SOUND OFF SPECIAL INTERVIEW: Michael Feinstein & Amber Edwards Talk PBS Series AMERICAN SONGBOOK

Today we talk to the world's foremost authority on twentieth-century music, the incomparable cabaret artist and Broadway performer known for his countless albums and appearances on film, television and stages worldwide, the affable and well-spoken - and encyclopedic - Michael Feinstein! In this SOUND OFF Special Interview he does BroadwayWorld the special honor of diagramming a lesser known gem - in this case, one of Cole Porter's final compositions - in his inimitable and illuminating style, as well as opening up about his new PBS reality series. We simultaneously speak to acclaimed directed Amber Edwards (WORDS & MUSIC: Jerry Herman) who also provides her insights on how to approach documentation of a life as rich, varied and hectic as Feinstein's. Lest we forget, he also owns and operates the premier cabaret club in Manhattan, Feinstein's At The Regency! Talking everything from Ira and George to iPods and Glee, Feinstein and Edwards share their insights and experiences in championing the twenty-first century Great American Songbook on television and on the internet in 2010 and bringing Feinstein's formidable talents to a whole new generation. All of that, and more show tunes than you can shake a stick at! Be sure to tune into your local PBS station next Wednesday at 8 PM for the premiere episode of Michael Feinstein'S AMERICAN SONGBOOK!

Reality, Words & Music

"I think it should be illegal for people to throw away music." -- Michael Feinstein

No one has done more for the preservation and promotion of the great American Songbook than legendary cabaret and concert performer Michael Feinstein, so it is oh-so-befitting for him now to have his very own PBS series in which lauded documentary filmmaker Amber Edwards follows him on a cross-country tour with many detours to the homes of the greatest songs of the last one hundred years. A veritable font of knowledge on all things Arlen to Weill, Feinstein's peerless, encyclopedic breadth of musical knowledge is quite jaw-dropping and it should come as no surprise to anyone who saw her Jerry Herman documentary, WORDS & MUSIC, that Edwards knows her way around musical geniuses. In this conference call, we touched upon a bit of everything, from their collaboration on Michael Feinstein's American Songbook and the filming and editing process itself, to the larger themes of the series and their passion for the subject at the center of the show: the great American legacy implicit in this music. Few cultures have as rich a musical history as we do, a fact made blatantly clear by the content of this thorough and thought-provoking documentary reality series. Feinstein was also kind enough to tell me the story of a lesser known Porter song and share some behind-the-scenes tales of his pal Cheyenne Jackson's stint on GLEE as well as sharing his opinion of that show, as well as AMERICAN IDOL and the culture at large these days. Plus, you haven't lived until you have heard his Liza Minnelli impression! Additionally, they both comment on future SOUND OFF SPECIAL INTERVIEW participant Nellie McKay as well as Amber's participation in HBO's Marin Scorsese series BOARDWALK EMPIRE. These two certainly stay busy! See why they are so hot and in demand in this candid chat! Michael Feinstein's AMERICAN SONGBOOK has it all!

PC: You are famous for knowing the story of almost every song by the great composers. Tell me the story of the song "Come To The Supermarket In Old Peking" by Cole Porter.

MF: I think one of the most interesting things about that song is that it is one of a handful of things that were Porter's final work. It was from the score of ALLADIN which was a television special that was at the very end of Porter's career. Porter was in such wretched physical shape, and mentally he was starting to decline due to the tremendous chronic physical pain that he experienced which led to the eventual amputation of both of his legs. So, the fact that he could even pull himself together to create those songs [in ALLADIN] is, in itself, extraordinary!

PC: You can say that again!

MF: Shortly thereafter, you know, he ceased writing at all.

PC: I am aware, sadly. What a shame.

MF: And "Come To The Supermarket" is a song that is among his finest work.

PC: Totally.

MF: I mean, as far as the lyrical construction of it and the wit; it's all there.

PC: And more!

MF: I listen and look at those late songs of Cole Porter and think, "How in the world did this man manage to create out of such extraordinary, adverse conditions?" Yet, there's not an ounce of any betrayal about what was going on in his personal life.

PC: Not at all! What ebullience and joy in that song!

MF: Yes. He sublimated himself to the plot and story.

PC: What's your favorite recording of it? There have been many.

MF: The Streisand recording, of course, is the one that I think is definitive.

PC: Of course.

MF: You know, Cyril Ritchard is not considered to be among the greatest of singers! But, he certainly performed the song with élan and charm.

PC: Certainly! Do you know Loretta Devine's blues version?

MF: No, I haven't heard it. That one must have escaped me!

PC: How do you capture Michael's personality in the show, Amber?

