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GRAMMY.com First Listen: Billy Porter

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GRAMMY-winning Broadway star debuts "Luck Be A Lady" from his forthcoming album, Billy's Back On Broadway, plus an exclusive interview with Porter
Bruce Britt
GRAMMYs
Jun 21, 2017 - 12:57 am
GRAMMY.com

Broadway star Billy Porter — a recent GRAMMY and Tony Award winner for his role in Cyndi Lauper's "Kinky Boots" — is set to release a new album, Billy's Back On Broadway, on April 15. Ahead of the album's release, GRAMMY.com has your exclusive first listen to Porter's gospel-tinged version of the 1950 "Guys And Dolls" classic, "Luck Be A Lady."

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Marking Porter's first post-"Kinky Boots" endeavor (and first solo album in nearly a decade), Billy's Back On Broadway features 10 classics made famous on the Great White Way, while the title pays homage to Sammy Davis Jr.'s 1965 LP, Sammy's Back On Broadway. The set features a delectable mélange of arrangements, from brassy big band renditions of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" (from 1959's "Gypsy: A Musical Fable") and "Don't Rain On My Parade" (from 1964's "Funny Girl"), to soul-inflected pop renditions of the standout "Kinky Boots" ballad "Not My Father's Son" and the soft-focus jazz number "Happy Days Are Here Again Get Happy" featuring Lauper.

A native of Pittsburgh, Porter first emerged as a gospel singer before transitioning to theater. He made his Broadway debut in the original cast of "Miss Saigon" in 1991. In 2013 Porter starred as Lola in Lauper's premiere Broadway musical "Kinky Boots," which earned a GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album at the 56th GRAMMY Awards in January.

In an exclusive interview with GRAMMY.com, Porter contemplates his career, the new album and portraying a drag queen in "Kinky Boots."

Billy's Back On Broadway marks your first post-"Kinky Boots" recording. How are you feeling?
I'm excited … and, yes, there [are] some nerves. I'm excited about having a product out in the marketplace that I really want, [because] that doesn't always happen in this business. It's nice to be able to circle back to what I call "the original dream," and to have an album out with a full orchestra. Who gets to do that anymore?

What is "the original dream"?
It's this album; this record is what I wanted originally. You get into the business, and life can morph, shift, adjust, and grow. But the original dream [was] when I was 14 or 15 and I heard Barbra Streisand['s] [The] Broadway Album growing up in Pittsburgh in my Pentecostal church. I wanted to do that.

What was it about that Streisand album that appealed to you?
At the time, I was discovering that I fit somewhere, that there was a place that I could be accepted, and also maybe be able to find something to do with my life. It was a combination of that album and seeing the "Dreamgirls" performance on the Tony Awards [in 1982]. I was just learning that [singing and acting were] something I could do to make a living, and [weren't] just [hobbies].

Which project demanded the most from you as a performer — "Kinky Boots" or Billy's Back On Broadway?
I think they're separate, but equal. I don't approach any kind of music without being a storyteller. For me, choosing the material and how it's set up on the album — there's not a moment that isn't thought out or planned in terms of how the listener will experience the journey in its entirety, as well as the individual songs. So I think it's very similar to "Kinky Boots" because I get to take you on a journey. The journey just happens to be a little bit different, you know? [Laughs] I don't have to be a drag queen.

You seem to have selected Broadway songs that focus on positivity. Why?
I decided that I wanted to sing songs of inspiration, empowerment and hope. I feel that we need that in the world. I feel that it's a conscious choice that we have to make to be positive in this world, because there's so much negative that's readily accessible. So, I wanted to be a part of putting that kind of energy out.

Some of the songs deviate greatly from the originals recorded by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., among others.
I wanted to set up a space where more traditional audiences would see that I understand the history of each song. If you notice, the arrangements go from the classic to contemporary. As the album progresses, it sort of cracks open and deconstructs into something that might not necessarily be so traditional. Being the star of a Broadway show like "Kinky Boots," [I learned] that the audience is really wide. The challenge is: How do [I] embrace them? So that's what I was trying to do, and hopefully I will succeed in that.

Which of the songs on you the album deviates most from its original?
There are several, but I would say "On The Street Where You Live" marks the strongest diversion. … I wanted it to be a meditation on loss that would help audiences and listeners kind of heal, so we changed it to "On The Street Where You Lived." That was a 20-year-old arrangement that we sort of repurposed, made it with all strings, and turned it into something that I feel is way different from how you hear it in the original show, which is about young, unfettered, bubbly love.  

