NiteLife Exchange (NLE): During the 1970s, there was a major influx into the comedy/music world, with its roots deeply embedded in the Granite State—New Hampshire. Tell us about how you got to New York, how John Lenehan helped to nurture that community here in NYC and how your performance experiences happened at Kenny’s Castaways and the Bitter End.
Randa McNamara (RM): Majoring in Theatre Arts at the University of New Hampshire in the era of John Lenehan, Helen Baldassare, Marlena Schroeder, Susan Marchand, Rainie Cole and the Vietnam War, took me from my folk singer roots into musical theatre. John and I had worked two summers in Maine and he left for New York in 1971. He was the house pianist at The Improv and would have me come down from NH to perform there on weekends. I became a regular, so when I arrived in 1978, I had work. We had a folk-infused trio and with Ed Gerhardt (aka Driveway Wilson) and me on guitar, we played Kenny’s Castaways, The Bitter End, Folk City and toured opening for B.B. King, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt and others. John did a lot of coaching with our UNH gang (and countless others) as they went on to Broadway, Off-Broadway and club acts. Piano bar became his love before he also went to Broadway in Pump Boys and Dinettes.
NLE: In the 1980’s, you started performing in cabaret rooms such as Don’t Tell Mama and Eighty Eights. Why did you make that career choice?
RM: In the cabaret years, The Duplex was our first stop. I had dropped the guitar and the repertoire was less folk, more Sondheim. Nights were great watching Helen Baldassare, Nancy LaMott, Karen Mason dazzle in the upstairs room while Karen Miller charmed the crowd downstairs. I realized there was a style of storytelling that cabaret supported in ways I couldn’t find in the folk clubs. People listened and there was a sense of family. I will never forget Lina Koutrakos bring the Don’t Tell Mama bar to a standstill singing “Natural Woman.” Playing Don’t Tell Mama, Eighty Eights, Jan Wallman’s, Dangerfield’s, Cornelia Street Café and rooms out of town kept us going. Bruce Hopkins booked us into clubs near and far. We had added Bob Cross (bass) and Marshal Rosenberg (percussion) to our band.
NLE: Tell us about some of the memories from that period of time.
RM: The 1980’s are split in half for me. I was still working at The Improv as well as cabaret rooms. Paul Greenwood and I toured quite a bit in the early ’80’s up and down the east coast, Los Angeles and San Francisco. His improvisational talent, both with the piano and instant hysterical lyrics, helped us be invited back year after year. Gay men and others were dying and we were in full-tilt tragedy. John Lenehan contracted AIDS in 1985 and was gone 18 months later, September, 1987. At the funeral in New Hampshire, Kevin Bueche stayed with me to view the casket before Mass. He was managing Catch A Rising Star at the time and became my personal manager in 1988. I met Daryl Kojak in the basement of Catch A Rising Star in October, 1987. I had rehearsed with the house band the day before, but the piano player got sick and Daryl came in on his usual night off. This was my first performance since John died. I showed Daryl the chart for my first song (we had no piano; I would hear him for the first time on stage) and started to explain the tempo and feel and he immediately got it. In seconds. I worked with Daryl (and Bob and Marshal) until I left New York in 1994. Our best and favorite venue was J’s—a sprawling jazz room on the Upper West Side. Judy Barnett, songbird artiste, owned the club and it was a magical time.
NLE: 25 years ago, you left the scene and moved to Durham, North Carolina. Over those 25 years, how have you seen the music scene grow in the Raleigh/Durham area?
RM: I live in Durham, NC (25 years). “The Triangle”—Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill—is an artistic hotbed of blues, jazz and theatre. House concerts are big and both Daryl and Paul have made the trek for these.
NLE: For your performance at Don’t Tell Mama, you’re being joined by musical director Paul Greenwood, with your special guest Helene Kelly. Can you tell us how these friendships were formed?
RM: I have known Paul and Helene Kelly since my 1970’s Improv days, before I moved to New York. Paul was the alternate pianist and he was sitting on a wide shelf near the front door, sockless and swinging his feet. John introduced us and it has been 45+ years of friendship deepening into family as the years have passed. Helene was singing then, too and her other job was coat check. We also have bonded more deeply as joys and losses have been shared. I am so humbled to have such a wonderful singer join me.
NLE: What was the first music you enjoyed and how did it influence your future choices?
RM: I started my whole music journey because my Girl Scout camp counselor (HUGE CRUSH!) played the guitar. I got a guitar at 15 (thanks to Green Stamps) and never looked back. Before New York, I spent many years as a lounge singer (solo) in Ramada and Holiday Inns, Howard Johnson’s, ski lodges, roadhouses, roadsides singing “By the Time I Get To Phoenix” three or four times a night (by request).
One of my biggest influences was Odetta. First on records and then I met her at Kenny’s Castaways and we had many conversations over tea about singing, the music business, choosing material and being true to your heart and spirit.
Randa McNamara’s Homecoming is at Don’t Tell Mama (343 West 46th Street, NYC, 212-757-0788) on Sunday, April 14, 2019 at 4:30 pm. Click here for reservations.
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