Jeffrey Williams 'Grows Up' and Heads to NYC Following Cabaret Show, 6/13

Since his arrival in Nashville, talented Jeffrey Williams has made quite the name for himself on local stages, winning over directors, producers, other actors, audience members and critics alike with his charm, dedication and remarkable talent. Seriously, he's got the goods and Nashville theater has claimed its fair share (most recently, he's been seen in Street Theatre Company's acclaimed staging of Chess in Concert, in which he sang the role of the spoiled American chess champion, and in Tennessee Repertory Theatre's hit revival of Pump Boys and Dinettes, in which he tap-danced, played an accordion and sang his heart out, surrounded by a cast of Tennessee Rep veterans), it would seem, and now young Mr. Williams is heading northeastward to check things out in New York City.

Before he leaves (in less than two weeks, believe it or not), he's producing - along with some of his more talented friends and compatriots - a night of cabaret called Jeffrey Williams in Concert: For A Good Cause, to be held at The Keeton Theatre on Monday, June 13. Tickets are a mere $5 and will help beef up the coffers, so to speak, as he heads off to conquer the big leagues. Translation: You can't possibly afford to miss this opportunity to revel in his artistry one more time.

To add to our own personal dossier on this multi-dimensional and uber-talented performer - yet another product of the musical theater program at Nashville's Belmont University - we badgered him with some questions, the answers to which we now share with you, our devoted readers. Read on and get to know more about Jeffrey Williams, so that when he wins a Tony Award you can say you knew him when...

Okay, Jeffrey, give me some background on yourself...where you're from, why you've chosen this career path and what led you to Nashville... Well, I was born and raised in a tiny town called Shelton, near Olympia, Washington. I was heavily involved in church music and then drama in high school, and my first couple years after high school were spent in various community colleges around that area, mostly studying vocal jazz. It became very clear to me in those last couple years of high school and first couple years of college that I really wanted to spend my life working in music and theatre. Then, when I needed to get out and try living someplace completely new, I headed to Nashville to study Musical Theatre at Belmont. Well...not a lot of studying happened while I was there, at least not of anything other than musical theatre, and I no longer had the finances to keep that up, so I nipped it. Since then, I have been fortunate beyond imagination to start a career doing what I love.

What's the purpose of your upcoming cabaret performance - which couldn't be coming at a better time, what with the rise in interest in cabaret here in Music City USA? The purpose is two-fold. One, it is very important to me to have an opportunity before I leave town to get as many members of my Nashville family as possible in the same place at the same time and party down! It is really difficult to make single dates with everyone I care about, and even more difficult to get everyone together for any reason, simply because we all have crazy, ridiculous lives to live. So, I thought it might be somewhat easier to just set a date, have a place big enough to hold however many want to come, and say, "We're just gonna hang out, have fun, and entertain each other!" It's a chance for me to say "Thank you" to Nashville for the incredible upbringing you all have given me.

And, I can't lie. The second purpose is frankly to help pad my meager savings account so that I can live in New York while I'm nailing down my first bits of work.

I know you're gonna have some amazing support onstage with you: Who's performing with you? In keeping with the first and most important purpose of the show, I really wanted to get some of the people who have touched my life to perform with me. So, my accompanist for the evening will be Rachel DeVore Fogarty - perhaps not known to the theatre community at large, but she should be! I met Rachel while we were both accompanists at Belmont, and not only is she an intensely skilled and invested accompanist, but also composes beautiful music and just has the kindest of all the hearts in the all the land. The singers/actors making an appearance with me are Mike Baum, Anne-Geri Fann, Laura Matula, Dan McGeachy, Adam Richardson, and Alan Smith, and let me tell you right now - you don't want to miss what they're doing, and I bet you'd never guess in a million years what songs they will be ripping up! (...unless one of them told you...but don't ruin the surprise!)

What's the basic premise for the show? It's not like it hasn't been done before, but the show is made up mostly, though not entirely, of songs that are meant for someone who is not me to sing. Songs for, say, the gender that is not mine, or a race of which I am not...and I will be supporting the causes of these people by singing their music. However, please don't come expecting a serious night of feminism and affirmative action...it's quite possible that my tongue has actually grown to become a part of my cheek at this point.

That sounds very intriguing! What's next on your agenda? Well, just two days after the show, on the 15th of June, I will be hopping in a rental car with my life stuffed into it and taking a drive up the coast to end in Astoria, Queens, in New York. I will then get my life squeezed out of said rental car, put it into someone else's vacated bedroom until September 1, and begin the long, arduous process of breaking my way into life as an actor and musician in the Big Apple. We'll see what happens to my agenda after that... 

Well, my birthday is September 2, so you won't want to forget that. Where do you hope to find yourself in 10 years? In 10 years I hope to be in a place where I have a home base in New York, but can afford to work elsewhere, taking jobs that I am truly interested in rather than just jobs that I absolutely need in order to eat. I want to make just enough of a name for myself that it means something when I go perform somewhere. And I want to get to a place where I can afford to give my full attention to whatever single project I'm working on, without having to split my time up to make ends meet...where I can take a few weeks off to write or try something entirely new...it may (read: will most probably) take longer than ten years, but I'm prepared for that. And knowing my ultimate goals makes even 15 or 20 or 30 years seem totally doable.

What memories from your time in Nashville really stand out for you? Wow...what a question! I will never forget my experiences here, and far and away my memories of working at Belmont and in the theatre here outweigh the others. I have truly been so blessed to have so many hundreds of people come in and out of my life, some more quickly than others. But I will always think fondly of the laughter and the fun, as well as the rather tough life lessons I've had to learn with and from people in this community. There's no way to pinpoint the best of the memories, but the ones that popped into my mind first would be making my very first friends here while doing Bat Boy; the whole nude experience in The Full Monty; the remarkable growth that was fostered for me by Richard Northcutt and Ginger Newman in Souvenir; the incredible feeling of seeing so many bright, supportive, and loving faces the 3rd and Lindsley the first time I did Vienna Waits; and more than anything, being a part of such a diverse group of wonderful people! From working with ACT 1, to Street Theatre Company, to SistaStyle and Dream7, to Encore Theatre Company, to Community Players, to Naked Stages, to the Boiler Room Theatre, to Belmont Musical Theatre, to Tennessee Rep...there are probably more that my fried mind isn't coming up with at the moment...but the point is, it has been such a privilege and an honor to be privy to so many different styles of working and so many different structures and so many different talents and skill sets. I can't imagine a better place for me to have "grown up," so to speak.  

- Jeffrey Williams in Concert: For A Good Cause. At The Keeton Theatre, 108 Donelson Pike. Monday, June 13. Curtain at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 and will be available at the door. Mr. Williams adds: "Guess what else! You can bring your own adult beverages! So do grab a friend or seven, pen me in, and attend! It's a Monday night, so no 'I have a show' excuses will fly! I suppose if you'll be out of town or something, well...I'll have to forgive you. But I sincerely hope I'll be able to see all of you who have touched my life in any capacity before I head off to the big city! You are my family here, and it would mean the world to me to see your bright and shining faces there to party together one last time!"

pictured: Jeffrey Williams with the legendary Barbara Cook

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