Maureen McGovern Speaks...About Telling Her Story in Song

Maureen McGovern in World Premiere of  A Long and Winding Road thru November 15, 2009 at Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, presented by the Huntington Theatre Company www.huntingtontheatre.org

Conceived and written by Philip Himberg and Maureen McGovern, Directed by Philip Himberg, Musical Direction by Jeffrey D. Harris

Maureen McGovern is telling her story in song in the World Premiere of her one-woman show A Long and Winding Road at the Wimberley Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. The musical memoir which she refers to as "the ipod shuffle that is my mind" takes the audience on a journey that spans the six decades of her life, punctuated with emphasis on national watershed events we all remember. In the midst of the five-week run presented by the Huntington Theatre Company, McGovern sat down with BroadwayWorld to talk about the development of ALAWR and how it's being received in Boston.

Her show salutes the singer-songwriters she admired as a shy kid growing up in Ohio.  "Folk music was a forum for me to say what I believed. It's powerful music. People wrote songs about what was going on. My idols were Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Joni Mitchell. I envisioned myself doing something meaningful." After a stint in a local folk group, her ship came in when Russ Regan from 20^th Century Records heard a demo and signed her sight unseen to record "The Morning After" theme from The Poseidon Adventure. She was dubbed "the Disaster Theme Queen" when she followed that with subsequent songs from The Towering Inferno and Gold, and wrapped up the 1970s with "Can You Read My Mind" from Superman.

McGovern recounts the '70s as "profoundly difficult" because she was pigeon-holed into doing album songs that she felt had no relevance. She walked away from the music business twice, but returned via a new route in 1981 when she auditioned for Joe Papp to replace Linda Ronstadt in Pirates of Penzance on Broadway. Despite having no acting experience, she got the part. "I found a whole new home in theatre. And the turning point in my life, aside from theatre, was doing a midnight cabaret show on top of it. I could do anything and I didn't have to do a show around some song they were trying to sell from an album. So, jazz, classical theatre, big band music, which I love, Great American Songbook; I did a very eclectic kind of show that was just rewarding, challenging, and so I started building a whole new audience. The '80s were a very exciting time for me."

In 1986, McGovern recorded and co-produced the Grammy-nominated "Another Woman in Love" with jazz pianist Mike Renzi.  She says, "If you can tell your story with just piano and voice, you don't need anything else." ALAWR affirms that sentiment as the singer takes the stage accompanied only by her Musical Director/accompanist Jeffrey D. Harris, and employs projected visual images and a few props. When asked why she created this as a theatre piece, as opposed to simply a concert, she replies, "I've always wanted to do a one-woman show and something with that audiovisual element to it. The reason for doing the show is that we all go through horrible times in our lives and we get through them. We get through to the other side, hopefully. And a lot of what has happened today would never have happened without us. I think how we end the show is with hope. We have to make a difference. You don't give up and you work for change. I think that's every generation's duty to pass that on."

Hope clearly comes through in ALAWR in the universal language of music. McGovern explains, "I think we found songs where it wasn't just a series of songs, where they actually further or propel what I was saying or lead to something else. When I talk about Viet Nam, doing "You've Got a Friend" - how often do you put up an album cover and an entire collective group of people go (big sigh) when you see Carole King? Everybody had Tapestry. I took just the bridge to that song: 'They'll take your soul if you let them, but don't you let them...' and then talked about Viet Nam." In order to narrow down the song list from the initial 400 she considered, her decisions were informed by how well each fit with a particular theme or time period.

"And that's one of the reasons I chose the singer-songwriters because they were about revealing their souls. I wanted this to do this and entertain that idea, that our generation was about meaning, about changing. Those songwriters just came right to the fore." While there's a tendency to sing along with her on every song, she solves the problem by inviting the audience to join in on the P, P, and M hit "If I Had a Hammer." It's impossible to keep up with her anyway because McGovern makes the songs sound so incredibly different than in their original versions with her emotional interpretation. "Well, whether I do Gershwin or Arlen or Porter or Berlin, I re-think them with great respect. Why are these still relevant today? I hear them in a different light. Like 'Rocky Raccoon' - let's pick a really off-the-wall one that nobody does, but it's a story song."

