FIRST YOU DREAM: THE MUSIC OF KANDER & EBB - DVD Release

The 2015 televised tribute to John Kander and Fred Ebb has just been released on DVD. 

It stars Kate Baldwin, Heidi Blickenstaff, James Clow, Norm Lewis, Julia Murney and Matthew Scott. Directed for stage by Eric Schaeffer and produced by HMS Media. Music direction and vocal arrangements by David Loud. 

Bonus items: "She's A Woman/Dressing Them Up" (Kiss of the Spider Woman), "Blue Crystal/Marry Me" (The Rink), "I Don't Care Much" (Cabaret), "Love and Love Alone" (The Visit) and "The Money Tree/Maybe This Time" (Cabaret/The Act). 

JOHN KANDER: Hidden Treasures, 1950-2015

"Here is the first retrospective of one of Broadway’s most important composers—the man who wrote the music for Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman and many other acclaimed shows. At 88 John Kander is still writing for the theater, and this extraordinary 2-CD set spans 55 years of his compositions. Featured among the 49 tracks are rare demos recorded by Kander and his longtime partner, lyricist Fred Ebb, along with new recordings by Broadway stars Anita Gillette and Karen Ziemba. The deluxe 64-page booklet is lavishly illustrated, with extensive notes by Jesse Green (theater critic of New York magazine) that include comments on the songs by Kander himself. This collection—the newest edition in Harbinger Records’ Songwriter Showcase Series—is a must for musical theater fans, and for anyone interested in the tradition of great American songwriting."

ARTISTS: John Kander, Fred Ebb, Anita Gillette, Karen Ziemba, Brent Barrett, Julia Murney, Alix Korey, Barbara Walsh, Michael Winther, Lewis Cleale, Linda Emond, Paul Anthony Stewart, Greg Pierce, David Loud, John Riddle, Elena Shaddow and others.

JOHN KANDER SHARES THE STORY OF ADAPTING ZORBA! INTO A MUSICAL

JohnKander, composer of the newly opened musical THE VISIT, shares the story of adapting "Zorba the Greek" into the musical ZORBA!, which is being staged at City Center beginning May 6.

"Life is what you do while you're waiting to die. Life is how the time goes by." These are perhaps the starkest lyrics ever to open a Broadway musical. But they perfectly establish the tone and mood of the unyielding yet ultimately uplifting story which will unfold in ZORBA! which comes to City Center from May 6–10.

Based on the 1946 novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, ZORBA! is the tale of the unlikely friendship that forms on the island of Crete between Nikos, a young educated writer, and Zorba, a boisterous and worldly-wise working man. The musical, with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb and book by Joseph Stein, opened at the Imperial Theater in 1968 and ran for 305 performances. Starring Herschel Bernardi as Zorba and Maria Karnilova as Hortense and directed by Hal Prince, the show received mixed critical reception, and the authors revised the show for its 1970 national tour, which starred John Raitt as Zorba and Chita Rivera as the Leader.

In 1983, a Broadway revival ran for 362 performances and reunited several key players from the 1964 film "Zorba the Greek": director Michael Cacoyannis, Lila Kedrova as Madame Hortense, and Anthony Quinn himself, reprising his memorable performance as Zorba. That was the last major New York production of the show until now.

At Encores! it is always a special occasion when we have living authors to consult with. While lyricist Fred Ebb passed away in 2004, composer John Kander is still going strong at 88: CABARET just completed another acclaimed Broadway run; the revival of CHICAGO is in its 19th year; his new musical KID VICTORY recently premiered in Washington, D.C.; and perhaps most significantly, Kander and Ebb's THE VISIT opened on Broadway in April. This is the first time that a composer of an Encores! show has a new musical simultaneously opening on Broadway. I recently had a conversation with Kander about his memories of the various productions of ZORBA!

ROB BERMAN: I noticed that your musical THE HAPPY TIME opened in January of 1968, and ZORBA! opened in November of the same year. How and when did you and Fred Ebb get involved with adapting "Zorba the Greek" into a musical?

