SOUND OFF Interview: Sandi Patty & BROADWAY STORIES

Today we are talking to a five-time Grammy Award winning recording artist and concert star who is perhaps best known for her nearly forty albums - most in the gospel genre - but who soon will be taking on the titanic title role in a starry regional production of Jerry Herman's classic musical HELLO, DOLLY! - co-starring Tony-winner Gary Beach, no less - the cheery and incredibly talented Sandi Patty. In addition to discussing all aspects of her fantastic new musical theatre-influenced album BROADWAY STORIES -  with tunes from THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THE MUSIC MAN, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, LES MIZ, and the film version of HELLO, DOLLY!, among others - we also discuss her recent concert collaboration with Michael Feinstein and what we can expect from her upcoming dates throughout the rest of 2011 and into 2012. Also, we analyze the performances of some of the great Broadway vocalists - Barbra Streisand, Dame Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Kristin Chenoweth and more included - and Sandi shares her opinions of her favorite Broadway shows, scores and songs. Plus, she even relates her experiences working for a decade on the Christmas spectacular YULETIDE! in Indianapolis and her two smash hit Christmas albums, as well as some of the songs she would like to have a chance to perform or record in the future - with the exception of certain special concert material, of course - and her thoughts on GLEE, her favorite movie musicals and much, much more.

Sandi Patty's BROADWAY STORIES is in stores and on iTunes now. More information is available at her official website here.

Isn't It Bliss?

PC: I was very, very impressed with your BROADWAY STORIES album - and I was not familiar with your recording legacy beyond your Christmas recordings previous to hearing it and it is truly a superlative effort. Brava.

SP: Well, I appreciate that so much, Pat. I know you get a lot of stuff coming to you. I hear what you are saying and I appreciate it a great deal.

PC: I especially enjoy your version of "Send In The Clowns". Sondheim rewrote the song for Barbra Streisand's BROADWAY ALBUM, of course.

SP: Correct.

PC: Who had the idea to use that version?

SP: Oh, I always really loved it - and I loved Barbra's whole BROADWAY ALBUM. I read her liner notes when her Broadway CD came out and, I have to say, I could not agree more in the sense that the extra verse just completes the story. The song the way it was written originally was amazing, but, I think that one of the things she said in her liner notes was that she felt - just for a second - that the story could be incomplete. And, that's why she went to Mr. Sondheim and asked him if he would write that extra verse. So, I guess that's why we did it in the first place.

PC: A great reason!

SP: Yeah, well, I - more than anything - am a big storyteller. And, I just really felt like that additional lyric really completed that song and finished the story. And, I love it. It's the classic, in my opinion. It's the classic Sondheim - and, it's the classic Broadway song. It's what we wish every song could be.

PC: And I assume you were familiar with the Grammy-winning Judy Collins version, as well.

SP: Oh, yes. Of course. Yes.

PC: So, would you say you drew the most from the Streisand?

SP: You know, she is just one of my big musical influences growing up.

PC: Really? As a gospel singer? Interesting. Many people seem to say that in this column.

SP: Yeah, I mean - I've never met her; I've never come in contact with her; but, I think if someone were to ask, "Who was your first voice teacher?" I would have to say: "Barbra Streisand."

PC: Why so?

SP: I would just listen so intently to how she would phrase something and she really communicated the lyric - i.e. the story - in song. And, for me, that's really what it's all about - telling the story. And, I think when Judy Collins did that song, it really opened that whole song up to a whole different genre of people that may have not been familiar with Broadway.

PC: Definitely.

SP: So, the approach to this project was to just keep the original heart of why the story was written in the first place - and, I just felt like those other lyrics were so important to tell the story.

PC: I think it is the superior version of the song, myself.

SP: Right. I mean, I just feel like if someone else came along and added lyrics, then, you know, I don't feel like that would be the original intent. But, since Mr. Sondheim himself wrote those new lyrics, I felt like it was wholly appropriate.

PC: Holy, indeed!

SP: [Laughs.] Right!

PC: And Sondheim also contributed a song to Barbra Streisand's second Christmas album, but her first is one of the all-time Christmas classics. Did you take her Christmas albums as inspiration for any of yours?

SP: I did in the sense that I really love song selection, but, you know, I kind of grew up in the Christian world and grew up in church, so Christmas is kind of a big deal for us!

PC: To say the least!

SP: There are just so many fabulous Christmas songs. You know, I wanted it to feel as artistic as many of her projects. But, I did have a great pool to choose from - some great carols and traditional songs and all of them beautiful, beautiful songs.

PC: Have you ever recorded Frank Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside"?

SP: Well, I've never recorded it, but, for the last ten years I have worked with the Indianapolis Symphony doing a YULETIDE! celebration. And, I did that number with the men in the chorus and it was so fun and so awesome.

