasons ago. Or perhaps you have been enjoying his fantastic performances on the original cast recordings of Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party or Violet or Blue or Tommy. Or maybe you watched him in the Chenoweth/Lupone Candide telecast (with Yours Truly). Or maybe you're a fan of The Broadway Inspirational Voices, the gospel choir that he founded and directs. Or maybe you heard his killer gospel arrangement of Sondheim's "Sunday" for Billy Porter's CD, At the Corner of Broadway and Soul. Or maybe you just like checking out pictures of his cute self. No matter how you slice it, he comes up delicious and nutricious.For this second special episode, I'm breaking tradition. Instead of a performance recorded live at my piano, I'm using a recording from a concert of my music presented at Birdland on November 20th, 2006. The song, "Vonce," like "Man in the Moon," is a spec song I wrote this past summer to audition to be the composer/lyricist of a new musical. (I'm currently working on that show, although I'm still not at liberty to discuss it freely.) It's unlikely that this song will end up in the show, but I wanted to share it with you all, because Michael sings it so beautifully. As it is a jazz tune, I felt that this concert recording with band was a much better way to present the song. Michael and I got amazing support that night from Todd Groves on sax, Peter Donovan on bass, and Sean McDaniel on drums. (The interview with Michael was recorded 1/13/07.)Bonus video! My friend (and Freefall star) David Perlman was kind enough to videotape that Birdland concert for me, so you can also check out Michael singing the song on YouTube!

Special Episode #1: When I decided I wanted to use "Man in the Moon" for a *special* podcast episode, it came to me in about a millisecond who HAD to sing it: Nancy Anderson. Not only because she's an amazing talent and friend, but also because no one captures the sound of the 20's and 30's like Nancy. Check out her wonderful new solo CD, Ten Cents a Dance, for conclusive proof.Nancy and I met in 2001, performing together in the Broadway production of A Class Act, where she was my "show girlfriend." Nancy created the role of "Mona" in the Manhattan Theatre Club production and subsequently made her Broadway debut in that role when the show moved to the Ambassador. She had already created a sensation Off-Broadway in Jolson & Company, which earned her her first Drama Desk nomination.Since then, she has been dazzling audiences with her many stellar performances, most notably as Lois/Bianca in the revival of Kiss Me, Kate, first on the US Tour and then in the West End production, which was later filmed for PBS. (Does she nail the period or what?) Don't forget her wonderful performance in the 2003 revival of Wonderful Town! (Period!!) This past season, at the York Theatre, she won over critics and audiences alike in the title role of Fanny Hill. (She even nailed the 18th Century, as well as a second Drama Desk Nom!)If you're wondering whether she can pull off a contemporary role (yes!), then you must have missed her hot, hot performance in this year's Off-Broadway play, Burleigh Grime$.In this episode, Nancy sings "Man in the Moon", an audition spec song I wrote this summer. (What this means is, when producers are considering several different people or teams to write their new show, sometimes they'll ask them all to write songs for that project as part of the audition process.) The project in question takes place around 1930, and that's about as specific as I can be right now. (Recorded 11/3/06.)Luckily, you'll have some opportunities to see and hear Nancy coming up! Foremost among her many November appearances is her engagement at The Metropolitan Room, two Tuesday night shows, November 14 and November 28, at 9:30 PM. Not to be missed!And speaking of other things not to miss, I'd also like to remind you about the Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Concert at Birdland on Monday, November 20th at 7PM, featuring Liz Callaway, Victoria Clark, Michael McElroy, Mary Testa, and Alysha Umphress! Call 212 581 3080 to reserve, or buy your tickets online.

Bonus Episode #9: Wow, I can't believe this is the last episode! Doing this podcast has been such a wonderful experience for me. I've had the great privilege of hearing my songs performed by the creamiest of the crop, I've received beautiful emails from some very kind and supportive listeners, and I've even sold a bunch of songbooks along the way. Doing this podcast has left me very inspired to embark on my new projects!Meanwhile, I'd like to close out this series with a song I wrote a few years ago for my father's 60th birthday, which coincided with Thanksgiving that year. It's called "Giving Thanks," exactly what I wanted my last episode to be about. Recorded 6/25/06.My sincerest thanks to the amazing singers (and cellist!) who donated their time and talent to support me in this endeavor, to the lyricists who okayed the inclusion of their songs on the podcast, and to the listeners who invested their time in me, my guests, and my songs. Thank you all for your incredible generosity.Incidentally, if you have techno-phobic friends who you think would enjoy these songs, please do explain to them that they don't need an iPod to listen to the podcasts. (I've found that that is the most common response when I tell people I have a podcast.) Give them the url for my podcast page: http://jeffblumenkrantz.com/podcast.html and show them how to click on the song names for their instant listening pleasure.If you like what I do and want to keep hearing about what I'm up to, the best way to stay in the loop is to sign up for my mailing list. If you have something you want to tell me or ask me, you can always post a message on my message board or email me at jeff@jeffblumenkrantz.com.Until my next songbook or podcast or concert (or full-length musical!), this is the ever-grateful Jeff B., saying "G'byeeeeee!"

