Interview: Catching Up With REACHING HIGHER'S Meg Flather

For creative Jane-of-all-Trades Meg Flather, there is no shortage of music to sing. A songwriter of note and a musical theater actress, Flather is continually in the act of making music, whether it is music of her own composition or that of creatives with a more legendary history, like the subjects of her latest cabaret program, Misters Hammerstein and Rodgers. Whether in her own nightclub acts, as a guest artist for colleagues like Ricky Ritzel, in the recording studio, or around the house, Meg Flather is here to tell stories, and she has developed a strong presence in the community of small venue performing. A (sometimes incredulous) leader in the cabaret and concert community, Flather gives voice to the women who look up to her and provides an example of what it is to be an artistic force of support. Filled with positive energy and empathy, Flather has, tacitly, taken on the task of acting as a beacon of light within the industry, which is all well and good and much appreciated... but Meg Flather just came to sing. All the rest is a free gift with purchase.

Broadway World Cabaret recently exchanged some questions and answers with the singer-songwriter who came out of the pandemic with a new album and a new show, both of which can be enjoyed tomorrow night (March 20th) at Don't Tell Mama (reservation link HERE).

This interview was conducted digitally and is reproduced with minor edits.

Meg Flather, welcome to Broadway World!

Hello, Stephen! I love a good pen pal!

Spoiler alert: I am attending your Rodgers and Hammerstein show this week. It got a rave review from our correspondent Ricky Pope, and I am desperate to see it.

My goddaughter is also attending this show! This will be an epic night!

So, please tell me: what inspired you to take on R&H this season?

I was a musical comedy kid with one goal in mind: to make it on BROADWAY. But decades later I put those dreams to rest when I realized that I was a Rodgers & Hammerstein gal in the age of "CATS". I felt I did not have the chops to compete on this particular Broadway, and "broke up" with the theater dreams to find my original voice. That led to me writing and recording my songs and playing the East Village clubs for much of the 1990s and early 2000s. Fast forward, thanks to "Ricky Ritzel's Broadway" and my very wise voice teachers, Carolyn Marcell Elmore and Andrew Byrne, I began to revisit the R&H music of my past through a new set of ears. As a mature, female, contemporary, singer/songwriter, I concluded that this music told our story today. Before I knew it, I had the idea for the show. After doing a bit of research, the setlist was ready. I met with Lennie Watts and Tracy Stark for one rehearsal. Then Broadway shut down three days later and Covid was here. My thesis only strengthened as these songs began to reflect all that was going on outside my quarantined window. They continued to tell our story through Covid, the election, January 6, all. Lennie, Tracy, and I worked via zoom. I am forever thankful to them for this focus.

As an accomplished songwriter yourself, do you have a different process of preparing to do a show by such legendary songwriters? Or do you approach the work strictly from the point of view of an actress?

This is where your team matters. This was the hardest piece I had ever set out to create. I had to face all those "leaving the theater" demons. Lennie encouraged me to sing each R&H song as I sang my own. I drilled, and drilled, and drilled until I was completely committed to each lyric as Meg. I had to sing each song as I sang my own. This work took a long, long time. I ended up zooming the show for friends and family out of town on a weekly basis to practice the terror of performing it. With time, these songs became my dear companions and friends to my own songs. The lesson I learned was practice, practice, practice. It is the only way to overcome fear.

What was your first exposure to Rodgers and Hammerstein, and do you have an R&H score that resonates, especially, within you?

As a Peace Corps baby born in the Philippines, we did not have a television and radio stations were scarce. My mother had my grandmother send us every original Broadway cast recording she could find. My mother had to blast these albums to get me to nap. These songs became a part of my DNA. This show is truly a love letter, a thank you note to my parents. A coming home of sorts. I had to leave R&H to find my own voice as a young woman, to then return to "my parents' music" now. R&H honors all my parents taught me as they were civil rights champions and humanitarians.

On the subject of your own songwriting, you released a new album last year that is not for sale but is, instead, a free "Thank you" gift to all of your audience members. What guided you to the decision to not release REACHING HIGHER as a commercial album?

