February 4, 2001
Denver Post
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Michael Bolton: Critics hate him, fans adore him
By G. Brown
In the '90s, Michael Bolton's success was hardly a joke. His albums sold by the bazillions
- actually, more than 40 million worldwide. But rock critics everywhere loved to pick on
him anyway. God knows he had a few excesses - his voice lacked subtlety, and his
hernia-patient singing style was chronically overdone. Cynics reflexively gagged every
time they heard the Bolton shriek. Yet everything becomes estimable in time - heck,
graduate-school dissertations have been written on "My Mother, The Car."
Now that Bolton's biggest days as a hitmaker are apparently behind him, is it possible
that a new generation of critics will find his "Love Songs" (Columbia/Legacy),
in stores Tuesday, a gold mine of interpretation and examination? Nah. Yet the collection,
drawn from Bolton's work, sets a romantic tone for Valentine's Day - it's made up of the
full-throated adult-pop ballads guaranteed to make his mostly female, mostly white
disciples swoon. He's the dream lover who knows how they feel - the kind of guy who would
never forget an anniversary or go out partying with the boys. "The most compelling
factor in music, for me, has always been the vocal performance. That's what makes my spine
tingle ... the way the human spirit comes through in a great vocal. There's nothing more
moving or powerful than the human voice," Bolton has said. Well, he does convey a
certain nuance and true, quiet passion on the surprisingly graceful "Said I Loved You
... But I Lied." But the rest of "Love Songs" is the cheesy pop fluff that
Bolton and his songwriting collaborators never got enough of - "The Best of
Love" (a contemporary R&B smash co-written by Bolton and Babyface), "Missing
You Now" (the duet with Kenny G) and "How Am I Supposed to Live Without
You" (the hit he wrote for Laura Branigan and made No. 1 himself). There's also the
obligatory versions of familiar R&B classics that Bolton bellowed. His usual idea of
blue-eyed soul was to turn up the screech quotient, robustly hammering out "Georgia
on My Mind" and Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" (which soared to
No. 1 and scored him a Grammy). For those old
enough to remember the original versions, these renditions are cause to mourn. But critics
can only roll their eyes as devotees devour "Love Songs" and rain on their hate
parade. And the war's not over. Bolton has signed with teen specialists Jive Records,
becoming a labelmate of Britney Spears and 'N Sync, and he's now recording an album of new
songs that will be released later this year.
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January 20, 2001
Billboard
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Frustrated Michael Bolton Ready To Move On
By Frank Saxe
Although his legal options have been exhausted, and he will be forced to pay nearly $1
million from his own pocket, Michael Bolton is hardly conceding defeat in his effort to
call his 1991 top-5 pop hit "Love Is A Wonderful Thing" his own. For the past
nine years, Bolton, co-writer Andrew Goldmark, and Sony Music Publishing have locked horns
with the Isley Brothers, who say that Bolton and Goldmark composition plagiarized their
little-known 1966 song of the same name. Bolton's court fight with the Isley Brothers came
to a close on Jan. 22 when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Bolton's appeal of a May
2000 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals in San Francisco. The San Francisco
court upheld a 1994 lower court ruling that ordered the artist, Goldmark, and Sony
Publishing to turn over $5.2 million in profits from the sales of Bolton's version of the
song to the Isley Brothers. The jury had ruled the pair plagiarized the Isley Brothers
song of the same name, after deciding the songs shared a number of the same elements. The
trial jury found that there were five instances where Bolton and Goldmark lifted from the
original Isley Brothers song. The Isley Brothers, through a representative, declined to
comment on the High Court's decision. Bolton's attorneys, including Harvard University law
professor Alan Dershowitz, had asked the Supreme Court to reject the
findings, arguing a national standard should be created to
help guide artists and the courts as to what classifies as
copyright infringement. The Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) agreed, and
filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting Bolton in his appeal. The RIAA declined to
comment on the Court's decision not to hear the case. Under the Ninth Circuit ruling, the
Isleys are to be paid $4.2 million from Sony Music; $932,924 from Bolton; $220,785 from
Goldmark; and the balance from Bolton and Goldmark's music publishing company. The
original jury found that 66% of the song's profits resulted from copyright-infringing
elements and that 28% of the profits of the album "Time, Love & Tenderness"
were derived from the track, which won Bolton and Goldmark a Grammy. For Bolton, who is in
the studio recording his first album under a new contract with Jive Records, his mantra
has become "move on." Here he speaks with Billboard: What was your reaction when
you heard that the Supreme Court would not hear your appeal?
I didn't expect them to hear this case. I would have been
overwhelmed with some sort of excitement even at the
possibility of seeing some justice in this case. The fact that the appellate court gave
such a poor level of attention to reviewing the case resulted in a loss of faith in the
justice system. I had no idea that they were that incompetent or that disinterested, but
when we got to the Ninth Circuit after two years of painstaking preparing, the three
judges that heard the case were not aware of the details of the case. I was shocked when
one of the judges asked if the
song was on one of their albums. She didn't even realize
that's why we were there, and the case went to trial. The
Isley song was never on an album in their 40 years of
existence. It came out a year after "Love Is A Wonderful
Thing" came out. Couldn't the song have been performed live? According to them it
was, but they were not able to produce concert tapes showing that it was performed live.
It was a recurring nightmare that you couldn't believe a judge would allow to continue
with a lack of evidence of access and dissemination which every copyright infringement
case that goes to trial is based on. We deposed band members who never, ever remember the
song being performed live and never remember seeing it on any of their song lists when
they toured. In this case, you have a song that never charted on The Billboard Hot 100, it
never charted on the R&B charts where the Isley Brothers had tremendous amounts of
airplay, it never
received on citing on the BMI or ASCAP recordings tracking airplay, there was not one
receipt for the supposedly commercially-released single -- there was none of the usual
evidence that shows up where the plaintiff's burden is to prove a reasonable amount of
access. This was a case of, if you were a record collector you couldn't find that record.
You would have to search high and low, you would have to find one of those promotional
copies of the single. And yet the case went to trial.We were certain the judge wouldn't
allow it go to trial because it was lacking all of the documentary evidence that shows a
song was played in an area where people lived. Judge [Kristina] Beard was not a music
business-exposed judge, but I thought that at least it was her responsibility to do her
due diligence and become aware of what case she was presiding over, but I was wrong and it
was maddening. So we were put in a position of proving that the song couldn't have been
heard even by people that wanted to hear it. This case wasn't about how popular the Isley
Brothers were, but about whether this
song was played enough and if people could have heard it -- that's what access is all
about. At one point during the trial, they just dropped on us that it was played on a
local TV show that aired in [my hometown] in Connecticut, so we brought in a year's supply
of TV Guides which showed the show did exist but not once did it show the Isley Brothers
appeared on the show. It meant nothing to the jury. The jury was not interested in the
evidence. What about the argument of subconscience copying, which by and large means that
you must have heard it and used it years later? Andy and I submitted a tape of us creating
the song and you can hear note-for-note the creation of the song. There are also 151 songs
copyrighted "Love Is A Wonderful Thing," and that's not including songs called
"Love Is A Beautiful Thing," etcetera. So, we had an opportunity to prove
original, independent creation but the jury did not care about that -- it was maddening.
Were you a big fan of Isley Brothers? That is so far from the truth. This is another piece
of the evidence. Ronald Isley changed his testimony three times to the point where the
last time at the trial he said, "When I met Michael Bolton he said, 'I'm a big fan.
I've got all your stuff." I know why he said that -- because he knew he did not have
evidence that anybody could have heard the song, so the strongest statement that he could
make at that time was that I
said, "I've got all your stuff." Not only did I not have all of his stuff, I did
not have any Isley Brothers records. I was not an Isley Brothers fan. Nothing to take away
from Ronald Isley's singing, but I was a Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Smokey
Robinson fan. So we brought forward dozens of interviews where people asked
me what my roots were and who my aspiring singers were, and each and everyone of them
listed the same singers, each and every time. You never saw a mention of the Isley
Brothers as being influential or as being a group or artist that I was fan of. I was not a
fan of theirs, I am not a fan of theirs -- my opinion of them at this point is irrelevant.