One might think that the playlist of ALAWR would attract only the Baby Boomers, but McGovern says her experience with her audiences belies that notion. "Our age obviously gets it, but the young people, I find, their parents listened to it and even younger (teens, early 20's), they're musically savvy to this. They're very eclectic and listen to all kinds of things. Interesting with the Beatles' songs, everybody from ancient grandmas and grandpas, to our age, to 20's to 3-year olds, they're a common thread that everybody knows their music." During the development of the show, she played to an elderly audience of 75- to 90-year olds who loved it. "They all came up to me after and said I vaguely remember these things when I had kids, but I hated them then. I never knew what they were about. And when you sing them, they sound like great songs. I said they are great songs. That's why the New York Times called them the second half of the Great American Songbook because the craft of songwriting by Paul Simon and James Taylor and Joni Mitchell is exquisite."

A criticism of the show is that it lacks detail because it covers so much ground. McGovern relates that the feedback from the Boston workshop last March was positive as long as she spoke about common experiences, but not so much when she discussed her career. When changes were made to the program in Washington, DC, those audiences wanted to know more about her career. "I think this version of it ties things together. It's pretty well set. I'm having fun with it now." In addition to the 95-minute theatrical show, McGovern also performs a 30-minute concert with a little bit of the same dialogue, but not the extended story-telling. She is presently booking into the fall of 2010 and 2011 with regional theatres. As for Broadway aspirations, she says, "We'll put it out there. You never know. I want it to go where people will get something from it. It's not an edgy show. I'm willing to take the show where it's most meaningful and there's a purpose. It's a comforting show."

A Long and Winding Road is McGovern's opportunity to return to her folk roots and express herself, especially her belief in the healing power of music. As an artist spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association, she launched the Maureen McGovern Works of Heart Foundation to provide a musical library of life-affirming positive music for patients and caregivers. She explains, "Music saved me. It's always been a soundtrack in my life. It's always had a physical and spiritual and emotional response for me. It's just opened up a whole new world for me. It is a powerful modality." And the chanteuse is a persuasive ambassadress.  

 

 

 

 

Conceived and written by Philip Himberg and Maureen McGovern, Directed by Philip Himberg, Musical Direction by Jeffrey D. Harris

Maureen McGovern is telling her story in song in the World Premiere of her one-woman show A Long and Winding Road at the Wimberley Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts. The musical memoir which she refers to as “the ipod shuffle that is my mind” takes the audience on a journey that spans the six decades of her life, punctuated with emphasis on national watershed events we all remember. In the midst of the five-week run presented by the Huntington Theatre Company, McGovern sat down with BroadwayWorld to talk about the development of ALAWR and how it’s being received in Boston.

Her show salutes the singer-songwriters she admired as a shy kid growing up in Ohio. “Folk music was a forum for me to say what I believed. It’s powerful music. People wrote songs about what was going on. My idols were Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Joni Mitchell. I envisioned myself doing something meaningful.” After a stint in a local folk group, her ship came in when Russ Regan from 20^th Century Records heard a demo and signed her sight unseen to record “The Morning After” theme from The Poseidon Adventure. She was dubbed “the Disaster Theme Queen” when she followed that with subsequent songs from The Towering Inferno and Gold, and wrapped up the 1970s with “Can You Read My Mind” from Superman.

McGovern recounts the ‘70s as “profoundly difficult” because she was pigeon-holed into doing album songs that she felt had no relevance. She walked away from the music business twice, but returned via a new route in 1981 when she auditioned for Joe Papp to replace Linda Ronstadt in Pirates of Penzance on Broadway. Despite having no acting experience, she got the part. “I found a whole new home in theatre. And the turning point in my life, aside from theatre, was doing a midnight cabaret show on top of it. I could do anything and I didn’t have to do a show around some song they were trying to sell from an album. So, jazz, classical theatre, big band music, which I love, Great American Songbook; I did a very eclectic kind of show that was just rewarding, challenging, and so I started building a whole new audience. The ‘80s were a very exciting time for me.”

