The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast

Special Episode #12: In anticipation of the upcoming release of the cast recording of Encores Off Center’s production of God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater starring Santino Fontana, I bring you a podcast  episode featuring Santino himself! I had the privilege of playing a small role in the show, so I got to watch Santino at work, and he is truly a brilliant artist. You’ll hear me acknowledge him in this episode, and although it sounds like I’m praising a mere ability to memorize quickly (one of my pet peeve compliments), what I meant and didn’t quite articulate was that he seemed to arrive at a full and complete performance, i.e. emotional depth, sense of humor, facility with the language and music, almost immediately with no ostensible effort. It was pretty amazing. And for the record, the name of the complicated song he nailed in the cast recording is “A Firestorm Consuming Indianapolis.” Rosewater aside, Santino has graced many a Broadway production, including Billy Elliot, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Importance of Being Earnest, Cinderella, and Act One. Additionally, he is probably best known for his performance as Greg in the CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and as the voice of Prince Hans in Disney’s blockbuster film Frozen. But for me, first and foremost, he'll always be Aaron from the web series Submissions Only. In this episode, Santino sings “At Sea,” a song from the abandoned show Hashi, a piece on which I collaborated with Beth Blatt. Loosely based on the Pollyanna story, the young, recently orphaned boy Hashi has been sent to live with his Aunt Barb, a single, hardened New York City working woman. In this song, Barb’s ex-boyfriend and upstairs neighbor Ben is back on a break from the cruiseline doctor job he accepted directly after their breakup. In a conversation with Hashi, Ben reflects on his choices over the past few years. (FYI, the sheet music and piano accompaniment track for "At Sea" have just been added to my online music store.) As for Santino, he is tireless! Here's what he has coming up: On July 21 and 22, he'll be performing in a concert with Laura Osnes and Ted Sperling in Chicago On July 28 he'll be doing a concert version of The Music Man with his wife, Jessica, in the Poconos From August 12-20, he'll be appearing on the Broadway on the Rhine River Playbill Cruise Also look out for him in some upcoming episodes of Mozart in the Jungle, returning to play yet another title role, Mozart himself! This episode was recorded on April 20, 2017.

Special Episode #11: Five years later!! Here I am again with a new episode and an extra special guest star, THE bright star of Bright Star, Carmen Cusack! Carmen exploded last season with her highly acclaimed Broadway debut as "Alice Murphy" in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's musical, garnering every lead-actress-in-a-musical nomination that exists.  While Bright Star did mark Carmen's Broadway debut, it certainly wasn't her first theatrical outing. Her career began in the UK, including such star turns as Christine in Phantom, Fantine in Les Mis, and then back in the US on the national tours of Wicked as Elphaba and South Pacific as Nellie. Add in regional gigs playing Annie in First Wives Club, Mother in Ragtime and Dot in Sunday in the Park... and you've got a seriously impressive resume!  Since Bright Star closed, Carmen has kept busy with numerous concert gigs and a one-woman play, Do This, at the Gulfshore Playhouse. Coming up are appearances at the Kennedy Center for a Pete Seeger tribute on April 15th, a solo show at 54 Below on April 16th, and a concert with me (!) at the Axelrod Arts Center in Deal, NJ on May 20th! Today's selection is a "trunk song" from yet another one of my abandoned musicals, Hashi, on which I collaborated with Beth Blatt. Hashi was loosely inspired by Pollyanna, i.e. a hardened, spinster aunt gets custody of the newly orphaned child of her estranged sister. In our version which takes place today, the aunt, Barb, is a 40something, single NY businesswoman with no time for parenthood, and instead of a niece, Hashi is her nephew, born and raised in Africa and Asia by Barb's free-spirited, hippie sister. Barb has just learned she will have to take custody of the boy, who arrives the next day. With no information about him and his life, she speculates on how "Nothing's Gonna Change." This episode was recorded on March 20, 2017.