Quotes and Reviews

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PLAYBILL ONLINE THE LEADING MEN: A TENOR WHO RATES A '10' By Wayman Wong - Nov. 1, 2003 http://www.playbill.com/

Tom Andersen has a sweet, soaring voice that's as golden as Fort Knox, but you don't have to take my word as his biggest booster and buddy. Time Out New York calls this good-looking tenor "simply the finest male vocalist in town," and he has won five MAC Awards for his singing, songwriting and recording. He has played Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and after Stephen Sondheim heard him sing "Anyone Can Whistle" at Weill Recital Hall, the composer told him: "You were terrific and you made me cry!"

Betty Buckley also has raved that Andersen is "a great singer who can sing everything," and if you need any proof, it's on "Who Knows?," his exciting new CD that combines pop, country and swing. It features "Ghost in This House," a hauntingly beautiful song by Hugh Prestwood, who's written hits for Trisha Yearwood and Randy Travis; a toe-tapping swing treatment of "A Lovely Night" from Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella," and a shattering rendition of the Patsy Cline classic "I Fall to Pieces." Plus, "Who Knows?" includes four of Andersen's finest originals (co-written with Tim DiPasqua and Ian Herman), such as "Another Tuesday" and "Then Again." The 5-foot-11 singer from Arlington Heights, Ill., says, "I've always loved all kinds of music: country, showtunes, pop, rock. A good song is a good song no matter where it comes from."

Andersen, 43, grew up a nice Catholic boy who met a future Broadway star while doing community theatre: "Karen Mason and I were in the WASP-iest production ever of 'Fiddler on the Roof .' She was phenomenal even at 18. She played Golde, and I was second villager to the left." They also did "Oliver!" together and Mason jokes, "It was ground-breaking . Tom was Oliver, and I was Nancy. You do the math!" At 17, he sang at the local Great America theme park, where he befriended yet another "fantastic" future Broadway star: Liz Callaway. Then, he went to San Francisco to headline in "Beach Blanket Babylon" and became "a minor disco star" in 1984 with a tune called "Rock Dancing": "My producer didn't think Tom Andersen sounded sexy enough, so he changed my name to Tom Granite! Doesn't that sound Flintstonian? Like Stony Curtis or Ann Marg-rock."

"San Francisco was a blast," he said, but a disease took its toll on the city in the 1980s. Andersen captured that indelible time in his award-winning song, "Yard Sale," in which he meets a young man with AIDS who's selling his possessions. Ever so subtle, the song never even mentions the word "AIDS." It earned him a rave review in Billboard, and "Yard Sale" has been recorded and sung around the world. He says, "I had no idea how universal this song was, and I'm touched that it's reached so many people."

Between his music and his homespun humor, Andersen has really found his voice as an all-around entertainer: "Songwriting is introspective and quiet, and singing is public, but a song doesn't really exist until it's sung, so I'm lucky I can do both!"

CHICAGO TRIBUNE:
June 1, 2001

Cabaret singer Andersen's right at home at Metropolis
by Karen Ann Cullotta
Special to the Tribune

The last time James and Carol Andersen watched their son Tom perform on Campbell Street in Arlington Heights, it was a neighborhood production of "Oliver" on a makeshift stage in the family's garage.

More than three decades later, family, friends and neighbors will gather this weekend to watch Tom Andersen, now one of the most celebrated cabaret singer-songwriters in the nation.

Andersen will return to Campbell Street on Friday and Saturday for two shows at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, just a stroll from his family's home.

"I used to take Tom and his brothers and sister to see Santa Claus at the old Hagenbring's store years ago, long before they turned the building into the Metropolis," Carol Andersen said.

"We've ordered a full sheet cake for all the family and friends who will be at the house before we walk over to see Tom's show," James Andersen said.

As the Metropolis celebrates its first anniversary, Tom Andersen is proving you can go home again.

After a four-hour rehearsal at the Metropolis this week, Andersen explored Campbell Street, walking past new bistros and boutiques, upscale condominiums and art galleries.

But where the new development ends, many aspects of the old neighborhood are virtually unchanged, with the scent of lilacs in the air and potted geraniums on the front porch of his parents' 1895 farmhouse.

