Interview: Melba Moore Is Truly Herself in FROM BROADWAY, WITH LOVE at 54 Below

Tony Award winner and three-time Grammy nominee Melba Moore is returning to Broadway's Living Room with From Broadway, With Love this Thursday October 17th and Friday October 18th at 7 pm. She will journey through her notably remarkable career in music and beyond. Raised in NYC with professional musicians as parents, Ms. Moore stepped into the industry singing background vocals for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin which led to her Broadway debut succeeding Diane Keaton in the musical Hair. Moore went on to play recurring roles in several hit Broadway productions, including her celebrated portrayal of Lutiebelle in the musical Purlie.

Accompanied by a trio and a visual presentation of selected photographs and images, Ms. Moore will perform a variety of songs, including selected classics from Broadway greats such as Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, Diahann Carroll, and more; taking the audience on a magical musical tour of what makes Broadway great and inspirational.

Read a conversation below with Ms. Moore about her upcoming show and her reflections on the role of theater in her life.

(This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity)

What are you looking forward to about your show at 54 Below this week?
I’m going to tell some stories that people don't know about me and my career in Broadway, or have forgotten because I've been so focused on my R&B career.

Have you made any changes to your show since the last one you did a few months ago?
A couple of changes were, people said they loved the focus on the Broadway but they also wanted to hear my records, so I've included that in my show this time.

What do you love about performing live and doing cabaret and getting to share your history with people?
Well, there's nothing like anything live. If you do a movie or a TV show and it's filmed, you get a chance to do it over and over and over and over again until you get it right, and you can look back at it and it feels really nice, but there's nothing so electric as the experience of the effect that you have on each other, the audience and the performer, and there's interaction that just... you can't anticipate some of the things that are going to happen. It’s just always full of surprises. And that can only happen with a live exchange of any kind, especially with entertainment.

I know that's not just my opinion. Anybody who experiences live entertainment, if they can afford it, they’ll want that. Even just clubs and disco or dance music is a lot of fun. I think the main thing about anything is the gathering of the people in the live experience with each other.

You started on Broadway that are really young age. Has that been a consistent thread throughout your life?
Oh, absolutely. When I started on Broadway, I had never seen a Broadway show. I got into it, I'll say, by accident. And once I got into it, it was just a whole series of fabulous things that happened to me.

Let me put it this way. I started out as a musician in my personal life and a music teacher, and then when you add the dimension of being the whole being of yourself into telling the story, not just the music, it's another experience for you. It's like having a new experience of whatever it is you're portraying live and then having [that] witnessed by other people, which is just outstanding. It's so much more than just music.

And then to look back on it and see something like the Tony Award. If people don't remember or mention that I have a Tony Award, I remind them, because it's so powerful, and even people who maybe never went to the theater, they’ve heard about what the Tony Award is. It has a final and lasting impact in your life and your career.

So I always remind myself and remind people, especially... when I got the Tony Award, I didn't really quite know what it was. But looking back over the years, it's so powerful. And it only represents theater. Live theater.

Do you have next steps in mind for this show? Are you are you planning to tour with it?
That's an excellent question because I don't usually write pieces for myself. I do a play, someone writes it for me. But the opportunity came up for me to be in 54 Below, so I said, “what am I going to do?” It came up so quickly I couldn't hire somebody to write it, so I did it for myself. And it went very well because, they invited me back.

But once I do this performance, I really will have only performed this thing four times. What I really want to do is get a residency somewhere so I can keep it up and do it and have audiences give me feedback so I can see what I've had, and then maybe bring in writers and directors and shooting and someone to costume it and everything and put together a proper production.

First I'd like to showcase it and tour [it] around where I can so I can continue to get feedback from audiences, see what are they telling me? When you’re just doing it yourself and you're not an experienced writer you don't really know what you have, so I want to keep it up.

I mean, it did well. They invited me back, so I know it's good. [That’s not just] my own opinion. They're paying me to come back and do this, and I've only done it four times [laughs]. So I really want to work the kinks out and get it to be something really, really special. Then I'd like to tour it.

So this was your first time doing your own scripted patter?
Yes.

What was it like writing that?
I don't [normally] do it, but I was just trying to get the opportunity, and you know, you’re going in front of people and critics and people who are professional. Mainly, I couldn't enjoy it. It's too scary. It's scary. I would like to be able to enjoy it myself. I mean, I love entertainment, so I enjoy from that perspective of it.

But then, you're so focused on what you're doing. A lot of what I did, I mean, thank goodness I've written it down and everything, I don't even remember because I'm on to the next thing. I can't even take in what what just happened. [laughs] So I want to experience it myself. I'm going to settle down and I want to really know what's coming so I'm not worried about what the next line is or if my costumes are right or whatever, so I can enjoy it too.

I'm sure, once you've done it a few times, you'll, get there.
Right. [laughs] Right now it’s still very scary! [laughs]

Is there anything else that you like to add about this?
I think they’ll get a little bit of insight into who I am, not just what I've done. But I guess the great thing about being alive is you kind of get to know each other, and afterwards we'll go and have a meet and greet. It won't be very long, but it'll be a chance for us to look at each other and touch each other and ask a few questions. Just be people. [laughs] That's the whole value and joy of live performances and getting to be with each other and getting to know each other, getting to experience each other and the personalities of  each individual.

So I'm excited. I know I'm gonna enjoy that part. I’m not scared of that part. [laughs]

You've kind of taken on a role of a Broadway legend. Do you ever feel like that gets in the way of people seeing you as a person?
No. I think what it is is, they see me, but I don't think I want to do it some more so I can see what they're seeing, too, because something great is happening here, [and] I want to experience it more. I don't think anything gets in the way. It's a process that's happening that's not finished yet.

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Melba Moore: From Broadway, With Love plays 54 Below (254 West 54th Street) on October 17 & 18 at 7 pm. Cover charges are $56.50 (includes $6.50 in fees) – $67.50 (includes $7.50 in fees). Premiums are $106 (includes $11 in fees) - $111.50 (includes $11.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at 54below.org/MelbaMoore.

Header photo courtesy of Double XXposure Media Relations

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