AE: Michael is all about the passion and the enthusiasm, it's there at all times. One of the things I'm always mindful of in the editing is, you know, they say in the mystery stories that if you introduce a gun you have to shoot it. I'm sort of going from the assumption that there may be many viewers out there who don't know who Paul Whiteman is and don't know who Al Jolson is and don't know some of these sort of iconic things. So, I tried to sort of build it so that at whatever level you come into it at, you will be able to follow along and learn and there will be something at every level of interest. So, if you are just interested in history, then you can get a lot of interesting cultural history. Or, if you are a really passionate collector of sheet music of RKO musicals of the 1930s, you'd find something there, too. You know, Michael is kind of like a shaker. You just turn him upside down and shake and all these kind of interesting things come out!

MF: Ouch! (Laughs.)

AE: Sorry! (Laughs.) So, it's just this kind of organizing that shapes it. Plus, we have this great road-trip aspect, too. You know, "Here we are in Indianapolis! Here we are in Florida! Here were are in Illinois!"

MF: "Here we are in London!"

AE: Right. So, we use these sort of stops - these pit-stops - as a launch pad for historical information or a collecting expedition so that there is always, in the midst of the voyeurism - shall we say - there is always learning going on.

PC: Constantly. How did you two discover each other? Michael was in WORDS & MUSIC, of course.

AE: Yes! Michael sang in that. That's actually how this love affair began!

MF: Oh, thank you, darling!

AE: Although, actually, I had encountered Michael many, many years ago when I was working for Richard Kimball, the musical theatre historian, and Michael was working for Ira Gershwin and we spoke to each other on the phone. But, I was a nobody and he was not yet himself! (Laughs.)

PC: That's funny!

MF: It's true! (Laughs.)

AE: But, it was Michael's participation in the Jerry Herman documentary that made me come back to him when I was looking for the next project. So, I really owe it all to that.

PC: Since you are the authority, where do you place Jerry Herman in the pantheon of great composers, Michael?

MF: I think that he is one of the giants of the era in which he created. Like many of his time, he created songs that became part of the fabric of our lives. Because he patterned himself after Irving Berlin to be deceptively simple, his music was for many, many years dismissed as being inferior to many more sophisticated writers. Yet, Jerry has always had the capacity to write in a very, very sophisticated and complex fashion had he chosen to do so.

PC: Like DEAR WORLD and MACK & MABEL.

MF: To his own historical detriment, he decided to be populist in a way that is now being perceived differently by people - thanks largely to Amber's documentary. Also, to the fact that he is getting a Kennedy Center Honor this year. I consider him a very significant songwriter and a superior creative mind.

PC: I love your "Time Heals Everything".

MF: Thank you.

AE: They did a whole album you know, Jerry played and Michael sang.

PC: I love your Jule Styne album, too. Tell me about rediscovering all those lost songs.

MF: Every songwriter has lots of songs that are unknown for one reason or another. Jule Styne - having had a long, long creative career - produced a number of things for me which I didn't know. Whenever I meet a songwriter I am curious about the things that fell through the cracks. I like to dig for other things and they are usually only too delighted to do that exploration because a lot of times it will spur their memory into finding or recalling things that they, themselves, had forgotten about. So, the whole process of working with Jule was quite amazing because his trunk of songs is larger than just about anybody's!

PC: I love your Jimmy Webb album, too. Do you know the whole score for SCANDAL? Do you have any opinions on it and Webb in general?

MF: I have heard some of the score for SCANDAL, I haven't heard all of the score. I think it's a crime that that show was not ultimately produced because Jimmy Webb's music - of all the composers I have worked with who is not known for his work for the theatre - is naturally conducive to having a theatrical setting. I think it's a crime that we haven't had a true, original Jimmy Webb musical on Broadway. What could have been with Jimmy Webb and Michael Bennett in collaboration could have been something truly spectacular.

PC: What one scene that you have filmed distills your entire experience on this journey with Michael in a moment, Amber?

MF: In episode one, in Florida when the soundsystem blows up and he has to, essentially, reconfigure his show because there is only one working microphone. He just turns on a dime. He just goes with it and makes it a part of the show. And then he delivers this killer song.

PC: What else?

AE: I love the scene with the Indianapolis Symphony. I mean, it shows you that we were really along for the ride. Unlike reality shows, we actually don't tell people what to do so we just watch what happens. And, Michael got sick.

PC: Uh oh!

AE: He didn't know if he would be able to go on and do the show. But, that's life. That's reality for a performer. And we were so glad to be able to portray it in a way that is real. I mean, he still goes on and gives a fantastic show. But, you can see from watching that he is sick but the show is gonna go on.

MF: Contrary to Irving Berlin's song "You're Just In Love", I was just sick! (Laughs.)

PC: What do you think of AMERICAN IDOL and the twenty-first century environment out there? You do a lot of live gigs.

MF: As Liza Minnelli once said when she had a hit record with "Losing My Mind" with the Pet Shop Boys and people were coming to her shows that didn't know who Liza Minnelli was, who came because of that record. I said to her, "What do you think is going to happen when they come and they hear you do all your other material that is so unlike the Pet Shop Boys?" and she said, (Impersonates Liza.) "Honey, all you have to do is get ‘em in the seats!" (Laughs.)

PC: So true!

