LiVE MAGAZINE VOL 8, Issue #203 February 20th THRU March 6th, 2015
Live Magazine from Palm Springs
Live Magazine from Palm Springs
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
y Levvy Carriker<br />
Molly Ringwald<br />
Molly Ringwald acts, writes books, and sings jazz. She tours a crowd<br />
pleasing concert act “An Evening with Molly Ringwald” to venues<br />
Worldwide. Since her debut Jazz album on Concord Records dropped in<br />
April 2013. Ringwald and her band have performed over 140 concerts<br />
in four countries since its release.<br />
An actress of stage and screen, Ringwald earned a Golden Globe nomination<br />
at age thirteen, and went on to star in numerous films, including<br />
the iconic films Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink.<br />
On stage, Ringwald starred in Broadway productions of the Pulitzer<br />
Prize winning How I Learned to Drive; the revival of Cabaret; Tony-nominated<br />
Enchanted April and the West End production of When Harry<br />
Met Sally. Ms. Ringwald is now touring her concert act celebrating her<br />
first jazz album called “Except Sometimes”.<br />
Molly will perform at Copa in Palm Springs, <strong>March</strong> 6 & 7 at 8:00 pm.<br />
Publisher of LIVE Magazine, Levvy Carriker, shared a conversation with<br />
Molly in anticipation of her arrival to Palm Springs.<br />
Levvy: Thank you first of all for being here with LIVE Magazine. I want<br />
to ask a few questions about your singing career. How early in life did<br />
you start to sing and perform on stage?<br />
Molly: Oh, I started singing early before I started acting, so it was<br />
about, um, I started when I was about 3? In my Dad’s band, so I was<br />
probably like the world’s youngest Jazz singer.<br />
Levvy: How Cute!<br />
Molly: Yeah, and my man, Sammy Davis, Jr. Yeah, so I did that pretty<br />
much through my childhood and then I really focused exclusively on<br />
acting as a teenager I think.<br />
L: Great Job! Very awesome, but you know that! I just purchased your<br />
album, ‘Except Sometimes’, and you gave me goose-bumps, Molly!<br />
The way you took those songs and turned them into wonderful unique<br />
Jazz pieces. I love how you reworked that song, ‘Don’t You Forget<br />
About Me’. It is one of my all-time favorite songs. I am just a sucker for<br />
friendship songs. You know when you are young and you meet people...<br />
and back then they didn’t have Facebook and you couldn’t keep<br />
in touch with them and they are gone! That was a great song! Who<br />
influenced you early on with the jazz singing?<br />
Molly: My Dad, I guess, is the first person, because I got the jazz position.<br />
But in terms of singing outside of my family, I started out listening<br />
to Bessie Smith because my Dad was really into traditional jazz. So as<br />
a young person I listened to a lot of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith<br />
and that old-timey jazz. Then as I got older I branched out a little bit<br />
and kind of just went through the eras. I really got into Ella Fitzgerald,<br />
Chuck Baker, Dauphin Deary, and Anita O’Day...<br />
L: I saw that you had a chance to meet Blossom Dearie. What was that<br />
like?<br />
Molly: Well I saw her perform in New York when she was still performing<br />
there and meeting her was just like, “Hi”, “Hi”,so it wasn’t like<br />
anything but as I grew up a little bit I was really glad I actually got to<br />
hear her perform.<br />
L: That’s really wonderful. Some of the best jazz performers have<br />
passed but it is so wonderful that we have their music to keep on with.<br />
I am turning into a jazz fanatic the older I get. When I was 30 I was all<br />
pop and everything, but now jazz is really important as I realized it is<br />
the root of so much I like.<br />
Molly: Yeah, I still like different kinds of music. I don’t think I could<br />
ever just confine myself to one particular genre. I feel something different<br />
with every genre I listen to. There is something about jazz music<br />
to me. I think because I grew up with it, but it feels really comforting.<br />
L: Yes, it has a lot of ‘soul’ to it to me. It is deep and personal.<br />
Molly: Yeah, I’ll go to a restaurant and if there is jazz music I will just stay<br />
no matter what. (Laughter)<br />
L: You have millions and millions of fans. You have given us all many<br />
wonderful memories from your acting and your singing and you have this<br />
wonderful album released. Do you have any favorite in the songs you<br />
have out of the ten tracks?<br />
Molly: Well I did the album a few years ago so we have been working<br />
on a lot of new material for hopefully the next album. So I would say<br />
the Sondheim song from A Little Night Music called “Every Day a Little<br />
Death”. It is a really kind of interesting Jazz version. It changes time...Part<br />
of it is in 3/4, part of it is in 4/4...It is really challenging just to sing Sondheim<br />
straight. You know, he is really challenging, so I can dig into that.<br />
L: Wow, sound like that is going to be a hot album!<br />
L: We are so happy to have you in Palm Springs at the Copa and Reaction<br />
Productions who has gotten me in touch with you. They are so great.<br />
What are your thoughts about Palm Springs?<br />
Molly: I Like it! (Laughter)I haven’t been there THAT much, but the few<br />
times I have been there I think it’s pretty great. And then the weather is<br />
fantastic! And I love Mid-Century architecture so for me it is like a dream.<br />
And then if you like to go out a little bit, the Desert is an interesting place<br />
to be.<br />
L: It IS interesting. And you can get to LA so fast! So it’s not too bad.<br />
Molly thank you for your time! I know you’ve got a lot on your schedule,<br />
but I just have one last question. I have so many young talented actors<br />
and performers and singers. Do you have any one piece of advice you<br />
might give them? I know you have probably been asked a million times!<br />
Molly: Any advice I would give them? Well, I try to not be in the habit of<br />
giving advice! Everybody needs to find their own way.<br />
L: I love that answer!<br />
Molly: I think if I was going to give anybody advice I would say keep doing<br />
what you are doing...like don’t, don’t stop! And even if you are doing<br />
something else, don’t stop singing. Don’t stop taking piano lessons. Don’t<br />
stop trying to make yourself better. If you did stop and you do come<br />
back to it you won’t have all that sort of making up to do.<br />
L: Thanks you Molly and I look forward to seeing you at the show here in<br />
Palm Springs soon!