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #12 (May): It's the final installment of my yearlong song cycle! I did it! And I have the perfect guest with whom to complete the cycle, someone who knows a thing or two about song cycles himself: Michael Winther! I've known Michael since the early 90's, when we were Plaids at the same time (but never in the same production). Since then, Michael has had quite a distinguished theatre career, bouncing between musicals and plays, including the Broadway productions of Artist Descending a Staircase, Damn Yankees (with me!), 1776, The Crucible, Mamma Mia (with last month's guest Dee Hoty!), and most recently, 33 Variations. But the reason I think of Michael when I think of song cycles is that he was at the center of a very distinguished one, Songs from an Unmade Bed, which began as an offhanded idea from the very talented lyricist/librettist Mark Campbell and blossomed into a theatre piece that became part of The New York Theatre Workshop's 2005 season, earning Michael a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance! His interesting collaborations continue, most notably My Coma Dreams with Fred Hersch, the brilliant jazz pianist and composer, and When We Met with another previous podcast guest, Sally Wilfert! The inspiration for this month's song comes from Brett Lowell, who gave me so many great ideas this month that I had to narrow it down. I particualrly liked his idea of incorporating "Mayday!," the distress signal, into a song about how in May, thoughts turn to love, etc. Add to that my own fascination to learn that "Mayday!" springs from the French, "[Venez] m'aider!" and the next thing I knew, there was a samba! (Special thanks to Caroline Bergonzi, David Turner, and Marcy Scott for their help with the French translation.) What a fun way to end the project! In closing, I'd like to express my gratitude once again to Bradley Kaye for the adorable Month Upon a Time logo, to all the wonderful singers who lent their time and talent to my songs, and to all of you who offered up ideas for songs each month.  Don't forget, if you want to perform any of these songs, they're available as sheet music in my online music store. Until the next episode... This episode was recorded on May 28. 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #10 (March): As you might have noticed, this month I give new meaning to the concept of waiting until the last minute. I'm literally recording, editing, and posting this episode on March 31, so I'm singing the song myself, out of necessity. (OK, admittedly, maybe I was ready to sing one of these songs anyway.) This month's idea comes from my friend Nathan Brisby (@nbrisby), who suggested I write a song about St. Baldrick's. Like some of my other favorite Month Upon a Time suggestions, I had never heard of it, so I embarked on a reconnaissance mission and pretty quickly found the official St. Baldrick's website. Instead of my telling you about this amazing and relatively new institution, why don't you listen to the song and then poke around their website. You could also see any number of videos on youtube chronicling various St. Baldrick's events across the country. Next month's episode is going to mark my 50th podcast, so I'm hoping to do something particularly festive... any ideas? Lay 'em on me! Until then... This episode was recorded on March 31, 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #9 (February): I've been a big fan of Dee Roscioli's from the minute I laid eyes on her at the meet-and-greet for the 2010 24-Hour Musicals. Little did I know that she had already distinguished herself as the actress who performed the role of Elphaba in Wicked more times than any other performer in North America, a "title" I believe she still holds! I'm sorry to say, I didn't get to see her in the role, but everyone who has, either from the stage or from out front, is all raves! If you want to know more about her experience as The Green One, check out this adorable backstage video. After five years on the broom, Dee recently appeared in the Off-Broadway play Dedalus Lounge with Anthony Rapp and a full Irish brogue. As for what's next, I predict a slew of starring roles in original Broadway musicals. And possibly a CD? You can play your part by going to her fan page and telling her what you want to hear her sing! Special thanks to my beloved college pal Marjorie Harris Newman (aka Margie Harris) for the idea for this month's song, inspired by her sister Melanie's attitude about her 2/14 birthday. Also, thanks to my friends Suzanne Thomas, Alan Filderman, David Krane, and Chantal Bilodeau for sharing tidbits with me about their 2/14 birthdays.... This episode was recorded on February 28, 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #8 (January): January... all about new beginnings, right? Well then, isn't it appropriate that my first special guest of the new year is my new bff, Courtney Balan? I've known about Courtney by reputation, ever since she stood by for both of the superstar ladies of [title of show]. But I'd never met her