You sound very frustrated... It's been hell, and at one point when the jury verdict came
in, it nearly ruined my life because I felt so much like a child had been pulled from me.
When you know you created something because you created it word-for-word, and every turn,
nuance, and vocal performance. Then you co-produce the record and you're there for every
horn overdub and you're building this creation that's going to have a life of its own and
someone comes along and says, 'I'm taking it from you,'
they end up taking a big piece of time, love, and tenderness
away from you. It's been a devastating time. It's been an
enraging time. I have no faith in the justice system. Believe
not in the justice system -- when it fails, innocent people
are injured horrifically and guilty people are set free. Will you still perform the song?
I perform it live. It will always be mine, in my heart and in Andy's. It will always be my
song. It's a song I created with Andy Goldmark word-for-word, note-for-note, I'm proud of
the song and it's part of me. It's a travesty that I'll have to learn to live with, as I'm
sure [Ronald] Isley will have to live with, to his grave, the fact that his testimony
changed several times in order for him to be able to get some money. As you are back in
the studio recording your first new album
in years, do you think this case could cast a negative light
on your public persona? This is the third time this information has come out. We lost the
first case and I was in shock. It came when I was promoting my greatest hits album in
Europe, which still sold approximately 6 million copies. It distracted me, but it didn't
stop me from the work I was going to do and the record was very successful, and I think
that people know that the more successful you are, the more lawsuits get thrown at you,
the more a target you are. I'm not sure of the impact, but I'm hoping that if people are
interested enough they'll find out what a travesty it was, what a horror it's been for
close to eight years. It's more of a psychological hurdle for me because my integrity is
important for me, but if you knew Andy Goldmark and you know the two of us, we wouldn't
take the wrong change from a cashier, let alone fight a case for a song that might not be
ours. We were so 100% involved in the independent creation of this song, to have it torn
from you forever and then to be fined for it, is an atrocity that is psychologically a
very tough pill to swallow. That's the work that I'm going have to do for the next year or
so. I'd like to just put it behind me and say worse things happen to people and there's
too much to be grateful for to let this stop the momentum of creation and everything I've
always loved about music. When you're in front of your audience there's a whole different
element. And if there's anything about it being over, is I can let go of the delusion that
justice will be done.
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January 9, 2001
Columbia Daily Dish
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MICHAEL BOLTON
After some 15 years (since his early teens) as a hard rock and soul singer and guitarist
on the far side of fame and fortune, Michael Bolton was nearly resigned to making his mark
as a songwriter in the early '80s, covered by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Laura
Branigan, Kenny Rogers and others. That all changed in 1987, when "That's What Love
Is All About," a 'power ballad' off his second Columbia album The Hunger, surprised
everyone by reaching the top 20. It even made the R&B charts, a clear signal that
Bolton's vocal style could reach black audience as well. (In 1988, Otis Redding's widow
Zelma declared Bolton's version of "(Sittin On) The Dock Of The Bay" to be her
favorite.)
It all came together in 1989, when Bolton's original tune "How Am I Supposed To Live
Without You" (a #1 A/C hit for Branigan back in '83), from his third Columbia album
Soul Provider, spent three weeks at #1 and established him as an 'overnight' superstar.
Over the next eight years, his seven Columbia albums (including five consecutive top 5
best-sellers, two of which reached #1) amassed some 25-times platinum sales. At the same
time, his presence on the singles charts was so strong that he is ranked #121 on Joel
Whitburn's list of
the Top 500 Pop Artists 1955-1999. Michael Bolton's biggest and most enduring hits –
like his #1 cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1991, the duet
with Kenny G on "Missing You Now," and "Said I Loved You… But I
Lied" (from his 1993 album The One Thing) – have all been there "to
inspire, encourage and celebrate this all-consuming thing we call love," as radio DJ
Delilah's liner notes affectionately proclaim.
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January 16, 2001
Cindy Adams
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Michael Bolton on his personal life: "I'm dating the
girl in the yellow dress." He means Deborah Yates. She
stars in B'way's "Contact."
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USA Today
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Celebrities come out swinging at Pro-Am But it's a rocky course for many
at Pebble Beach
By Mike Snider
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- The pressure is on for celebrities to perform at the AT&T
Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament, which concludes today.
Newcomer Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) warned volunteers before the tournament
began, ''I feel bad that I'm going to hit at least one of you.'' ''Golf makes me hate
myself,'' he says. ''It's very humbling.'' The first tee, says singer Michael Bolton, ''is
when you are reminded that this is not what you do for a living. ''A sold-out concert . .
. you can do no wrong. Here you're in somebody else's game. This is where people live and
breathe (golf) like I do music.''
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USA Today
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Bolton's night: Michael Bolton dumped his sweaty golf duds Monday
afternoon after his charity links event in Connecticut, grabbed his tux and raced to
Manhattan for a night with Renee Fleming, whom he calls ''the greatest soprano in the
world.'' Bolton escorted Fleming to the Metropolitan Opera's opening gala for its 118th
season. But first she had to sing the role of Donna Anna, a target
of Don Giovanni, who boasts 2,065 female conquests. He was portrayed in the Mozart opera
by burly Welsh star Bryn Terfel -- picture Meat Loaf with a really fabulous bass-baritone.
Fleming dueted with Bolton on his 1998 arias CD, My Secret Passion. Does divorced Bolton
have a passion for the beautiful Fleming? She's just ''a very dear friend,'' he said.
Sunday night she was his guest at his foundation's fundraiser in Stamford, Conn. Deborah
Gibson sang and Fleming talked little, to save her voice for the Met. She said she's
grateful for the ''mutual support'' she has with Bolton. At the Met dinner, Martha Stewart
greeted Bolton and Fleming, who sat with New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
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November 13, 2000
Billboard
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Michael Bolton and Paul Shaffer will be among
those honored tonight (Nov. 13) in New York by the Creative Coalition. The musicians will
be feted along with newsman Walter Cronkite and Scholastic Inc. president/CEO Richard
Robinson.
As a part of the ceremonies at the city's Manhattan Center,
Shaffer and Bolton will perform with an all-star band
comprised of Sam & Dave's Sam Moore, bassist Will Lee from Shaffer's band on "The
Late Show With David Letterman," Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (Steely Dan,
Doobie Brothers), Steve Ferrone of the Heartbreakers, Jim Ehinger, Jerry Vivino of the Max
Weinberg 7 from "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," and Tom "Bones"
Malone of the "Saturday Night Live" band. A special appearance by jazz great
McCoy Tyner is also planned.
The Creative Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan
organization dedicated to educating members of the arts and entertainment community on
issues important to the group, such as its recent focus on First Amendment rights,
children's issues, and public education.
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October 23, 2000
Billboard
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Bolton Bolts To Jive Records
Michael Bolton told the audience at last week's City Of Hope charity dinner in Los Angeles
that he has signed a new contract with Jive Records, home to such chart-busting boy bands
as 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, according to the Hollywood Reporter. In June, it was
announced that Bolton had parted company with Columbia, a company for whom he'd sold some
50 million albums worldwide since 1983.
According to the Web site for Bolton's official fan club, the artist is working on a new
album for release sometime early next year, and will embark on a world tour in support of
the set.
Bolton's most recent single, a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" that
appeared on "Classics, Vol. 2," peaked at No. 28 on Billboard's Adult
Contemporary chart in February. His last track to appear on The Billboard Hot 100 was
"Go The Distance" from the "Hercules" soundtrack. It peaked at No. 24
in July 1997.