Episode #20: I can't imagine a better person to have as my final special guest star than the super-special star of TV's Will and Grace, Megan Mullally. Megan and I met twelve years ago when we were mere children performing on Broadway in our respective revivals, Megan in Grease and myself in Damn Yankees. Soon thereafter, I had the amazing opportunity to actually perform with her in yet another revival, How to Succeed.... From the first read-through, it was obvious she was a talent super-power, turning even the dullest lines into sparkly gems.Since then... well, I don't have to tell you what she's been up to for the past eight years, but suffice to say, it has involved an Emmy Award, three SAG Awards and countless DVDs. Let me take this opportunity to say how a) thrilled I am to know some of the people at the center of that amazing show, b) how proud I am to have appeared in an episode, and c) how appreciative I am to the creators of that show for the significant world shifts that I believe it generated.Yeah, yeah, back to Megan: So everyone in America knows that Megan is a genius comedienne, but how many know about her flourishing singing career? Have you heard her duet with Carly Simon on Will & Grace: Let the Music Out? Or my all-string arrangement of "Silent Night" which Megan sang so beautifully on the NBC Celebrity Christmas CD? And above all, have you checked out her own CD with her band, The Supreme Music Program, Big as a Berry, where she first recorded the song she sings on this episode? It's packed with stellar singing, great style, and interesting song choices, like this one!"Lament" is a setting of yet another Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, and it's also the last song from the songbook to be recorded for this podcast. I'm so pleased that Megan is here to bring the song and podcast into "home." Recorded 6/19/06.Be sure to tune in to your local NBC station this fall for the premiere of Megan's new daytime talk show, The Megan Mullally Show. I don't care what she says... I'm watching all five hours a week.

Bonus Episode #8: Wow, I can't believe it's almost the end of the podcast! When I started this bad boy, it seemed like such a long road ahead of me, and now here it is, just weeks from the GRAND FINALE! OK, enough sentimental talk. I'll save that for the actual last episode.I'm here with another bonus/filler song (i.e. a song not in the songbook). It's the song I wrote for my best friend, Tracy Katz, on the occasion of her wedding to Mark Paladini ten years ago.Tracy and I met as teens at Stagedoor Manor, Performing Arts Training Center, a summer theatre camp where theatre geeks like me could thrive amongst fellow theatre-lovers all summer, while we mustered up the courage to return to the oppression of our local high schools. (For more about this, check out the excellent, new documentary, Stagedoor.)Tracy went on to build a career around the role of Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods, which she still occasionally and convincingly/brilliantly plays today, although her main gig is raising my two gorgeous godkids in Virginia Beach.In 1996, after 17 years of best-friendship, Tracy insisted I write a song specifically for her wedding, and I didn't even bother putting up a fight. After all, I was her Man of Honor, and Men of Honor must often go above and beyond the call of duty. After multiple, failed attempts to come up with a funny song, I ultimately opted to write this song from the heart. "When It Comes to You" was recorded 6/11/06.By the way, I don't know what I was thinking when I said Mark had been a casting director in New York. Most of his casting career has happened in Los Angeles. And the name of the sci-fi series I couldn't think of is Babylon 5!

