A Conversation with Michael Feinstein

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A Conversation with Michael Feinstein

August 30, 2018

By Todd Sussman for Cabaret Scenes

Michael Feinstein
Photo: Joe Martinez

Talking with this amazingly talented singer and showman is like taking a master class in the Great American Songbook. Here, he provides rare insights into recording the work of legendary songwriters, discussing music with none other than Barbra Streisand, and encouraging a new generation of performers. 

Todd Sussman: What did it mean to you to debut a song (“Where Do You Start?” in 1988) with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman when you were in the early phase of your recording career?

Michael Feinstein: To debut a song with lyrics by the Bergmans was a very special thing early on. At this point, I think that I have introduced five or six songs by them, and it’s always wonderful to be able to sing something with the songwriters coaching you, because it gives an insight into its creation and the interpretation that would otherwise not be possible.  [The other Bergman songs he debuted: “I Can Hardly Wait” (1988), “And I’ll Be There” (1993), “A Song About You” (2000, sung at a tribute to Rosemary Clooney, music by Michael),  “The Same Hello, The Same Goodbye” (2008),  “There’s You” (2012, sung on Song Travels podcast, music by Michael), “Quiet Music” (2013).]

Michael with Alan & Marilyn Bergman at Michael’s wedding

Todd: I love, respect, collect, and am enamored with Bergman lyrics. Funny, I was listening to “Where Do You Start?” recently, and the line, “Which tapes and dreams belong to you and which are mine,” stood out. Cassette tapes are now obsolete, but the song still resonates and hits the nail on the head in depicting the separation of a couple. It also now reminds me that I am aging, because when I first heard the song, tapes were still popular. I know when you perform songs, you stay true to their original lyrics, even celebrating the expressions and idioms of their time. What is your approach and attitude to delving into the past and finding buried song treasures, and assessing your findings?
Michael: You’re enamored with Bergman lyrics. Well yeah, (laughing) me too. Yes, the line, “Which tapes and dreams belong to you…” They have decided that they are not going to change that line, even though for the recent play that was at the Westwood Playhouse starring Tyne Daly—it was called Chasing Mem’ries—which I saw, they slightly rewrote the lyric so it would fit the plot of the show, and one of the lines they changed was a line that had the lyric, “Which tapes and dreams…” But I find it very comfortable to sing the song as they wrote it, even though I did consider adding some of those other lines that I heard Tyne sing in the show. But I think it is a song that is so perfect to be sung one time through without a reprise, for me.

I remember one night Eydie Gormé was sitting with Marilyn and Alan Bergman and she was thinking of singing “Where Do You Start,” and she kept saying, “Well, I just wish that it were longer and it was a little more, more…” and Marilyn said [emphatically], “More what, Eydie? More what?” And Eydie couldn’t really put it into words. Of course, I think it is absolutely perfect the way it is. It is a little gem, and it does not need to be any longer than it is.  

My approach and attitude delving into the past and finding songs is always one of great joy because there is the anticipation of finding some aspect of a famous song that I can put into my interpretation and make it a unique or fresh one. For example, with “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” I found two choruses of extra lyrics for that song that are not even included in The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin, and so when I perform that song I include those lyrics, because for people that know “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” suddenly they go, “Oh my God, what are those words?” They’re very clever lyrics. 

When I recorded “I’ll Get By,” I discovered that the song had two verses, one written in the late 1920s and one written in the 1940s, so I recorded both of those verses, using one as an interlude.  Or the song “I Wanna Be Loved,” by Johnny Green and Eddie Heyman, that had a whole bunch of different lyrics. I was able to pick and choose and combine the different words into a definitive set of those words. I say definitive because I got approval from the composer Johnny Green, who was still alive when I recorded that song. So that’s the fun, finding a song that people think they know very well and then presenting some aspect of it that is completely new or fresh, because all of a sudden people are paying attention to it in a different way and saying, “Oh my God, I never heard that before.”

Roslyn Kind and Michael
Photo: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

Todd: One of your many noteworthy endeavors in preserving and increasing awareness of the Great American Songbook is to record albums dedicated to specific songwriters. When I met you backstage after your show with Roslyn Kind in West Palm Beach, Florida in 2007, I asked if you had any plans to record an album of songs with lyrics by the Bergmans. You told me you loved the idea but it wasn’t next on your list. A decade later, do you see a Bergman tribute album on the horizon? What is your next songbook album?
Michael:  An album of songs with lyrics by the Bergmans—it is something that would be wonderful to do. I don’t know why I haven’t done it, except that circumstances have led me in other directions. But, yes, I definitely would like to do that. My next album is probably going to be a Gershwin album called Gershwin Country, duets with country singers. Because I find the last bastion of great singing, great vocalizing, these days—people who still sing lyrics—is in the country field, and so I want to do a gaggle of Gershwin songs with great country vocalists, with arrangements that will be recorded in Nashville, using Nashville musicians. I am very excited about it. I’ve done a bunch of demos, and I already have commitments from a number of the major Nashville artists, so that will be great.

