Robbie Rozelle: Welcome to Fynsworth Alley…

Christine Andreas: Thank you, Robbie.

RR: So, you’re in an airport lounge?

CA: I’m sitting in front of wine, champagne… I think champagne… I’m sitting in the airport lounge of Air France; it’s very exotic.

RR: You’re on your way to Rome, Italy.

CA: When we get to Rome, we go to Positano. We rent a car, we drive to Positano and begin four days of forgetting time… I’m performing a private concert in Rome. We’re going to show our daughter her heritage.

RR: I have to tell you that your CD is on of my all time favorite solo albums.

CA: Thank you so much!

RR: My pal AJ mocks me relentlessly because of you. He tells me I sound like a car commercial every time I talk about your album. I talked to him the other night; he was still doing a dead-on imitation of it.

CA: That’s so funny!

RR: Where were you born and raised?

CA: I was born in Camden, New Jersey.

RR: How did you become involved with musical theatre?

CA: I had a mother who loves theatre, loves standards, loves great singing, and had a really natural voice. She would sing around the house all the time. I was used to hearing spontaneous singing from the time I can remember. She did it with such joy, I just started doing it. It was pretty apparent from an early age that I had something going on in my throat, that there was a gift there. By the time I was in third grade, she was told she would go to hell if she didn’t send me to voice lessons. I started lessons—didn’t learn a thing, but I worked with a great pianist who was so musical that I was unselfconscious about the music.

RR: You made your Broadway debut in “Words & Music: The Music of Sammy Cahn.”

CA: Yeah! They said to me “Robbie knows everything about you.”

RR: I don’t know everything, but I know enough! I kind of know someone who was in “Rags,” and you were a standby in it. Audrey—

CA: Audrey Lavine?

RR: All she would say is that she sang all the high notes on the album. That’s the only thing she would say to me about “Rags.”

CA: I covered Theresa Stratas. I’m looking at this lounge, at how many people are on their cell phones… it’s very funny…

RR: So, “Words & Music,” followed by…

CA: I went into “Angel Street” from that.

RR: And then, you made your “lead” debut in “My Fair Lady.”

CA: What’s interesting about that is the guy who directed “Words & Music” was named Jerry Adler. He’s an actor now. After “Words & Music,” I went into a show playing a cockney maid. Then “My Fair Lady” came along, and it was directed by Jerry and I had just finished playing a cockney. So I went, “No problem here!” So in my mind, the next logical step was “My Fair Lady,” and it was!

RR: You followed that with Oklahoma, and you were the first brunette Laurie. That brought your first Tony nomination. What was that like?

CA: Well, it was fine. It was—that year it was Patti LuPone in “Evita,” and Sandy Duncan in “Peter Pan,” and Ann Miller in “Sugar Babies.” I mean, it was like this incredible, stellar—I was like, “There’s just no way. It’s not gonna happen! Patti’s gonna get it. I know that, the whole world knows that.” Then of course, two seconds before they make the announcement, I thought, “Jesus! It could happen, and I don’t even have a speech written!” But it was fine, you know, it was a comfortable way to be—I mean if there was a chance you were going to get it, it would have been…. It’s an honor to be nominated. It would have been great to win one, but someday, maybe, still…

RR: Hopefully. The next musical you were Tony nominated for, “On Your Toes,” you also lost out to a Lloyd Webber person, Betty Buckley for “Cats.”

CA: What are you going to do? I never thought about the Webber connection.

RR: Tell me about “Fields of Ambrosia.” I love the score of that show.

CA: Now I love you even more.

RR: I do! I fell for it… I bought your album, “Love Is Good,” because I dug the cover. Isn’t that bizarre? I fell in love with it, and I said, “I have to find everything she’s ever done.”

CA: You didn’t even know me when you bought the CD? That’s so cool!

RR: And I found “Fields of Ambrosia,” and I fell in love.

CA: Would you like to talk to the composer?

RR: He lives with you, correct?

CA: Mm-hmm.

RR: “Fields Of Ambrosia…” How did that come about?

