Interview: Spencer Day of SPENCER DAY: BROADWAY BY DAY - FOR TWO NIGHTS at Chelsea Table And Stage

Spencer Day has arrived on Broadway. Well, sort of. His new album (his eighth if my math is correct) is entitled "Broadway by Day." On this album, he revels in the Broadway songbook, putting some fabulous (and unexpected) twists on some classic tunes. This coming weekend, on June 10th and 11th, Spencer will bring his album to audiences live and in person at Chelsea Table + Stage for an intimate and exciting evening of Broadway by Day.... at night. In fact, this is Broadway by Day.... for 2 nights.

I had the chance to chat with Spencer to discuss the new album, his performing career, and the things that make this dynamic performer tick.

This article has been edited for space and clarity.

Spencer, thanks for chatting with Broadway World! I'm excited about your new album and show. Tell me, do you enjoy the process of creating and building a new show?

Yes! I think workshopping it over time and seeing what organically comes together - a lot of times when I'm doing a preview show, during that process, a lot of stuff reveals itself, like the banter, the flow. I think I was able to pull stuff from the accidental way the album came together during the pandemic. I was able to chronicle things, such as my relationship to the material. I feel like having places to workshop and incubate material is very valuable. It's not like I don't write down things - my jokes, and whatever I might want to say - but for me, it's whenever I'm doing the show, things reveal themselves to me and I can figure out what the show is going to be.

How do you select your songs?

I like to think, with my own songs, that they're thematic and they move along the show; you have to have more than just a collection of songs. You try to find ones that create a cohesive theme that takes you from one place to another. With the original songs, I try to find what's serviceable, whether it's a funny song or whatever. In terms of the covers, I try to find that sweet spot that feels unique and surprising but not being so obscure. I mean, there are a lot of Broadway "b" sides or jazz standards that are not really well known that I occasionally throw in. With this project especially, we wanted to make sure that the songs were really recognizable, but at the same time would be surprising arrangements that would allow me to put my own stamp on the song, while, at the same time, not altering them to the point of making them unrecognizable. I don't want to say "What was the original melody again?"(Laughs)

As a follow-up, once you've selected your songs, how do you determine what style you're going to "lay over" the number? You're well known for reinterpretations of songs. In other words, instead of a straight interpretation, how do you determine what style would suit the song best?

I think sometimes I like to play against "types". That's what I love about Sondheim: the happy-sounding melody with seriously deranged, disturbing lyrics. The music can really heighten the comedy of something, or the tragedy. For example, Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" - where the lyric reads "from major to minor" and the chord actually goes minor. That's a perfect marriage of the lyric and the harmony coming together to heighten the mood. So, I think one of the things we did with the project was to find approaches to put a Latin feel onto a song that isn't traditionally done that way. For lack of a better word, playing against type can be the most interesting thing to do, where what you would expect musically counters the lyric. The rhythm and the style you choose to go for can be highly impactful upon the experience of the listener.

Can you tease us about an unexpected re-working of a Broadway classic in this show?

I think for this one - for the album we just did - I am trying to raise the bar for what people consider to be jazz standards. I mean Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein are all considered classic jazz standards but for this one, I do "Maybe" from Annie and "What I Did for Love" from A Chorus Line. Those are classics within the Broadway community, but not necessarily so much in the jazz or adult contemporary crowd, so I felt like some of the Marvin Hamlisch ones are beautiful surprises. We also do "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You" from Evita and "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar. When we began this project, my co-producer (who is very straight, but knows waaay more about Broadway than I could ever hope to) wanted to find versions of the songs that hadn't been touched in the way we wanted to. So, with some of the songs I mentioned, we couldn't find examples of guys singing these songs straight - without a wink or any irony about them. When we did the project, his one insistence was absolutely NO Andrew Lloyd Webber. I don't like being told no, so we surprised him on how pretty the songs were. I feel like Andrew Lloyd Webber is a little more maligned than he should be. He's got some awfully great melodies.

Are there any songs that you haven't done that are on your dream list?

Yes! We realized in doing this project that there's enough material to do three more records of Broadway songs. There's so much from Man of La Mancha, Camelot, Oliver, Stephen Schwartz - there are so many other songs we felt we could also take and do something really unique with. This record has been really well-received, which I'm thrilled about, but based on the success of that, if it continues to do well, we'd love to follow it up with 2, 3, and 4 just because it became the "Sophie's Choice" of songs because we had to cut a lot of ideas that we thought were good and we went with what came together the easiest in the studio and the most effortless. There are so many other good ones.

Who would be your dream duet partner?

Oh gosh! There are so many! I'd love to sing with Nellie McKay again, Norah Jones would be wonderful because her voice has such a nice texture. Emmylou Harris - there are so many great ones. Sara Bareilles would be awesome. This is a dangerous question because there are so many great ones. With guys, I think someone who would be a very clear tenor whose voice is brighter, because my voice is like fog. Gavin Creel - someone with a nice, bright head voice. I'm going to have to think on that.

You've performed in concert halls and cabarets - you've really run the gamut. Which do you prefer? Which suits you best as a performer?

I just played with Dave Koz in Europe, where the audience was a couple of thousand people (which is great) but you do miss the intimacy because I do a lot of jokes and comedic beats and wordplay with the lyrics. That's hard to do at the Hollywood Bowl with 17,000 people. Everything has to be painted in very broad strokes in venues like that. If you have a hall between 3-500 people, that's the magical sweet spot where you can have the intimacy to look people in the eye and do the storytelling that you can have in cabaret. You still get that level of energy that you get from a large audience.

You're very theatrical in all of your music. What would it take to get you into a Broadway show?

Well, I think for writing - I think that's my biggest dream- to write for other people. That brings me as much joy as performing and singing, if not even more. I think the more specific the scene, the happier I am and the easier it is for me to write something. Having a song fall within the parameters of a scene is the most fun I can possibly have. In terms of performing, I think over the years I've gotten to be quite a good actor, I don't think I started out with that naturally. I think some people are far better, naturally. Trial and error. I think because I have an inherently jazzy voice, shows like City of Angels or Chicago, I'd be appropriate for. Shows like Jason Robert Brown and power belter shows - I enjoy listening to, but I'm not your guy. I love to act. I think it was Dustin Hoffman who once said, when he was accepting his Academy Award, he kind of stumbled over something and he said "Oh f*ck! This is so much harder than acting!" Playing yourself. So, for me, playing a highly problematic character or a villain is so fun, and in a way, easier than playing a heightened version of yourself. I'm still figuring out who I am for myself. It's hard to convey. If I were doing a David Bowie or Marilyn Monroe thing, where I had this very distinct personality that was different from myself, that would be different, but I'm just being a more vulnerable and slightly larger person from the person who's talking to you. I really love acting. I think doing something different from my day-to-day life is a fun thing to do. Above all, writing for myself and for other people is probably my greatest love.

Thank you, Spencer, for taking the time to chat with Broadway World! All the best on your show and your album!

Spencer Day will be performing Broadway by Day for two big shows at Chelsea Table + Stage on Friday, June 10, and Saturday, June 11 at 7:00 pm.

For tickets, visit www.chelseatableandstage.venuetix.com

ChelseaTable + Stage is located at 152 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001

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