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July 18, 2000
Boston Globe
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The Dauphin of Soul, Michael Bolton, brushed off
his pesky critics - as he always does - and evidently enjoyed himself to the fullest after
his overwrought performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber songs last week at the Wang Theatre.
The divorced dad - who was with 20-something daughter Isa, an area resident and Aria
regular - brought family and friends to Seth Greenberg 's joints, Aria (Thursday and
Friday, ensconced in the VIP ''Angel'' room the first night) and Mistral (Sunday, dining
with Greenberg
and Newbury Street salon owner Serge Safar). After the Mistral nosh, everyone repaired to
Bolton's digs at the Four Seasons Hotel for more merriment.
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July 10, 2000
Cape Cod Times
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Bolton meets Broadway
By JOHN BLACK
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Say what you like about him as a singer and a songwriter, Michael Bolton has never shied
away from a challenge. Just a few years ago, for example, with his career firmly
entrenched in the middle of the road of white-bread
soul music Bolton took a sharp left and released, of all things, a CD of opera arias
("My Secret Passion: The Arias"). His next challenge is another 180-degree turn
from the smooth easy listening music his fans have come to expect. Bolton is out on the
road, touring not with his own band or even his own show, but as part of an ensemble cast
performing "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber."
"I know his music, but I'm not what you would call a theater guy," Bolton said
in a recent phone interview. "It was definitely a challenge to perform this music in
front of people who are very familiar with not only the songs but the musicals that they
are taken from. It wasn't that 'prove
it' attitude you get playing in New York City, but there was still an element of the
audience waiting to see what Michael Bolton could bring to this music that maybe they've
never heard before." So far, according to Bolton (who has been on the road with the
show for several weeks), the response from "theater people" has been positive.
"I didn't approach this project with a chip on my shoulder and I think people
respected that," he said. "It's the same thing that happened when I was working
on the opera album. I didn't call up Placido Domingo and start
telling him how I would sing an aria. I went back to the basics and studied with a vocal
teacher and learned how to hold notes and perform an aria. "I had to go through the
same sort of introductory course for music from a Broadway musical," he said. "I
had to be very mindful of the original composition. This is music that already works. It
wasn't up to me to change it to fit me. I had to find a way for my style of singing to fit
in to Lloyd Webber's music."
"The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" is a musical review that features selections
from throughout the prolific composer's Broadway career, including songs from
"Cats," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Jesus Christ
Superstar." Although he is the headliner of the show, Bolton will perform just five
songs each evening. While reluctant to reveal exactly which songs those will be, Bolton
did confess to which one is his favorite to
sing each night. "Memories," he said, referring to the saccharine song from the
last act of "Cats." "It's so beautiful to sing, so melodic. It's the kind
of song you can just dive in and feel what it's all about when you sing it."
Although he is clearly enjoying being part of the salute to Lloyd Webber, Bolton said he
isn't sure he's ready to tackle the Great White Way in a full scale production. At least
not as a singer. "I've been tempted. There are moments when I'm singing one of the
songs from 'The Phantom of the Opera' when the character takes over and I think, 'Yeah, I
could do this. I could be the tortured soul of this show.' Then I remind myself that I do
this for a few nights a month and that is very different form spending a year on Broadway
doing eight shows a week." Although he might not be appearing on 42nd Street night
after night,
Bolton's new love of show tunes could lead him in two new directions in the very near
future. First, he says there is "no doubt" in his mind that he will record a CD
of Broadway tunes in the very near future. Once he's got that out of his system, Bolton
said he might try his hand at writing a Broadway show of his own."I could see writing
a Broadway musical, something with a little R&B and
blues in it," he continued. "Being part of this show has reinforced what I've
always felt about the power of music. Music is about feelings. People listen to be moved
and if the band and the singer are doing their job something very spontaneous and
beautiful happens with each song. When I
think of writing a musical so that theater people walk out of the show each night singing
along with the melody they've just heard. ... Yeah, I want to make that happen."
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July 6, 2000
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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Bolton tries Broadway tunes
By Frank Magiera
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Ah, the life of a famous pop star, nee opera singer, nee Broadway balladeer. Michael
Bolton gets a day off from touring, flies home to Westport, Conn., for a well-deserved
break only to be awakened at 5 a.m. by a brigade of screaming firetrucks at his front
gate.“It was the house next door, my recording studio,” he said over the
telephone a few hours after sending away the firefighters without pumping so much as a
drop of water. “One of the alarms went off. Very nice to be home for a moment,
firetrucks or no firetrucks.” For the last seven weeks Mr. Bolton has been performing
“The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber,” which arrives July 13 for six performances
at Boston's Wang Theatre. It is yet another novel venture for the Grammy-winning pop star,
whose career turned sharply left four years ago when he began singing opera arias and now
has segued into a touring Broadway revue.
“We're having fun,” Mr. Bolton said, his rapt tenor sounding just a little
hoarse through the veil of sleep deprivation. “My audience is scattered throughout
the theater-going audience. But my audience is a little louder, a little more vocal.”
Mr. Bolton is billed as a special guest star in the show, which is built around music and
production numbers from many of Mr. Webber's
Broadway shows. Mr. Bolton sings just five songs, all of which he said he selected:
“Gethsemane” from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the duet and “Music
of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera,” “Tell Me on a Sunday”
from
“Song and Dance,” and “Memory” from “Cats.” He said the
latter song has become his favorite.
“Melodically and thematically, it's just the most powerful for me,” he said.
“ 'Memory' is just so beautiful to sing. Melodically, every corner, every bit of
every passage is so easy to embrace.” This is all very different music for him, Mr.
Bolton conceded, but not so different considering his venture into opera during the last
four years. After appearing with Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy, in
1996, in a benefit concert for Bosnian children, Mr. Bolton plunged into a serious study
of opera. In 1998, he recorded an album of opera music called “My Secret Passion: The
Arias.” “I'm finding a very surprised audience,” he said. “A lot of
the theatergoers are really not as familiar with my music, and didn't listen to the kinds
of stations that were playing eight times a day each hit that
would come out one after another. They're really in a different world. That's why I'm
grateful that I studied classically for opera. I can go through this. I can go through
this material and perceive it as an artist, who can understand a certain type of appeal, a
certain sensibility of
approach ... and can still experiment.” Although Mr. Bolton is reluctant to describe
himself as a regular
theatergoer, he said he has seen most of the shows from which his numbers were taken. The
producers have encouraged him to put as much of himself into the music as he likes.
“They say take it where Bolton would take it, as opposed to where the phantom would
go, or where Jesus would take it,” Mr. Bolton said, allowing that that might indeed
be a frightful prospect for some people. He said he would not have been surprised if a
backlash developed among some audiences as it did among opera fans when he released his
aria album. “You've got the purists coming in and saying, 'No, no, no, you don't go
from this world to that world.' Then you have opera singers calling you and thanking you
and inviting you to sing with them. It's a very confusing message.” “When I went
into recording the arias, I was being thanked by a lot of people who had never listened
to, or who had never known, a lot of these great pieces and I said I didn't either until I
started studying them. I said I hope you're enjoying them as much as I did.” Whether
it is opera, Broadway or pop, nothing is so important as a good song, Mr. Bolton said.
Although he started singing in bars in his hometown of New Haven when he was 13, he also
spent much of his music career writing songs for other people, such as Conway Twitty,
Kenny Rogers and Barbra Streisand. “I had hair down to my waist and
wire-rimmed, round glasses,” he said of his teen-age persona. “I think that
people just wanted to come in and stare at me and try to figure out what I was. I was
singing obscure blues, Chicago blues, Paul Butterfield Blues Band songs, and things that
people were just not used to hearing, especially from a skinny long-haired
white kid.” When Mr. Bolton signed his first record deal with Epic Records at the age
of 16, he said he felt as though he had arrived. Just a year later, however, he was
released by Epic and spent the next two decades in
oblivion. “My songwriting is what fed my family,” he said. “That's when I
realized that the industry survives, and it's based upon the hit song. That's the life
blood of the industry.” Bolton, who is 47, did not have a hit record himself until
1987, when he recorded “That's What Love is All About” at the age of 34.