Episode #19: Carolee Carmello wouldn't let me gush about her on the podcast as much as I wanted, so I'm going to have to do it here! Carolee and I met doing a production of Grease at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in 1989, and her career since then has been continuously and completely jam-packed with goodies, many of which we didn't even get to discuss!! Broadway shows like Mamma Mia!, Urinetown, and Kiss Me, Kate, which took great advantage of Carolee's ridiculously powerful and versatile voice and great sense of humor. Or Parade, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and this season's Lestat, which let her flex her impressive dramatic leading lady muscles. And let's not forget her brilliant performances in such high-profile Off-Broadway productions as john & jen, Hello Again, Infinite Joy, A Class Act, and Elegies, all of which were recorded, fortunately for us!Add to all that a few more Broadway shows (City of Angels, Falsettos, and 1776), a slew of regional and tour productions (Arthur, Chess, Bells Are Ringing, The King and I, etc.), a TV show (Remember WENN), and a Broadway star husband and two beautiful kids, and you start to realize that Carolee is a true Wonder Woman.In this episode, Carolee sings "My Book", the "Sloth" song from the Audra McDonald song cycle, The Seven Deadly Sins. Clearly meant to be performed in front of a live audience, Carolee gamely rolled with it and chose me for all the audience participation duties. I have to add: given how dense this song is, can you believe that this is literally Carolee's third time singing through it... ever?? DIVA! Recorded 6/5/06.Look for Carolee in the upcoming Broadway by the Year: 1978 concert on June 19th at Town Hall. And you can hear her wonderful performance on the Lestat recording when it's released in July. Don't forget to watch for her (and several other podcast guest divas) on the Tony Awards this Sunday, June 11!

Bonus Episode #7: 46 years ago this month, Rita Gardner was opening as Luisa in The Fantasticks, a then unknown Off-Broadway musical. Could she ever have imagined at the time that the show would have such an historic run, that she would be rapping on Broadway today, that there would be such a thing as podcasts and that she'd be on one? Lucky for us, it's all true.I met Rita last year in rehearsals for The Transport Group's production of The Audience, directed by Jack Cummings III. I was fortunate enough to have been one of the songwriters on the show, and my assignment was to write a piece for Rita's character, Rosie, a woman who attends the theatre with her dead husband's ashes. In a private moment, she sings to the urn. Rita stopped the show every night with her sensitive rendition of "I Think." Recorded 5/22/06.Now, Rita's stopping another show with a very different kind of performance! She's appearing as Rosie, the rapping grandma, in this season's Broadway crowd pleaser, The Wedding Singer, based on the Adam Sandler film of the same name. She sings, she raps, she does gymnastic tricks (well... not really) - she's wonderful!And next month marks the release of Rita's new CD, Try to Remember: A Look Back at Off-Broadway, a live recording of her show chronicling her career Off-Broadway. It's filled with stories, songs, both classic and unknown, and of course, Rita's glorious voice.P.S. Rita appeared in a ten-minute Raw Impressions movie musical in RIPFest #6 and was kind (read "game") enough to make a cameo appearance in my RIPFest #6 film, Freefall!

Episode #18: Marin Mazzie has established herself as one of Broadway's great leading ladies, and it's easy to see why: with her rangy and beautiful voice, her serious acting chops, her comic bent, and her cover girl looks, who wouldn't want to cast her? Marin made her Broadway debut in Big River, and next was Into the Woods, where we met as fellow understudies and I got to see Marin perform Cinderella, Rapunzel, and the Witch in the same week! After that came Marin's three Tony-nominated performances, as Clara in Passion, as Mother in Ragtime, and as Lilli/Kate in Kiss Me Kate. She also took over the role of Aldonza, opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell, in the revival of Man of La Mancha. Most recently, she has been wowing audiences in the staged concerts of On the Twentieth Century as Lily Garland, and Kismet as Lalume. What a resumé! (And I haven't even touched on her extensive regional, stock and television credits!)On this episode, Marin sings a song that's actually in the songbook! "Walking the Wrong Way" is a self-contained, cabaret-type song with lyrics by Libby Saines ("I Won't Mind," "I'm Free") and music by yours truly. Recorded 5/19/06.On the concert and recording front, her leading man (onstage and off) is her adorable and talented husband, Jason Danieley. Marin and Jason recently released a duet CD, appropriately titled Opposite You. They'll be appearing together with the Boston Pops on June 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Check them out - they do a great show!