JOHN KANDER: I remember this rather specifically. Fred and I were in L.A. working on THE HAPPY TIME. We rehearsed and opened out there in great part because that's where [director] Gower Champion lived. While we were there, Hal Prince had contacted us and asked us to read "Zorba." He had an idea about making it into a musical. We did read it and decided we didn't want to do it. We couldn't see it as a musical, although it was not that we didn't think the material was wonderful. We were very questioning. Well, Fred and I had rented a house together and there was a phone way down in the yard and another phone in the house. I went down to the extension phone down in the yard and Fred was in the house and we were preparing to speak to Hal and say no, but then Hal started describing his vision for the very opening scene, out of which the chorus Leader would appear. By the time he finished describing this opening scene, we both enthusiastically said yes.

Had you already seen the film?

JK: By that time everyone had seen the film. But the film didn't enter into this because we were forbidden from using anything from the film. Our major contact and reference was the widow of Nikos Kazantzakis, who had passed away by then. She was very encouraging and stayed connected with this piece for quite a while. My memory is that she came over and saw it and approved it.

RB: I have to confess I never knew the show all that well and it has been a wonderful discovery for me. Perhaps because of the Herschel Bernardi connection, I always imagined that ZORBA! was similar to FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, but set in Greece. [Bernardi created the role of Zorba, and had earlier played Tevye.] But of course it couldn't be more different than that show. If anything, I see similarities with CABARET in that both are stories about a young writer visiting a foreign country and befriending a larger-than-life character. Did that similarity ever cross your mind?

JK: Not at the time. It did later. There was another similarity too in the way Hal was approaching it. Since we're telling a story, there were observers onstage and there were in CABARET as well.

RB: Tell me about the sound of the show and the incorporation of Greek music and instrumentation into the score. Did you do any special research at the time?

JK: The first thing that happened is that I listened to lots and lots and lots of Greek music. And then I forgot about it. I did the same thing with CABARET, where I listened to lots and lots of German jazz and then forgot about it. I made the assumption that I would just write with that influence in the back of my head. I do know that the very first notes I wrote for ZORBA! were the opening vamp to "Life Is."

RB: In addition to the ethnic instruments onstage (bouzoukis, oud, dumbek), most of the strings in the original Broadway pit doubled on mandolins and mandolas, but that appeared to have been simplified by orchestrator Don Walker for the 1970 tour.

JK: That was necessary. The interesting thing about the tour is that the final version of the show happened with the tour. There was something musically not quite complete about the version that was on Broadway. When we sent it out on tour, we had a chance to write some new things. For instance, "Why Can't I Speak" became a trio and we incorporated it with a new song for Nikos, "That's A Beginning."

RB: I think the song "The Butterfly" is one of the most beautiful songs you have written, and I like to imagine that it just flowed effortlessly out of you. Do you remember it being an easy song to write?

JK: I don't remember that being hard. We had little thematic things we kept coming back to. In the construction of "The Butterfly," we found that little returning theme of "Not too fast..." which was related to other material in the show. I don't remember the show being hard to write. The score also, I must say, was in great part an extension of Hal's vision. His use of the Leader to help tell the story influenced us very greatly.

RB: The dance arranger of the original production was one of the great unsung women of Broadway history, Dorothea Freitag.

JK: Dorothea was a fantastic pianist, a marvelous character and musician. She wrote a lot of dance music for Broadway. When we wrote 70, GIRLS, 70 we had a character onstage called Lorraine and we wrote that part for Dorothea.

RB: You wrote a new song for Anthony Quinn in the revival.

JK: Yes, which was called "Woman," which turned out well. Quinn and Lila Kedrova were both wonderful in the piece, but it was a different kind of experience. It became more of a star vehicle for Quinn.

RB: You've written so many wonderful shows. Does this one rank in your mind in any way?

JK: I think that from a writing point of view, Fred and I were starting to become more adventurous, which was really fun, and Hal was very encouraging with that. I remember the whole experience of ZORBA! right through opening night as being a happy experience. It seemed like a clear piece of work.

at Playbill on-Line by Rob Berman (Music Director of Encores!) / Photos by Joan Marcus

REVIVALS OF THE RINK AND KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN MAY COME TO BROADWAY

The creative team behind the new Tony Award-nominated Kander and Ebb musical THE VISIT are hopeful that two of their previous collaborations may be revived on stage.