"I guess you can say it was serendipity when I heard about the Metropolis," said Andersen, popping open a beer and settling in at the family's kitchen table. "I knew I wanted to visit my parents sometime this summer, and I was more than happy to do a few shows back in Arlington Heights too."

A 1978 graduate of Arlington High School, Andersen's passion for musical theater was sparked in junior high, when he performed with Music on Stage community theater in Best Off Broadway's "Oliver" in 1974. Having produced, directed and starred in dual roles of the musical with his siblings and pals in the garage, Andersen was comfortable with his debut.

As a teen, he performed in the high school's choral and theater department productions, and he earned a spot on stage at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. Upon graduation, he packed his bags and boarded a bus headed for a West Coast theme park musical show near San Francisco.

At 19, he got his big break, a role in San Francisco's long-running musical "Beach Blanket Babylon." His work as a cabaret singer began at San Francisco's Plush Room, where he soon became well-known and attracted a loyal following.

"Singing in small clubs allows you to really make the songs your own," Andersen says. "There were tons of clubs in the 1980s, but then AIDS hit, and the spirit of cabaret was broken. It was mass chaos."

Andersen said the cabaret community was paralyzed by the deaths of performers, club owners and even audience members, with survivors ultimately realizing they must carry on the legacy.

"We decided the party was not over, and we knew that life was really precious," said Andersen, one of the first performers in New York to organize an AIDS fundraiser supported by the arts community. His relocation from San Francisco to New York led to rave reviews at the Cabaret Convention at Town Hall and performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Tavern on the Green.

"It was more than a career move, it was a life move. And I was ready for the next chapter," said Andersen, who admits that living in New York has taken adjustment. "I've been very lucky, and it's always nice to see a good review. But it's not about the reviews. It's about art and exercising my creativity."

TALKIN' BROADWAY :
Cabaret, March 1999
(Reprinted from an interview at www.talkinbroadway.com)

V.J.: Hey, Tom. Welcome to Talkin Broadway.

Tom: Thanks, V.J. I'm very flattered that I get to help kick off this new column. It's such an honor.

V.J.: And speaking of honors, you just received two more MAC Award nominations: one for Outstanding Male Vocalist and one for Recording of the Year for "The Journey." How's that feel?

Tom: Great! Especially since the honor comes from my peers. It's so gratifying to know that folks appreciate your work and that they're really listening.

V.J.: Well, one song that I really listen to from your CD is "Storybook" from The Scarlet Pimpernel. Patti LuPone, Karen Akers and other stars have sung it, but you really discovered it in 1993, long before Pimpernel made it to Broadway. In fact, its lyricist, Nan Knighton, credits you with the song's success. How did you find it?

Tom: I was looking for new songs back then, and I spoke to Frank Wildhorn, who wrote all these pop hits. He was so nice that he suggested "Storybook" to me, and I still get a thrill everytime I sing it. Frank's melody is incredibly gorgeous and Nan's lyrics are wildly romantic.

V.J.: Now "The Journey" is your second CD?

Tom: Yep. My first one was called "Far Away Places."

V.J.: And that was nominated for another MAC Award for Recording of the Year, right?

Tom: Uh-huh. It's a little more standardy than "The Journey," but they both are very personal and reflect who I am, musically and emotionally.

V.J.: What do you sing on "Far Away Places?"

Tom: The title tune, of course. And "Moonglow," "Let It Be Me" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Ten Minutes Ago." But even though I sing some standards, I don't tend to do them the standard way. For instance, that album features "All I Do Is Dream of You" as a country swing number. And on "The Journey," I perform "People Will Say We're in Love" with a Latin beat.

V.J.: Where are you from?

Tom: Arlington Heights, Ill., outside Chicago.

V.J.: And how did you first get interested in singing?

Tom: My grandmother bought me a Broadway cast album of The Sound of Music, and nice Midwestern Catholic boy that I am, I related to all those nuns and children. Before long, I was doing community theater, and I wound up in the Waspiest production you've ever seen of Fiddler on the Roof. Karen Mason played Golde and she was great, even then. Later, I did the local theme park with Liz Callaway, and in one show, I played a 16-year-old Harold Hill, singing "Ya Got Trouble!"

