Will there ever be a cast album of CRY-BABY? "I called Adam Schlesinger, the composer, a little while ago. What I think happened was that they had things laid out for a recording but as Broadway lost momentum the record deal fell through. I want some sort of a cast album done because there's some really good music in that show and the lyrics are fantastic. I'm still trying to push for a recording; I'd like to think there's hope for a cast album. I've talked to some of the producers and no one wants to spend any money on it. However everyone seems to be on the same page in feeling we ought to get something down on record. Adam Schlesinger is a working music producer who has produced tons of hit CD's and has studio access, so I feel it's only a matter of timing."
Snyder didn't really start out to be an actor or singer. "I was hell bent on being a soccer player all through junior high and high school. I did my fist show, GODSPELL, in my freshman year of high school. I played the Jesus role and I may have fallen in love with it there but I don't think it even entered my world that someone could make a living being an actor. Around my junior year, when I was doing WEST SIDE STORY, I began to feel that I could do this and could go to school for it. I think that for me a college or university education was always a necessary thing just because of the way I love learning. The fact that I could go to a theatre school in a major university and sort of expand my talents was appealing." James Snyder's musical talents have led him to form a rock band. They've recorded a CD entitled "L.A. Curse" and it's available on I-Tunes as well as from www.jamessnydermusic.com.
FANNY came about rather quickly for Snyder. He was cast as Marius, the young man smitten with the sea, right around the new year. "I was already home in Sacramento for the holidays when my agent called with the news that I had to get back to New York for the 27th and 28th," Snyder explains. "I had already put myself on tape for FANNY. I had worked very hard with my voice teacher, Edward Sayegh-who's worked with Brian Stokes Mitchell, Doug Sills, Terrance Mann, Vicki Clark, Celia Keenan Bolger and many others. He even did workshops with Pavarotti, so he truly knows what he's doing. He helped me out tremendously. To be honest, he taught me how to sing. Not only sing it, but give it its due. He's brought the legitimate qualities out of my voice so that it can match the orchestrations. There's great size to the music and size to the story and rising to meet them has been the biggest part of my preparation for this role." Perhaps Snyder is achieving this goal because he mentions that FANNY's director, Marc Bruni, commented that he had no idea Snyder had such a legit voice.
The whole FANNY experience is proving to be remarkable for Snyder. There are times when he's off on the side, not directly involved the the scenes being played when he gets caught up in what his fellow actors are doing. "All of a sudden I'll hear Fred Applegate singing "To My Wife" and I'll put down what I'm doing and become engrossed in the story. I'll look around and find that everyone in the room is weeping. This show is truly beautiful and everyone is feeling it in such a huge way. It has life. It's honest. It's open. It has depth. It has love. It has lost love, and it has love for a father and his child. That hits me hard because it makes me think of how much I love my Dad. I guess I could sum it up by saying that it's so French. It all just swims in this beautiful score."
Snyder is starting fresh in this role. He hasn't seen the three Pagnol movies that served as the basis for the musical. Those films are called MARIUS, FANNY and CESARE respectively. Nor has he seen the non-musical film that starred Leslie Caron and Horst Buchholz as the lovers. "I had that one on my NetFlix list but it never made it to me in time!" He does, however, plan on spending his day off in perusing lots of material that Bruni is loaning him.
From February 4th through 7th at New York's City Center, musical theatre fans will not only have a chance to relish the show they've grown to love but may never have seen. They'll get to hear S.N. Berman's libretto and Harold Rome's score sung live by this first-rate cast. They may even get to understand how a bellydancer fits into this charming tale of life and love in a French seaport town. The question will be whether all the talents and charm of James Snyder will eradicate the memories of William Tabbert's singing on the original cast album? After chatting with this thoughtful and amiable young man, one strongly feels that he certainly will and may even be breaking into a new and impressive aspect of his career.
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Tickets for the 2009-2010 Encores! season are available at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix® at 212-581-1212, or online at www.nycitycenter.org. Tickets for the Orchestra, Grand Tier and Mid-Mezzanine are $95; tickets for the Rear Mezzanine and Front Gallery are $50; tickets for the Rear Gallery are $25.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.
