Interview: SO NOW YOU KNOW with Stacy Sullivan
By: Nicholas Adler Jun. 27, 2020
Stacy Sullivan is well known in the Cabaret Community for being the very epitome of warmth and friendship. She always greets her friends and fans with a big smile, a hug and a "How are you?" Unfailingly classy, well dressed and always stunning, Stacy creates very interesting cabaret shows that tend to focus on one artists - "It's A Good Day, A Tribute To Miss Peggy Lee", "On The Air - Songs For Marian McPartland" and one that I was luckily in attendance for on opening night, "A Night at the Troubadour: Presenting Elton John and David Ackles".
Like Peggy Lee, Stacy is the seventh of eight children and she was born from the ultimate mother figure, Elizabeth Sullivan. Having met and spoken with her mother, I believe she passed along to Stacy her midwestern warmth and welcoming spirit. Being a mother of two herself, Stacy brings
that nurturing energy to the stage with her in every performance. You can feel that she routes for the underdog. She likes to highlight gifted artists that had a bit of a struggle in their career, but rose above that struggle to achieve a dream.
Ms. Sullivan is a multi-award winning singer, actress, recording artist on the LML label but she touts as her greatest accomplishments her two children, and it's not hard to see why. They are both talented and generous people. The apple didn't fall far from the tree in this situation.
It is wonderful to see Stacy's light both on and off stage. Her charm is surely missed during this dark time, but hopefully, performances will come back soon and Stacy will undoubtedly be one of the people lighting up the New York music scene.
NA: Who is your mentor and what would you like to say to your mentor?
SS: My voice teacher in college, Laven Sowell, is my mentor. He was a student of Nadia Boulanger and asked a lot from his music majors, but I can honestly say he changed my life. We lost touch when I moved to LA after college and I regret that. I hope I made him proud. I wish I could thank him for believing in me.
NA: What has this business given you and what has it taken away?
SS: I moved to Los Angeles after college, in order to start a career in television and film. I found work in musical theater and I found my husband doing Sigmund Romberg's "The Desert Song" at his theater in La Mirada. When I moved to New York City in 2011, after raising our children, I found a second life in cabaret. I also found great joy in the recording studio. This business gave
me family, joy, passion, friendships for a lifetime... I guess you could say it's given me everything that is important to me.
What has it taken away? I guess the answer is "time." Everything takes time, and there are some parts of the business I detest, such as promoting shows and albums, trying to get an audience, etc. In the end, I would say it was all worth it.
NA: What is the hour like before you go on stage?
SS: The hour before a performance is usually pretty hectic for me. I try and do too much, I think, and leave it till the last moment. I was never good at preparing before a show. My daughter/director (Savannah Brown) took me aside one night before a performance, and said, "Mom, it's Christmas! You get to do what you love to do. Enjoy it!" That one comment kind of changed everything for me. It's not about being perfect. It's not about hitting all the notes. It's about bringing passion and meaning to the stage and sharing with an audience "the work."
NA: If you could experience one performance over again, which one would it be and why?
SS: I had a great time at Weill recital Hall at Carnegie Hall last year. It was a CD release for my latest album, "Tornado Alley." The audience was full of people I adore and quite a few people I didn't know! I loved every person in that band. We loved the music we were sharing. It was my birthday... It was really special.
NA: What are you most proud of?
SS: I am most proud of my marriage and my kids, Sullivan and Savannah Brown. Being a mom was my dream and is the most satisfying endeavor of my life. Getting to do it with a wonderful
and her husband, Jeff Brown
man, my husband Jeff Brown, has been the greatest learning experience and joy I've ever known. I am grateful beyond words.
NA: What is your favorite venue you've ever sung in and why?
SS: Town Hall in NYC is my favorite. I love the intimacy, even though it's a large venue. The lighting and acoustics are fantastic and the people in the balcony are so close to the stage, you feel like you could reach out and touch them.
NA: What was the best part of growing up with seven siblings?
SS: Best part? The chaos. We are all strong personalities and there was always something going on. It was never boring. Music, tennis, school, choir, dinner around the table every night, baseball/basketball/football games, theatre, church. It was busy and stimulating.
NA: The world just celebrated Peggy Lee's 100th birthday. What inspired about Peggy Lee to create a show about her?
SS: I really didn't know very much about Peggy Lee when I started creating my show about her in 2008, but Sidney Myer gave me the idea and...who says no to Sidney Myer? I performed with one of her co-writers, Paul Horner, in a review of his work. I was pregnant with my daughter at the time. It must've been 1991. I sang "Angels On Your Pillow"at the end of the show and fell in love
with the song so much that I sang it to my children every night of their childhood. When I started researching her life and music, I became obsessed. She really was something special.
NA: Besides being an award winning singer, you are a great photographer. How did you get into photography?
SS: I assisted my sister Heather, a wonderful photographer, for many years doing hair, make-up, and art direction. My daughter's dance team in LA needed head shots for a concert and one of the other mothers said, "Stace takes great pictures!" I said, "No, no, not me. I don't even have a camera." She said, "I have one, you can borrow mine." Oh my. The things we get ourselves into.
NA: You seem to highlight great artists in your cabaret shows. Who do you next have your sites on?
SS: Jonathan Schwartz has asked me to record an album of his father's, (Arthur Schwartz) songs. It's pretty thrilling. Arthur wrote with some of the great lyricists and he is one of the most underappreciated composers of the great American songbook. Sean Harkness is my musical director and we are doing some exciting things with the songs. Can't wait to get back in the studio, my favorite place. It's kind of like church for me.
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