How has "Kinky Boots" changed your life?
That's a loaded question. I've gone from that really talented guy with nothing to do, to being the star of the show. It really doesn't get any better than that. It's like, finally there's something for me to do, and something for all my different talents.

(Bruce Britt is an award-winning journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, Billboard, and other publications. He lives in Los Angeles.)

 

Panic! At The Disco's Brendon Urie performs in Los Angeles
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Panic! on Broadway? Brendon Urie joins "Kinky Boots" cast

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Panic! At The Disco frontman set to join the cast of the Tony-winning musical "Kinky Boots"
GRAMMYs
May 16, 2017 - 11:04 am
GRAMMY.com

Can Panic! At The Disco frontman Brendon Urie go from Death Of A Bachelor to birth of a Broadway star? The world will find out this summer as the lead vocalist of the GRAMMY-nominated rock band from Las Vegas takes the stage in New York. He will join the cast of the Tony Award-winning musical, "Kinky Boots," featuring music by GRAMMY winner Cyndi Lauper, from May 28 through Aug. 6.

According to Broadway World, show producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig made the big announcement that Urie will play the leading role of Charlie Price for his Broadway debut. This comes shortly after "Kinky Boots" celebrated its four-year anniversary on Broadway, a run springboarded by a magnificent performance at the 2013 Tony Awards, where the show racked up 13 nominations and six wins, including Best Musical.

One of those Tonys went to Lauper for Best Original Score. The project marked a return to the spotlight for the singer/songwriter, and her work on "Kinky Boots" also scored her a GRAMMY win for 2013 for Best Musical Theater Album. Panic! At The Disco's latest album, Death Of A Bachelor, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and landed Urie a GRAMMY nomination for Best Rock Album for 2016.

Fans of the musical and the band alike will surely line up to hear Urie lend his vintage rocker-meets-modern crooner voice to Lauper's tunes. Tickets are now on sale for "Kinky Boots."

Brendon Urie set to perform "Lonely Days" on GRAMMY salute to the Bee Gees

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Tupac Shakur-Inspired Musical Set For Broadway

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"Holler If Ya Hear Me," new Broadway musical inspired by the music and poetry of the late rap legend Tupac Shakur, to open June 19
Mitchell Peters
GRAMMYs
Sep 5, 2017 - 11:41 am
GRAMMY.com

In spring 2010, playwright Todd Kreidler received a large FedEx package containing the music and poetry of the late GRAMMY-nominated rap legend Tupac Shakur.

The package containing 23 CDs and a copy of the 176-page poetry book The Rose That Grew From Concrete was meant to serve as inspiration for Kreidler's latest project: penning a nonbiographical story for a Broadway show set to the music and lyrics of Shakur, who sold millions of albums following the release of his debut solo album, 1991's 2Pacalypse Now.

Realizing the enormous task at hand, Kreidler quickly added the nearly 400 songs onto his iPod, printed their lyrics and got to work.

"I spent a good two or three months just listening and reading his lyrics," recalls Kreidler, who was working as the associate director for the Broadway revival of August Wilson's "Fences" at the time.

Kreidler would listen to Shakur's music during rehearsals and breaks. "I also lived in as many interviews as possible, because I wanted to know Tupac's ideas and attitudes on life since he was my collaborator," the playwright says. "I wanted it to feel like we wrote it together."

Over the next several years, Kreidler used the universal themes in Shakur's music to piece together a dramatic present-day tale about two friends living in the Midwest struggling to survive inner-city life. To help push the story along, he weaved the lyrics of such popular Shakur anthems as "California Love," "Dear Mama" and "Me Against The World" into the dialogue.

In what many consider a historical moment for theater, Kreidler's script will come to life in "Holler If Ya Hear Me," a hip-hop musical set to open on Broadway on June 19 at the newly renovated Palace Theatre in New York.

"Tupac spoke about almost Shakespearean themes: love, family, revenge, honor, and community," says Jessica Green, a co-producer of "Holler If Ya Hear Me" alongside Eric Gold and Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur, among others. "The story itself and all the characters are in some way inspired by his music."

Titled after the opening track of Shakur's 1993 album, Strictly 4 My Niggaz, "Holler If Ya Hear Me" is directed by Kenny Leon, who recently won a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for his revival of "A Raisin In The Sun." An $8 million production, "Holler If Ya Hear Me" stars renowned musician and poet Saul Williams ("Slam") in the role of John Caviness, an ex-convict turned comic book artist who is desperately trying to stay out of trouble after returning to his old neighborhood.

