Interview: 6 Questions & a Plug with BROADWAY SONGBOOK's James Rocco

The Broadway Songbook® series at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts explores the history, meaning, and impact of Broadway on popular American culture. Most of the productions are like taking a master class on all-things Broadway from Broadway veteran, host and co-writer of the series, James Rocco, who also is vice president of programming for the Ordway. This summer's too brief edition is the songbook of Kander and Ebb, a duo you know if you're a theatre buff, even if it's just from their biggest hits CHICAGO, CABARET and KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. The beauty of this series is you'll hear some familiar tunes but also some of the deeper cuts -- songs from the composers that you may never have had the opportunity to hear performed live before.

Composer John Kander and Lyricist Fred Ebb have had the longest partnership in the history of musical theatre spanning 40+ years. They belong to the exclusive EGOT club with Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys to their credit. Having written songs for Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Streisand, Vanessa Williams, and the stars of GLEE, Kander & Ebb likely are more familiar than many people realize. After attending the SONGBOOK, audience members will surely know enough to ace a pop quiz or win a Broadway edition of Trivia Mafia.

But this production has a twist... and a jazz square, Charleston and a kick line, because this is the rare Songbook breaking from the style they've employed most recently and breaking out in dance. More surprises and a few facts from Rocco will prep you for your next "class" in this 6 Questions and a Plug:

James, I'm so excited it's time for another BROADWAY SONGBOOK! You're covering Kander & Ebb this time around - usually you cover people who have a show in your season -- why did you choose this duo this time around?

I always found it fascinating that CHICAGO and A CHORUS LINE were written in the same year. A CHORUS LINE was so right for its time and so innovative that it totally eclipsed CHICAGO. For years CHICAGO was this lost treasure. I remember trying to get producers to do it and could never get any interest. Then in 1996, when Encores did the show, all of a sudden people were blown away by it. The irony is CHICAGO has now become the longest running American Musical of all time. I thought it might be fun to look at Kander and Ebb during the same season we were doing A CHORUS LINE. I'm not certain everyone recognizes Kander and Ebb's names but with CHICAGO and CABARET alone they changed the way we thought about musicals. Their work is intriguing because it sounds like traditional Broadway Razzle Dazzle and yet, within are these contemporary social and political messages.

Can you tell us a little known fact about Kander & Ebb to draw people in to hear more at the show?

After Oscar Hammerstein died, Richard Rodgers asked Fred Ebb to write a show with him. Fred Ebb respectfully declined because he did not want to work without John Kander!

What are some highlights of the music we'll hear?

I love hearing "Dear One" from KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. And I cried after staging "All I Need" from FLORA, THE RED MENACE because it was one of the first show albums I ever owned and I have been waiting years to stage that number! And, of course, there will be surprises from CHICAGO and CABARET.

What song will most surprise the audience, and why?

I can't give that away!

Do you have any personal connections to Kander & Ebb or any of their shows?

Well...When I was 19 years old, I had numerous auditions to play the EmCee in a production of CABARET. After the third callback I was asked to go to one final meeting at an apartment on Central Park West. Only later, after I got the job, did I realize that I was in Fred Ebb's apartment.

I knew you'd have one. That's too cool.

Your casts are always stellar. Talk a little about your cast for this production.

We have some new members of the SONGBOOK family and they are knocking it out of the park. You'll want to see a lot more of Thomasina Petrus after you see her in the SONGBOOK. Zoe Pappas is back in the cities after five years and it's great to have her back. John Brink, fresh from the Broadway company of LES MIZ has come home to perform with us. And of course Lisa Bartholemew-Given, Reid Harmsen and Caroline Innerbichler are always a joy.

And the plug: We know what's next for the Ordway with PAINT YOUR WAGON coming up soon -- you can plug this show, but what else is next for you and the Ordway that we may not have heard already?

Jeff and I are already writing the next SONGBOOK, which opens in September, REBELS ON BROADWAY. It features all songs from shows written in the last 10 years. We're looking at music from HAMILTON, FUN HOME, BOOK OF MORMON and others. It's difficult not to talk about PAINT YOUR WAGON, it has an all new book by Jon Morans and the orchestrations are amazing. It is an entirely new take on this classic musical. Lerner and Loewe's score sounds so right!

More Information:

Written by: Jeffrey P. Scott and James A. Rocco
Hosted by: James A. Rocco
Musical Director and Arranger: Raymond Berg
Starring:

• Lisa Bartholemew Given
• John Brinks
• Reid Harmsen
• Caroline Innerbichler
• Thomasina Petrus
• Zoe Pappas

BROADWAY SONGBOOK of Kander & Ebb only runs this weekend (not nearly long enough!), with two shows Saturday, June 11 and a matinee on Sunday, June 12 on the Ordway stage in Saint Paul. Tickets available online at: http://www.ordway.org/performances/broadway-songbook-kander-ebb.

Photo: James Rocco

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