CA: The guy who replaced Larry Guitard in “Oklahoma.” His name was Joel Higgins. Joel and I had a lot of fun doing “Oklahoma” together. That was the 1980’s. So, almost ten years later, he calls me to tell me he’s written a show with a guy named Marty Silvestri. Would I be interested in coming in and doing a reading for him? I was doing a play at the George Street Playhouse at the time—very late rehearsals. He sent me the score, and the tape. I didn’t listen to it for like two weeks, and I finally listened, and the thrill… I went, “God, this is phenomenal!” I called him, but because he hadn’t heard from me, he signed somebody else. I was devastated. The girl was in “Grand Hotel,” and ended up saying she would leave the show because they wouldn’t let her out for a few days to do the reading, because she loved it. But they said, “No, no, no… you don’t have to do that!” She ended up not leaving the show, and not doing the reading, and I ended up doing the reading, falling in love with Marty, and then coming into the West End of London. It was one of the most magical, theatrical, and reckless experiences I’ve ever had.

RR: It’s such a glorious score… I remember sitting on a bus and listening to “Continental Sunday” and “Too Bad” over and over…

CA: It’s so beautiful… I did too.

RR: Are there plans afoot to bring it to New York?

CA: I hope so. It’s maybe not the best timing… (to Marty) This man is telling me how much he loves “Fields of Ambrosia,” honey. Hold on one sec. (Hands phone to Marty)

Martin Silvestri: Thank you for that.

RR: You’re very welcome! It’s an amazing score!

MS: Thank you so much. You are a man of impeccable taste; you’re one of seven that I know now…

RR: There’s gotta be more than seven!

MS: We’re doing our best to bring it back to the States. It was a mistake to bring it to London. It’s such an American show. So we’re working on that. But thank you for that. I’m glad you found it.

CA: Doesn’t he have a nice voice?

RR: I didn’t know I got a composer as well!

CA: Yeah, you get a composer as well! You hang out with me, you hang out with the best! So I fell in love with him during the course of that, because he handled everything so beautifully. An original piece is just so difficult. I’d been spoiled by all those revivals. And then when I started doing original stuff, like “Rags,” and “Legs Diamond” that I did and was fired… not because of me… but it was like “Oh my!”

RR: It could not have been easy playing the wife of Peter Allen.

CA: Actually, it was! He was fabulous. He was adorable. The piece was a mess.

RR: A tap-dancing gangster…

CA: Well, if you’ve ever seen his act… he just should have done his act. He did camp well. It was when he tried to get serious that it didn’t work, because he wasn’t a serious… you wouldn’t take him seriously. But anyway, after knowing how hard it was to do original things, to see how seamlessly… how smooth the whole process of getting “Fields” up. It was certainly a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of energy, but… creatively, it was… such a joy. So, I just have such great hopes, we all do. We all thought it was the beginning of a whole new life. It’s an inspired piece. Not that it… it might need little tweakings here and there, you know…

RR: I pass it along to everybody.

CA: Does everybody like it?

RR: They do… they do. I have friends of impeccable tastes, and we… we all love dark musicals, what can I say?

CA: But this is very redemptive, very uplifting.

RR: And you… the accent queen that you are… did you study with a teacher each show you do?

CA: (laughing) Coaching a little bit to make sure you’re in the ballpark. I mean there’s a lot of licensee with it…

RR: You got the cockney, the German, the French…

CA: The mid-western twang…

RR: I’m beginning to think there’s nothing you can’t do. And then “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” Carolee Carmello did the readings of the show. When did you become involved with it?

CA: I was in London, recording “Love Is Good,” and when I came back, Kathy Raitt (who produced with the Netherlanders) was involved with “Fields.” We lost everything over “Fields,” and I came back over saying, “What’s up? I really need a job.” At the time there was nothing because they were looking at a whole different voice for Marguerite. I think they were just casting it younger. A couple months went by, and Joel, Marty’s partner, Joel Higgins who called and said, “Christine, you really ought to call Kathy again, they haven’t found anybody.” I went, “OK…” because I’m not good at the business aspect of show business, but I called her back. Actually, I called the casting directors, who I know very well—they had cast me in “Oklahoma.” I went in, and they went crazy. I sang in French.