"Everything that's going to happen onstage is going to blow people's minds," says Williams, a graduate of New York University's acting program at the Tisch School of the Arts. "We may start realizing the brilliance of Tupac above and beyond all of the iconography surrounding him and Notorious B.I.G."

The 22-member cast also includes Broadway veterans Tonya Pinkins ("Jelly's Last Jam," "Play On!"), Christopher Jackson ("After Midnight"), Saycon Sengbloh ("Motown The Musical," "Hair"), Ben Thompson ("Matilda," "American Idiot"), and John Earl Jelks ("Radio Golf").

With musical supervisor and GRAMMY-nominated composer Daryl Waters ("Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk," "The Color Purple") leading a 10-piece orchestra, the show's cast will sing, rap and speak 19 of Shakur's songs — from radio hits such as "I Get Around" and "Keep Ya Head Up," to deeper tracks such as "Ghetto Gospel" and "Dopefiend's Diner." The two-act, 110-minute production also features newly written music by Waters set to Shakur's poems "Wake Me When I'm Free" and "The Rose That Grew From Concrete."

Tony winner Wayne Cilento ("Wicked," "The Who's Tommy") has been tapped for choreography, which Leon describes as "a kind of movement that brings the groove from the '90s and marries it with 2014." The affordably priced show will run eight times per week (with two shows each on Saturday and Sunday), going dark on Wednesdays. It will be eligible for Tony Awards consideration in 2015.

Waters didn't know much about Shakur or his music prior to working on "Holler If Ya Hear Me." He began to absorb the grooves of the rapper's music after realizing that much of it sampled songs from the '70s and '80s, including Joe Cocker's "Woman To Woman" ("California Love") and Joe Sample's "In All My Wildest Dreams” ("Dear Mama").

"That was my in to making this work, because I went back to a lot of that source material," Waters says. "We added more of the soulful grooves in addition to what Tupac did, and combined that with the rap and putting a little melody to it."

The origins of bringing Shakur to Broadway date back to the early 2000s. Before acquiring the rights to produce a Shakur-inspired Broadway show, Gold reached out to the rapper's mother to get her blessing. As the head of her son's estate, Afeni Shakur ultimately had control over the musical's creative team and which songs could be used.  

"She's trusted me to find the truth that will uplift what was good about Tupac's artistry," Leon says, adding that Afeni Shakur gave positive feedback after attending workshops. "I feel a great sense of responsibility to her and Tupac fans that I'm not going to do anything to water down the brand."

The project was originally slated as a biographical piece about the controversial artist, who was killed at age 25 in a drive-by shooting in 1996 and was closely affiliated with the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry during the '90s. A Shakur biopic is already in the works with John Singleton (Boyz N The Hood) attached as the director. Green believes a fictional stage show inspired by Shakur's music will help expose fans to a different side of the hip-hop icon.

"By separating it from Tupac's story and making it about completely original characters, you are able to hear and understand Tupac's message through his lyrics in a bigger way than you could if you were telling his story," Green says, stressing that neither Shakur's image nor voice will be present in "Holler If Ya Hear Me."

Leon believes the show will attract traditional Broadway patrons, as well as younger Shakur fans from mixed ethnic backgrounds. He also hopes that the musical's message of nonviolence and social change will inspire attendees.

"I'm seeing this as a beginning of a revolution," says Leon. "I'm hoping that 'Holler If Ya Hear Me' won't just be successful, but that after we open that door, there will be an opportunity for other young writers from the music world and all over the country to feel that the Broadway stage is where they can hear their voice."

Looking back, Kreidler says he's an even bigger Shakur fan now despite having listened to the rapper nonstop over the past four years.

"Even coming to work on this last workshop, I went back to those original 400 songs and put them on my iPhone — and I've still been listening to them," says Kreidler, who is currently writing a musical with Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx. "When the band kicks in and it starts to happen, I'm like, 'Oh my God!' It's really magical to me."

(Mitchell Peters is a veteran music business writer who most recently served as an editor for Billboard in Los Angeles. His work has also appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Pollstar, Venues Today, Mass Appeal, and other publications.)

Bruce Springsteen
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The Boss Hits Broadway: Bruce Springsteen's Stripped-Down New Show

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The legendary singer/songwriter announces plans for new one-man show to run this fall in an intimate New York theatre
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Aug 9, 2017 - 6:22 pm
GRAMMY.com

Among the millions of Bruce Springsteen fans worldwide, try to find one who has seen him perform in a venue with fewer than 1,000 seats in the last 40 years. It'll be tough.

