Alice Ripley has made a career originating challenging roles on Broadway stages including Diana in the Pulitzer Prize winning “Next to Normal” and Violet one of the conjoined twins in “Side Show.
You might have seen her on Broadway in one iconic role after another, on television in several weekly dramas, and on the big screen in feature films, but you haven’t experienced her powerful voice and emotional interpretations in an intimate setting until now.
Live at the Orinda! presents award-winning actress and songstress Alice Ripley and Grammy and two-time Emmy award-winning music director, composer and producer John McDaniel on Feb. 2 at 5 p.m.
Ripley, a San Leandro native, was a newcomer to Broadway when she first met McDaniel in 1994 on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.”
“He was the show’s band leader and already very famous and here I was in my first Broadway show, ‘The Who’s Tommy’,” said Ripley.
Ripley and McDaniel continued their friendship as she went on to win the Tony Award and Helen Hayes Award in the role of Diana Goodman in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Next to Normal.”
Not one for lightweight roles, Ripley also originated the role of conjoined twin Violet Hilton in “Side Show,” Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard” and many more.
Meanwhile, McDaniel became the supervising music director of the Broadway revival of “Annie Get Your Gun” starring Bernadette Peters, for which McDaniel received the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show album. His other Broadway shows included “Chicago” and “Patti LuPone on Broadway,” to name a few.
On television, he has been the music director for three Tony Award ceremonies and Carol Burnett’s 90th Birthday Special, which won an Emmy Award. The celebrated musician also counts Cab Calloway, Shirley MacLaine, George Burns, Joel Grey and Bette Midler among his many collaborators.
Noting that college can influence future careers, these two icons of the performing arts said they found their professions because of – or despite direction from – college professors.
In McDaniel’s case, Mel Shapiro, head of Carnegie Melon’s drama department, gave him some honest advice.
“Although I began playing piano at age five and loved music, I was planning to graduate from Carnegie Melon with a degree in drama,” said McDaniel. “Professor Shapiro sat me down and said ‘You’re acting is OK, your dancing is OK, but your music is way up there, so let’s put together a program that highlights your music. We did and I’ve been fortunate to make my living in music ever since.”
Ripley, on the other hand, decided not to follow her professors’ advice.
“My teachers wanted me to concentrate on being an opera singer, but I really loved musical theater and concentrated on that instead,” Ripley said. “I also worked for State Farm while in college, and they wanted me to become an agent when I graduated. Luckily, I listened to another friend who saw me on stage and said I shouldn’t do anything else but perform. I was around 22 years old at the time and never took another ‘real’ job again.”
While Ripley and McDaniel have known each other a long time, it was only around two years ago they decided to put together a cabaret show.
“We have a great partnership,” said Ripley. “We both love doing great tunes from Broadway and beyond, and our repertoire is constantly changing. Cabaret is quite different for an actor used to playing characters. In cabaret, you have to be yourself. What John and I have created together has helped me understand what my cabaret is and who I am.”
McDaniel added, “We do collaborate so easily, whether we’re creating a song, traveling around the country or just having dinner.”
Both are looking forward to performing at the Orinda Theatre’s 180-seat venue with its lovely art deco design.
“I like the smaller space because I like to get introspective with my singing. I usually play complicated characters and sing complicated songs, so it’s nice to be able to look into the audiences’ faces and feel their responses, rather than gazing at the Exit sign at the back of a big venue,”
Riley said.
Hopefully, the Orinda Theatre can contain this powerful Broadway belter who will be singing the music she originated and more, while she and McDaniel also share their personal musical odyssey.
“When I’m performing in a cabaret, I feel like I’m touching people and, hopefully, giving them an incredible afternoon. It’s a beautiful exchange of time,” said McDaniel. “It also gives me such joy to accompany someone like Alice. It’s like we’re dancing together and every time, it’s slightly different footwork.”
Riley warned the Feb. 2 concert will get emotional, because that’s what she and McDaniel do.
“Best to bring your Kleenex,” she said.
Grammy and two-time Emmy Award winning music director, composer, director and producer John McDaniel accompanies Alice Ripley in a special cabaret act the two have honed over the past two years.
