Interview: Zoe Van Tieghem of SPRING FLING at The Green Room 42

Up-and-coming cabaret artist Zoe Van Tieghem (technically Zoë Van Tieghem but, to avoid confusing the Broadway World hyperlink, we will, henceforth, be omitting Zoë's umlaut) is an up-and-comer no more. After debuting her first-ever club act some four short years ago, Zoe Van Tieghem has, quickly, built up a reputation as a nightclub performer with dulcet vocals, jazz tendencies, and storytelling skills. About a year (ish) ago, Zoe began working with jazz proficient Matt Baker, which proved to be a game changer for both artists. The pianist, arranger, and Musical Director seems to share a universal language (or, perhaps, a brain) with the vocalist storyteller, for the shows the two new colleagues and chums have been presenting have upped Zoe's fan base and artistic mission.

After a recent production titled Spring Fling, this reviewer urged Matt and Zoe to not leave it as a one-off, and to encore the program for further fan base expansion. Happily, the twosome did as was suggested and, on May 26th, an extended performance of Spring Fling will play The Green Room 42, with additional materials and cast members. Before final rehearsals for the 7 pm, 5/26 performance kick into high gear, Zoe stopped by for a photo shoot and a chat, and she brought with her a special friend who made a guest appearance in one or two of the photos...

This interview has been edited for space and content.

Photos by Stephen Mosher; Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

Zoe Van Tieghem, welcome to Broadway World.

Thank you.

How are you?

I'm all right. How are you?

You are gearing up for your encore engagement of Spring Fling.

Yes.

How are you feeling?

I'm feeling good. I'm feeling excited. It's always less nerve-wracking to do something the second time.

Were you nervous the first time?

As nervous as I usually am; not more nervous than usual, but yes.

Well, you seemed totally cool. Are you telling me that when you go out to do a show, you have nerves?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Always. I would be concerned if I didn't. It's almost like superstition. Like, if I feel too calm and okay about something, something is gonna go wrong.

How long have you been doing this work?

The first cabaret I ever did was 2019, so not that long, but also long enough.

You are a singing actress.

Yes.

What made you decide to transition into doing club work?

It was always something I wanted to do, but a lot of it was a decision that I made during the pandemic because there wasn't a lot of work, and it was something that I could do myself. I could learn songs and I could sing them, and I could arrange them in a way that I wanted to. Then it just sort of took off. I enjoyed it a lot, and it was a way to keep in shape, keep my stamina, keep practicing, keep performing, because any experience is the best way to learn something, and that something you learn might be that you suck, but it's always a way to learn. So, partly out of a lack of work, but also it was just something I had always wanted to do.

I saw Spring Fling. It was my first one of your shows.

Mm-hmm.

And even though it was my first one, I had heard from several people, "You've gotta go see this girl. You've GOT to go see this girl," but our timing never worked out.

Mm-hmm.

Does it surprise you, hearing that so many people recommended you to me?

Yes. Shocked.

Why?

I think part of it is I just wouldn't expect it. There's so much oversaturation of events and content and shows, and people and performers that I'm always shocked when people have heard of me or know who I am or have seen me in something. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am.

A little humility is always a good thing.

Yeah.

When you started putting together your club act, how did you decide that you wanted it to be jazz or cabaret or musical comedy? What was the aesthetic that presented itself to you?

It's funny, I sometimes say, "Oh, I sing cabaret" or "I do cabaret shows" and people are like, "What is that?" I don't know. I don't know what it is. It's whatever I want it to be, I guess. It's a combination of standards and some musical theater, and I always throw in some classical rock and that kind of stuff. I think the first show I ever did was just songs that I wanted to sing and that I maybe wouldn't have an opportunity to sing, otherwise. Then I got more into jazz, and I started enjoying that and I wanted to play with that a little bit more: I've always been a soprano, so it's interesting to marry those two things because so many cabaret singers are these low sort of crooners or belters, or smooth jazz singers. And I'm...

You're a musical theater soprano.

Yeah.

Who is singing in a nightclub.

Right.

Spring Fling is definitely not just a collection of songs you want to sing.

No.

You created a theme. You created a program, an act.

Mm-hmm.

What changed between that first act in 2019 and Spring Fling?

