Interview: Sierra Boggess Joins Julian Ovenden and The New York Pops For MY FAVORITE THINGS:  THE SONGS OF RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN

With her fresh-faced ingénue looks and lovely soprano voice textured with solid acting chops, you would think that Broadway and West End star Sierra Boggess would have had at least one or two Rodgers and Hammerstein roles somewhere in her past; perhaps playing OKLAHOMA!'s Laurey in high school or kicking up her heels as SOUTH PACIFIC's Nellie Forbush in college.

But no, despite a versatile career that has seen her excel as a Disney heroine in THE LITTLE MERMAID, a dramatic soprano in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and LOVE NEVER DIES and more contemporary women in last season's IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU and the upcoming SCHOOL OF ROCK, Boggess' only professional taste of Rogers and Hammerstein came in concert five years ago at Royal Albert Hall, singing selections like "The Sound of Music," 'If I Loved You" and "People Will Say We're In Love."

She'll get another opportunity on October 9th, when she joins Julian Ovenden at Carnegie Hall as guest artists for Music Director Steven Reineke's New York Pops as they present, MY FAVORITE THINGS: THE SONGS OF RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN.

"I'm not sure how much of the song list they're trying to keep secret," she explains when asked what selections she'll be singing, "but we'll be performing from all the big shows."

"There'll be obscure ones as well from shows like PIPE DREAM and ALLEGRO. It's amazing that these ones that were considered flops still have these tunes in them that are so memorable. I've really enjoyed working on those that I was not familiar with."

Boggess' first exposure to Rodgers and Hammerstein was Julie Andrews in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, but she's quick to add, "CAROUSEL was a very close second. One of the first songs I learned when I was young was "If I Loved You," so I've always been a fan of CAROUSEL.

"And I knew THE KING AND I because Barbra Streisand recorded 'We Kiss In a Shadow' and 'I Have Dreamed,'" she says with a laugh.

"I'll never sing those songs in THE KING AND I, of course, but they're still very relevant to me and when I sing them in concert they come from a truthful place for me."

"Rodgers and Hammerstein have been such a part of my life growing up. I think they're what made me want to get into musical theatre."

"Their music is a home base for the type of voice that I have. It feels like home."

On October 9, 2015 at 8:00PM, The New York Pops, led by Music Director Steven Reineke, will open its 33rdseason at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage with My Favorite Things: The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The concert honors the duo's timeless work, which has captured the hearts of every generation of music lovers, and will feature guest artists Sierra Boggess and Julian Ovenden, who replaces the previously announced Steven Pasquale, alongside Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA. The program will feature numbers from all eleven of the collaborations between Rodgers and Hammerstein. Selections will include "A Wonderful Guy" and "There Is Nothin' Like a Dame" from South Pacific, "The Sound of Music" from The Sound of Music, and the Cinderella Waltz from Cinderella.