Bonus Episode #6: Hey everybody, it's time for another episode celebrating Raw Impressions! This organization enables artists to produce new projects VERY quickly, which is how I met my lovely guest star of the day, Alysha Umphress.Alysha, a recent graduate of The Boston Conservatory, made a splash last year at the Chelsea bar, XL, winning their American Idol-type competition, XL Star. (Check out her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" recorded live in the XL Star finals.)I fell for Alysha this past March, when she was one of the cast members assigned to me when I wrote a ten-minute musical for Raw Impressions Music Theatre #20. My collaborator for that project, playwright Chantal Bilodeau, and I came up with a piece called "The Living Room OCD." Alysha played a lesbian stalker chick who broke into her true love's perfect little house while she was away on vacation, tied up her house-watcher, and wreaked havoc on the place. When the show begins, the homeowner is just returning and discovering the damage, the bound-and-gagged housewatcher, and Alysha singing this song: "You're Not Perfect Anymore." Recorded 5/16/06. Reminder: this is Raw Impressions, i.e. I had two days to write this score. Raw.This episode is particularly timely because:a) Alysha's going to be appearing with me in a Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook concert this Friday (5/19) at 7PM at The Duplex! My other special guest stars will be David Perlman (one of the stars of my Raw Impressions/RIPFest movie, Freefall) and **just added!** the amazing leading lady of Urban Cowboy, Jenn Colella. For reservations, call (212) 255-5438.andb) I'm going to be making my Raw Impressions acting debut in a RIPFest #8 movie musical this coming week! Screenings are 5/23-24 in New York and 5/23 only in Los Angeles. It's amazing what people are able to create, with only 16 days... Check it out!

Bonus Episode #5: If Yo Yo Ma is the cello star of the classical world, I'm going to say that Peter Sachon is the cello star of the musical theatre world. Not only has he played on such wonderful shows (and recordings) as the recent Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, Off Broadway's A Man of No Importance and The Thing About Men, and the magically delicious The Light in the Piazza, but he's an entrepreneur as well.Peter hatched the idea to approach a handful of composers/orchestrators/musical directors and ask them each to contribute an original cello piece to a program he called The Cello Project, which he performed in March 2005 at Symphony Space, courtesy of The New Voices Collective. (Some of the composers represented on that bill were Stephen Schwartz, Michael John La Chiusa, Bruce Coughlin, Steve Marzullo, and myself.)The evening was such a success that he followed it up with The Cello Project II roughly a year later, adding Stephen Flaherty, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jeff Marx, Andrew Lippa and Ted Sperling (among others) to the list of contributors. The music was wonderful, and the playing was virtuosic. (Not to mention, he's pretty easy on the eyes.)On today's bonus episode (and just to be clear, bonus episode means that the featured song does NOT appear in my published songbook), Peter plays my contribution to The Cello Project, "Vouloir," written for cello and piano. Recorded 5/5/06.

Bonus Episode #4: I warned you that there'd be a few bonus episodes coming up....This week it's "He'll Never Get What I Do", written for a musical entitled Hush, which dealt with the relationship between a gay theatre composer and a deaf video artist. This song is sung by the composer and is pretty self-explanatory. Music and lyrics by me. Recorded 5/2/06.As for Hush, I worked on it for a while with the marvelous playwright, Tina Howe, but we couldn't crack the story to our mutual satisfaction, so it's on the shelf. Writing an original musical is a complicated proposition, to say the least. Makes me REALLY appreciate the ones out there that work......like, for instance, my favorite new musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, which opened on Broadway last night. It's directed by a certain Mr. Casey Nicholaw, whom I met doing my first show in NY (The Pajama Game at the Equity Library Theatre - Does that date us or what?). Seeing his spectacular production of The Drowsy Chaperone left me awestruck and in tears (literally, hysterical tears of pride, joy, and awe). The show is heaven - don't miss it!Meanwhile, some of the fabulous people I got to chat with at the opening night party:George Lee Andrews, the longest-running actor on Broadway, and star of my favorite teen-years album, Starting Here, Starting Now. George is an admitted listener of this podcast, and I'm honored.Nellie McKay is the brilliant Polly Peachum in the new Threepenny Opera at the Roundabout. She has no idea who I am or that I have a podcast, but I enjoyed chatting with her, and I love her songwriting and her fancy debut double CD, Get Away From Me.And last but not least, the kids from [title of show] were all there. They recently ended their initial run at the Vineyard, but they'll be back there this summer for a recently-announced return engagement! Dare I see it a 6th time? I dare! Don't miss this one either.Check out my recommendations page for more things I like!