“That really focused me and brought home the point that you can be as great as you
strive to be as an artist, a guitarist, a musician, as anything, but without a hit song,
nobody knows you.” But hit songs also bring along their own peculiar career dangers,
Mr. Bolton said. “Once you have a hit, that's the blessing,” he said. “You
finally get to see something from all the years of work. But the more you have hits, the
more those hits define you in an industry where the record company is trying to define you
and market you and everyone is trying to label you as one thing or another and you can be
too well confined by your own success.” Mr. Bolton's stint with “The Music of
Andrew Lloyd Webber” is not
cultivating aspirations within him to perform on Broadway. But he does feel drawn to the
stage at moments. “There are moments during 'Phantom' when the phantom does take
over,” he said. “I think, 'You know what, I could go here. I could be this
tormented soul.' There's something about connecting with the different
characters that's very attractive to me.” And he just doesn't have the time. This
month, Mr. Bolton begins work on a new studio album of music with an international flavor
that he calls “exotic soul.” His new production company, Passion Films, has
already begun filming a romantic comedy starring Charlie Sheen and before it is completed
this month he hopes to get to the set so he can sit in the
executive producer's chair with his name on it. Mr. Bolton said his flirtation with the
theater has also convinced him to eventually make an album of Broadway tunes, regardless
of what the critics might say. “I think music is about feeling,” Mr. Bolton
said. “It's visceral. It's about moving people internally, and certainly the great
musicals do exactly that. “And if you listen in order to be moved and someone does
the job and delivers, that's it. If you go in with a preconceived notion ... this is how
it should be done and this is what I expect, I'm not sure what you're doing in the theater
because you miss the spontaneous power of making music.
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July 15, 2000
AP People In The News
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July 15, 2000
BOSTON (AP) -- Michael Bolton took a break from "The Music of Andrew Lloyd
Webber" to accept a United Way award for his fund-raising efforts. The singer posed
for pictures Friday with the charity's Massachusetts Bay chapter staff and children from
an East Boston Boys and Girls Club. "When you look at fund-raising, when you look at
trying to make a difference in people's lives, it's a great, great honor for me to be here
and be noted by such an incredible organization," Bolton said. Bolton, 47, serves on
the board of the National Mentoring Partnership, based in Washington.
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June 21, 2000
The Columbus Dispatch
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Bolton, Lloyd Webber a fine mix
Michael Grossberg
Dispatch Theater Critic
Michael Bolton, Superstar. Such is the promising concept behind the latest version of The
Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, which opened last night at the Palace Theatre.
In practice, though, Bolton turns out to be the Phantom of this overly familiar revue of
songs from Lloyd Webber's pop operas. Bolton doesn't appear much, but when he does, his
impact is hauntingly romantic. All the singers in this ensemble show are fine, but
Bolton's voice is magnificent. Clearly at the peak of his form, Bolton caps the otherwise
underwhelming first act with an achingly tender rendition of Gethsemane from Jesus Christ
Superstar. He returns for two more solos and one memorable duet in the superior second
act, finding all the wistfulness and casually contemporary spin in Tell Me on a Sunday and
delivering The Music of the Night with enough power and grace to convince fans that he
should assume the title role in Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera. With Maria Couch,
Bolton tackles the Phantom duet with gusto, occasionally overpowering his partner's sweet
voice. Bolton also joins the 12-member ensemble for the final chorus of Love Changes
Everything.
The encore, natch, is Bolton's beguiling Memory, Lloyd Webber's signature song from Cats.
Each act begins with a snazzy overture -- from Superstar for the first, an Evita suite for
the second -- that is performed by the vigorous onstage orchestra, Philharmonia Europa,
conducted by Jack Gaughan. The rest of the evening is divided by the talented ensemble,
with varying results entirely because of the marked difference between Lloyd Webber's
early and later musicals. The underestimated musical composer certainly has grown during
the decades, and that's a good reason to emphasize his later works -- not his childish
early shows, such as the forgettable Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Yet the
first act's brassy orchestrations and relentlessly chipper Las Vegas-style introductions
almost scream in unvaryingly tiresome
Technicolor. It's a blessed relief when Rebecca Simon emerges to sing the first act's
first subtle Lloyd Webber song, I Don't Know How to Love Him, with tender
directness. Besides Bolton and Simon, other memorable soloists include Fabiola Reis (whose
sustained legato is thrilling in Think of Me), Gaelen Gilliland (soaringly dramatic in
Evita's Don't Cry for Me Argentina and As if We Never Said Goodbye, the diamond in Sunset
Boulevard's tarnished crown) and Craig Laurie (who gives Sunset's difficult title song an
effective hard sell, with lots of body language). Add it up: Out of 24 songs or medleys,
Bolton sings six -- and each one is a highlight. But is it enough to satisfy Bolton's
fans? Perhaps only if
they're also Lloyd Webber fans.
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June 19, 2000
The Columbus Dispatch
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A songwriter's songwriter
Bolton relishes chance to perform work of Lloyd Webber
Monday, June 19, 2000
Michael Grossberg Dispatch Arts Reporter
Michael Bolton prefers to feel his way into a song. If he can connect to the song's
emotions, then he is convinced that his fans will, too. "Art is meant for
feeling," he said from Baltimore. "Singing can be a powerful inspiration. Being
moved by the artist is what the creative process is about." Bolton was moved enough
by Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs to accept a role as a featured singer in the national tour
of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The concert-revue, which opens Tuesday at the Palace
Theatre,
highlights the British composer's songs from Cats, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Song and
Dance, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard and other musicals.
"They let me cherry-pick my favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber songs," Bolton said,
"and letting me sing Memory sealed the deal." Bolton, 47, has written more than
100 songs for Barbra Streisand, Joe Cocker, Kenny Rogers, Cher, Gregg Allman, Conway
Twitty, the Pointer
Sisters and Bob Dylan. As a fellow songwriter, Bolton admires Lloyd Webber. "He is
one of the few composers of musicals who has been able to create songs as powerful as pop
hits. "His songs are being recorded and performed around the world 24 years later.
Many songwriters would love to write songs that endure like The Music of the Night, Tell
Me on a Sunday and the Phantom theme. "Lloyd Webber's songs, which might be
considered too classical for most music lovers, cross barriers. That's why they've been
recorded by so many different artists." Bolton likes to cross barriers, too -- one
reason he decided to try his first theatrical tour. He said he has thought about recording
a Broadway album and even imagined writing a musical "with songs that people are
going to want to hear again and again," but he had never considered a
Broadway-oriented national tour until he was invited to join this one. Crossing barriers
entails "high risks" but also "great rewards," he said. "This is
an opportunity to reach into a new world of theater and bring another world to them. My
audience has never seen anything like this." A two-time Grammy winner for male
vocalist, and a six-time American Music Award-winner, Bolton has sold more than 52 million
albums and singles. Despite his success, he hasn't forgotten his roots -- or his
struggles. "The jump from 16 years old, when I got my first record deal, to 36, when
I had my first hit, was like 20 years out in the desert." Bolton fell in love with
singing when he was 7.
"My mother was a great music lover, and she wanted to sing, but mothers in New Haven,
Conn., just didn't pursue careers in the early 1960s," he said. He remembers
"walking down the street with the other kids, singing Runaway and teaching the
harmony parts to the other kids," he said. "How did I do that? I don't know.
