Q&A with Alice Ripley

So you and your band will be playing BIRDLAND on Monday, November 22nd! What a great room for you guys! What can your BroadwayWorld fans look forward to hearing?

Mostly, we'll be playing new RIPLEY songs which we are currently recording. We produced our debut EP last spring, and we are working on the full length album. We've got a few surprises up our sleeve, you'll just have to wait and see!

 

Will you be performing any theatre tunes or all original material?

Although I like to use our band gigs to sing my original songs, a theatre tune occasionally finds its way into our set, and when it gets there, it's a happy experience.

 

How has your Broadway career prepared you for "power pop"?

I have learned that music comes in all shapes and sizes. As long as a tune has the power to move me, I'm a lifelong fan. I have fallen deeply in love with songs, musical theatre songs included, over the years and this experience has taught me to hear and honor the writer's voice in my soul. There is genuine healing in a beautifully crafted musical theatre song, like Stephen Sondheim's "Losing My Mind," or a pop music gem like Joni Mitchell's "Help Me."

As I've fallen in love with songs by musical theatre and pop composers I admire, I've found the courage to trust an instinct that says I, too, have a story to tell. I generally don't distinguish between music genres. I just wait for the sound take me in. I like the challenge of singing my own songs. Attempting to master the juxtaposition of the potential terror of self-revelation and the soaring freedom I feel through my personal connection with my own material is an interesting and sometimes daunting task.

Your original music is so different from the musical comedy fare we know you to do...how would you describe your material?

With my band, I Sing with a different voice, one that is not regulated to a certain accepted sound. I guess that makes it rock and roll. I have been heavily influenced by singer-songwriters (like Joni Mitchell) and by bands such as Queen, Blondie, Elvis Costello and The Beatles. They all have a certain theatrical flair.

Your upcoming Sondheim concert at Zankel Hall on November 17th sounds like a thrilling night! And you get to re-team with Matt Bogart, your co-star in Company at KennedyCenter. What will you be singing? 

We are singing a few selections from "Sunday in the Park with George". What an amazing, delicately powerful score that is. Mr. Sondheim possesses a secret knowledge of how to get inside a character and let his words and music speak for that character, while maintaining a unique writer's voice through it all. In other words, speaking for the character and for himself at the same time. 

Tell us about your trip to LA last week! Work or play? 

Most definitely play. I performed as part of the Actor's Fund tribute to Cy Coleman (HIS body of work is profound!). We were blessed to have Cy himself join in the festivities as we honored his music. It wasn't really work, because I got to sing "Lost and Found" from City of Angels, which involved a satin nightgown and some chaise lounge choreography. As the performance night neared, I started calling it "chaise-ography." Isn't it fun to writhe in front of an audience?

What's next for you after Birdland?

That evening after the set ends, I will be whisked downtown for an 8:30 performance of a piece called "Stand UP Shakespeare" @ The Acting Company. I hope the entire audience follows me there, because it is an evening not to be missed. Ray Leslee, the composer, has taken Shakespeare text and set it to stunning jazz-based music, resulting in quite an extraordinary score, which is interspersed with scenes and monologues. Turns out Shakespeare is the ultimate lyricist. The three person cast is headed by F. Murray Abraham, with Alton White and myself.

And you'll also be doing the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber at the KennedyCenter later this year? Any tips on what you'll be singing there?

I have no idea yet what will be included! I hope I get to sing a song from Evita though, because that's one of my favorite scores.

Don't miss Alice Ripley in concert at Birdland, on Monday, November 22^nd at 7pm. For tickets and reservations, call 212-581-3080. The show is $20, plus $10 food/drink minimum.