Now there's hope for the rest of us. The 2013 MusiCares Person of the Year and 20-time GRAMMY-winning artist has confirmed an eight week run at The Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway beginning in October. The Boss promises the show will be "as personal and intimate as possible," with "just me, the guitar, the piano and the words and music. Some of the show is spoken, some of it is sung."

As an added gesture of appreciation to his fans, Springsteen and the Kerr Theatre will also be taking on ticket scalpers by using a new Ticketmaster technology called Verified Fan, which is designed to block ticket bots and large-scale scalpers, ensuring more tickets get into the hands of fans at face value.

Tickets go on sale August 30 and prices range from $75 to $850. For more information on tickets, visit Springsteen's site.

Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton Mixtape music video pay tribute to immigrants

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Saluting GRAMMY And Tony Winners

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View a list of the individuals who have won a GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album and a Tony for their work on the same show
Paul Grein
GRAMMYs
Jun 21, 2017 - 12:57 am
GRAMMY.com

The GRAMMYs have had a category for original cast albums every year since the inception of the awards in 1958. The category was called Best Original Cast Album (Broadway Or TV) that first year. It's now called Best Musical Theater Album.

Over the years, 40 talented individuals have won both a GRAMMY in the cast album category and one or more Tony Awards for their work on a given show. Stephen Sondheim has won both awards for his work on five different shows — "Company," "A Little Night Music," "Sweeney Todd," "Into The Woods," and "Passion." Richard Rodgers, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, and Stephen Oremus have each won both awards for their work on two different shows.

To get you in the mood for this year's Tony broadcast, which airs June 8 on CBS, here's a list of everyone who has won a GRAMMY in the cast album category and also received one or more Tonys for the same show.

1958: "The Music Man," Meredith Willson, composer/lyricist. As the show's composer/lyricist and co-writer of the book, Willson shared the prize when this won a Tony for Best Musical. The Beatles later included the show's wistful ballad, "Till There Was You," on Meet The Beatles!

1959: "Redhead," Gwen Verdon, principal soloist. GRAMMYs were awarded to the stars of the shows, rather than the creators, this year. That worked out well for Verdon, who tied for the GRAMMY with Ethel Merman ("Gypsy") and also won a Tony for Best Actress (Musical).

1960: "The Sound Of Music," Richard Rodgers, composer; Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist. As the show's creators and co-producers, Rodgers and Hammerstein shared in the victory when "The Sound Of Music" won for Best Musical (in a tie with "Fiorello!"). The show spawned such standards as "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" and "My Favorite Things."

1961: "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying," Frank Loesser, composer/lyricist. As the show's creator, Loesser shared the Tony for Best Musical. The show, which also won a Pulitzer Prize, featured "I Believe In You" and "Brotherhood Of Man."

1962: "No Strings," Richard Rodgers, composer/lyricist. Rodgers won a Tony for Best Composer and also received a special Tony. The standout song from the show, "The Sweetest Sounds," received a GRAMMY nomination for Song Of The Year.

1967: "Cabaret," John Kander, composer; Fred Ebb, lyricist. The Tonys said "Willkommen" to Kander and Ebb with Tonys in the Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist categories.

1970: "Company," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won two Tonys: Best Lyrics (Musical) and Best Score. Elaine Stritch's performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch" is legendary.

1973: "A Little Night Music," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won a Tony for Best Score (Musical). The show's most famous song, "Send In The Clowns," won 1975's GRAMMY for Song Of The Year (after it was popularized by Judy Collins).

1975: "The Wiz," Charlie Smalls, composer/lyricist. Smalls won a Tony for Best Score (Musical). Smalls was the first African-American to win both a GRAMMY and a Tony for his work on a given show. So he didn't just "Ease On Down The Road." He helped pave it.

1977: "Annie," Charles Strouse, composer and album co-producer; Martin Charnin, lyricist. The pair won a Tony for Best Score. "Tomorrow" was ubiquitous in the late '70s. Jay Z sampled "It's The Hard-Knock Life" in the title track for his 1998 GRAMMY-winning album, Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life.

1979: "Sweeney Todd," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won a Tony for Best Score. Barbra Streisand included "Not While I'm Around" on her 1986 GRAMMY winner, The Broadway Album.

1980: "Evita," Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer and album co-producer; Tim Rice, lyricist and album co-producer. Webber and Rice won a Tony for Best Score. Rice won a second Tony for Best Book (Musical). Olivia Newton-John and Carpenters recorded "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" even before the show opened. Madonna made it a Top 10 hit in 1997.