Bonus Episode #3: Stalling... stalling.... There are only three more songbook songs left! And the amazing singers who are scheduled to record them aren't available for a spell, so it's time for another bonus episode.This week, I took a little detour down memory lane and picked a song in honor of my upcoming trip to my alma mater, Northwestern University, for the 75th anniversary of the big, splashy, student-written extravaganza, The WAA-MU Show. As a student at Northwestern, I contributed songs to all four WAA-MU shows (1983-1986) and performed in two of them, as well. It was an amazing and formative experience, particularly as a young songwriter, to see and hear my songs so fully realized (i.e. professional orchestrations for a 30 piece orchestra, huge ensemble, major production values, etc.)."P.A.'s Turn" was written for the '84 show. It was a tribute to the great pull the show has over its participants, as a production assistant (PA) aspires to WAA-MU greatness. Recorded 4/24/06.The song has music by me, and lyrics by myself and my (still to this day) dear friend, Tracy Christensen, whose name you may recognize as the wonderful costume designer of such productions as this season's Broadway charmer, Souvenir, starring Judy Kaye, and Candide at the New York Philharmonic, filmed for PBS/Great Performances, starring Patti Lupone and Kristin Chenoweth (and featuring yours truly as Maximillian)."P.A.'s Turn" was originally sung by my WAA-MU muse, Marietta DePrima, whom you may know from her extensive TV acting career. (Check out her reel from The Hughleys!)

Episode #17: Twice the talent, twice the laughs, twice as long! But when you're in the room with Ruth Gottschall and Mary Testa, you just don't want to leave! I had a fantastic afternoon with the two of them, chatting and websurfing and singing "Moving Right Along", the women's version. Yes, this is the same explicit song that you heard back in January for two guys in a gay bar, rewritten for two women in a singles bar. (The lyrics for this version appear in the back of the songbook.) Recorded 4/12/06.Where to begin? Ruth is a veteran of eight Broadway shows, most recently Jackie Mason's Laughing Room Only, however her longest run of late was as Eulalie Shinn in the revival of The Music Man, a role she will recreate this summer at the Sacramento Music Circus. Before that, you can catch her as Mrs. Upson in the sure-to-be-fabulous Kennedy Center production of Mame. Also, let PBS know that you want to see the educational series, Character Studies, so you can catch Ruth on the "Harold Hill" episode.Mary Testa's resumé is so impressive, I don't know what to mention first! Should I start with her two Tony nominations, for On the Town and 42nd Street? Her numerous Off Broadway credits and the Obie award for On the Town and From Above? Her amazing performances on the original cast recordings of In Trousers, Lucky Stiff, A Funny Thing Happened...Forum (with Ruth too!), A New Brain, Marie Christine, and most recently, Michael John La Chiusa's See What I Wanna See? Or should I just mention that she loves Faith, the Biped Dog and Michelle Collins' blog, You Can't Make It Up? Mary fans can catch her in the concert, Hands Across the Sea, at Merkin Hall on May 16th and 17th, as well as in Jam & Spice, a Kurt Weill revue at the Westport Playhouse in June.

Episode #16: I'm gay and even I have a crush on Kelli O'Hara, the dreamy, creamy-voiced Broadway "Babe." For the past six years, she has been accumulating street cred with her lovely performances in such Broadway and Off-Broadway shows as Jekyll & Hyde, Follies, Sweet Smell of Success, My Life with Albertine, and Dracula. Finally, last year, she hit pay dirt, when her spectacular, break-out performance as Clara in The Light in the Piazza earned her a Tony-nomination and a permanent place in the hearts of musical-lovers far and wide. Now this season, she has confounded expectations by taking on the belty role of Babe opposite Harry Connick Jr. in the current hit revival of The Pajama Game at the Roundabout. Two strikes in a row, Kelli! (Bowling strikes, that is.)And somewhere in there, she managed to shoot a film, an adaptation of Craig Lucas' play, The Dying Gaul, which is now available on DVD.Today Kelli sings "The Spring and the Fall", another setting of an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem. Recorded 4/10/06.Keep an eye out for the cast recording of The Pajama Game (aka Harry on Broadway), as well as Kelli's solo recording debut!