Covid pricked a grassroots philosophy in me. Just make the music and give it away. There is something so simple in that. So clean. No noise. If, down the road, someone records one of my songs and I make a little money? We will all have a great chuckle. You get the money somewhere. A long time ago an actress in an audition waiting room said to me, "Make God your agent." I love that concept. I give it all up. I trust.

What was the creative process like, from concept to release, of your popular song INSIDE?

I swear this song wrote itself. It was a few days into lockdown and I could not sleep. I looked outside my window and started counting empty buses on West 57th Street. It was haunting. It was daunting. The song was written, melody and all, in 24 hours. Then my producer, Jon Gordon, and I arranged it via zoom. Jon then recorded a guitar track and had Brian Sanders perform his magic on cello. I recorded my vocal to that completed track while seated at my desk on my cell phone! That is the track you generously shared, Stephen. After my first vaccine, I recorded a vocal properly. But we never changed anything on the instrumental. It was exactly right. Two great musicians recorded their parts alone at home during quarantine. I think that is why the song resonates. We never made it slick. We kept it "inside." It is an honest Covid snapshot.

The youth of today have introduced the term multi-hyphenate to our society, as a term for somebody who does a lot of different things for work. When I was young, it was just called being well-rounded or being a multi-tasker. Have you adopted the term multi-hyphenate for yourself?

I used to be so stressed about my different hats. I thought they competed with each other. Singer/songwriter and Brand Ambassador? Then I realized they all share a common aim: a need to communicate. So, instead of the multi-hyphenate, I go with the old-school hat rack. I have this hat rack of hats that are all worn for the same goal- to connect.

Do you have a daily schedule to help you compartmentalize your different areas of industry?

I became so regimented during Covid. I found that 30 minutes of Pilates, followed by 45 minutes of vocal drills, and an hour walk outside each day while listening to rehearsals of songs and home shopping sells I had to perform was my way of staying sane. I am determined to hold on to this ritual as we open up. These 3 rituals together are my hat rack in motion!

When a new song comes to you, does it come to you complete? Or do you have to marry words to music in a chicken and egg fashion?

There are the gifts that write themselves, like "INSIDE". Then there are the ones that take months. What is cool about the songs that take months, is they often use lyrics that I tucked away from songs that didn't work in the past. It's the best kind of recycling. Everything is of use eventually.

You are widely considered a leader in the cabaret community, especially a leader of women. Is that a role that comes to you naturally? Or do you sometimes feel the pressure of being an example?

I am still so taken aback when I hear that. Thank you for saying it. I sure hope it is true. I come from a long line of women who supported women. I didn't observe caddy competition among women in my home. My mother and my father were both feminists and fought for women's rights. My sisters and I did not compete. It was more about us individually actualizing our goals, not comparing our goals. I also have held so many jobs surrounded by women. I became a den mother of sorts in the cosmetic world. I loved this work. I mentored and trained over 50 young cosmetic freelancers back in the day. When I put all of these factors together, it is clear that I believe we lift ourselves when we lift each other. There is room for all of us to shine. No one takes anything away from the other. Again, it is about the self-actualizing. And when you are just a little bit jealous of another's gifts? You run home and practice your craft even more! Yup! Envy is useful too. It is the best kick in the you-know-what!

As a perceived leader of the community, what can we all do to be there for each other, now that the industry has bounced back from the lockdown and loss of work and personal connection?

We must all use our MAC discounts and support all shows. These artists and clubs need our money and for us to witness "the work" live. We must pass the same $20 cover from show to show, artist to artist, all around the clubs. You pay my cover and then I pay your cover. It's the same $20! We are not out of the woods yet. We need bodies in the chairs. So, maybe set a goal to attend a show a week if you can swing it. Thank you, Stephen!

Meg Flather, thank you for chatting with Broadway World today, and I promise not to sing along at the Rodgers and Hammerstein show.

Aw, sing if you want!!!

Read the Ricky Pope review of Meg Flather: Rodgers & Hammerstein HERE, the Conor Weiss review HERE, the Bart Greenberg review HERE, the Michael Barbieri review HERE and read the Broadway World review of Meg Flather's album Reaching Higher HERE.

Meg Flather has a website HERE and a YouTube channel HERE.

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