Maureen McGovern

Though I had heard Maureen McGovern's beautiful vocal tones on various television programs, it was not until college — when the singing actress released her solo album "Another Woman in Love" — that I truly recognized her gifts as a performer. At the time I was hosting a radio program on my college station, and McGovern's versions of "I Remember," "Rainy Days" and "Some Other Time" got lots of air play. But I probably played no song from that album more than I did "I Could've Been a Sailor," the best rendition of the Peter Allen tune I've yet to hear.

Although McGovern has appeared on Broadway in three musicals — The Pirates of Penzance, Nine and the Sting revival of 3 Penny Opera — she has yet to enjoy an official pop-the-cork-on-the-champagne opening night. That should all change this season, when Little Women, the new musical based on the beloved Louisa May Alcott novel, opens at the Virginia Theatre Jan. 23, 2005, with McGovern in the role of family matriarch, Marmee. McGovern will bring her terrific, multi-octave voice to the role as well as her acting skills, which she has been honing this past decade in acclaimed productions of Dear World, The Lion in Winter and, most recently, the West Coast premiere of William Finn's Elegies. I recently had the chance to chat with the good-humored McGovern, who is currently offering an evening of "Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night" at the new Manhattan hotspot, Le Jazz Au Bar. That interview follows:

We've wanted to do a project together for years, and Dani Davis, one of the producers, and Randall Wreghitt, had seen me in a workshop of Robin Hood that Martin Charnin and Tom Eyen were working on, [playing] the elder Lady Marian, and they said right then, "We have our Marmee." So, Susan and I started talking, and I said, "Oh God, I've loved this piece since I was a child." I read it as a very young child, a condensed version of it. And, of course, I've seen all four or five of the movies and have loved them. It's every young girl's dream — Jo is the great character to live out your dreams and keep your individuality and still have a glorious life. . . . I have not been able to participate [in the workshops] because of my working schedule. I was doing Elegies in Los Angeles at the time and had to honor a couple concerts that I had back East, [but] I took a red eye in time to see a reading last spring of Little Women, and oh my God, Sutton Foster is the definitive Jo. The part is transcendent with her. It's a great part to begin with, and she has just taken it to new heights. She's astounding. Susan has cast the show beautifully. Every person, the minute they walk out on the stage, you know who they are.

Q: What's the score like for the musical?
MM: The score is absolutely gorgeous. I have two specific songs and then sing part of others with people. I absolutely adore the music that I'm doing. A beautiful piece called "Here Alone" — Marmee is trying to write a letter to her husband and be positive. She's struggling with trying to find the words to say to him that don't let him know how alone and how fragile she is. She's a very strong inventive woman, which is wonderful because Marmee informs all the other girls. You see pieces of her — she's their rock — in their personalities. This is a very vulnerable moment for her. "How will I make it through all this? And how can I not worry my husband about how difficult life is at home without him?" She's a very strong woman and compassionate and creative, so she's just a wonderful character to play. She's like everyone's dream for their mother.

The other song is called "Days of Plenty," which is a beautiful, wonderful anthem of courage and hope and belief in the future even though she sings it after Beth has died. Jo says to her, "How do you go on? How do you keep going — you don't fall apart." And she says, "I don't have the choice. If I fell apart, I would take away from what her life meant. I have to keep going." She's the strength, she's the backbone and the rock for all of these girls. It's a delicious story, and the score is glorious. Jason Howland and Mindi Dickstein have done a beautiful job, and Allan Knee's book is exquisite and very faithful to the story. I'm so excited. This has been a long process. It's been delayed many times and just kind of in the offing, and I'm so thrilled that it's finally going to happen.

Q: And you're having out-of-town tryouts at Duke?
MM: Yes, at Duke — September rehearsal and October performances.

Q: And then you'll come to Broadway, and you'll finally get your Broadway opening night.
MM: Yes! [Laughs.] Your words to God's ears. Knock word.

