When It Comes to You - sung by Jeff Blumenkrantz

06/13/06 • -1 min

Bonus Episode #8: Wow, I can't believe it's almost the end of the podcast! When I started this bad boy, it seemed like such a long road ahead of me, and now here it is, just weeks from the GRAND FINALE! OK, enough sentimental talk. I'll save that for the actual last episode.
I'm here with another bonus/filler song (i.e. a song not in the songbook). It's the song I wrote for my best friend, Tracy Katz, on the occasion of her wedding to Mark Paladini ten years ago.
Tracy and I met as teens at Stagedoor Manor, Performing Arts Training Center, a summer theatre camp where theatre geeks like me could thrive amongst fellow theatre-lovers all summer, while we mustered up the courage to return to the oppression of our local high schools. (For more about this, check out the excellent, new documentary, Stagedoor.)
Tracy went on to build a career around the role of Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods, which she still occasionally and convincingly/brilliantly plays today, although her main gig is raising my two gorgeous godkids in Virginia Beach.
In 1996, after 17 years of best-friendship, Tracy insisted I write a song specifically for her wedding, and I didn't even bother putting up a fight. After all, I was her Man of Honor, and Men of Honor must often go above and beyond the call of duty. After multiple, failed attempts to come up with a funny song, I ultimately opted to write this song from the heart. "When It Comes to You" was recorded 6/11/06.
By the way, I don't know what I was thinking when I said Mark had been a casting director in New York. Most of his casting career has happened in Los Angeles. And the name of the sci-fi series I couldn't think of is Babylon 5!

Previous Episode

My Book - sung by Carolee Carmello

Episode #19: Carolee Carmello wouldn't let me gush about her on the podcast as much as I wanted, so I'm going to have to do it here! Carolee and I met doing a production of Grease at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in 1989, and her career since then has been continuously and completely jam-packed with goodies, many of which we didn't even get to discuss!! Broadway shows like Mamma Mia!, Urinetown, and Kiss Me, Kate, which took great advantage of Carolee's ridiculously powerful and versatile voice and great sense of humor. Or Parade, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and this season's Lestat, which let her flex her impressive dramatic leading lady muscles. And let's not forget her brilliant performances in such high-profile Off-Broadway productions as john & jen, Hello Again, Infinite Joy, A Class Act, and Elegies, all of which were recorded, fortunately for us!
Add to all that a few more Broadway shows (City of Angels, Falsettos, and 1776), a slew of regional and tour productions (Arthur, Chess, Bells Are Ringing, The King and I, etc.), a TV show (Remember WENN), and a Broadway star husband and two beautiful kids, and you start to realize that Carolee is a true Wonder Woman.
In this episode, Carolee sings "My Book", the "Sloth" song from the Audra McDonald song cycle, The Seven Deadly Sins. Clearly meant to be performed in front of a live audience, Carolee gamely rolled with it and chose me for all the audience participation duties. I have to add: given how dense this song is, can you believe that this is literally Carolee's third time singing through it... ever?? DIVA! Recorded 6/5/06.
Look for Carolee in the upcoming Broadway by the Year: 1978 concert on June 19th at Town Hall. And you can hear her wonderful performance on the Lestat recording when it's released in July. Don't forget to watch for her (and several other podcast guest divas) on the Tony Awards this Sunday, June 11!

Next Episode

Lament - sung by Megan Mullally

Episode #20: I can't imagine a better person to have as my final special guest star than the super-special star of TV's Will and Grace, Megan Mullally. Megan and I met twelve years ago when we were mere children performing on Broadway in our respective revivals, Megan in Grease and myself in Damn Yankees. Soon thereafter, I had the amazing opportunity to actually perform with her in yet another revival, How to Succeed.... From the first read-through, it was obvious she was a talent super-power, turning even the dullest lines into sparkly gems.
Since then... well, I don't have to tell you what she's been up to for the past eight years, but suffice to say, it has involved an Emmy Award, three SAG Awards and countless DVDs. Let me take this opportunity to say how a) thrilled I am to know some of the people at the center of that amazing show, b) how proud I am to have appeared in an episode, and c) how appreciative I am to the creators of that show for the significant world shifts that I believe it generated.
Yeah, yeah, back to Megan:
So everyone in America knows that Megan is a genius comedienne, but how many know about her flourishing singing career? Have you heard her duet with Carly Simon on Will & Grace: Let the Music Out? Or my all-string arrangement of "Silent Night" which Megan sang so beautifully on the NBC Celebrity Christmas CD? And above all, have you checked out her own CD with her band, The Supreme Music Program, Big as a Berry, where she first recorded the song she sings on this episode? It's packed with stellar singing, great style, and interesting song choices, like this one!
"Lament" is a setting of yet another Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, and it's also the last song from the songbook to be recorded for this podcast. I'm so pleased that Megan is here to bring the song and podcast into "home." Recorded 6/19/06.
Be sure to tune in to your local NBC station this fall for the premiere of Megan's new daytime talk show, The Megan Mullally Show. I don't care what she says... I'm watching all five hours a week.