Episode #15: Jenn Colella gives new meaning to the word "irresistible." The second I laid eyes on her, I fell hard, and the love affair continues. I daresay that goes for anyone who's ever met her. She is the most fun-loving, open-hearted, life-affirming person working in the theatre, not to mention ridiculously gorgeous and outrageously talented. She made her big Broadway debut in the lead role of Sissy in Urban Cowboy, and I was the lucky duck who got to write her first song in the show, "Another Guy," which she sings on the podcast today. Recorded 4/2/06.Seems like playing Sissy in Urban Cowboy started a casting trend for Jenn, as she subsequently appeared in workshops of The Great American Trailer Park Musical and Ring of Fire, the Off-Broadway production of Slut, the musical, as well as Twyla Tharp's new piece, The Times They Are A-Changin', which recently finished its premiere engagement at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Let's hope that this show (or High Fidelity, another upcoming Broadway-bound musical) will put Jenn back on Broadway where she belongs.In the meantime, if you act fast (i.e. tonight), you can catch Jenn singing with the amazing Jason Robert Brown at Birdland, April 4th, where you can hear another one of her original songs from Urban Cowboy, JRB's "Hopalong Heartbreak."

Episode #14: Well, it was only a matter of time before I dragged my friend Emily Skinner onto this podcast. Emily has all my favorite actor-ingredients: a boundless and beautiful voice, a major sense of humor, fearlessness, creativity, intelligence, and above all, a ton of heart. She's given some of the most memorable performances on Broadway in recent years: Vicki in The Full Monty, Mary Jane in The Dead, Kitty in Lincon Center's production of Dinner at Eight, and of course, as Siamese twin, Daisy Hilton, in Side Show, a performance which earned her a Tony nomination for Best Actress.This doesn't even touch on her appearances Off-Broadway, at the Kennedy Center, in the Encores Series productions, and at various regional theatres across the land. And she always manages to deliver a show-stopping or heart-breaking or gut-busting or all-of-the-above performance. I'm so excited to feature her on this podcast singing "The Philosopher,", my setting of the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem of the same name. Recorded 3/14/06.Need more Emily Skinner in your diet? Go see her at the 92nd Street Y from April 8-10 in the concert, Other People's Lyrics. Or take a trip to DC in June for what promises to be a great Mame, with Emily as "Gooch."Or maybe you need some CDs! There's her solo CD, Emily Skinner, there are her duet CDs with Side Show co-star, Alice Ripley: Duets and Unsuspecting Hearts, as well as performances on the following show/concert CDs: Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens, Dreamgirls in Concert, and My Life with Albertine.But wait! There's more! She directs: Broadway by the Year - 1956 on April 3, tickets at Ticketmaster. And she's narrated a book on tape! Jennifer Weiner's Goodnight, Nobody. You can listen to it as you're driving to DC to see Mame!

Episode #13: Howdy! I'm so excited to be reunited with the great Sally Mayes on this week's episode. It was Sally who gave birth to my first Broadway song-baby (Is that a horrible metaphor or what?) in the 2003 production of Urban Cowboy, the musical. Unfortunately, that score was never recorded, but here, on the JBS Podcast, we are making Sally's first-act solo, "All Because of You," available for your listening pleasure. Recorded 3/14/06.Sally has enjoyed an incredible career on stage and in the recording studio. Her albums are wonderful and many: The Dorothy Fields Songbook, Our Private World, The Story Hour, Boys & Girls Like You and Me, and the most recent release, Valentine. And that's not even counting the recordings of her many, brilliant stage performances: Closer Than Ever (who doesn't love "Miss Byrd"??), Das Barbecü, her Tony-nominated turn as Ilona in She Loves Me, and the hysterical Pete 'n' Keely. Also, that was Sally as Mrs. MacAfee in the Jason Alexander TV version of Bye Bye Birdie!

Bonus Episode #2: Yes, it's another "very special episode" - a song... well, songs really... that are NOT in the songbook. None of my upcoming guest stars were available to record this week, so I'm taking this opportunity to tell you about a wonderful organization called Raw Impressions, which brings random artistic people together to accomplish some specific creative endeavor unreasonably quickly. My first involvement with R.I. was last spring when I participated in RIPFest #6, a 16 day event during which seven short movie musicals were conceived, written, recorded, shot, edited, couriered cross-country, and screened in NY and LA. "WHAT??" you say? It's true, it's all true. You can't believe it until you've lived it. Freefall is the name of the RIPFest film for which I wrote the songs. The Freefall experience was heaven, start to finish, even amidst all the craziness. The stars were aligned when our team was assembled: the creators were Lonny Price-director , David Simpatico-screenwriter, Jessica Hendricks-choreographer, and myself-songwriter. Our amazing cast included Becca Ayers, Joe Cassidy, Jessica Grové, and David Perlman. And our producers were the wonderful Jane Abramson and Laura Penney. These songs were recorded 5/11/05, with Jeff Greenwald on drums, Randy Landau on bass, Peter Sachon on cello, Gary Sieger on guitar, and myself on piano. RIPFest was such a great experience that I'm taking the plunge again this coming week, albeit in a different genre. This time it's Raw Impressions Music Theatre #20, which means we're creating short musicals (to be performed live, not on film) and we only have ten days to do it! Come check out our performances on March 26 and 27! Also, don't miss Jessica Grové in the upcoming musical Iron Curtain (April 8-30, West End Theater) and Becca Ayers in the title role of Sarah, Plain and Tall (March 19-April 30, Lucille Lortel Theater). Clockwise from top left: Becca Ayers, Joe Cassidy, Jessica Grové, David Perlman