Q: With 3 Penny, I remember seeing you on television talking about missing your opening night. What happened?
MM: What happened was the [Kurt] Weill estate and the musical director insisted — this is what I understood anyway — that the only way the Weill estate would allow it to be done was if the score and the book and everything was done in the original order and the original key. They must have had some wonderfully freakish soprano — that's what Michael Tilson Thomas said to me. It must have been some freakish soprano who could sing the score in the keys that it was in — because basically they wanted soprano roles belted. And I could get it out and sing it, but I knew for vocal health it was wrong for eight shows a week. I kept saying to them, "This is painful. This is very painful." [Director] John Dexter was fine with him to change anything, but the music end of the production refused. A week before we opened, I kept vocal silence and went at six o'clock to the theatre to do my warm-ups, and I got to the beginning of my belt, and nothing but air and squeaks came out! I saw my whole life pass before me. [Laughs.] I had to go on that night — my understudy's costumes weren't ready and she wasn't ready — so I kind of talk-sang around that area. I went to Dr. Gould the next day and his associate, Gwen Corovan, she came in and literally saved my life. She said, "No way [you can perform]. You have got a ruptured blood vessel on the right vocal chord." She conferred with Dr. Gould and said if I kept silence for the next week — Dr. Gould said, "My opera divas have never missed a performance!" — if you keep total silence and write notes, perhaps by the following Friday you'll be able to open. . . . [But] by the day before, it wasn't any better, so I missed the opening, which was devastating. It's like preparing for the wedding and no honeymoon. [Laughs.] So I missed 22 shows, and when I came back, I think we just had a week-and-a-half, and it closed. So it was frustrating.

So I'm very much looking forward to this [opening night]. The keys are wonderful, the part is just a delicious role to play, and Susan, aside from being a dear friend, she is just one of my favorite directors. She bonds the cast in a way that is just wonderful. It's just a wonderful experience, and she has a perfect eye for this period. She's the consummate person to direct this piece. And Janet Carroll, a friend from California, she's playing Aunt March, and she's wonderful. But, seriously, every single person they've cast is wonderful.

Q: You mentioned a little about Pirates of Penzance. What was it like making your Broadway debut with so little stage experience?
MM: It was just one of those nights you bring your whole life to, and it will always remain one of the most thrilling nights of my life. I didn't know enough to be as terrified as I should have been. [Laughs.] I was terrified, absolutely, but I didn't know the enormity of it. It was great fun. That show was such a valentine, and it could have gone on for years and years. I guess it was hard to cast everybody. It was just a joy to come to work every night.

Q: And after that you replaced Karen Akers . . .
MM: Yes, Karen Akers in Nine with Raul Julia. I loved that piece. I did not get to see the revival, and I heard Antonio [Banderas] was wonderful. Tommy Tune's vision of that piece, the stark black and white. I actually watched Nine on my day off from Pirates for weeks before going into it. And every single time I'd think, "Oh my God, they've added something," which they hadn't. It was just so multi-layered. It was a show you could see a million times and still catch something new. It was an exquisite piece.

Q: And you got to sing two of the best songs in the show.
MM: Yes, "Be On Your Own" and "My Husband Makes Movies." I think it's Maury Yeston's finest score.

Q: Your career has had so many twists and turns, but I guess it all started with "The Morning After." Did you think at the time that that would be such a big hit, and how does the song resonate for you now?
MM: You know, it's interesting. At the time I thought it was a nice song, and I was grateful for it — being an unknown artist — to have an Oscar-winning song. The song almost did not happen. They wrote it for Barbra Streisand, and she turned it down. My producer had sent a tape to all the record companies, and everybody had turned me down except for Twentieth Century Records, and Russ Regan, who was head of the label at the time, heard something in my voice and literally signed me sight unseen and said, "We'll look for something." This was October of '72, and so in November they sent me this song and said, "This is going to be a huge movie. You're an unknown artist, this will be a great vehicle." So, we recorded it in Cleveland. I had a cold at the time. I had flown in from Canada — they had prerecorded the tracks, and I just put my voice on there. Continued...