I got a lot more experience. I did a lot more shows. I saw a lot more shows - that's probably the main thing. I realized what I liked and what I didn't like from other people, and I thought, "Well, I'm not gonna do that - I am gonna do this." I think I also wanted to do something different. I have a lot of funny stories from my life, and one of my shows is called City Sounds - it's about growing up in New York. I have a lot of stories about the city and about growing up in show business, and they're funny and they're great, but I got a little tired of them. I wanted to create a show rather than just a series of interludes. So I did.

I found Spring Fling to be quite poetic: I have described it to people as beat poetry with music. I might have said it in the review, I'm not sure.

I think, maybe, yeah.

It is incredibly visceral and visual, and it's almost like you say a poem and then segue into the song.

I like really capturing people, I like taking them somewhere and taking them on a journey from beginning to end, because I've always done plays and musicals and written plays and written stories, and I know how powerful that can be, how fun it is to do, how much fun it is to witness. I wanted to bring a little bit more of that to the cabaret work.

Matt Baker.

Mm-hmm.

Look at that smile!

(Laughing)

You didn't start out working with him.

No.

He's a relatively new addition to your work model. Tell me about the experience of working with that genius booger.

He's so talented. I love working with someone that I don't ever have to tell what to do, in actual words. I will communicate, but it will be through gestures and humming and other weird things because he's so smart and he understands music so well, better than I do. So that's been really fun. It makes the whole thing easier.

You are an actor.

Yeah.

You're in character when you're doing a play or you're doing a TV show.

Yeah.

When you are in your nightclub act, are you playing a character?

In this one? In Spring Fling? I definitely am. And, in some ways, in all of them, I am, because that's how I am able to go stand in front of people for an hour and a half and not cry. Because if I were just like, "Hey, it's me," that would be exponentially more terrifying than playing a character. It's already so much more terrifying than doing a play or doing a musical because it's me, it's my name, and that's what people are coming to see, which is wild. But, in some ways, yes, I am always playing a character. I'm playing a character when I have to call, like, a doctor. I make up a person, because being myself is frightening. I have to create this persona to call a senator and be like, "I'm opposed to blah, blah, blah!" I make up a woman who's really good and assertive at stuff like that. So, in a sense, I'm always acting .

Do you think that a lot of people are like that?

I think so. A lot of people I know are like that... but I don't know if the sample of the population that I'm friends with is a good measure of normalcy.

I think that the people that you and I know are all artists of some sort.

Right.

My friend remarked that my husband talks to himself, and I answered that I always think he's rehearsing a monologue.

Mm-hmm.

You have made some changes in Spring Fling between your premiere and now.

I have a guest artist! I have Jonathan Arons playing the trombone on two songs. I thought that I wanted to add a little something and see what happened. There's one number toward the beginning, and one toward the end, that we have sort of choreographed together, that I think will bring a little bit of levity to the show. That was one of the, not one of the notes, because I think people enjoyed the incessant ballads. But, to give myself a goal, I want to add a little bit more levity to this particular show.

Are you constantly giving yourself goals and challenges?

Yes.

Why?

Because I get bored without them.

Is that something that comes from within or something that a teacher instilled within you?

Oh, it definitely comes from within..

We are on the cusp of summer.

Yes.

And, so, Spring Fling will be out of season soon.

Mm-hmm.

What do you have planned for the fall?

Well, I'm getting married in the fall, so that is the main big production that I'm getting ready for and rehearsing. Maybe I'll do a "Just Hitched" show. We'll see. But I'm focusing on that right now and I'm hoping to have something new for late summer, early fall. We'll see.

Are you continuing to audition while planning a wedding and putting on a new nightclub act?

Yes.

How do you find the process of balancing out the two different careers you have now?

I just keep doing the next thing. I don't know. I've met so many people through cabaret and made so many beautiful relationships - I am just following their lead. They have a lot of role models who I watch, who are actors, who are also doing this, who are doing concerts, who are doing club acts. So the short answer is, I don't know. I'm just trying to do as much as I can.

Zoe, I'm so happy that we got to have this chat. I hope that Spring Fling 2.0 is wonderful.

Me too.

Thanks for coming over.

Thanks for having me.

SPRING FLING will play The Green Room 42 on May 26th at 7 pm. For reservations visit the GR42 website HERE.

HERE is the Zoe Van Tieghem website.

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