"I have never learned to read music properly. I couldn't tell you what is
on the written page, but if you sing me an A or C note, then I'll be able to sing every
note off of that in pitch. I hear it naturally." Bolton began hitting radio playlists
in 1983 with Fool's Game for his self-titled debut album. He showed off his signature
four-octave range on other releases, including The Hunger (1987); Soul Provider (1989);
Time, Love & Tenderness (1991), which sold more than 13 million copies; Timeless (The
Classics) (1992); One Thing (1993); and the recent Timeless (The
Classics) Vol. 2. After he finishes recording his next album in the fall, Bolton is
planning to tour worldwide in 2001 with an orchestra. "This tour has brought me back
to what I've loved from childhood: the pure love of singing," he said of his first
sustained tour in nine years. "When I committed, I realized I might be kicking
myself. What if it
happens that I don't love it and I've committed to seven or eight weeks of my life? But it
was great to know within one or two performances that it's going to be great. The better
the audiences, the livelier it is for us onstage. It's a great awakening." On his own
album tours, Bolton usually spends only two or three days in each city, with no matinees,
at venues for 5,000 to 15,000 people. On this 10-week tour, which will take him to
Philadelphia, Boston, Milwaukee and Minneapolis, he must perform seven times a week at
venues for 1,800 to 2,800 people.
"The anticipation is different, and you connect differently because the environment
is different," he said. "Although the size of the buildings makes it more
intimate, the orchestra and the number of singers makes the sound pretty big. "It's
not as stressful on the voice as singing all my hits for an hour and 45 minutes, but the
matinees make you go into a training mode. After you perform, the body begins to shut
down, but two hours later, you have to gear up for another show." Before each
performance, he warms up his voice with exercises. He also works out at the gym four or
five times a week and tries to "slow down" and find time to meditate. "You
have to protect the voice. I will never go onstage without doing my warm-ups. I've learned
from two coaches that hitting a high C doesn't mean anything unless you can sustain and
hold it and let it be free. "I have to keep this voice in shape the way an athlete
trains for the
playoffs. You'll only be in the playoffs if you're at your best."
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June 7, 2000
Digital Chicago Pioneer Press Post-Tribune Star
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`The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber' with Michael Bolton
June 7, 2000
By Laura Emerick Recommended (for Bolton fans)
As the title of one of the many hits by pop superstar Michael Bolton insists, love is a
wonderful thing.
Love certainly blinds his fans to the sound of his reedy, nasal voice. And the producers
of "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber," which opened Tuesday night for a weeklong
run at the Shubert Theatre, must be banking
on Bolton fans' utter devotion. Otherwise, why would they wait until very last song of the
show's first half to bring out their star? But what a finale. As Bolton sang the opening
phrases of "Gethsemane," Jesus' lament from "Jesus Christ Superstar,"
a wave of energy surged over the stage. Modulating his voice through the song's tricky
minor chords, Bolton sparked the audience out of its stupor.
With the confidence of a Met tenor, he even held the last note of the song's thrilling
climax. Too bad he hasn't had the chance to tackle the entire role onstage.His performance
underscored once again that his vocal flaws, which outrage music critics, don't mean squat
to fans. Call him an ersatz soul singer if you must, but somehow he connects with his
audiences, and that's all they care about.Cynics will say that it doesn't take much skill
to mine emotion from the Lloyd Webber canon. After all, even David Letterman has managed
to master the Hallmark sentiments of "Memory" ("Midnight, and the kittys
are
sleeping . . .") But Lloyd Webber tunes need personality to bring them to life, and
Bolton provides that and more.
Furthermore, Sir Andrew's songs, which actually work better when divorced from their
respective musicals, tend to sound the same. If you're not a Lloyd Webber devotee, you'll
finding yourself wishing for Bolton to tear into "Time, Love and Tenderness" or
something to break up the monotony.And dull is the word when the 12-member ensemble holds
forth onstage. It's not much better than the average high school production, with strictly
generic voices in generic songs. At times, the generic turned almost comic. On the
coloratura passage that ends "Think of Me" (from "The Phantom of the
Opera"), soloist Fabiola Reis triggered images of Bugs Bunny in "The Rabbit of
Seville." She salvaged the performance, though, with a spectacular last note, held
for at least 20 seconds.
Truth-in-advertising alert: Bolton sings only four numbers, plus one encore (the dreaded
"Memory," which he somehow manages to redeem). But speaking as someone who has
never owned a Bolton disc, nor attended one of
his concerts, I give him credit for taking risks. First opera, now musical theater. For
fans, this opportunity might never come along again. So take advantage of it.
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June 2, 2000
Digital Chicago Pioneer Press Post-Tribune
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Bolton embraces new musical road
June 2, 2000
BY MIRIAM DI NUNZIO WEEKENDPLUS EDITOR
It's not exactly the same old "Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" that takes to the
stage of the Shubert Theatre beginning Tuesday. Though the melodies will be quite familiar
to musical theater fans, and the revue has made its
way through Chicago on numerous occasions, this particular tour features rather unexpected
star power in the form of pop singer Michael Bolton. Michael Bolton sings "Don't Cry
for Me Argentina"? "Yes, and `Music of the Night' [from `Phantom of the Opera']
and `Memory'
[from `Cats']," says Bolton, who refrains from revealing more of his song list.
"I want it to be a surprise for both my fans and to the fans of the show itself, who
have been in love with this beautiful music for so many years."
Phoning from a tour stop in Detroit, it's obvious from Bolton's voice that he is excited
about his latest musical venture. The man who has won two Grammy Awards and six American
Music Awards and sold 52 million records
worldwide is as passionate about this show as the rest of his music projects, he says.
This one just took him a bit by surprise."I was just literally invited by a friend to
think about doing this `best of' tour. And the next thing I knew, they were faxing me
schedules. And here I am." Bolton was afforded total control over the songs he would
perform, which greatly appealed to him as he made the decision to sign on for the
eight-week tour commitment.
"I asked what I'd be singing, and they said, `whatever songs you like.' Which
immediately got me going through my catalog of Lloyd Webber material. I found songs that
were powerful and beautiful that were right for my voice. . . . It's been a very
unexpected pleasure in my life. I got
to cherry-pick these beautiful, powerful melodies to emote without restrictions, because,
like opera, you can't pour enough of yourself emotionally into it." A theater
production tour schedule with eight shows in six days is not exactly the normal routine
for any singer, even one as accustomed to touring as Bolton. "I did my first matinee
that I've every done in my life in Fort Myers [Fla.], where we opened [on May 11], and it
was great and a little scary. When I sing in the studio, I work 16-hour days, but you
don't sing early in the day and then shut the voice down, then come back at night and sing
again. You pick the best time of the day for you to vocalize. But this is a very different
animal."Backed by a 28-piece orchestra and 16 "kids," as he affectionately
calls the young ensemble cast that comprises the show, the 47-year-old Bolton still fends
off some nervousness nightly."It's very nerve-racking," he says with a chuckle.
"But it's so exciting. The audience has seen this show in many incarnations, and they
really know
it. But the audience is also made up of my fans, who are used to my concerts and who are
very, very vocal. So it's an interesting mix not just for me, but for the rest of the cast
that is used to more [traditional] theater audiences. [Laughs.] But I just go out there
and embrace the songs.
It's all about how I find a comfort zone to take the musical journey along each note of
each song. Every singer has to do this, for a song to work. "When I was studying
opera, I picked up these very early recordings and listened to the difference in [Enrico]
Caruso singing `Vesti la guibba'
[from `I Pagliacci'] and then listening to [Luciano] Pavarotti sing it, [Giuseppe] Di
Stefano, [Franco] Corelli, and understanding that each one brings something of their own
to the music." Despite the fact that his 1998 album, "My Secret Passion: The
Arias" (Sony)--on which Bolton performed 11 substantial opera arias--remained at the
No. 1 spot on the Billboard classical music chart for six weeks, the singer was dealt the
most unrelenting bashing of his career by the critics. But he says the entire project
experience taught him a great deal about music and in great measure, changed the way he
has since approached many a song. "The operatic training I went through comes into
play with the music in this show to a very great extent. The most effective way to embrace
a song is to recognize where its strengths are, where the notes have to be soft
and gentle, and where the power needs to be. This music is filled with such beautiful
melodies and lyrics that are poignant and effective. It's a beautiful ride for a
singer."