until last month, when we became fast friends at a mutual friend's Christmas party and then sealed the deal at the same friend's birthday party last week. How fun to find out about all the interesting and varied projects in which she's been involved: the original casts of Broadway's In My Life and Crybaby, as well as Off-Broadway's I Love You Because, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, and I Love Being a Marvelous Wonderette. (OK, that's not really the title, but I couldn't resist.) And this season, we almost got the chance to maybe catch her playing Fanny Brice on Broadway, as she was set to understudy Lauren Ambrose in the now-cancelled revival of Funny Girl. Drat! But wait! There always seems to be a great job awaiting her when another one falls through. This time it's being part of the original cast of the new Off-Broadway musical, Rated P for Parenthood, starting previews on February 8 at the Westside Theatre! Break a leg! Special thanks to my college pal Allyson Rice for her one-word January suggestion that inspired this song: "Dieting." Says it all.... This episode was recorded on January 29, 2012.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #7 (December): Remember back in the day when the holiday season would bring all kinds of special episodes of TV shows or even better, all singing/all dancing TV specials? Well, this is my interpretation of the holiday special, and what makes it so special is the fact that it's my first group podcast! Actually, I think it was inevitable. First of all, even though this is the 7th episode of the Month Upon a Time podcast, it will ultimately serve as the 12th song in the final song cycle. So I was thinking I should give it some kind of big finale. Then came Rene Ruiz's (@ReneSRuiz) suggestion that I write a "lament of a Christmas Caroling quartet and you should write it in four part harmony." Bingo! (Meanwhile, do I need to mention that Rene is one of the members/founder of the amazing a cappella vocal group Toxic Audio?) It so happens that I had just seen the Goodspeed Opera House's wonderful production of City of Angels (with amazing costumes by my best friend Tracy Christensen), and the great sounds of their Angel City Four were still in my head. So who better to sing this? However, given that it was the middle of the hectic holiday season, only half of the Angel City Four (Mick Bleyer and Sierra Rein) were available, so I brought in my friend and Broadway (Wicked, Legally Blonde, 9 to 5) ringer, Gaelen Gilliland, to sing the soprano part, with me on tenor completing the quartet. What should we call ourselves? How about "Swingers Unlimited," since I found myself thinking about that popular Singers Unlimited Christmas album as I wrote this? It should also be mentioned that Mick and Sierra are 2/5's of the singing group, Marquee Five, the 2010 MAC Award winners for Best Vocal Duo/Group, who've just released their first recording, 8-Track Throwback! And those of you in the Cleveland area can look forward to Gaelen's performance in the upcoming production of Sondheim on Sondheim at the Great Lakes Theater. Best wishes to all for a Happy New Year! This episode was recorded on December 29th, 2011.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #6 (November): Look who I got for this month's episode: Ghetto Superstar Billy Porter! Billy has been a friend since the early days, and it was only a matter of time before he popped up on here. What an interesting journey and varied career he's had - everything from Star Search winner (1992) to Broadway musical theatre star to recording artist to film/TV actor to one-man-show diva to serious dramatic ekhtor, with some stops along the way for writing, directing, arranging, and choreographing. Kind of amazing. Right now he's gearing up to play one of the leads in the upcoming workshop of the new musical Kinky Boots, based on the film of the same name. Jerry Mitchell + Cyndi Lauper + Harvey Fierstein + Billy Porter sounds like a pretty fabulous combo! Additionally, he'll be choreographing the cool new musical Pop at the City Theatre in Pittsburgh and continuing his affiliation with the fledgling theatre company Exit Pursued By a Bear. He does like to keep a full plate! This month's song idea comes courtesy of the beautiful and talented Alexandra Silber (@alexandrasilber), late of this year's Master Class revival and the Transport Group's Hello Again. I guess having spent all those years in the UK studying and living and working, she came to regard Guy Fawkes Night as a holiday of her own. I, myself, had never heard of it until now. Special thanks to my Brit friends Suzanne (Squeezie) Thomas and John Blakey for confirming that it's really a holiday :-) and sharing their 11/5 experiences with me. This episode was recorded on November 29, 2011.

