Cabaret artist and playwright, Bronwyn Rucker will appear at 53 Above on Friday, July 12th at 6:00pm with My Anita Riff, her poignant memoir of time spent with legendary jazz singer Anita O’Day during her last years. My Anita Riff, written and performed by Bronwyn Rucker, features bassist Ritt Henn providing the foundation for exploration of Bronwyn’s riff on her intersection with Anita. The show is directed by Aaron Morishita and Jay Rogers. Bronwyn has been on the New York cabaret scene since 1980 and has been described as “A passionate storyteller” (Cabaret Scenes), “A modern-day Bea Lillie” (Cabaret Hotline), and as “A highly-singular artist…endlessly fascinating” (Roy Sander). She first hit the scene at the original Duplex on Grove Street with her acclaimed one-woman show, Subway Named Desire, directed by Bruce Hopkins.
NiteLife Exchange (NLE) celebrates Bronwyn Rucker (BR) with Six Questions:
NiteLife Exchange: When did you realize you had the gift of singing and what were your early influences?
Bronwyn Rucker: I always studied voice, but it was Nell Evans, a wonderful vocalist and director I studied with, who encouraged me to continue training and singing. Nell also directed my early musical-theatre piece, The Radon Daughters, which was recently directed by Jason Ellis. Then, of course, the great Jerry Scott who believed that I had a voice and should sing. Jerry was a profound influence.
NLE: How did your musical career start?
BR: With Subway Named Desire, which I developed with Woody Regan in 1980 and which was directed by Bruce Hopkins. At the time I wanted to sing but was a bit shy, so I developed a Victor Borge like technique out of necessity to get me through a song. I sang a line then added my subtext. This got me started in comedy and cabaret.
NLE: How did you eventually venture into Cabaret?
BR: Through the development of the initial version of Just In Time, with my stream of consciousness technique. This got me in the backdoor of cabaret and comedy. And as time evolved, I was very involved in avant-garde theatre as Artistic Director of Meltdown Performing Arts, an experimental company. Much of my time was devoted to work with young people and disenfranchised communities. Cabaret always provided an outlet for me to sing and redefine myself. I found I could always act in a song and returned time and again to cabaret.
NLE: You have been on the New York cabaret scene since 1980, beginning at the original Duplex on Grove Street with your acclaimed one-woman show, Subway Named Desire. How have cabaret audiences changed during your career as a NYC entertainer?
BR: I don’t think the audiences have changed. The audiences for cabaret are primarily artists supporting artists. This is still true and, of course, there’s always an audience that wants a more intimate theatrical experience than mainstage theatre presents.
NLE: Which is the most memorable experience you’ve had in your singing and acting career?
BR: This is still yet to come! I will be directing Evelyn Sullivan in Subway Named Desire this September. This is something very exciting to me. Subway is my autobiographical journey of self and selves. It will be wonderful to direct Evelyn, a very singular artist, in this revolutionary text of a younger version of myself. A memorable experience is the Speakeasy project, the shows and the CD, which I developed with dear Joe Franklin.
NLE: After such a full and rewarding career, is there anything on your bucket list you’d like to accomplish?
BR: Still Broadway bound! A one-woman show or perhaps one of 28 other plays I have written.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Enjoy a glass of Pinot Grigio along with a good detective mystery!
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