Interview: Michael Feinstein Talks Playing the Iconic Café Carlyle Stage This Holiday Season

Michael Feinstein, founder of the Great American Songbook Foundation, has released more than 30 studio and live albums, earned five GRAMMY nominations and two Emmy nominations, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, The White House, Buckingham Palace and more.

Feinstein has returned to the iconic Café Carlyle, now through December 31 after a sold-out October run, just in time to celebrate the holidays. Performing songs from the Great American Songbook, classic holiday tunes and more, and presenting a special black tie New Year's Eve performance on December 31st, Feinstin at the Carlyle is a show you won't want to miss!

BroadwayWorld spoke with the incomporable Michael Feinstein about performing on the Café Carlyle stage, what audiences can expect to hear, and much more.

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You are back on the stage after your Café Carlyle debut in October, how does it feel to return?

It's fun! It feels fun, and exciting because I did not know what to expect in October. What I mean by that is, performing in a room that is new for me as a performer, not as an audience member because I've been there, is kind of like going through a dating process. Because every space has its own energy, and feel, and dynamic. And it went very well, and now, coming back is with a feeling of more security and comfort, in the sense that I know what to expect, and what kind of songs best fit that space. Every space has its own energy or feel that dictates, with the patrons, what kind of music they want to hear.

What kind of vibe and mood does Café Carlyle have?

It's an interesting combination of classic and contemporary. There is the vibe of that room being the quintessential classic New York nightclub space, and it is, unusually, in these times, a destination. I cannot think of other performing spaces, other nightclubs that are destinations. It used to be, in the golden age of New York nightclubs, people would go to the Blue Angel, or they'd go to the Le Ruban Bleu because they wanted to have the experience of being in the club, in the space, the entire atmosphere. The Carlyle is probably the only place that I can think of that is that. And so, there are people that come just because they want to go to the Café Carlyle. They want to go to Bemelmans Bar, they want to be part of that vibe. So, there may be patrons there who do not necessarily know my music well, and also, there are tourists who come into the room, and there are fans who know my music well. So, it is not the same as playing other places where I assume that the audience has familiarity with me and knows my work. In this case, it's a real mixture of people who, in many instances, are being introduced to me for the first time. So that changes my mindset.

What can people expect to hear from you with this show?

There is, of course, the required number of Christmas songs, or as my grandmother would say, "Challah-day" songs, and yet, I don't like to do a lot of holiday songs because I think that people are inundated with them, and they can become cliché, and also can be songs that are superficial when one is singing about sleighbells, and Santa, and mistletoe. And so I very carefully choose the holiday songs that I include in the set to make sure that they have true feelings in them, as opposed to being fluff-based. Even though there are a couple of novelty things that are just for the fun of it, like every year I have to sing '(I'm Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica', by Tom Lehrer, because I did it one time a few years ago as a lark, and now people will always yell it out if I don't sing it. So, there is a lot of levity in the show as well as an appreciation for this being a time of year where people go more to their heart.

Did any unexpected songs end up on your setlist based on where you were playing? Maybe anything you wouldn't perform at other spaces?

I've included some New York nightclub creations that I wouldn't necessarily do as readily at other places. Back in October I did a song by John Wallowitch, and then on this gig I am doing a son by Murray Grand, both of whom were New York nightclub fixtures, creating that link to the classic nightclub world, because the songs themselves are timeless. For this, I put together a song called 'Too Old To Die Young', it has some very shocking lyrics in it- I mean, "shocking", nothing is shocking today, but for its time it was shocking. "Smash the mirror on the walls, puff away until I choke, sniff a little coke, have myself a ball, after all, I'm too old to die young." And the song gets crazier from there. That's the kind of place you have to make sure you have a grown up audience to hear.

What is your favorite holiday song to listen to, and what is your favorite holiday song to sing?

I do not listen to holiday music, so that's easy to answer. My favorite holiday song [to sing] is 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', because I just think it's a spectacular song, and I knew Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, both of whom are credited with the authorship, even though Hugh Martin wrote the song entirely by himself. And I recorded the song with the composer at the piano on my Hugh Martin Songbook, so that has special meaning. But not because I knew the writer, because I feel that is a song that truly captures the essence of what people feel at this time of year.

You will be presenting a special New Year's Eve black tie performance at Café Carlyle, how does it feel to know that you will be ringing in the new year on stage in front of an audience?

It's where I usually am on New Year's! Usually on New Year's Even I'm onstage leading a countdown, and so, that in itself is not unusual. I would say that most of my life I've rung in the new year on stage.

That's a pretty special way to celebrate, I think that's a good place to be when the clock strikes 12.

I do too! Because otherwise I don't know what to do on New Year's. I'm not a big reveler in that way. New Year's, for me, always feels a little forced. So, I can get out of it by saying that I'm working!

Do you have any new year's resolutions, or anything you want to conquer creatively or personally in 2023?

The only thing that comes to mind is writing more music, writing more songs, which I've been coming back to.

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