Episode #12: It is impossible to ignore the sparkle that is Sutton Foster. If you've ever seen her onstage or heard her sing, you must be as dazzled and as charmed by her as I am. While her early-career Broadway resumé is impressive (Les Mis, Grease, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Annie), her Tony-winning performance in the title role of Thoroughly Modern Millie and her follow-up appearance as Jo in Little Women declare her an official Broadway star. I'm sure you're all eagerly anticipating her performance in this season's The Drowsy Chaperone, which I had the good fortune to see in its out-of-town tryout last fall in LA. I'm happy to say, you will not be disappointed! She's spectacular, as ever, and the show is an absolute treat!In this episode, Sutton gives a sensitive rendition of "Time Does Not Bring Relief," my setting of the sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Recorded 3/5/06. Don't miss Sutton's "sparkly" performances on the cast recordings of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Little Women, as well as The Maury Yeston Songbook.

Bonus Episode #1: Becca's back! I've made it a policy to avoid repeat guest appearances, but I had to make an exception for Rebecca Luker: a) because she was my first podcast guinea pig, back before I was able to separate the piano and the vocals, and I wanted to have an opportunity to record her magnificent voice with better sound, and b) because this song was written expressly for her.Rebecca Luker is the quintesssential Broadway leading lady. Not only has she led the casts of such high-profile Broadway revivals as The Music Man (Marian), The Sound of Music (Maria), Nine (Claudia) and Showboat (Magnolia), but she has also appeared in such original musicals as The Secret Garden (Lily) and The Phantom of the Opera (Christine). Lately, she has been enjoying a rather busy concert career, including a solo evening in the 2005 Lincoln Center American Songbook Series, a highly-acclaimed stint at Feinstein's at the Regency, and many symphonic gigs across the country, not to mention the odd Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Concert and seemingly every New Voices Concert at Symphony Space. She has two wonderful solo CDs (Leaving Home, Anything Goes - Rebecca Luker sings Cole Porter) and a deservedly impressive discography.Today, she sings a song that does not appear in the songbook. (Something for Volume Two!!) It's called "Lovely Lies," and it has lyrics by the wonderful Beth Blatt (The Mistress Cycle) and music by me. It was written for Rebecca's recent engagement at Feinstein's, and hopefully she will sing it again when she returns there this May 9-20 for her encore engagement. (Call 212-339-4095 to reserve now!) Recorded 2/22/06.

Episode #11: Judy Kuhn can do (and has done) it all! She's a legit soprano (Cosette in Les Miserables), she's a classic musical theatre leading lady (She Loves Me), she's a dramatic belter (Chess), she's a dramatic actress (Two Shakespearean Actors), she's a pop singer (Eli's Comin'), she's a voiceover artist (Pocohontas), she's a recording artist (Just in Time - Judy Kuhn Sings Jule Styne), and she's a concert singer. She keeps you guessing!Broadway audiences were to have been treated to another Judy Kuhn performance this month, as an interim replacement in The Woman in White in the role of Marian. However, due to that show's untimely closing notice, her engagement was cancelled. Instead, get your Judy Kuhn fix here, as she sings my setting of the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, “Departure.” Check out the text of the poem. Recorded 2/14/06.