The past year hasn't been exactly a beautiful ride for Bolton in the Los Angeles court
system, where he was sued for allegedly using part of an Isley Brothers song, "Love
Is a Wonderful Thing," in his song of the same
name. Last month, a federal appeals court upheld the verdict and the $5.4 million
settlement against him. Though he couldn't comment on the case in great detail because of
pending appeals, Bolton did offer advice for future litigants."I will only say that I
advise anyone going in front of an L.A. jury to bring in a glove one size too small and
pretend you can't fit in it at all, and you'll win. It's as simple as that. But I am very
much looking forward to the two pending appeals." In July, Bolton returns to the
recording studio to begin work on a new album. "And yes," he says with a laugh,
"it's all completely original material."
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June 7, 2000
Chicago Tribune
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BOLTON GIVES WEBBER'S BEST AN EXTRA DASH OF
EXCESS
By Lawrence Bommer
Andrew Lloyd Webber hasn't launched a blockbuster since his less-than-mythic "Sunset
Boulevard." But that's no reason to let the legacy lapse. Keeping the Webber memories
in the present tense, "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" reliably revisits the
highlights of nine shows and one requiem, sparing us what we forgot anyway. No question,
these songs lose nothing when taken out of context. Unlike Michael Crawford or Sarah
Brightman, the previous keepers of the faith, pop icon Michael Bolton is not associated
with the Webber repertory or musical theater. It's no drawback: These songs encourage
excess and Bolton, who can milk a mike, brings raspy urgency and weathered wisdom to the
Phantom's rapturous "Music of the Night," Jesus Christ's agonizing
"Gethsemane," and the uncharacteristically domestic "Tell Me on a
Sunday" from "Song and
Dance."From the first note, Bolton proved he can bind a crowd with a spell. He's a
high-range rover whose Grammy-winning tenor can top any feeling with a note. Sometimes it
verges on splendid screaming; more often it's from the heart as much as the lungs, and the
crowd went
appropriately bonkers. As in previous performances at the Chicago Theatre, this
retrospective repeats Arlene Phillips' impeccable musicianship and characteristic
choreography. Bolton is backed by the pile-driving
Philharmonica Europa, a skilled 14-person ensemble that acts as much as sings. (The
concert format can't curb their enthusiasm.) When not center stage, they react just as
vigorously. The rather exhausting result is one climax chasing another as the showstoppers
pile on. When the chorus tears into the gospel glory of "There's a Light at
the End of the Tunnel" (from "Starlight Express"), the stage fairly
levitates.The program covers the remarkable range of Sir Andrew's 25 years of
music-making. The willful innocence of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat" and "Starlight Express" is nicely balanced
against the middle-aged ruefulness of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from
"Sunset Boulevard" or the serenity of "Love Changes Everything" from
"Aspects of Love." In between we're reminded of the passion of "Jesus
Christ Superstar," the slinky silliness of "Cats" (this time minus
"Memory"), the operatic indulgences of "Evita" and, of course, the
lush nocturnes from "Phantom of the Opera." Bolton and Webber treat each other
well.
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June 2, 2000
Chicago Tribune
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THINKING THEATRICAL THOUGHTS
FOR BOLTON, ROLE IN `LLOYD WEBBER' MAY BE WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
Chris Jones
June 2, 2000
Michael Bolton says he's thinking seriously about writing a musical. "I am interested
in writing a show where I can explore my life's experience and the depths of whatever I
feel," the loquacious Bolton mused over the phone from
his office in Connecticut last week. "I'd like to include every musical genre. And
have many hits in it." This may come as a surprise from the mouth of a highly
successful pop balladeer and songwriter who has sold more than 45 million albums and
delivered a string of chart-topping hits, including "How Am I Supposed to Live
Without You" and
"That's What Love is All About." To anyone with a taste for lite-rock radio,
Bolton's soaring tenor and passionate style of delivery has for years served as a backdrop
to red lights and construction delays. But musical stars from Jimmy Buffett to Dennis De
Young and Randy Newman to
Barry Manilow are showing increasing interest in working in the theater. When you speak to
them about it, they generally talk of finding a new challenge or working on a broader
creative scale. After all, if you've spent a good chunk of your career writing mini-dramas
lasting five minutes or less, then doing a whole show must sound very attractive. Bolton's
theatrical thoughts have been most recently sparked by his starring role in the
perpetually touring "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber," which
begins performances on Tuesday at the Shubert Theatre. With the orchestra sharing the
stage with a small cast of singers, this is a concert-style presentation of the music of
the author of "The Phantom of the Opera," "Cats," "Evita"
and other big theatrical hits that enjoy a popularity unparalleled in the theater.
"This show," Bolton says, "is a step into another world. It's me getting my
feet wet in the theater." Bolton has never been afraid to try new musical genres, nor
has he let the reaction of critics cause him any particular worry. After he was invited to
sing in a European benefit concert with Luciano Pavarotti, Bolton studied opera with the
intensity of a sudden fanatic. This was something new -- he'd sung plenty of high C's in
his career but had never had to hold one in the classical
style. "I used to think Puccini was some kind of mushroom," Bolton said.
"But then I became overwhelmed by the beauty and the magnificence of his music."
Since then, Bolton has made other excursions into opera. Soprano Renee Fleming and the
Philharmonia Orchestra make appearances on Bolton's 1998 classically oriented album,
"My Secret Passion" (that would be opera). And he now usually includes at least
a couple of arias in his regular concerts. "It's a chance," he says, "to
expose my fans to another kind of music. They love it. `Nessun Dorma' [from Puccini's
`Turandot'] steals the show every
time." Does he care about the upturned noses in the opera establishment? "It's a
pleasure," he says, "to upset the purists. Pavarotti has taken heat -- he bends
the notes from the way they are written on the page. Every great composer has always
wanted a passionate interpretation of their work. Music is not an intellectual experience
-- it's powerful, visceral and moving." That truth would also apply, Bolton figures,
to Lloyd Webber's music. And since
he's worked on classical singing, Lloyd Webber's populist, pseudo-serious compositions
seemed like a logical choice. "I would never have thought of myself as a candidate
for this show if I hadn't started studying the arias," he says. "Andrew likes
the fact that people reach
into his work from different areas." If you've seen "The Music" in one of
its previous incarnations here (Michael
Crawford was one of the headliners), it's worth noting that the included songs tend to
vary according to the strengths and desires of whoever happens to be in the starring role.
Bolton says he was given a lot of freedom to pick out whatever he wanted to perform from
the extensive Lloyd Webber backlist. Along with the de rigueur material from
"Phantom," he also plans on doing some of the songs not known for male
performance, including "Memory" and "Tell Me on a Sunday."
