\ud83c\udfad NEW! Cabaret Theatre Newsletter<\/p>\n
Award-winning cabaret and concert artist\u00a0Jeff Harnar<\/a>\u00a0returns to Don\u2019t Tell Mama this month with a new concert, Blame It on My Youth<\/a>. Performances will take place on Thursdays in February at 7 pm (February 5, 12, 19, and 26).<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfad NEW! Cabaret Theatre Newsletter<\/p>\n Harnar will be joined by longtime music director\u00a0Alex Rybeck<\/a>\u00a0as they revisit songs they first performed together at Don\u2019t Tell Mama in the 1980s, when their musical collaboration began. The concert takes its title from the\u00a0Oscar Levant<\/a>\u00a0song \u201cBlame It on My Youth,\u201d one of the first pieces the duo performed during that period, and examines how lyrics first sung decades ago resonate differently over time.<\/p>\n Blame It on My Youth features songs by\u00a0Irving Berlin<\/a>, Kander & Ebb,\u00a0Richard Rodgers<\/a>,\u00a0Jerry Herman<\/a>,\u00a0Stephen Sondheim<\/a>,\u00a0Charles Aznavour<\/a>,\u00a0Paul Simon<\/a>,\u00a0Carole King<\/a>, and\u00a0Billy Joel<\/a>.<\/p>\n The promotional photograph for the concert, pictured above, was taken by Michael Ian, who also photographed one of the original Don\u2019t Tell Mama posters from the 1980s that still hangs in the venue.<\/p>\n Read a conversation with Harnar below about the new concert.<\/p>\n How does it feel to be revisiting material you worked on back in the\u00a0\u201880s?\u00a0<\/p>\n First and foremost, it\u2019s a gift. \u00a0That Alex and I found each other all those years ago and are still here to do this is a miracle to me. \u00a0As for revisiting the song choices and arrangements, we certainly can see how we were working to figure \u201cus\u201d out musically, with plenty that was cringeworthy and hopefully enough worthy of sharing 40 years later. \u00a0Our North Star has been to look at the lyrics I sang when I was 26 and how my perspective on them has changed at age 66.\u00a0<\/p>\n How has your life changed since you first started performing?<\/p>\n The single biggest change since I\u00a0started\u00a0performing at the age of 9 was my voice changing! \u00a0Since I started working with Alex in 1983, however, the biggest change has been the gift of time. \u00a0We\u2019ve had years of experience as both people and performers that hopefully inform what we do now. \u00a0And certainly, getting sober has been a great game changer. I feel very different inside than I did back then. \u00a0My life on this planet seems much more manageable. \u00a0And astonishingly, I\u2019m now a senior citizen on Medicare and Social Security \u2026 and even the buses kneel for me now. \u00a0And hooray for the miracle [of] social media to spread the word.\u00a0<\/p>\n Have you made any updates or adjustments to your arrangements of these songs as you\u2019re preparing to sing them again?<\/p>\n The keys have been lowered to protect the elderly! \u00a0And there have been other small tweaks which Alex calls \u201ctaste.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Do you have an example of a song where your perspective has changed from when you first sang it?<\/p>\n \u201cBlame It On My Youth,\u201d our title song, is a clear example of a song where the lyrics take on a time-worn irony when the broken heart of today can still be blamed on the foolish na\u00efvet\u00e9 of heart. \u00a0The inspiration for this theme was planted in 1991 when Alex and I opened at The Algonquin Hotel with our \u201c1959 Broadway Songbook\u201d and Rosemary Clooney was appearing at Rainbow and Stars. \u00a0Rex Reed wrote that we both were singing the hopeful song \u201cI Wish It So,\u201d me in my 30\u2019s, she in her 60\u2019s, and that both interpretations were valid, with hers especially poignant, so given her life experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n What else have you been doing or working\u00a0on lately aside from this show?<\/p>\n I am currently directing new shows for Craig Rubano, Linda, Kahn, Therese Lee and Becca Kidwell, and am already at work with Andrea Marcovicci planning the opening night of October\u2019s Mabel Mercer Foundation\u2019s Cabaret Convention which will be a tribute to Mabel\u2019s musical legacy.<\/p>\n Is there anything else you\u2019d like to add?<\/p>\n This experience affirms to me to make what\u2019s happening now what I want it to be \u2026 today the \u201cnow\u201d has become \u201cthen,\u201d and I\u2019m profoundly grateful to be able to look back with curiosity, compassion and celebration. \u00a0And I\u2019m especially grateful to have Alex, one of mt most significant fellow travelers still by my side.<\/p>\n Learn more about Jeff Harnar on his website at\u00a0jeffharnar.com<\/a><\/p>\n