Todd: Speaking of Roslyn Kind, you performed an altogether engaging and memorable duet with her on “Ac-Cen-Tchu-Ate the Positive” to close that concert, and it certainly left the audience with an exuberant vibe. Down the line, you sang it with Barbara Cook. I think we need this song now more than ever; these days we seem collectively steeped in negativity. Is the song as much fun to sing as it is to listen to?
Michael: “Ac-Cen-Tchu-Ate the Positive” is a song that is great fun to perform because it is quasi-spiritual in nature and it is life-affirming. It is a song that feels very good to present to an audience. I believe that music does transform and change the way we feel inside, and when that philosophy is purveyed, I think that people respond, and it creates a little more optimism in the world, which certainly is what we need now.

Michael & Barbara Cook at Feinstein’s at Loewe’s Regency
Photo: Matthew Murphy

Todd: A few years back, you joined forces with 54 Below in Manhattan, now named Feinstein’s/54 Below, an amazing restaurant and cabaret venue attracting top talent from Broadway for intimate performances. How involved are you in bringing in the stars who appear, and what are your hopes for this venue?
Michael: I am very proud of the association with the club, and since we’ve taken it over, there have been a number of changes that have been quite wonderful. We made very subtle changes in the room, tables and chairs—so there was a little more leg room—training staff, and all sorts of things that might not be immediately apparent to people. But, of course, the most important thing is bringing the best talent we can to the room. I am not involved with the day-to-day running of the room, even though I do have a great deal of involvement. I do not book the room directly because I don’t want to be in the uncomfortable position of having someone come to me directly and want to get booked who might be a friend or a close associate. Therefore, I do leave the booking to Jennifer Tapper, who is quite wonderful. We brainstorm, and I come up with ideas here and there, and certainly make strong recommendations for people who I’d like to see in the room.

Todd: I am sure you have heard about Barbra Streisand’s “shopping mall” inside her home. My sources have informed me you have a basement in your home that is a stellar homage to Broadway. Are there any prized window cards or keepsakes that you gravitate to, that have a special meaning?
Michael: Barbra’s mall [chuckling]. Yes, I know about that, of course. In my house, I have in the lower level what I call the Gershwin Gallery. Everything in this very, very long hallway is related to George and Ira Gershwin. And so it’s got some very special things in it, some Gershwin manuscripts, some rare posters, for example, a rare one sheet of Shall We Dance with Astaire and Rodgers, which is worth a great deal of money. There are things I’ve collected for years and years, and I had most of those things in boxes, but my husband Terrence said, “You ought to display these things.” He has the great aesthetic sense, and together we created this Gershwin Gallery. It’s a lot of fun to show these things to people because most people have never seen artifacts in the hands of George or Ira Gershwin, or not seen them up close. And so it’s fun. The only thing that is thwarting is that I don’t have enough room to put everything up, and I’ve thought about rotating things.

(L-R) Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand pose with Michael backstage at the memorial of Marvin Hamlisch.
Photo: Kevin Mazur

Todd: Would guests see any Streisand items?
Michael: Well, not in the Gershwin Gallery. I do have a number of recordings of Barbra that are rare, mainly things from Funny Girl and Clear Day and some of the other film material, because I have a very large collection of movie production discs and film pre-recordings. I’ve given, I think, everything I have of Barbra’s to her because, of course, she should have it in her archive.And as a thank you, one night at the Bergmans, she gave me a DVD of Yentl which she autographed to me, and I was very, very touched by that, because I know that’s something she does not do very often, and so I treasure having that.

Todd: Barbra is extremely knowledgeable on the origins of songs and rare introductory lyrics. In her concert monologues, she often sets songs in their historical context. Have you brought any songs to Barbra’s attention or discussed musical history with her?
Michael: Barbra is extremely knowledgeable—oh boy is she! I have discussed songs with Barbra. I’ve talked about different things and suggested songs to her that I’d love to hear her do. One night, I remember asking her, we were talking about different songwriters and if she had done an album of this or that. I don’t remember the songwriter. She said, “I don’t remember that. I don’t remember this.” Certain things she doesn’t remember, and with other things her memory is razor sharp, and I said, “Somebody told me, Barbra, that you started to record an album of Rodgers and Hart that was unreleased.” She said, “Oh, I would remember that. No, I didn’t. I never did that.” That’s something that I wish were true. I also knew that she had recorded a song, written by my friend Marshall Barer, and Jobim, “Lost in Wonderland.” Marshall had told me she recorded the song twice, and I had always longed to hear it. And then, of course, it was released a few years ago [on Release Me]. Not both of the versions, so I don’t know which one it was, but at least one of them has come out, and that made me happy.