RR: You sang “Love Is Good,” which was written by your man.

CA: Exactly. We, in our lives together, have had to rise out of the ashes many times. This was just a little phoenix technique, you know? It was really, truly just coming out of the ashes. We should have opened out of town, and refine and refine. Three shows I’ve done that have failed because they’ve opened in town…

RR: “Pimpernel,” “Legs Diamond” and…

CA: And “Rags.” Well, “Rags” went out, but not long enough.

RR: In Boston. And in fact, you did the opening night.

CA: I went on with one rehearsal. I had never said a line to an actor, never tried on a costume. I had gone through the music once. And I was thrown onstage, and got a standing ovation after my first song. It was really incredible.

RR: Another beautiful score.

CA: It’s a pretty score.

RR: With a book that just runs amok.

CA: Yeah, well, we just needed more time. The energy just got very dissipated.

RR: It was also your first time opposite Terrence Mann… It must have been nice to come full circle with “Pimpernel.” And you got to work with the fabulous Douglas Sills.

CA: Yeah, he was out of his mind. Can you imagine working with the two of them? That’s what was fun, working with them. They were unpredictable. I mean, they were true to what had to be done, but unpredictable.

RR: “Love Is Good…” How did it come about?

CA: Again, out of the ashes of “Fields” in London. We came back, and we needed to make something happen. I was home in New York, and I thought, “How do you move forward to the next… thing, when you’ve had your heart ripped out of you?” I’ve been around a long time. I’ve been in shows, I’ve been in flops, I’ve been fired, a lot of things have happened to me, but this one I really got emotionally invested in, and really believed in. It was hard when it didn’t fly there. We came back from that, and tried to piece our hopes and dreams back together. The best you can do, you know, is try to create some beauty. I mean, we weren’t thinking all that grand when we did it. The phone rang, “I have some money put together, I’d like to do a CD with you.” We said, “Great.” So we took on Harold Wheeler for the charts…

RR: The amazing Harold Wheeler…

CA: He was a friend of Marty’s, they had produced “The Tap Dance Kid” and were nominated for a Grammy together. You call who you know, who you love, who you trust. We had strung together a lot of songs… We had been together then five or six years. So we took all the songs we had put together, and done in concert, and found a few more. It just came together based on things we loved. A lot of it came from the first gig we ever did, which was the White House.

RR: For George Bush. The first one.

CA: Almost all that show is on the CD. Then of course, at the eleventh hour, this person who had all the money called and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t have any money.” Then again, we were on the edge of the pit. This lovely woman named Barbara Beale came into the picture. She heard us perform, and said, “People should be able to take your music home with them.” And I said, “Well, you can help make that happen…” And she did, and she’s still part of our little company.

RR: It’s a beautiful theme, and some magical songs… songs I hadn’t heard before, or really listened to before. “And So It Goes…”

CA: Isn’t that beautiful? The first time I heard that, we had to stop the car. The place we recorded it is this old church called Angel Studios, in the big open belly of the church. Marty was at the piano, and that’s all it was. He and I in this big, open room, and we did it in one take. That’s it.

RR: You recorded “Storybook” when you got cast in “Pimpernel?”

CA: Yes, that was added to it.

RR: It’s a great arrangement of that song… I prefer it to the cast album, actually.

CA: Yeah, I know… that’s my fault, actually. I said, “She shouldn’t sing that because at this point, that’s going on and this is going on…” Later, I thought, “You idiot! That’s your best song, and you just gave it away!”

RR: You have an upcoming CD, as well…

CA: I have two, sweetheart…

RR: I know about “The Carlyle Set…” which was supposed to be a Jerome Records release… where were you when the cabaret world stopped turning that day?

CA: He came to me and said, “I’ve got all this money, and I want to do a CD with you,” and I went “Fine, fine, fine…” I didn’t pick up on it. For nine months, he perused me, trying to do a CD with me. We pitched him, actually, a different CD. “Carlyle Set” wasn’t Jerome… It was After 9 Records. They had produced “Love Is Good,” they saw me do the Carlyle set, and said, “This is a brilliant set… Let’ record that.” So, I said, “Fine, let’s do it.” So I went in with the four jazz guys that I used at the Carlyle… great, great, great musicians…

RR: I’m dying to hear it.