V.J.: That's great. Have you done any other theater?

Tom: I played in Beach Blanket Babylon in San Francisco for over 2 years. It's the longest-running revue there, and it's wild. And shortly after I moved to N.Y., I did an Off-Broadway revue called Cabariety.

V.J.: Any chance of ever seeing you on Broadway?

Tom: Not right now. I prefer writing my own music and singing in clubs and doing some more recordings.

V.J.: Speaking of Broadway, I understand that Stephen Sondheim caught your solo recital at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in 1993, and that he went backstage to congratulate you. What was that like?

Tom: It was thrilling and scary. I love his work, and here I was singing "Anyone Can Whistle," "No One Is Alone" and "Our Time" as he sat in the audience. It was wonderful to meet him after the show, and he couldn't have been nicer.

V.J.: Stephen Holden in the N.Y. Times has said about you, "One is reminded of Johnny Mathis. Incandescent!" That's quite a compliment. Do you take singing lessons to keep your instrument tuned up?

Tom: I've studied for years, and though I'm not studying now, I vocalize everyday. I really believe in technique. I also try to speak the way I would sing. You relax your throat and keep your larynx down. Keep that open sound.

V.J.: How do you pick a song for recording? Is there something about a song that just grabs you?

Tom: The melody's got to be there, and I've got to be able to relate to it. For example, many tunes have been written about love, but I was drawn to Julie Gold's song "The Journey" because it's about life in general. Besides its beautiful melody, it's so inspiring: "Forward, always forward. Onward, always up." It's such a positive message.

V.J.: You record other people's songs, but you also write your own, and they run the gamut from pop to country. Tell me about "Yard Sale." It won the 1998 MAC Award for Song of the Year, and it's on your "Journey" CD. It's very special. Where did it come from?

Tom: It was inspired by a next door neighbor of mine in S.F. who had a sale of all his belongings. This was during the '80s, when AIDS came crashing down on all of us. I felt helpless, like everyone else, so I wrote "Yard Sale" as a catharsis. David Campbell recorded it beautifully and helped get it out there, and I'm so moved that it has touched so many people.

V.J.: OK, so when is the next CD coming out?

Tom: The next one? I just recorded "The Journey" last year. I'm still working to promote this sucker. (Laughs.)

V.J.: Cabaret is making a huge comeback in New York with many new clubs for performers. If you could offer one piece of advice to newcomers trying to make it on the circuit, what would it be?

Tom: Stay true to the music and find your own voice. Don't do it because you want to make money because you're not. Don't do it for the celebrity because fame is fleeting. These things come and go. The only thing you really have is your love of the music and how you express it in your own unique way.

V.J.: Thanks, Tom, and good luck on April 5 at the MAC awards.

Tom: It was my pleasure. And congratulations on your new column!

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Sunday, June 14, 1998

Pop Singer LovesTo Face the Music
Rising star Tom Andersen discovers life is more than a cabaret
by Sallie Han

There's only one way - at least, according to Tom Andersen - to survive if you're a singer these days. At the risk of sounding like a Frank Sinatra impersonator, the Manhattan entertainer says, "It's important to say, 'I did it my way.' "

Doing it his way has taken Andersen pretty far. He has shared the stage with legends of song, such as Liza Minnelli and Tony Bennett, and critics have called the romantic crooner "a Johnny Mathis for the '9Os." Andersen has won three MAC Awards, cabaret's equivalent of the Oscars (from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs), for his singing and songwriting.

He also has recorded and produced two CDs, which include pop classics (such as "Let It Be Me" and "Far Away Places"), as well as his own tunes. And he recently kicked off a month-long run at Eighty Eight's in Manhattan, where he is performing through July 10.

But Andersen admits there is one measure of success where, so far, he still comes up short and that's breaking through to a wider audience.

"Basically, I'm at a crossroads in my creative life," he says.

Ironically, it may be that the successes he has enjoyed to date keep him from moving ahead. Having established his reputation in New York's clubs, Andersen is known primarily as a "cabaret singer."

It's not a label he likes.