In 1986, McGovern recorded and co-produced the Grammy-nominated “Another Woman in Love” with jazz pianist Mike Renzi.  She says, “If you can tell your story with just piano and voice, you don’t need anything else.” ALAWR affirms that sentiment as the singer takes the stage accompanied only by her Musical Director/accompanist Jeffrey D. Harris, and employs projected visual images and a few props. When asked why she created this as a theatre piece, as opposed to simply a concert, she replies, “I’ve always wanted to do a one-woman show and something with that audiovisual element to it. The reason for doing the show is that we all go through horrible times in our lives and we get through them. We get through to the other side, hopefully. And a lot of what has happened today would never have happened without us. I think how we end the show is with hope. We have to make a difference. You don’t give up and you work for change. I think that’s every generation’s duty to pass that on.”

Hope clearly comes through in ALAWR in the universal language of music. McGovern explains, “I think we found songs where it wasn’t just a series of songs, where they actually further or propel what I was saying or lead to something else. When I talk about Viet Nam, doing “You’ve Got a Friend” – how often do you put up an album cover and an entire collective group of people go (big sigh) when you see Carole King? Everybody had Tapestry. I took just the bridge to that song: ‘They’ll take your soul if you let them, but don’t you let them…’ and then talked about Viet Nam.” In order to narrow down the song list from the initial 400 she considered, her decisions were informed by how well each fit with a particular theme or time period.

“And that’s one of the reasons I chose the singer-songwriters because they were about revealing their souls. I wanted this to do this and entertain that idea, that our generation was about meaning, about changing. Those songwriters just came right to the fore.” While there’s a tendency to sing along with her on every song, she solves the problem by inviting the audience to join in on the P, P, and M hit “If I Had a Hammer.” It’s impossible to keep up with her anyway because McGovern makes the songs sound so incredibly different than in their original versions with her emotional interpretation. “Well, whether I do Gershwin or Arlen or Porter or Berlin, I re-think them with great respect. Why are these still relevant today? I hear them in a different light. Like ‘Rocky Raccoon’ – let’s pick a really off-the-wall one that nobody does, but it’s a story song.”

One might think that the playlist of ALAWR would attract only the Baby Boomers, but McGovern says her experience with her audiences belies that notion. “Our age obviously gets it, but the young people, I find, their parents listened to it and even younger (teens, early 20’s), they’re musically savvy to this. They’re very eclectic and listen to all kinds of things. Interesting with the Beatles’ songs, everybody from ancient grandmas and grandpas, to our age, to 20’s to 3-year olds, they’re a common thread that everybody knows their music.” During the development of the show, she played to an elderly audience of 75- to 90-year olds who loved it. “They all came up to me after and said I vaguely remember these things when I had kids, but I hated them then. I never knew what they were about. And when you sing them, they sound like great songs. I said they are great songs. That’s why the New York Times called them the second half of the Great American Songbook because the craft of songwriting by Paul Simon and James Taylor and Joni Mitchell is exquisite.”

A criticism of the show is that it lacks detail because it covers so much ground. McGovern relates that the feedback from the Boston workshop last March was positive as long as she spoke about common experiences, but not so much when she discussed her career. When changes were made to the program in Washington, DC, those audiences wanted to know more about her career. “I think this version of it ties things together. It’s pretty well set. I’m having fun with it now.” In addition to the 95-minute theatrical show, McGovern also performs a 30-minute concert with a little bit of the same dialogue, but not the extended story-telling. She is presently booking into the fall of 2010 and 2011 with regional theatres. As for Broadway aspirations, she says, “We’ll put it out there. You never know. I want it to go where people will get something from it. It’s not an edgy show. I’m willing to take the show where it’s most meaningful and there’s a purpose. It’s a comforting show.”

A Long and Winding Road is McGovern’s opportunity to return to her folk roots and express herself, especially her belief in the healing power of music. As an artist spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association, she launched the Maureen McGovern Works of Heart Foundation to provide a musical library of life-affirming positive music for patients and caregivers. She explains, “Music saved me. It’s always been a soundtrack in my life. It’s always had a physical and spiritual and emotional response for me. It’s just opened up a whole new world for me. It is a powerful modality.” And the chanteuse is a persuasive ambassadress.  

 

 

 

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