A private reading of KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, the Tony-winning 1993 musical that features a book by Tony winner Terrence McNally and a score by John Kander and the late Fred Ebb, took place early this year. The New York Times reported on the exploration that featured six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald as Aurora/Spider Woman, Alan Cumming as Molina and Steven Pasquale as Valentin.

The reading was organized by THE VISIT producer Tom Kirdahy and directed by Tony winner John Tiffany (ONCE). McDonald has been attached to the project for several seasons and participated in earlier private readings of the musical.

When asked during a recent preview of THE VISIT about the status of the revival's development, McNally offered, "It's really too premature. But we'd of course love to have it up. It was just a reading. We're still at the gossip stage."

Kander, the musical's composer, was hopeful that McDonald would remain attached to the revival. "I hope so because Audra's an amazing performer. I've promised her any continent she wants if she does this," he laughed. "I hope they work it out. I don't know much about what the future holds for it."

Another Kander and Ebb musical that THE VISIT director John Doyle is crossing his fingers for is their short-lived 1984 show THE RINK. That production, which co-starred Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli, was the first collaboration between Kander, Ebb and McNally. The trio (and their star) reunited for SPIDER WOMAN and THE VISIT, with Rivera earning Tony Awards for the first two shows. She's Tony-nominated for THE VISIT this year.

Doyle confirmed that at one point a revival had been talked about with Tony Award winner Patti LuPone in the role of Anna (originated by Rivera).

"I would love to do THE RINK," Doyle said. " THE RINK has all the things in it that [THE VISIT] has that I love. You know, broken relationships, things that went wrong in the past, trying to deal with that in the present, people who are unafraid of not being very likable... Fingers crossed THE RINK one day.

in Playbill On-line By Adam Hetrick / Photos by Martha Swope/NYPL (KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN) & Ken Howard (THE RINK)

AWARDS NOMINATIONS FOR THE VISIT

John Kander & Fred Ebb’s THE VISIT, that finally opened on Broadway last April, is getting a lot of attention by this season theatre awards.

It received 5 Tony Awards nominations: Best Musical, Original Score, Book, Actress in a Leading Role (Chita Rivera) and Lighting Design.

It did better at the Drama Desk Awards with 7 nominations: Outstanding Musical, Book, Music, Lyrics, Actress (Chita Rivera), Director and Set Design.

At the Outer Critics Circle Awards, it received 6 nominations: Outstanding New Broadway Musical, Book, New Score, Actress (Chita Rivera) and Lighting Design.

Photo by Thom Kaine

STARS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF KANDER & EBB

On May 4, 2009, at the Gerald Schoenfedl Theatre, took place the Kander and Ebb concert “Come to the Cabaret: A Celebration of Kander and Ebb”. Directed by John Doyle it featured an all star cast:  Chita Rivera, Raul Esparza, David Hyde Pierce, Debra Monk, Tom Wopat, Karen Ziemba, Julia Murney and Terrence McNally.

At the time “Playbill On-line (Andrew Gans) thought that it was appropriate to ask some of that evening's participants to recall memories about working with the famed songwriting duo.“ So, it makes sense to share those memories in this blog.

Chita Rivera: "John Kander and Fred Ebb. Where to begin. I am so lucky to have such great lifetime friends as John Kander and Fred Ebb, and even luckier to have had them write such wonderful roles for me. From ZORBA to CHICAGO, THE RINK, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN and THE VISIT. . .We are all so lucky to have their beautiful songs in our lives. I sometimes forget who they are and that they belong to the world until I do something like go to Yankee Stadium and hear 60,000 people singing 'New York, New York'! It blows me away, and I feel this little thing inside me say, 'Oh my God…John and Freddy wrote that, and they are my friends!' I would call them many times, and they would be working but would say to me, 'Hey Cheet…listen to this,' and proceed to play for me a brand-new song for the first time. They'd laugh because I cry at being so privileged I miss Freddy terribly. John and Freddy have contributed their talent, dedication and love to the musical theatre, which will survive long after we've gone. In times to come, there will be productions of CABARET, CHICAGO and all the others, as well as musak in outer space playing 'New York, New York.' The world is a better place with your music in it. We honor you, love you and keep you close to our hearts. Especially me."