MF: So, you expose somebody to something and I think that they appreciate it.

PC: Right.

MF: As far as AMERICAN IDOL goes, I think that it is built on commerce. It is a television show that, from my perspective, has very little to do with music. It's about other things. I don't think that it's... I don't think that the throw-the-Christians-to-the-lions thing is particularly positive - except for the few singers who have come out of it who are truly, genuinely talented people who have forged careers. It's exclusive, not inclusive, of many other kinds of music.

PC: What about GLEE?

MF: GLEE is quite interesting because it features all different kinds of music. I was told by someone who is on the show that the formula for the type of music that they have is, you know, twenty-five percent rock music, twenty-five percent show music... I don't remember the rest...

PC: Hip-hop and pop, too.

MF: Right. But, literally, there are four genres of music that they mix up in the series and it's becoming pretty evident that the influence of GLEE to kids on show choirs and in musical programs at schools is quite extraordinary so I think that is a very positive thing. So, I appreciate it on that level.

PC: What is your opinion of AMERICAN IDOL and GLEE, Amber?

AE: I don't watch either... but, PBS tries to offer an alternate to what is on commercial television. The popularity of those shows demonstrates that there is a real hunger for that kind of music. People love singing it, they have an appetite for it. So, we are saying, "Hey, there is this other stuff you might not be familiar with!" So, I think this is a golden time to be on the air.

PC: Definitely.

AE: I was telling Michael, "If we got ten percent of the AMERICAN IDOL audience we would have possibly one of the highest rated arts programs in PBS history!"

PC: Aren't you going to be on BOARDWALK EMPIRE, too, coming up?

AE: I'm only in the background. I just did a little thingy for it. I have no idea what it is like to be on the actual set, though.

PC: How did you become involved?

AE: I got a call from Vince Giordano on a Tuesday night asking if I could sing "Alice Blue Gown" tomorrow, the next day. So, I went into the studio in Hoboken and ran it off. Then, I went back three months later so I could re-do it, too, so the person who was lip-synching to my vocal, I could vocalize to her lip-synching.

PC: I hope they bring you back! Nellie McKay, who also just did this column, is doing a track for BOARDWALK EMPIRE!

AE: Yeah! She just did a show at Feinstein's at the Regency!

PC: She's brilliant.

MF: She did Feinstein's and I'm actually interviewing her for PIANO JAZZ next week!

PC: How funny we're both interviewing her!

MF: She's amazing.

PC: How did you pick the songs that would be featured on this PBS series?

AE: I like to say that we tended to pick songs that were delivered perfectly, which most of them are. It's also about, "How did we shoot it?" You know, when you're shooting live documentary a lot of it ends up being on the fly so it comes down to, "What worked?" (Laughs.)

PC: Right? As with all good things!

AE: The happy ending of that is that a lot of wonderful performances by Michael did not make it into the series and so on our DVD we have a bonus disc. So, there will be the three episodes and then there will be a bonus disc that also has two hours of archival stuff and additional Michael Feinstein performances that are not in the show itself. So, nothing that was really good got lost!

PC: How wonderful!

AE: We thought we would just throw everything at you! We figured if you like this stuff, you'd want to see Bing Crosby do two more numbers and Judy Garland do a number and Lena Horne do a number and Michael do a bunch of numbers. The DVD will be on sale as of the first broadcast. Shop @ PBS.

PC: Define collaboration - in terms of this show, also, if would be so kind.

MF: Collaboration means never having to say you're sorry!

AE: (Laughs.)

MF: That's a better dictionary definition than I can give it! (Laughs.)

AE: People have been referring to this as a reality show. I kind of like the idea that people view this as reality, in the sense that this is a real reality show that it is about something as opposed to a lot of the reality shows that you see. But, I would just say, that from my own standpoint, that there is a tremendous amount of trust that has to go into this thing. Michael has trusted me with his public life and I take that very seriously. On the reciprocal end, I think it is my job to be worthy of that trust.

MF: And I think you are! (Laughs.)

PC: And, Michael, next up, you are working with another of my interview subjects, Christine Ebersole! Tell me about all your upcoming events.

MF: After I finish with Barbara Cook at my club, Christine and I will be performing at the McGowen Center in Palm Springs on November 19th. I will be playing Carnegie Hall with Cheyenne Jackson on October 29th.

PC: He just made his premiere on GLEE! What do you think of him?

MF: Cheyenne is an extraordinary talent. He actually stayed at my house in LA when he was filming it, but we were all sworn to secrecy and not allowed to tell anybody until it was officially announced.

PC: It was top secret!

MF: So, I was really happy for him because he is one of the most talented people I know.

PC: Thanks so much to both of you and good luck with the new series!

MF: It was a pleasure. Bye now.

AE: Yeah, it was. Bye bye.

Michael Feinstein's AMERICAN SONGBOOK premieres next Wednesday at 8 P.M. on PBS. Check your local listings for repeat airings. The DVD set is availible for pre-order at PBS.org!