Interview by Ron Fassler . . .
Though Ann Kittredge is well known as a consummate cabaret singer, she is also a lifelong performing artist who has performed on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and at major venues across the country. Winner last month of the 2025 Bistro Award for outstanding achievement in recording for “Romantic Notions,” she will be returning to live performing on May 8th with a show to Chelsea Table + Stage titled, “When in Love.” It was my pleasure to chat with her recently for Theater Pizzazz about her life and career (edited for length and clarity):
Ron Fassler: What makes the perfect storm (in the best sense of that phrase) while in search of material for a show or an album? How do you go about that?
Ann Kittredge: Well, I’ve gone in both directions with that. For example, with “Romantic Notions” we had the title pretty early on. So, I just really sunk my teeth into the word notions, because that’s going to give me so many liberties. With this show, “When in Love,” it was the opposite. We were just trying to find music that I wanted to sing. And I wanted to do something different because I don’t want my audience to get bored with me. But Christopher Denny [musical director] and Barry Kleinbort [director] were like, “But Ann, they like you. They like what you like, they like what you do.” So, we decided to stick with the romance and go in a little bit of a different direction with songs about infidelity and naivety. I just love telling the stories. It’s so easy to rehearse these things at home even when I’m not with them. I love these songs.
Ron Fassler: What makes the perfect storm (in the best sense of that phrase) while in search of material for a show or an album? How do you go about that?
RF: You have a very eclectic interest in all kinds of music. How has that developed over the years as you matured as a singer?
AK: My father was a disc jockey in the late fifties and early sixties in Wooster and Boston, Massachusetts. By the time I was of age and before I knew anything, we had a pretty tremendous album collection. But my parents did not in any way, shape, or form expose me to more contemporary music. I didn’t get to that stuff until I got into high school, and it snowballed from there. When Chris and Barry and I get together we reject certain songs not because I don’t love them but because I can’t see what more I can say that someone hasn’t already said. Then when we find a song that inspires us, the weird thing is that sometimes we’ll have the spine of the arrangement within 5 minutes. I’m not exagerating but it’s weird when something really speaks to all three of us. It’s like, okay, that’s essentially done.
RF: Well, that’s the art of collaboration and you’re a theatre person too, so you understand all that.
AK: Yes. I love working with other people. I love duets! I wish I could have worked that into this new show but there wasn’t time for it.
RF: When you’re working with a director, what specific goals do you put high on your list to achieve when constructing a new show?
AK: Well, we all want to push the envelope, personally. Whether it reads that way to the audience or not, I don’t ever want to bore myself onstage. That’s really important. We’re always trying to go a step further than where we’re comfortable.
RF: And that keeps it fresh for you.
AK: (laughing) It certain does!
RF: Who have been some of your great teachers along the way? And that can also include artists who’ve inspired you in studio or onstage.
AK: Andrea Marcovicci, who directed me in one of my first shows. To this day, that woman can deliver a song through her storytelling that is mesmerizing. She taught me a lot and gave me some of her secrets. She was very generous and honestly, if she weren’t living in California, I would love to be working with her. Ann Hampton Calloway is another. She blows me away. I could never do what she does. And Marilyn Maye? That woman is to die for. The level of mastery that she works at is incredible. Also, Klea Blackhurst, who shares with Marilyn an unflappability that if anything goes wrong on a stage, the two of them can handle it beautifully and be hysterically funny about it.
RF: The next question then is do you pay it forward? Are there people you mentor or have helped along the way?
AF: I do in a couple of ways. When I took some time off to raise my kids, I volunteered a lot for music programs at public schools because they couldn’t afford it, which was extremely rewarding. In fact, I just got back to it. I’ve been hired to help P.S. 205 to do a nice little program for their graduating students, which is just great.
RF: Lastly, I’m curious where you might see yourself in the next ten years. Are there any specific goals to which you still aspire?
AF: One of the goals is to monetize things! (laughing)
RF: Good answer!
AF: You know, a little thing like that, right? I’m also ready now to go back to an eight-show week. I would like to find my way back to that especially since I’ve improved my skills with cabaret, learning a lot in the process. When I returned to performing it was through cabaret even though I’d had no experience with it. I met that challenge and now I’m ready for more.
Ann Kittredge will be performing “When in Love” at Chelsea Table + Stage, 152 W 26th Street, NYC on May 8th at 7pm. For reservations, please visit: https://www.chelseatableandstage.com.
Headline photo: Ann Kittredge by Gene Reed.