"I think most people have a pre-conceived notion of what cabaret is," he says. "They think it's someone singing standards in a lounge." But he insists: "To me, a cabaret is a venue. It's not a genre of music. It's a room."

On the other hand, Andersen knows that cabaret is a room with a lot of room for a singer like him - letting him try different songs in different styles.

"As much as I don't like the term 'cabaret singer' because I think many people misunderstand what cabaret really means - there is also so much to it," he says. "There are all sorts of terrific performers you can see in a cabaret that you might not see on TV or on major record labels."

Still, there are signs that larger audiences could soon become familiar with Andersen's name and music.

Based on the strength of one of his original songs, "Yard Sale," a poignant ballad about AIDS featured on his new CD, "The Journey" - he just signed a songwriting contract with Warner Chappell Music Publishers.

In fact, half of the songs on "The Journey" are Andersen's compositions, and they point to his versatility as a pop vocalist and a songwriter.

His songs, which range from swing to country - and even a little calypso - sound readymade for radio.

"It's important to try different things," says Andersen, who listens to Bryan Adams and Hanson as well as Betty Buckley.

The really important thing for me is creative freedom," he says. "I have only myself to answer to" - and that is plenty enough.

Tom Andersen performs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. through July 10 at Eighty Eight's, 228 W. 10th St. in Manhattan. There is a $15 cover charge and a two-drink minimum. For reservations, call (212) 924-0088.

IN THEATER - July 3, 1998
CABARET by Michael Portantiere
Journey Man

Tom Andersen's singing does things to people. "Dreamy hyper romantic crooning," swooned Stephen Holden of The New York Times. "Simply the finest male vocalist in town," lauded Time Out New York's Eric Myers. A two-time MAC award winner as a performer, Andersen was cited as a songwriter this year for "Yard Sale." Now he's celebrating the release of his second album, "The Journey", with Friday night performances at Eighty Eight's (through July 10).

"I'm having fun, though it's been hard getting the musicians together," says Andersen, who's backed by a four-piece combo for this gig. "Everyone's so busy! I thought things were supposed to calm down during the summer, but apparently not." The show is "kind of a mixture of things: four or five tunes from the album, some older stuff, covers of two Jule Styne numbers, and two completely new songs I wrote: 'Who Knows?' and 'Before We Say Goodbye.'"

Originally from Arlington Heights, Illinois, Andersen lived in San Francisco for 12 years before coming to New York in 1991. He quickly established himself as a cabaret fixture, appearing in such venues as the Russian Tea Room ("until they closed") and Catch a Rising Star ("when they still had singers"). More recently, he's been seen and heard at the FireBird Cafe, Maxim's, Tavern on the Green, and frequently at Eighty Eight's.

His new album (named after its title cut, a lovely Julie Gold ballad) is highlighted by Andersen's soaring rendition of "Storybook" from "The Scarlet Pimpernel", an R&B version of "Necessity" from "Finian's Rainbow", and Andersen's own poignant reading of "Yard Sale" - a song which made a deep impression on the cabaret community when it was featured on David Campbell's latest CD. It's a subtle tear-jerker about a young man preparing for death from AIDS, though that scourge is never actually named.

According to Andersen, "It was inspired by a next-door neighbor of mine in San Francisco who had a sale of all his belongings. Unfortunately, the incident wasn't unique; there was a lot of that happening then, especially in the Castro, where I lived. You saw a lot of people unloading their stuff, and it really hit home."

Andersen has written songs in collaboration with his musical director Ian Herman and with Tim DiPasqua, a longtime friend and colleague. "I do need help," he says frankly. "On 'Yard Sale,' for example, I went to Tim with a melody and the lyrics, and I told him I needed help with the chords. I wanted to give him a co-author credit, but he was generous enough to say, 'This is your song.'"

Given the continued support of audiences and the press, what's Andersen's next career move? "I don't really plan long-range," he says, "When you find the energy for something, when it seems right for it to happen, you do it. After this gig, I'm going to do a demo as part of a publishing deal I just got with Warner Chappell. I'd also like to work with other people as a producer; I enjoy being in the studio. And, someday I'd like to work on a musical - like everybody else in the world."