David Hyde Pierce: "In CURTAINS I got to sing the first song Kander wrote both music and lyrics to — 'Coffee Shop Nights.' (The first time I'd heard the song, it was a demo recording of John singing and playing it, and no one will ever do it better.) The first time I sang it, in rehearsal for the workshop, Kander was trying to convey to our music director David Loud what the accompaniment should feel like, and decided to play it himself to demonstrate. So suddenly, there I was, singing Kander's beautiful song, with John himself at the piano, and I thought, 'Somebody kill me now, because life doesn't get better than this.'

Debra Monk: "I fell in love with John Kander and Fred Ebb during STEEL PIER. They have been my teachers, mentors, friends and my biggest fans. It has been unconditional love. They loved rehearsals, getting to know all the kids, telling stories, giving advice, and of course working on the show. They never stopped working. They certainly enjoyed their successes, but the real thrill for them, was creating something new. I miss Freddy so much — to be in the rehearsal room with him or be able to call and tell him a new dirty joke or hear one from him…and he would have loved CURTAINS, and I'm so sorry he didn't have that experience with us. Thank God John Kander is in my life. His brilliant talent, quiet wisdom, dirty twinkle in the eye and absolute love for the theatre continue to inspire me. Just saying 'Kander and Ebb' makes me smile, not only because I love them, because of all of the wonderful music they have given the world. I will never forget arriving in Venice, Italy, late one spring evening, and they were playing 'New York, New York' as the water taxi docked. John and Freddy have always been passionate about guiding and encouraging new talent, and so being honored by The Acting Company is perfect.

Terrence McNally: "I did three shows with John and Fred. Each was wildly different from the others but all were equally challenging. They didn't make a librettist's life any easier by their choice of subject matter: an old woman hell-bent on revenge (THE VISIT), Marxism, homosexuality and torture (KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN) or an impossibly toxic mother/daughter relationship (THE RINK). What made collaborating on these 'difficult' shows so enjoyable was their joy in tackling the problems at hand and the consummate professionalism with which they solved them. As a tyro librettist, I was lucky to have such mentors. Just about everything I know about writing for the musical theatre I got from them. They are of the Grand Tradition and always will be. They were audacious innovators, too. Is there a more brilliant opening number than 'Willkommen' or a more chilling milieu than Cabaret's? Who knew a musical could take us there (and make us like it) before John and Fred? And with all apologies to Ol' Blue Eyes himself and Liza, too, no one, but no one, ever sang 'New York, New York' better than Fred Ebb in a white suit at Radio City Music Hall with John Kander on piano. It was definitive — just like their body of work is."

Karen Ziemba: "Both John and Fred were instrumental in starting my career. It happened 20 years ago — can you believe it? — with the original AND THE WORLD GOES’ ROUND in Montclair, NJ, at Olympia Dukakis' Whole Theatre. The production, with some cast changes, moved on to The Westside Theatre in NYC, and I received my first Drama Desk Award for that performance. However, when you're performing anything Kander and Ebb wrote, you have an 'edge' — their songwriting is that good. I continued to collaborate with them along with colleagues such as Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman, David (Tommy) Thompson, Joe Stein, Walter Bobbie and Annie Reinking on STEEL PIER, CURTAINS, THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH and CHICAGO. I've sung in many tributes over the years for the pair, and try never to miss the opportunity. My first impression of them is the most vivid in my mind. It was my first audition for John and Fred and the creative team of AND THE WORLD GOES’ ROUND. I knew them both by name and fame, but not from ever meeting them personally. Well, I never remember being treated with such respect in an audition before. I was treated as an equal, like they actually were glad I showed up. John stood and came from around the table, shook my hand, introduced himself, told me I sang beautifully and proceeded to ask me to sing the song in a higher key. (He was checking for those soprano notes.) Nonetheless, he was a gentleman and took the time to get results by making me feel comfortable and appreciated. Go figure?! Anyway, I still hold them in high regard, not only for their kindness and generosity to those in our profession and those wanting to enter it, but for their amazing work as songwriters. Fred was a gentle poet crossed with a stand-up comedian, and John is still working on one of his and Fred's last collaborations, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS. John can still play the piano better than ever...and those melodies...he's awesome!"

Photos by Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.