PC: Liz Callaway and Ann Hampton Callaway just did this column and they are hosting YULETIDE! this year. Will you be possibly making an appearance?

SP: I won't be this year, but I was so unbelievably privileged to host last year.

PC: I've heard it's a really wonderful event.

SP: It is a fabulous event. And, while it feels to me very much like Radio City - in terms of just production value and costumes and it being all-live; it really is just so spectacular. And, it runs for the entire month of December in Indianapolis.

PC: Speaking of production values, your new BROADWAY STORIES album has a fantastic, full symphonic sound. It's a 64-piece orchestra, correct?

SP: Yes, we recorded it in Prague. Jack Everly was our conductor - whose roots go back to Broadway; he conducted Carol Channing both times she did HELLO, DOLLY! on Broadway. He is the principal Pops conductor in Indianapolis and other places across the country. So, when we decided to do this project, there was just really no other person on the list, in my mind, to come and do this.

PC: Was this the first time you two had collaborated on an album?

SP: Yes, this was the very first time.

PC: Will he be conducting your upcoming production of HELLO, DOLLY!?

SP: He will! Yes, he will.

PC: What can you tell me about your new production of the HELLO, DOLLY! - of course, you already do a song from the movie version on the album?

SP: Yes! That's right. And, again - what a fabulous song!

PC: You can say that again.

SP: It's actually one of those songs that was originally written for MAME in the 60s - for Angela Lansbury - but, then, it was cut from the show. So, when they did the movie version of HELLO, DOLLY!, she thought it would be a great idea to bring that song over to the movie version of it.

PC: It's a great song.

SP: It just fits perfectly.

PC: Will this song be in your new production?

SP: The production that we are doing in January is going to be a little bit of a hybrid between the movie and the stage version - I know that there is a song for Horace Vandergelder in the stage version that was cut from the movie and, really, how could we possibly not have Gary Beach do it?!

PC: Fabulous Tony-winner Gary Beach.

SP: Yes! I just love him so much. When they told me he had accepted, I was like, "Really?!" I am really, really excited about it.

PC: I was under the impression he was in semi-retirement, so you must have the makings of quite a Dolly to entice him to do this!

SP: [Laughs.] Well, my guess is this: Ty Johnson is quite the salesman and that's what happened there!

PC: Whatever it took was certainly worth it!

SP: Absolutely! Absolutely.

PC: In mentioning Angela Lansbury, she has done this column and I was curious what you thought of her - especially being another great Jerry Herman leading lady?

SP: Oh, you know what? She is just amazing - her timing; her sense of telling a story - not to beat a dead horse or anything. Whether it is Mrs. Potts in BEAUTY & THE BEAST or MAME or MURDER, SHE WROTE on TV…

PC: Or SWEENEY TODD.

SP: Or SWEENEY TODD, even! She just delivers such a sweetness if it calls for sweetness or a bawdiness if it calls for bawdiness - whatever it calls for, she delivers. She is really so incredible that she can do it all.

PC: This new album so excellently displays your versatility - "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" to "Trouble" to LES MIZ - you do it all, too.

SP: [Laughs.] Well, let me tell you my MUSIC MAN story: when my brothers and I were growing up - my two younger brothers - my parents were just great in letting us listen to a wide variety of music. So, we would often get these Broadway cast recordings and we would do these little pantomime shows.

PC: Act out the album.

SP: Yeah, and all the really good roles at that time were men's - you know, MUSIC MAN and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. So, it was actually Ty Johnson and Jack Everly's idea to do a medley that was all guy's songs - and, to call it "A Doll Sings The Guys".

PC: Great title.

SP: But, the funny part of it, was that I was already familiar with all of those men's roles when they brought them to me - because when we would do those little productions, my brothers would get the lead roles and I would get to be, you know, the crowd.

PC: That's so funny.

SP: Well, I had to sit there listening to them singing all the songs! [Laughs.]

PC: Some form of torture for a theatre fan.

SP: Earlier this month, we kind of debuted this project in Carmel, Indiana at the Palladium - Michael Feinstein is the musical director there.

PC: He is such an amazing guy - he gave me some great insights when he has done this column.

SP: He really is! What was really awesome about the concert was that my brothers were there and they had to be the chorus this time and I got to step out and do these roles. So, it was very fun.

PC: Will you be doing that show again?

SP: I hope to do that show as many times as I can.

PC: What is the title of the concert?

SP: The title is simply BROADWAY STORIES - the same as the album.

PC: Will you be touring this new show to promote the album?

SP: Yeah, we are taking a look right now at how that will all will flesh out.

PC: And you have some Christmas concerts coming up, as well, correct?