Todd: Did you catch her recent The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic tour?
Michael: I did not catch her recent Music…Mem’ries…Magic tour because I was touring as well and never had the opportunity to intersect with her.

Todd: Tell me about your Great American Songbook Association in Carmel, Indiana and your goal here.
Michael: The Great American Songbook Foundation in Indiana is something of which I am very proud. We have multiple goals. It started, originally, to create a place to house all of my memorabilia and to build a museum, which is very much in the formative stages now. Bren Simon donated a 100-acre estate to us called Asherwood, which will be an amazing home for our museum, so that goal has just had a quantum leap towards realization. 

The foundation also exists to educate people about the Great American Songbook. Perhaps the most visible thing that we do is our annual Great American Songbook High School Academy, where hundreds of kids from all over the United States apply to become part of this week-long intensive in summer of every year in Carmel, Indiana, and these 40 kids that are selected have the time of their life. They spend a week learning about every aspect of performance, from lyric interpretation to vocal instruction to stage craft to how to dress, hair-dressing, patter, and stage fright. I mean, you name it. And we’ve had the most wonderful roster of celebrity judges and coaches come, from Jarrod Specter to Laura Osnes to some of the members of Manhattan Transfer, and Sylvia McNair, and amazing pianists, and it is life-changing for these young people to participate in this workshop. They end up becoming long-term friends. They stay in touch with each other and they support each other and go out in the world sharing the Great American Songbook, which sits alongside whatever contemporary music and jazz and other tastes that they embrace. So it feels very special to be able to be a part of that and to have seen these kids go on to perform on Broadway and touring shows and Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center and on different television shows. It’s life-changing.

The last day of the workshop is a live performance in the Palladium in Carmel, Indiana, which is one of the state-of-the-art performing centers in the United States. The house sells out, and it’s our personal American Idol, except it’s kinder and gentler. It’s all about interpreting the songs and interpreting the lyrics. It’s not about histrionics or how long you can hit or hold a high note.  It’s really about connecting with the essence of a song. These young souls are really, inside, old souls, because the way they connect with these songs is something to behold. And there is pandemonium in the audience as they support and nurture these young hopefuls. Every year we crown a Songbook Ambassador, who goes out and for one year is a representative of what we do at the foundation.

Todd: Are there any special Barbra Streisand historical pieces at the Foundation?
Michael: In the collection, we do have some Streisand pieces. We don’t have very many. There are some personal things I have that eventually I will donate. We have a beautiful original Hirschfeld drawing of Barbra that we are very proud to have in the collection, and I know that there are some other pieces. I can’t remember what they are offhand, probably nothing earth-shaking to you, but as we build the museum, Barbra’s place in history will be a very important part of the collection. We will be sure to include artifacts and represent her in a way that is important and appropriate to her legacy.

From Todd: I am forever grateful, Michael, for the goldmine of your experiences and expertise that you shared.

Todd Sussman

Todd Sussman is a graduate of Columbia University, where he studied journalism and film. A longtime entertainment writer, he is the author of the Blockbuster Video books, The Greatest Movies of All Time, Volumes 1 & 2. He began his writing career as the film critic for The Miami News and soon became the editor of Blockbuster Video Magazine. For his work on the magazine, Todd received an Addy Award for Best In-House Publication, one of several Addy honors he holds. The Walt Disney Company commissioned him to write an interview promoting the film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (for which Todd wrote the questions as well as the answers, in character as the beloved Roger Rabbit). He had the privilege of working as the Liner Notes Editor on the following projects for Barbra Streisand: Encore (her 11th Number One album), Release Me 2 (with various collector editions), and her tour program for The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic! He also edited the liner notes for: A Capitol Christmas - Volumes 1 & 2, Neil Diamond’s Classic Diamonds, Nat King Cole & Friends’ A Sentimental Christmas, and Kristin Chenoweth’s Happiness Is Christmas. Recent cover stories for Cabaret Scenes include Johnny Mathis, Kristin Chenoweth, and Stephen Schwartz.