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July 5, 2000
Cleveland Plain Dealer
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Songwriter to songwriter
Michael Bolton sings Andrew Lloyd Webber
By ANASTASIA PANTSIOS
Michael Bolton is best known for his soaring, histrionic, blue-eyed soul. Since the mid
’80s, he’s recorded many soul classics along with his own chart-topping
R&B-style composi tions. His latest album, "Timeless: The Classics, Vol ume
II," released last November, features covers of Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Sam Cooke
hits, among others, offering a glimpse of Bolton’s musical roots. But Bolton also
thrives on challenge. A few years back, following a performance with Luciano Pava rotti,
in Pavarotti’s hometown in Italy, Bolton recorded an album of arias. Now he’s
moved on to Broadway. He’s the special guest performer in the touring production
"The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber," which moves into Cleveland’s Palace
Theatre tonight.Bolton joins a cast of vocalists and dancers who will perform, with
a40-piece orchestra and band, tunes from such Webber-composed musicals as
"Cats," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Evita" and "Jesus
Christ Superstar." Bolton sings five songs in the revue, which is enhanced by
theatrical lighting and costumes. According to Bolton, most of the ensemble is
"people who have performed in theater for most of their lives. I’m the one
visitor into this world of the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, although I have loved and
appreciated Andrew’s music through the years." Out of excuses- A theatrical
manager broached the possibility of doing the show to a somewhat reluctant but intrigued
Bolton. "When he told [the show producers] he was working with me, they immediately
expressed an interest in me joining the show. I was actually a little bit baffled. I said,
What are they doing? Are they acting on stage?’ I said, Tell me what I would do and
let me think about it.’ I
basically got the rights to cherry-pick my songs. After listening to all these
compilations and watching videotapes of some of the shows, I said, Well, what about this
one?’ No problem.’ What about that one?’ No problem.’ The next thing I
knew, I ran out of reasons to say no." Bolton has been making music professionally
for 25 years, so the challenge of trying something new attracted him. "In the last
four or five years, a challenge has been more than a source of interest and a source of
excitement, it’s been necessary. I worked so hard for so long and when I finally
started having success, it happened on a level that I never would have dreamed possible.
For about seven years all I did was write, record, promote and tour, write, record,
promote and tour. Basically it was a blur for me. After a while, when you’re finally
financially OK and you can say no, you need something that gets your juices going."
Knew what he wanted As an experienced songwriter, Bolton has some strong ideas about what
he was looking for in the Lloyd Webber songs he chose to
perform. "I was looking for something that was beautiful melodically, that was rangy
enough to be interesting vocally, to be substantial vocally - and something that was
accessible. Because my songwriting took off before my
career as an artist, I stumbled upon the very simple, basic and enduring truth that our
industry revolves around a hit song. And one of the things that Andrew Lloyd Webber is
successful in doing is having one or two very big hits in his musicals. It’s melodies
and themes that people love and relate to. It’s definitely what I perceive as the key
to the kind of success that allows a show to run for 24 years and in hundreds of forms all
over the world." Bolton says that in some ways, performing Lloyd Webber’s
theatrical pieces is more emotionally demanding than singing his hits in concert.
"There’s something very deeply draining about some of the pieces I’m doing
here. It’s continuous exploration, and internal exploration is draining.
Gethsemane’ [from "Jesus Christ Superstar"] is the first song I perform.
It’s where Christ is asking why he has to go through with it? What was he doing here
on Earth if it was to come to this? It’s a moment of deep, tormented betrayal. And
you sing the lines from that place. It’s singing from a perspective of a character, a
creation of a writer. It brings you into contact with any of your feelings of being
betrayed, of anguish and surrender and also of anger."It’s a big, powerful
moment, but 15 or 20 minutes later, I’m out there as the Phantom and that’s a
whole different type of torment. Even in the beautiful, melodic Music of the Night,’
I still get a sense of the [Phantom’s] desperation and pitiful need to have people
help him make the music of the night."
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July 6, 2000
Cleveland Live
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Dancers and singers create an ensemble
that’s just grand
By ANASTASIA PANTSIOS
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s grandiose works have been the dominant force in
musical theater the last thirty years. Tunes from "Jesus Christ Superstar,"
"Cats," "Evita" and "The Phantom of the Opera" have entered
the repertoire of thousands of lounge and nightclub singers.
The touring show, "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber," which opened at the Palace
Theatre last night and runs through Sunday night, distills the best music from 10 Lloyd
Webber works. The two-hour show features a small
orchestra augmented by rock instruments (drums, electric bass and guitar and saxophone)
backing an ensemble of a dozen singer/dancers and special guest vocalist, soul/pop singer
Michael Bolton. Bolton has been given a starring role, yet he doesn’t dominate the
cast of strong performers, who skillfully traded off vocals and moved around the
stage, as they interacted with the others. Bolton doesn’t even appear on stage until
the closing number of the show’s first half. He appears suddenly in a beam of white
light to sing "Gethsemane," from "Jesus Christ Superstar." Dressed in
black leather pants with hanging shirttails, he’s a contrast to the other men in
their sport pants, tucked shirts and short haircuts, who look like hot shot young Lexus
sales reps. Though his singing has been criticized for its bombast, in this context, his
singing often seemed almost understated. The first half of the show features music from
Lloyd Webber’s more intimate musicals. Different singers stepped out from the
ensemble in different combinations to sing and act out songs. A young man who clearly had
extensive ballet training stood out for his impersonation of "Mr. Mistoffelees"
from "Cats." His dancing was crisp and joyful. The cast returned for the second
act with the men in tuxedos and the women in long gowns. This suited the more extravagant
musicals such as "Evita" and "Sunset Boulevard." One of the women
(unfortunately, the cast members were not identified) glided on stage in a white strapless
dress and gobs of jewelry to enact the role of Evita in "Don’t Cry for Me
Argentina." Bolton sang "Tell Me on a Sunday" from "Song and
Dance," and the whole cast rendered an exquisite version of "Pie Jesu" from
"Requiem" before the
show’s piece de resistance: a suite of six numbers from "The Phantom of the
Opera." Here it was particularly frustrating not to know who the ensemble singers
were. The dark-haired woman who soloed on "Think of Me" and dueted with one of
the men on "All I Ask of You" stunned the audience with her vocal power and
richness, as well as an emotionalism that drew the crowd into the song.
"Love Changes Everything" found the ensemble paired off, with different pairs
taking different lines. Bolton returned to the stage to close with "Memory,"
letting loose all the vocal wallop he possessed. It might be a bit too much for a little
pop tune but here it was undeniably moving.
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May 15, 2000
Detroit Free Press
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MICHAEL BOLTON SINGS "D0N'T CRY FOR ME"
BY MARTIN F. KOHN
To his credit it isn't Michael Bolton who brings up the subject, but as long as the
question is being asked ...yes, it hurts when critics write or speak of him disdainfully.
The singer-songwriter, who finds torrents of emotion in everything he sings, has sold some
52 million recordings, won a half-dozen Grammy awards, performed at the White House, sung
(on separate occasions) with Ray Charles and Placido Domingo, written a song with Bob
Dylan and songs on his own for Barbra Streisand, Cher, Kenny Rogers, Joe Cocker and Kiss.
The fame, the fortune, the
public approval and the respect from fellow artists all constitute one heck of a Band-Aid
but, doggone it, the critical barbs still sting. "If I was a completely insensitive,
money-oriented person I would be laughing my butt off," says Bolton, 46, a working
performer since he was a teen and a bona fide pop star for more than a dozen years. He has
come to understand that, "for every artist I have encountered short of a couple of
people like Bruce Springsteen," public acclaim doesn't necessarily go hand-in-hand
with critics' plaudits. "The more loved you are," Bolton surmises, "the
more somebody out there can't
stand you." Fortunately for Bolton and his four-octave range, his vast and loyal
audience seems to follow wherever his career takes him, whether he sings old rhythm and
blues hits, operatic arias or his own romantic ballads. At the moment, he is trying
something new. He is starring in "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber," a
touring concert of Lloyd Webber's music for the stage, which is what brings the singer to
Detroit's Fox Theatre Tuesday through Sunday. The combination of Lloyd Webber's
accessible, emotional songs and Bolton's
highly charged way of singing is, says the singer, a nice fit.
And Bolton characterizes Lloyd Webber's music as "a great emotional vehicle for the
voice. If there's one composer who has written a lot of beautiful melodies that I can sing
myself, it's Andrew Lloyd Webber." The overall content of the show is predetermined
but Bolton, as the star, was told he could choose "whatever songs you think you can
sing." Picking "Music of the Night" from "The Phantom of the
Opera" was, he says, "a no-brainer. A
beautiful melody, it's got dynamics and a great range.
