By Andrew Gans
12 Aug 2004

The song was released in December along with the movie. The movie took off, and the song did nothing, so they dropped it. And then it was nominated for an Oscar in the spring of '73 and subsequently won the Oscar, so radio stations all across the country were playing it, and this huge groundswell of song requests happened all across the country that forced Twentieth Century Records to rerelease it, and by August of '73 it was a gold record. So it was kind of a Cinderella story for the first time out.

At the time I was going through [many things] — my mother had colon cancer, we'd gone through her first series of operations for that, I was going through a divorce, a lawsuit with my first manager. My life was falling apart, and so it was ironic that I'm singing the hopeful anthem. I think what people heard in that was my desperate need to believe it. It's kind of the generic hope song. I still get letters today from people who had a death in the family or are going through illness or trying times or depression and how the song still resonates and still means things to people. It really didn't come full circle to me until my [experience with my] youngest niece. I've done the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon — this will be my 25th year, and I've sung "The Morning After" umteen times on the show. And, about ten years ago, my youngest niece [Carolyn] was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis, which is one of the neuromuscular diseases. And we were just devastated, and I had to go on the telethon and sing "The Morning After" that year, and I could barely get through the song. It was like my "ah-ha" moment as to what people really got from this song for years and years and years. And, gratefully she's in her second remission, and [is involved in] swimming team championship, she rides horses, and she's doing exquisitely well. So we're very grateful, but it brought home the real message of "The Morning After" to me, personally.

So I've started the Maureen McGovern Works of Heart Foundation for Music and Healing. All the letters that I've gotten from people through the years, and I know how I personally respond to music in times of joy, in times of triumph, in times of terror and depression. Music has really been a touchstone in my life. And I started working with the American Music Therapy Association. I'm one of the national spokespersons. And music therapists are these wonderful folks who have a music degree plus a clinical degree on top of that, and they have one-on-one consultations with patients, and I've gone on rounds with them around the country, and it's just extraordinary how music — it's not the cure to cancer — but it really aids in the healing process, and so it's a real passion of mine. End of my soapbox [laughs], but it's a real passion for me.

Q: You're also about to do two weeks in Manhattan at Le Jazz Au Bar. What type of music will you be doing there?
MM: The show is called "Sultry Songs on a Hot Summer's Night," so they'll be sensual, playful, summer thematic things. I did Elegies in the West Coast premiere of Bill Finn's piece, which I absolutely loved. And I'm doing one of his pieces from A New Brain, "I'd Rather Be Sailing." Jeff Harris, my musical director, and James Harris wrote a wonderful piece called "Humidity." You couldn't do "Sultry Songs" without doing "Fever," the sultry song anthem. [Laughs.] And some Gershwin, one little Rodgers and Hart gem, a Cole Porter piece, some Jule Styne. I do a very deliciously bizarre piece by the classical composer William Bolcom called "Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise." I met him on a previous occasion, and I can't wait to ask him what inspired that [song], but it's something from my childhood. It's a universal song. [Laughs.] Bobby Troup's "The Meaning of the Blues." I just did a Peggy Lee tribute in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl and the Ravinia Festival, and I was shocked at the amount of lyrics that she had written, and she even composed some things. I do a piece called "The Shining Sea" that she wrote with Johnny Mandel from "The Russians are Coming" and "The Island."

Q: Final question: When people hear the name Maureen McGovern, what would you like them to think?
MM: In three words or less? [Laughs.] Well, obviously, she sings. But, you know, I used to think of myself as a singer who acts. But over the years I've been fortunate to do work with Philip Himberg at Sundance and different places, doing Dear World and doing The Lion in Winter, and I'm really an actor who sings. That's what I've been working on in my middle life. [Laughs.]

[Maureen McGovern is currently playing Manhattan's Le Jazz Au Bar through Aug. 22. The new jazz club is located at 41 East 58th Street; call (212) 308 9455 for reservations.]

DIVA TIDBITS

I was very happy to learn that LML Music, which was founded by Lee Lessack, and David Friedman's Midder Music have inked a deal that will allow LML to distribute the recordings of the late, great singer Nancy LaMott. LaMott, who lost her battle with cancer in 1995 at the age of 44, was blessed with one of, if not the, most beautiful voices in the cabaret world: a rich, lush, honey-toned sound that could be soft, sweet and creamy one minute and big and belty the next. She also possessed a remarkable ability to find the emotional center of any song, bringing a lyric to life as honestly as possible. Beginning in January 2005, LML will begin selling LaMott's recordings, which have mostly been unavailable for the past few years. Those recordings, all originally released on the Midder label, include “Beautiful Baby,” “Come Rain or Come Shine: The Songs of Johnny Mercer,” “My Foolish Heart,” “Just in Time for Christmas” and “Listen to My Heart” as well as the posthumously issued “What’s Good About Goodbye?" LML will also distribute compilation and live recordings of LaMott that have never before been released. I've heard that the first "new" recording may be a live Tavern on the Green concert or a compilation of the unreleased tunes Jonathan Schwartz plays on his radio program. Stay tuned for more.

Elaine Paige, London's greatest musical theatre star, will host a new talk show for BBC Radio 2 this fall. Paige, in fact, is just one of several big names who will host new radio programs for the British station. Dermot O'Leary, Lulu, Mark Lamarr, Bob Harris, Helen Mayhew and Desmond Carrington will all be part of BBC Radio 2's new season, which commences Sept. 4. Paige's program will begin airing Sept. 5 at 1 PM and will feature music from the stage and screen. The program will feature a "weekly competition, listener requests and Elaine in conversation with some of the people who have created and starred in the greatest musicals of all time." About the new program, Paige said, "I am so excited to be joining BBC Radio 2. I'm really looking forward to this new challenge . . . and all without having to put on lots of make up and a hot and heavy costume!" For more information visit www.bbc.co.uk/radio2.

Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching!

(Look for a condensed version of "Diva Talk" in the theatre edition of Playbill Magazine.)

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