The Dynamic Duo of Jeff Harnar and Alex Rybeck Answer Six Questions

JH: In high school I had fallen in love with the work of Barbara Cook and Wally Harper. It was one of my dreams to come to New York and find my own Wally Harper. Back then, Steven Flaherty was playing for a cabaret artist I knew and I asked him if he was available to work together.  He had dreams of writing for Broadway (that worked out very well for him!) and instead offered recommendations. Alex was number one on his list. I went to hear him play at NYU and discovered what an extraordinary accompanist he is. And … he was affordable! That was in 1983 for my first show at Palsson’s Supper Club.  I could never imagine that we would begin this musical partnership of over two score years!  Steve Flaherty may have dodged a bullet but Alex Rybeck was a bullseye!

NLE: Blame It on My Youth centers on lyrics Jeff first sang in his 20s. Viewed through the lens of time and experience, what has it been like for each of you to return to this material decades later?

AR: Returning to our 1980s material was something of an archeological excavation. Happily, we still had most of our old routines, either as sheet music, or recordings on cassettes! It was fascinating to rediscover these arrangements we hadn’t heard in four decades. Some I had completely forgotten. Others came back almost effortlessly. Some caused us to say “What were we thinking?!” when we heard them again through older, wiser ears. But that’s okay — just proof that our tastes are perhaps a bit more refined.

JH: I remember a 1991 Rex Reed review that cited the fact that a 32 year old me and a 64 year old Rosemary Clooney were both singing “I Wish It So” in our different venues and how our age distinguished our perspectives on the same lyrics.  It has always stayed in the back of my mind to revisit material later in life to see how the words would sit on me. When Sidney Myer hung our poster on the Don’t Tell Mama wall  it was all the inspiration I needed to take that look backwards.

NLE: Don’t Tell Mama holds a special place in cabaret history—and in both of your careers. What does it mean to “come home” to this room now, after more than 40 years of collaboration, especially playing in rooms such as The Algonquin Oak Room, 54 Below and other prestige venues on the West Coast and London?

AR: It’s slightly surreal to be back at Don’t Tell Mama, but in a lovely, comfortable and comforting way. Sidney Myer was so gracious to let us return, and to give us this month of Thursdays. That, too, is a kind of throwback to how acts used to be booked. And we’re so grateful. Also, after playing certain venues with high-end cover charges, it’s nice to be in a room that’s affordable for everyone.

JH: Alex and I have played somany rooms that have subsequently closed…hopefully not directly because of us!  Mr. Sam’s, Broadway Baby, Eighty Eights, The Ballroom, The Oak Room at The Algonquin, The Russian Tea Room, The Firebird Cafe, The Metropolitan Room are some of the rooms we enjoyed that aren’t still here.  Don’t Tell Mama remains standing like a lighthouse calling us home.  It’s a privilege and gift to be in that Original Room with my Original Alex Rybeck still by my side.

NLE:  The American Songbook spans greats such as Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and the Gershwins, to the likes of Kander & Ebb, Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim, Paul Simon, Carole King and Billy Joel. What connects these writers for you, and why do their songs still speak so powerfully today?

AR: When it comes to repertoire, it’s simply a matter of “good is good,” whether a song was written in the 1920s or the 2020s. What’s moving, or funny, or inspirational, all comes down to the quality of writing (music and lyrics). Whether it’s Irving Berlin or The Beatles, excellence never goes out of style. Standards can feel contemporary; contemporary songs can feel classic. Cabaret is the ideal showcase for songs of all stripes to co-exist and “converse” with each other.

JH: As my teacher and subsequent director, Sara Louise Lazarus illuminated to me in the 1980’s (and is still here today continuing to do so for myself and others), it is the lyrics that drive my choice of material. Am I the reliable, believable narrator of the words I choose to sing?  In cabaret one must be. We are storytellers choosing the words and music to reveal ourselves. The songwriters you’ve listed are exemplary in their storytelling. I’m enjoying how eclectic our repertoire was then and that the stories these lyrics tell still feel uniquely personal.

NLE: Your musical partnership has endured for over four decades—an extraordinary feat in any creative field. What do you think has sustained that collaboration over time?

AR: I think what has sustained our collaboration is a combination of factors. We genuinely enjoy each other’s company. And we seem to have an ideal balance of commonalities and differences. While we like many of the same things (songs, artists, horror movies, bad puns), we’re by no means always in agreement. I actually think that makes for a good working relationship, because we continually challenge each other. Out of our strongly different opinions can come solutions neither one of us would’ve arrived at on our own. (Jeff may disagree with me on this! Ha!)

JH: Alex is my “brother from another mother.”  The friendship at the heart of our musical collaboration is uniquely singular. Along with Alex, I gained the gift of knowing his parents, his brother and sister-in-law, an extended “chosen family” that is profoundly significant in my life. Alex knows my heart well enough to intuit how songs will channel through me, and keys that are the most forgiving. He’s been quite accommodating refitting the arrangements we crafted in the ’80’s to my voice now in its 60s. In addition to all that, Alex is a relentless punster, at the ready to puncture my “earnestness,” and that has served me well.

NLE: Audiences will hear arrangements by not only by Alex but also by another collaborator, the late Brian Lasser. What do you hope audiences take away from Blame It on My Youth—not just as a nostalgia trip, but as a living, breathing, evolving cabaret experience?

AR: First and foremost, I hope audiences will take away feelings of happiness and a sense of connection — connection to music and lyrics that put them directly in touch with their own feelings and emotions, as well as sharing those feelings with a roomful of others who are laughing and crying, too. While this show does tap into nostalgia for those who were in New York forty years ago, we consciously attempted to create a show that would speak to anybody and everybody on a human level. Songs like “Yes,” “What I Saw Today”,and “This Time” are philosophical, and “The sweetest sounds I’ll ever hear are still inside my head” is as true today as at any time in the past. In a nutshell, the show is about looking at the past in order to better understand and navigate the future—armed with more knowledge, acceptance, gratitude,and unending curiosity.

JH: I’ll add that I hope people see their own stories in ours, specifically that the choices we make can be like planting a garden that can flourish with the gift of time. Maybe there’s a cabaret performer new to the scene who will be inspired to savor the “now,” realizing it may someday their “then,” and something that was more precious than they might have appreciated. And by all means, pick lyrics (and keys!) that might stand the test of time.’

Six Questions is devised and managed by NLE factotum, Tommy Batchelor.