"There's one that I really didn't know very well, 'Tell Me on a Sunday' from 'Song
and Dance.' It's just a beautiful melody with great builds." Bolton will also sing
"The Phantom of the Opera," "Gethsemane" from "Jesus Christ
Superstar" and "Memory" from "Cats." Anything else, he says, will
be a surprise for the audience. Bolton approaches the material with what he says are not
just interpretations, but his life experiences. Also, he says, "I'm tweaking the keys
a little bit. I like them a little higher."
His influence notwithstanding, "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" is not a
Michael Bolton concert. There are singers, dancers and a 28-piece orchestra. In addition
to the shows already mentioned, the concert includes music from "Evita,"
"Starlight Express," "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,"
"Aspects of Love," "Sunset Boulevard," "Whistle Down the
Wind" and "Requiem," which is not a show but an actual requiem.
Bolton, who lives in Westport, Conn. (he's originally from New Haven, down the road), was
developing projects for movies and television and had already begun working on his next
studio album when "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" came calling. "I've
never done something like this before," he says, which is one reason the idea
appealed to him. Another is his affection for Lloyd Webber's work. And now that he's
performing show music, he says, "it fires up my instincts to one day write musicals.
Talk about a serious commitment of time. I kind of feel I'm on the perimeter of this whole
musical world, looking in. It's a little daunting but it's relatively comfortable.
"It's a different world. Maybe I'm getting my feet wet in the theater."
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January 21, 2000
The Desert Sun
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By Larry Bohannan
Wynona Bigknife had never been to a professional golf
tournament before the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. But Bigknife, from San Diego,
couldn’t pass up the chance to see one of her all-time favorites in person. David
Duval? No. Fred Couples? No. Maybe Arnold Palmer? Not even close. Bigknife and about a
half-dozen other devoted fans from San Diego drove the two hours to the desert to watch
the golf swing of singer Michael Bolton.
"I’ve traveled around the country to watch him play softball. He has a charity
softball team," said Bigknife, a member of Bolton’s official national fan club.
"But this was the first time he had played a charity golf tournament in front of a
crowd." The San Diego Bolton fans were joined at the Classic by what Bigknife
estimates were more than a dozen fans from the Los Angeles area. All paid for daily
tickets, which in turn helped feed the $1.5 million in tournament proceeds that the
Classic handed out to more than 30 desert charities last year. Without Bolton’s
presence, those 15 to 18 fans might not have come to the tournament at all. And that, more
than anything, is the
reason the Classic and other tournaments rely on celebrity
golfers as an attraction.From Clark Gable in the first Classic in 1960 to today’s
stars like Bill Murray and Michael Jordan, from sitting vice presidents like Spiro Agnew
and Dan Quayle to a sitting president in Bill Clinton, celebrity golfers have been as much
a part of the desert’s PGA Tour stop as top-name professionals. "I think the
celebrity aspect is very important for us," said
Michael Milthorpe, now in his fourth year as tournament
director of the Classic. "If you look at the history of the
people who have played here, it’s impressive. But we always want to do better. We
always are trying to do something new." Milthorpe has a keen understanding of the
appeal of celebrities of golf fans and non-golf fans alike. In addition to his duties at
the Classic, Milthorpe is the tournament director of the tournament director of the
American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Lake, Tahoe, Nev., a tournament
exclusively for top amateur players from sports, entertainment and politics. Many of those
celebrities also play in the Classic, and members of the Classic’s board of directors
admitted when Milthorpe was hired that his connections with such celebrities played a part
in his hiring. Milthorpe said it is the fans who drive celebrity golf. "I think the
big thing is (the fans) don’t have access to the celebrities on a regular
basis," Milthorpe said. "I think there was a time when celebrities were more
approachable than they are today, for whatever reason. Second, I think more and more
celebrities are taking up golf to fill a void, to take up time in between movie shoots or
whatever. "Finally, I think there is still a huge fascination with getting
autographs, whether you are a professional who might sell it or just someone who is a
collector." Celebrities have been part of the Classic since the event’s debut in
1960 as the Palm Springs Invitational. Among the Classic’s original board of
directors was Desi Arnez, at the time one of television’s biggest stars and one of
the six original investors of Indian Wells Country Club when the course was built in 1956.
Also among the early celebrities in the tournament was Hope, who like many Hollywood stars
found the Palm Springs area a convenient winter and weekend getaway. Through the prodding
of two of the tournament’s original directors, Milt Hicks and Ernie Dunlevie, Hope
eventually lent his name to the tournament starting in 1965. Dunlevie, still on the
Classic board, credits Hope’s addition to the tournament as a turning point in
attracting more top celebrities to the field.
Through the years, many of entertainment’s top stars have
played in the Classic, including famed Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and
Sammy Davis Jr. But starting with the appearance of Vice President Spiro Agnew in 1970,
the Classic also developed a reputation for attracting some of the nation’s
best-known politicians.That was capped in 1995, when President Clinton and former
Presidents George Bush and Gerald
Ford played together in the first round of the Classic. In recent years, though, the
Classic has attracted more and
more celebrities from other sports. Atlanta Braves pitchers
John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux played together in a group in 1996. Mark McGwire,
Roger Clemens, John Elway and Jerry Rice are among other athletes who have played, though
none brought attention to the Classic like the 1999 pairing of basketball stars Michael
Jordan and Charles Barkley. "Last year when Michael Jordan played, most people had
only been able to see him playing basketball, generally on television," Milthorpe
said. "All of a sudden he was here right now. People could be right next to
him." Making a shift: The shift toward athletes as golfing celebrities rather than
entertainment stars or politicians is a combination of changes in both celebrities and
fans, Milthorpe said. "My opinion is I don’t think the actors are as accessible
or
approachable as they were in the old day," he said. "Now they don’t like
the limelight as much, where the old times a lot of them really seemed to enjoy
it."And there was a time when you had (Congressman Dan) Rostenkowski and (Speaker of
the House Thomas) O’Neill and people like that," Milthorpe added. "Now
people want to see who the hot stars are. That’s why Jordan and Barkley drew such
huge crowds." The Classic prefers to have celebrities who can play the game well,
though celebrities are often exempt from the tournament’s maximum 18 handicap for
amateurs. Players like actor Richard Dreyfuss, rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen and Barkley
certainly would have problems breaking 100 on a Classic course, but they were still
invited for their drawing power with fans. Another problem with attracting celebrities is
the length of the Classic. While many celebrity golf tournaments are played over one or
two days, the Classic celebrities play
up to four days of the five-day event. "Last year everyone we invited played all four
days," Milthorpe said. " If you can’t play all four days, we normally
don’t invite you. So you kind of look for athletes who are in their off-season, like
Elway (who is now retired) or Chris Chandler (quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, whose
team is not in the NFL playoffs). Or you might look for an actor who is in a sitcom that
is taking a week off of shooting. For fans like Bigknife who come to the Classic to see
one star, the other celebrities are an added attraction. Bigknife found that last year
when Bolton was paired with a singer of a different kind, shock rocker Alice
Cooper."He talked to us while we were walking along last year," Bigknife said of
Cooper. "He really seemed like a nice guy." Still, it was Bolton Bigknife came
to see, not only for a close-cropped haircut Bolton had just started wearing but for the
first public showing of his golf swing. On the course: "He had done some private
charities for the Michael Bolton Charities back in Connecticut, but there were no
crowds," she said. "And later he went to play in the Pebble Beach tournament
(the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am)." Bolton’s presence in the
tournament did exactly what tournament official would hope. While she still might not be a
golf fan, Bigknife is planning her next trip to the Classic. It helps, of course, that
Bolton is scheduled to be back. "I’m coming back this year," Bigknife said.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I’m coming back. If (Bolton) isn’t in it this
year, I’m still coming back."
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