BILLY STRITCH is an award-winning pianist and singer who is known to audiences worldwide for his many solo concert performances and as accompanist and musical director for Liza Minnelli, Tony Bennett and Marilyn Maye to name but a few.
During the pandemic, Billy created his own weekly Facebook livestream music show called Billy’s Place. For 63 weeks, he spotlighted a different composer or performer from the Great American Songbook. Now his show An Evening with Billy Stritch (at London’s Crazy Coqs on 14 and 18 April 2022) will feature his favourite songs from these online shows.
Expect to hear music by Cy Coleman, Rodgers and Hart, Barry Manilow, Hoagy Carmichael as well as selections from the Brazilian bossa nova canon. He’ll also be sharing intimate stories from his varied and wide-ranging career.
Billy also appears with Broadway star and Tony Award winner Lillias White – Lillias White Sings Broadway and Hoagy Carmichael & Friends from 14-23 April.
Here Billy Stritch is in conversation with Musical Theatre Review’s Patrick Honore.
Are you happy to come back to London and the Crazy Coqs, where you last appeared with Jim Caruso in 2015?
I am beyond thrilled to be returning to London. I fell in love with the city on my very first visit back in the 1980s. I’m lucky to have worked in many wonderful venues in the city and Crazy Coqs is one of the best and most fun. It’s glamorous and lively and is right in the heart of the town. From the minute you descend those stairs you really feel like you’re somewhere very special.
Can you talk about the choice of songs in your two shows with Lillias White? Did you pick out the songs together?
Our shows are definitely a collaboration. The Lillias Sings Broadway show is more about her theatrical career but the Hoagy and Friends show is a little broader and includes material by Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and others. In that show we both get to sing some fabulous and timeless material.
What material are you going to explore in your solo concerts?
I’m always changing the set list around but there’s certainly going to be a good mix of Broadway and jazz standards, with a Brazilian tune or two thrown in. I spent the better part of the pandemic doing livestream shows (Billy’s Place – 65 episodes all archived on my YouTube channel) and learning tons of new material so I’ll have the chance to present some of that to the London crowd.
Can we expect some Cy Coleman? I was actually lucky enough to have performed ‘Use What You Got’ from The Life, accompanied by you at a special edition of the cast party devoted to Cy Coleman in April 2015, with Lillias White smiling at me from the front row. A memory to cherish!
I love that song! I was mighty privileged to know Cy Coleman and I even sang on the original concept album for The Life. That was such a cool show and during the run Liza Minnelli and I would pop by from time to time. We saw it a lot and of course that’s where I really got to know and appreciate Lillias. So yes, I’ll be doing some Cy Coleman songs. Always!
As Liza Minnelli’s confidant of 23 years, what is your most amazing story or memory?
There are so many great memories and shows and a lot of it does tend to run together. Meeting Princess Diana on two occasions was certainly something I’ll never forget. Liza and I did a special tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. at the Royal Albert Hall back in 1992. The evening was a benefit for the Royal Marsden Cancer Appeal and Diana was the patron. She couldn’t have been lovelier or friendlier. I was in awe. Honestly, I owe so much to Liza. She presented me to a huge audience and introduced me to some amazing people. Too many to count, but Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Julie Andrews and George Hamilton were all fun and lovely to be with.
Tell me about the time you were in Paris for a month every night at the Palais de Congrès with Liza and the late Charles Aznavour.
That was a fabulous time. It was November of 1991 and I had only first met Liza the previous March. She saw me, heard my playing, liked what she heard, and swooped me up and took me with her – not that I was complaining! She and I travelled to the French countryside that summer to spend a few days with Charles and the three of us created the show together. Charles was a dream and so funny. We had only the best orchestrators to arrange my work and it was a thrill to hear it and perform it every night. I think we did something like 26 shows and they were all sellouts. Boy I was lucky to be in the middle of all of it!
If you could change anything about the way your career has evolved, what would it be?
I might have focused more on my solo performing career but of course then I might’ve missed out on all the fun singers I’ve accompanied. I really love accompanying and I have a gift for it – the most fun moments for me onstage have been with Liza, or Marilyn Maye, or Lillias, or Tony Bennett — the list goes on and on. I really can’t complain because I’ve had and continue to have incredible and rewarding fun on and off stage. I’m so lucky to have a career doing what I truly enjoy.
How does it feel to be back in front of a live audience after these two years of Billy’s Place, performing to the world from your apartment?
It feels wonderful. I am working and travelling just as much or more than before but those 16-plus months of basically being locked down really made me appreciative of performing for a live audience. Although thank goodness for the internet live-streaming! Not sure how I would’ve gotten through that time without it.
Besides Lillias, what other Broadway divas have you been performing with lately? I heard that you were going to collaborate with the wonderful Linda Eder. Did that materialise?
Yes, I took over the position of musical director/accompanist for Linda Eder last fall and that’s a lovely new addition to my list of divas. She is very easygoing and I felt very comfortable with her from the beginning. I’m also working with Laura Benanti, who is a doll, and am continuing shows with Ann Hampton Callaway, Linda Lavin and Christine Ebersole – all cherished friends.
The London cabaret scene is really coming back to life. Do you think the New York scene has been more hurt by the Covid years?
I don’t feel that at all. Certainly some businesses didn’t survive but the ones that did seem to be thriving again. People really missed live performances and so they are going out again. And my New York performing home, Birdland, survived through the generosity of donations and fundraising efforts – as did numerous other iconic nightspots. I occasionally play at Bemelman’s Bar at the Carlyle Hotel and it is busier and more crowded than it ever was pre-pandemic. Go figure!
Do you have any new recordings to bring over?
Yes, I recorded a CD during the pandemic called Billy’s Place (Club44 Records). I was fortunate to be able to fly to Nashville and knock it out over a couple of days and am so proud of the result. It’s the intimate piano/vocal album I always wanted to do and it took a pandemic to make it happen.
Would you consider playing Paris again after London?
Are you kidding? In a heartbeat! It’s just a matter of finding the appropriate venue but I’d love to play in Paris again. I’ve had so many great times there. We celebrated Liza’s 50th and 60th birthdays there and Liza is one of the few Broadway artists to perform at the Paris Opera House. That was a huge thrill.
Do you have a favourite musical and a favourite composer?
I do adore Cy Coleman and I’m also mighty partial to Harold Arlen and Steve Sondheim, as well as Tom Jobim and a few other Brazilian writers. Favourite shows include Follies, South Pacific, Sunday in the Park With George, and more recently, Fun Home.
- An Evening with Billy Stritch is on 14 and 18 April 2022
- Lillias White Sings Broadway and Hoagy Carmichael & Friends run from 14-23 April 2022
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FEATURE: Broadway star Lillias White takes centre stage at London’s Crazy Coqs
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