Episode #10: Until this year, Julia Murney was the biggest Broadway musical theatre star to have never actually appeared on Broadway. As we all know, that distinction was dashed with her performance in this season's Lennon, and it was about time! New York audiences know her from her fantastic performances in three Manhattan Theatre Club musicals, namely Time and Again, A Class Act, and Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, not to mention some high-profile concert appearances (Chess, Hair, Funny Girl).Julia's songbook selection today is "Take the Filter Off," from the unfinished musical, Fits and Starts, with music and lyrics by me. In this song, Randy is encouraging her now-gay ex-boyfriend to subvert his judgmental nature and find himself a man to love. (Think Will and Grace.) A fortuitous choice for this Valentine's Day podcast, no? Recorded 2/12/06. Warning: this song has a curse word in it!FYI, Julia is a fellow Stagedoor Manor alum. (Think Camp.)Coming up- Don't miss:Julia as Elphaba in the Wicked tour!andJulia's debut solo CD, I'm Not Waiting, on Sh-K-Boom Records!

Episode #9: Celia Keenan-Bolger is Broadway's newest "it" girl, and if you've seen her perform, you know why. Yes, she has a great voice, but she also brings enormous charm, intelligence, and creativity to everything she does (including party games!). A Tony-nominee for her beautiful performance as Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Celia has worked with most, if not all, of the new composers writing today. If a musical has had a recent pre-Broadway workshop or recording or concert, Celia was one of the leads in it. Check out all the cute pictures of her at Broadway World!Today, she sings "Toll," a song written for a never-produced revuesical which explored themes of traveling. Music and lyrics are by me. Recorded 2/6/06. Meanwhile, if you haven't seen Celia in the wonderful ...Spelling Bee, quit stalling and go! Also, check out the original cast recording.(I tried in vain to find the rules for Running Charades online. If you have them handy, send me an email, and I'll post them or link to them! Otherwise, if you're desperate to know the rules of the game, let me know, and if I get enough emails about it, I'll write out the rules myself.)

Episode #8: Singing with Liz Callaway is literally a dream-come-true for me. Ever since I first heard her spectacular voice on the Baby cast recording, I have marveled at the purity and musicality of her voice. What a privilege to have her on this podcast today, singing my duet setting of the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, "Recuerdo." Recorded 1/31/06. (Click here to see the text of the poem.)Since her Tony-nominated performace in Baby, she's maintained flourishing careers on Broadway (Miss Saigon, Cats, The Look of Love), in film (providing the singing voice for the title characters in the animated films The Swan Princess and Anastasia), and in cabaret and recordings (check out her most recent CD, The Beat Goes On, and Sibling Revelry, the terrific recording of her show with her super-talented sister, Ann Hampton Callaway). Liz's discography is incredibly impressive, and rightfully so.

Episode #7: So you've been wondering why that explicit rating has been hovering over this podcast? Finally! Here it is: one of two songs in the book with dirty words in it! Parents (and prudes), be warned.Remember last week's episode with Judy Blazer as the Jewish mother whose son has just come out? Well, this week it's that son and his best friend at a gay bar. The song is "Moving Right Along" (from the abandoned project Fits and Starts), with music and lyrics by me.I'm thrilled to be joined by one of my best friends, the super-funny Ryan Perry, who inspired this song in the first place. (Yes, we went to gay bars together. No, we weren't nearly as horrible as these guys.) Ryan hasn't been acting and singing much lately (Booooo!), but those of you lucky enough to have caught him in Forever Plaid or Whorehouse Goes Public or the tours of The Full Monty and Floyd Collins will remember how fantastic he is. Recorded 1/15/06.And I'm happy to report that I have lured him back to the stage to appear in my Birdland concert on February 13th, along with former podcast guests Judy Blazer, Vicki Clark, Rebecca Luker, and Sally Wilfert. Call 212 581-3080 for reservations.

Episode #6: How did I get so lucky to have such talented friends?? This week, it's the remarkable Judy Blazer, who stopped by after a day of rehearsing for Michael John LaChiusa's latest, Bernarda Alba, coming soon to the Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center. Judy lends her comic genius to "It'll Work for You," a Jewish mother's reaction to her composer son's recent coming-out. (Can you guess who might have inspired this song?) I wrote music and lyrics for this one. After the song, Judy and I chat about Bernarda Alba as well as Judy's mystery contribution to The Light in the Piazza. Recorded 1/12/06.I'm thrilled to report that Judy will be among the special guest stars appearing with me at Birdland on February 13th. In the meantime, check out Judy's tracks on these two recordings: Leonard Bernstein's New York and Hello Again. Amazing! Take a minute to browse Judy's impressive Amazon.com discography.

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

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

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