1982: "Dreamgirls," Tom Eyen, lyricist. Eyen won a Tony for Best Book (Musical). In addition, the show's Tony-winning star, Jennifer Holliday, won a GRAMMY for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for the show-stopper "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."

1983: "Cats," Andrew Lloyd Webber, producer. Webber had been nominated in this category as a composer in 1982 for the London production of the show. Under GRAMMY rules, composers and lyricists can be nominated in those capacities only once for a specific show. Webber's nomination and win this year were for his role as producer of the Broadway cast album. Webber won a Tony for Best Score in tandem with his lyricist, legendary poet T.S. Eliot. "Memory" is among the most famous theater songs of recent decades.

1987: "Les Miserables," Claude-Michel Schönberg, composer and album co-producer; Alain Boublil, lyricist and album co-producer; Herbert Kretzmer, lyricist. All three men won a Tony for Best Score. Schönberg and Boublil won a second Tony for Best Book (Musical). Susan Boyle later had great success with the show's most famous song, "I Dreamed A Dream."

1988: "Into The Woods," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won a Tony for Score (Musical). Mandy Patinkin, among others, has recorded the show's most notable song, "Children Will Listen."

1991: "The Will Rogers Follies," Cy Coleman, composer; Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyricists. The team won a Tony for Best Score (Musical). The show featured "Never Met A Man I Didn't Like."

1993: "The Who's Tommy," Pete Townshend, composer/lyricist. The rock star won a Tony for Score (Musical) (in a tie with Kander and Ebb for "Kiss Of The Spider Woman — The Musical"). The show gave new life to such classics as "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me, Feel Me."

1994: "Passion," Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist. Sondheim won a Tony for Original Music Score.

2000: "Aida," Elton John, composer; Tim Rice, lyricist. The team won a Tony for Best Original Musical Score. John was the second British rock star to win both awards. He and LeAnn Rimes had a Top 30 hit with the show's "Written In The Stars."

2001: "The Producers," Mel Brooks, composer/lyricist. Brooks took home three Tonys: Best Musical, Best Original Musical Score and Best Book (Musical). The show included "Springtime For Hitler" and "I Wanna Be A Producer."

2002: "Hairspray," Marc Shaiman, composer/lyricist and album producer; Scott Wittman, lyricist. The team won for Best Original Musical Score. The show spawned "Good Morning Baltimore" and "You Can't Stop The Beat."

2007: "Spring Awakening," Duncan Sheik, composer and album producer; Steven Sater, lyricist. Sheik and Sater shared the Tony for Best Score (Music and/or Lyrics). In addition, each man won a second Tony on his own. Sheik won for Best Orchestrations; Sater, for Best Book of a Musical.

2008: "In The Heights," Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer/lyricist and album co-producer; Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman, album co-producers. Miranda won a Tony for Best Score (Music and/or Lyrics). Lacamoire and Sherman shared the award for Best Orchestrations. The show includes "Piragua," named after a Puerto Rican ice dessert.

2011: "The Book Of Mormon," Robert Lopez, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, composers/lyricists and album co-producers; Anne Garefino, Stephen Oremus and Scott Rudin, album co-producers. Lopez, Parker and Stone won Tonys for Best Score (Music and/or Lyrics) and Best Book of a Musical. Parker won a third Tony as co-winner of Best Director (Musical). Garefino and Rudin were among the winners for Best Musical. Oremus was a co-winner for Best Orchestrations.

2012: "Once: A New Musical," Steve Kazee, principal soloist; Martin Lowe, album co-producer. Kazee won a Tony for Best Actor (Musical). Lowe won for Best Orchestrations. The show featured "Falling Slowly," which won an Oscar after it was featured in the 2006 film Once.

2013: "Kinky Boots," Cyndi Lauper, composer/lyricist and album co-producer; Billy Porter, principal soloist; Stephen Oremus, album co-producer. Lauper, who was the 1984 GRAMMY winner for Best New Artist, won a Tony for Best Score (Music and/or Lyrics). Porter won for Best Actor (Musical). Oremus won for Best Orchestrations.

* How about Lena Horne? The legendary star won a special Tony in 1981 for her one-woman show, "Lena Horne — The Lady And Her Music." The cast album from the show, subtitled Live On Broadway, won a GRAMMY for Best Cast Show Album. So why isn't she on the list? The GRAMMY went only to the album's producer, Quincy Jones, so technically she didn't meet our criteria. But, for the record, Horne did take home a GRAMMY for the album in the Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female category.

(Paul Grein, a veteran journalist and music historian, writes frequently for Yahoo Music. His Chart Watch blog runs each Wednesday.)