SP: Yes, I have a Christmas tour that will begin after Thanksgiving. Then, DOLLY comes up right after the first of the year. I am loving spending some time in New York City right now, though. It has just been so beautiful.

PC: I wanted to ask you about some of the great leading ladies who have also done this column - Dame Julie Andrews? Your SOUND OF MUSIC medley on the album is so enjoyable.

SP: Yes, in fact, I just spent the morning at the Rodgers & Hammerstein office and I was talking to them about the SOUND OF MUSIC medley that is on the CD.

PC: What did you discuss with them?

SP: Well, first of all, Shirley Jones and THE MUSIC MAN is really how I fell in love with Broadway. I was just so intrigued that you could tell a story through song. I was a very, very big fan of SOUND OF MUSIC, too, and they just gave me this amazing commemorative Blu-ray set. I may or may not have cried when they gave it to me. [Laughs.]

PC: It's a beautiful box-set. The movie looks brand new.

SP: Nice! I haven't delved into it quite yet, but, it was so sweet of them - they had heard the medley on the CD that we sent them. They asked me to do an interview and they were so complimentary. They were very, very kind.

PC: Speaking of the great movie musicals like THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THE MUSIC MAN and HELLO, DOLLY - you also do a song from CABARET on the album. Were you a fan of that film as well?

SP: Yes, I was - but, I think when I saw it I was a little younger and I didn't understand all the nuances like I would now. But, the song that stands out in my mind is "Maybe This Time". What an amazing song.

PC: Kander & Ebb are so great. Have you ever recorded that song?

SP: I've never recorded it - at least not yet! Maybe if BROADWAY STORIES 2 were to come out… [Laughs.]

PC: I was curious about what songs didn't make the cut?

SP: Well, you know, I would never record it because it is so signature Liza, but everybody always gets my name mixed up - you know, "Is it Sandi with an I or Sandi with a Y?"

PC: It is confusing!

SP: Yeah, so I do a little re-lyric-ed version in my live concerts because everyone confuses my name.

PC: Do you ever sing any Marvin Hamlish material?

SP: Oh, that's funny you say that because when I was in college I sang "The Way We Were" non-stop - that was sort of my go-to song.

PC: Your voice is versatile enough that you could really rock that, I bet.

SP: Oh, you're so sweet!

PC: What do you think of GLEE?

SP: I just want to say that I am a huge GLEE fan and that it reminds me of growing up in the Midwest and how all the kids did show choir. And, it seems like now there is a place for music on prime time TV finally and I am loving it.

PC: How great to hear you are a fan of the show.

SP: I am such a fan. I love it.

PC: Do you see younger audiences coming to your shows? GLEE, AMERICAN IDOL and X-FACTOR seem to be attracting younger people.

SP: Exactly. A whole new generation is discovering musical music - you know, there is music and then there is musical music. I think there is a whole new generation discovering the musicality of songs - and they think it's kind of cool. I think, if nothing else, GLEE is introducing some great music to a whole new generation.

PC: Have you ever recorded any material from THE PRINCE OF EGYPT? Your voice is perfect for those songs, I'd wager.

SP: I haven't, but it is fantastic. The story of the survival of a great nation and resilience and standing strong in the face of adversity - it doesn't get more deeply inspirational than that.

PC: You'd do an awesome job with "When You Believe". Have you ever sung it?

SP: I actually haven't - but that is a great idea! I should.

PC: One last leading lady who has also done this column that I wanted to ask you about was a fellow Oklahoma native, Kristin Chenoweth - maybe you two could duet on it someday!

SP: Oh, yes! You know, I just adore her so much. I follow her on Twitter. But, yes, we are both Oklahoma gals and I would just love it if our paths would cross sometime - it would be like checking off a bucket list thing for me.

PC: Kelli O'Hara is also an Oklahoma native…

SP: Oh, listen to this! My son goes to the same high school that Kelli graduated from!

PC: No way!

SP: Kelli O'Hara is a big deal in our community. She's awesome. Just awesome.

PC: What a talent.

SP: Yes, I know! She's so talented.

PC: Are you a SOUTH PACIFIC fan?

SP: Oh, yeah. There is some great, great stuff in there. I actually got to sing "Some Enchanted Evening" with Michael Feinstein in the show that we just did.

PC: I congratulate you on your continued success with BROADWAY STORIES - and, with five Grammys, I predict this will be number six!

SP: Thank you so much, Pat. I just don't know what category they are going to put it in! So, I guess we'll just sort of watch this all unfold.

PC: Indeed we will. Lastly, most of all I wanted to tell you how much joy comes through in this album. It's truly enlivening.

SP: Oh, well, it's such a joy to be singing what you love - it really, truly is.

PC: This was a joy and thank you so much, Sandi.

SP: Thank you so much, Pat. This was just wonderful. Bye bye.