CA: It’s different… It’s an eclectic, sort of jazz set… I do “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?” and “Autumn In New York…” It’s very pretty. I did a Mary Chapin Carpenter song, and a Neapolitan song in it… it’s just very eclectic. I even do “At The Ballet.” Marty said, “This is such a great song, let’s figure out how to do this.” Because three different girls sing it, right? I love the arrangement. I listen to the CD now, I think I’d do it a little differently, but overall, I love it. Four kick-ass jazz guys… so much fun to work with. It’s a whole different support. In reality, what I learned working with those four guys was that we are all soloists… five soloists together. I have never done that before. When you work with a big orchestra, you just kind of ride them. And when you work with a piano, you’re kind of dueting, but not always. These guys are all soloists. You forget, and stop being so presentational and just shut up and listen, and be moved by it. And that’s a growing thing for me, because I’m not used to that yet.

RR: You and I share a favorite Sondheim show in common. “Sunday In The Park…”

CA: “With George.” I was going to pull out Melissa Errico’s eyes because I wanted to go down there and do it. I almost followed Bernadette in it. I had been singing “On Your Toes,” and I had really over-sung. I was in a stressful personal situation, and I had hurt my voice a bit. When I sang for Sondheim, I had a really fast tremolo, and he didn’t like it, so he didn’t hire me. It broke my heart; I wanted to do that more than anything, that show. There’s only a few shows I feel that strong a need to do. “Fair Lady” was one and I did it, and “Fields” was one. I had to do them, or it would have really hurt a part of me. That one wasn’t meant to be, I guess. That was such a beautiful score… I would listen to it, and my voice would get goosebumps…

RR: You haven’t recorded any Sondheim…

CA: No, I really haven’t… you have to be grown up to do Sondheim, don’t ya think?

RR: I think you need to be in a certain place…

CA: I just haven’t been totally drawn to record him yet, or to sing him, and I should really get on the stick, because I’d like him to like me! Before he’s gone…

RR: So, you have another CD on the horizon?

CA: Wait’ll you hear this one… I just finished this CD with Tommy Krasker, and he said, “You know, Christine, you’re like the old school.” I went in, and I had to rip out two vocals, one was “Some People,” one was “I Could Have Danced All Night.” In one afternoon! Talk about scitzo! I had to be Ethel and Julie in one day! The new CD is “Here’s To The Ladies.” It’s a tribute to the ladies who have influenced me, in the theatre. Ethel, and Mary Martian, Julie Andrews, Gertrude Lawrence, Barbara Cook, and Barbra Streisand…

RR: I’m gonna fall in love with that.

CA: It’s recorded with forty pieces. This was the John Jerome debacle. This was the second show I did at the Carlyle, and Marty said, “Let’s go to London.” We’ll go to London, and we’ll record with a big orchestra. I got Michael Starobin, Doug Besterman… I got four different arrangers, a forty-piece orchestra, and nine days before we are flying to London, John says, “I don’t know if we can do this…” So, we had to make a choice. The day we were leaving for London, the same studio where I did “Love Is Good,” we’re making a pro and con list, to go or not to go. To not go, we’d be letting down all of our friends, to not go, we would maybe come back and work out something with John, because we didn’t know what was happening at the time. So, we went and we did it, and said deep prayers to God. We came back, and more or less, worked it out. Tommy Krasker came in from ps classics. I’m in this odd business where it’s up to you now. You have to have a ferocious heart… ferocious heart. I mean, I’m not happy when I’m not singing. I’m a singing animal… I have to do that.

RR: Is there anything on the horizon for you?

CA: I’m working with Hal David right now. We’re working on a show that might go to Feinstien’s this year. “Alfie” is on “The Carlyle Set.” I’m really excited about working with him. And I’m back at the Carlyle in February.

RR: Well, I can’t wait to hear the new CD’s, and see you at the Carlyle… Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, and have a great flight!

CA: K, Robbie… thanks!