John Kander Talks THE LANDING, Plus The Future Of 'Kander & Pierce'

Multi-award-winning composer John Kander discusses his new musical THE LANDING as well as his young collaborator Gregory Pierce as part of a new interview in promotion of the innovative Off-Broadway piece currently in previews.

First and foremost, one of the major ingredients of the team's success is any lack of ego, bookwriter and lyricist Pierce observes. "I never felt intimidated. It's also because of who John is - how incredibly generous and wonderful he is - that I never felt intimidated and always felt free to speak up, too," Pierce says.

As for the team's future, two new musicals are already on the horizon following THE LANDING opening later this month at the Vineyard Theatre, showing clear signs of a strong partnership.

Indeed, a new era has begun with Pierce's participation with the musical master, yet how does Pierce compare to Ebb? "It's the same but different," Kander says of the collaboration process.

"The spontaneous quality of working very closely with a collaborator is what I had for 40 years but what we're doing - and his sensibility - is so different from Fred's that I'm writing differently myself. That's like a present somebody gave me," Kander asserts.

Additionally, Kander adds, "He's really a brilliant lyricist, in a very different way than Freddy was."

Kander concludes, "I hope I live long enough so that people say, 'That's a real Kander and Pierce song."

Check out the original article on the matter here.