Interview: Marilyn Maye Talks Provincetown, Her Upcoming Town Hall Debut, and What Makes a Song Great

It wouldn’t be summer in Provincetown without a visit from the legendary singer Marilyn Maye.

After a dozen years of sold-out engagements at the Art House, and a Covid-necessitated poolside show at the Crown & Anchor in 2020, Maye is back this year to give a Broadway-themed concert at Town Hall on August 25, with Tedd Firth on piano, Steve Doyle on bass, and Daniel Glass on drums.

At 96, the Wichita, Kansas-born Maye continues a long career as a singer, actress, director, arranger, educator, and recording artist who, with her mother’s encouragement, began taking dance lessons and training with a classical voice coach at a very early age. By the time she was a teenager, Maye had her own radio program, “Marilyn Entertains,” in Des Moines, Iowa.

After years of performing locally, Maye was discovered by Steve Allen in 1963 and made numerous national television appearances with him, leading to her being signed to RCA Records where she released seven albums and 34 singles. Broadway musicals provided great material for Maye. Her singles “Cabaret,” which she recorded at the request of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb prior to the show’s opening, and “Sherry!” with music by Laurence Rosenthal and lyrics by James Lipton – the title songs for their respective shows – and “Step to the Rear,” with music by Elmer Bernstein and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh from “How Now, Dow Jones,” all reached the top ten on the Billboard adult contemporary chart.

Between 1966 – when she was Grammy-nominated as Best New Artist – and 1979, the pop and jazz vocalist made a record-setting 76 appearances on NBC-TV’s “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” the most by any singer. Her place in American music history was assured when the Arts Council of the Smithsonian Institution selected one of her recordings, “Too Late Now” – written by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane for the 1951 feature film “Royal Wedding” – for the Smithsonian-produced album of the 110 Best American Compositions of the Twentieth Century.

In the 1970s, Maye starred in acclaimed regional theater productions of “Hello, Dolly!” “Mame,” “Follies,” and other Broadway musicals. These days, Maye – who divides her time between New York and Kansas City – often appears at 54 Below, Birdland, the Iridium, and Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and at other music venues and concert halls around the country. Last year, she made her solo Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Pops, under the baton of music director Steven Reineke, earning no fewer than 12 standing ovations during her performance.

By telephone recently from her home in New York City, Maye talked about returning to Provincetown, putting together a program of Broadway music, and more.

How did you first discover Provincetown?

My lawyer loves Provincetown and has been renting a house there for years. Every summer, he would invite friends like Nancy Dussault and her husband and me to come for visits, and I fell in love with it. I’d go for walks on Commercial Street and people would stop me and ask if I was performing there. I’d say “no, just shopping.” One day, I told my lawyer, “I want to work here.” He told me he didn’t know if that would work because all they booked were drag shows.

But he introduced me to (presenter and producer) Mark Cortale, who booked me into the Art House for four shows that first summer, 14 years ago. As I say from the stage, “I was the first straight singer to play Provincetown.” Mark has been bringing me in every year since, and I’ve played up to two weeks of consecutive shows in one summer at the Art House. This year will mark my debut at Town Hall, a much larger venue, and I’m very excited about it.

Did you connect with Provincetown audiences from the get-go?

I did, yes, and not just because they’re so warm, but also because they’re knowledgeable and so hip. They’re about the hippest audiences anywhere, made up mostly of gay men, who I always call “my boys,” but also women – everyone really.

What are you planning for Town Hall?

It will be a program of Broadway songs, some from shows I’ve done, not on Broadway but in some pretty big productions around the country. I’ll be doing “Luck Be a Lady,” the wonderful Frank Loesser song from “Guys and Dolls” that’s usually sung by a man, “It’s Today” from “Mame,” by Jerry Herman, and “I’m Still Here” from Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies.” I played Carlotta, so I think of that as one of my songs. And I’ll also do “Fifty Percent” from “Ballroom,” by Billy Goldenberg with lyrics by Marilyn and Alan Bergman. There will also be other songs, too, that I haven’t decided on yet. I like to finalize my set list pretty close to show time. It keeps things interesting.

Can we expect any of your famous Maye medleys?

There will probably be at least a couple. Just about every time I play Provincetown, I do my Rainbow Medley which includes “Look to the Rainbow,” by Burton Lane and Yip Harburg, “Over the Rainbow,” by Harold Arlen and Yarburg, and “Rainbow Connection” with music and lyrics by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher. Most people seem to really like it, except my friend Bob Mackie.

Bob is a brilliantly talented costume designer, of course. He designs many of my concert outfits, and his design director, Joe McFate, builds them. Bob and Joe are both darling and often come to see me. As sweet as he is, however, Bob always lets me know that he’s no fan of my Rainbow Medley. During Covid, I got a note from him that read, “Dear Marilyn, I miss you so much. I’m even willing to sit through the Rainbow Medley again if it means I can see you. Love, Bob.”

Opinions may vary on what makes a great medley, but as a singer, what would you say makes a song great?

First and foremost, it can’t be trite because it’s all about the lyric. Without that, you won’t be able to deliver a song. We singers can't use the song unless we can deliver the lyric. The audience lives through those lyrics. It's so wonderful to see an audience identify a lyric with their own story, applying it to their lives. I’ve had people come up to me to after a show and say, “I’ve had a terrible week, I wasn’t sure I wanted to come tonight.” Then they tell me, “I'm so glad I did.”

Most of my story songs are positive. I wouldn't sing so many songs if they weren't happy. I've had down times, including three husbands who were alcoholics. The positivity of the songs is therapy for the audience. I sing to them, not for them.

As someone who’s well versed in the Great American Songbook, who are your favorite composers and lyricists?

My very favorites are Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and Johnny Mercer. They really told the story. In the Cole Porter song “Looking at You” – from the 1929 Broadway musical “Wake Up and Dream!” – there’s a lyric that goes, “Looking at you, while troubles are fleeing, I’m admiring the view, ‘cause it’s you I’m seeing, and the sweet honeydew of well-being settles upon me.” It can be sung to a lover or to the audience. It’s beautiful any way you look at it.

Before we go, what are your favorite memories of appearing on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”?

I loved doing that show. Johnny was just wonderful, incredible really. He always gave me his full attention. When I was singing, he never looked away. The song choice and original concept for whatever I did on the show was all mine. And when I finished my number, Johnny’s comments were the most generous. He would look right into the camera and say things like, “To all you young singers, that’s the way to sing a song.”  Johnny would praise me in ways even my mother, who loved me very much and was always supportive, never did!

 

Photo caption: Marilyn Maye is seen above in evening wear designed by Bob Mackie. Photo by Kevin Alvey.

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