Warning: ADULT SEXUAL CONTENT in this episode OK, you're been warned. Month Upon a Time, Episode #5 (October): For a podcast that avoids repeat guests, I sure do a lot of double-dipping. But as you'll soon see, it's obvious why nobody but Julia Murney could sing this song.... As I was reviewing the October ideas that had been sent to me, I couldn't help noting Eloise Akehurst's suggestion that I write a song about "Julia Murney's Cocktober." It was certainly a noteworthy trio of words, but probably not a song. Meanwhile, I was working with Jason Robert Brown at the time, and I asked him to give me an idea for an October-themed song, and he replied, "Julia Murney's Cocktober." Well, then it started to seem like a downright challenge. Besides, when two people give you the same idea and it's as specific (and outrageous) as this one, it's time to do some research. So I tracked down Julia to get the first-hand version of the story, and thus this song was born. It's not an accurate retelling - the names and dates have been changed to protect the innocent - but it was certainly inspired by her oh-so-true story. Since her last visit to the podcast, Julia has kept busy as the belty green gal on tour and Broadway, not to mention pursuing an active concert and, as evidenced here, voice-over career. Also, her debut CD, I'm Not Waiting, which had yet to be released the last time she was on the podcast, is now available! This month finds her back on the boards in the new Michael John LaChiusa musical, Queen of the Mist, with The Transport Group. It's so nice to have her back where she belongs. This episode was recorded October 30, 2011.

Month Upon a Time, Episode #4 (September): The last time she made a guest appearance on this podcast, Alysha Umphress was just getting her feet wet in the New York talent pool. Now, five years later, she is positively drenched! First came her Off Broadway debut understudying the two female roles in the Bill Finn revue, Make Me a Song. Then followed a very happy run, first at Berkeley Rep and then on Broadway, in Green Day's American Idiot (Check out her hot duet from the cast recording: "Too Much Too Soon".) Along the way, she's performed in countless cabaret shows - here are youtube videos of her definitive performances of two of my songs "Celebrate" and "I Just Wanna Have Fun" in concert. Happily, one of her solo concerts was preserved with a live recording, which you can purchase from her outrageously not-up-to-date website: Alysha Umphress - Live at the Laurie Beechman. This coming season, you'll be able to catch her on Broadway again (!!) in the upcoming revival of On a Clear Day..., as well as on television as a guest star on Showtime's Nurse Jackie. She's on fire!! September inspired a flurry of song ideas, 95% of which were rooted in back-to-school, which made Karen Buerkle's idea stand out that much more: she wrote "That's when the Bennys go home." Not knowing what this cryptic sentence meant, I did a little research, which led me to this website and this Facebook page. (At the time of uploading this episode, the Benny Go Home website was experiencing technical difficulties. Hopefully, it will be live again soon, so you can see what I found.) In a nutshell, a Benny is a summer tourist visiting the Monmouth or Ocean County Jersey shore. While there are several explanations for the origin of the name, the favored one is that it's an acronym for the cities these tourists primarily came from back in the day, namely Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark, and New York. The locals frown upon what they perceive to be disrespectful Benny behavior. A grass roots campaign called "Benny Go Home" has evolved, with logos, bumper stickers, and things like these three beach scenes.... Given that I grew up in Monmouth County (in fact, Karen Buerkle played the title role in our community theatre production of Annie Get Your Gun back in the early 80s), I couldn't resist this subject matter for the September song. And since I've been making it a habit of sneaking musical quotes into several of these Month Upon a Time songs, this title offered up a no-brainer. Thanks, Karen! For the record, I think the members of the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore would definitely be considered Bennys. This episode was recorded September 12, 2011.