Kelli O’Hara: Fast Lerner

Kelli O’Hara has become one of the musical theater’s most valuable leading ladies in the past decade, as evidenced by her Tony Award-nominated performances in The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, and South Pacific. But now that she’s a mother — O’Hara and her husband Greg Naughton welcomed son Owen James into the world last June — O’Hara is focusing more on concert work, including upcoming gigs at the Virginia Arts Festival on May 29 and the Ravinia Festival on August 4.

Currently, she’s preparing to join the New York Pops and her former South Pacific co-star Paulo Szot for a tribute to songwriters Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe at Carnegie Hall on Friday, April 16. O’Hara recently spoke to TheaterMania about this special concert.

THEATERMANIA: How did you get involved with this concert?
KELLI O’HARA: They just asked if I wanted to do it; and then, some months later, someone sent me an envelope of music. It turns out we’re doing so many jewels from their canon that I’ve never heard before. I think it’s going to be pretty educational and informational in its own way. But we’re also doing songs from the big shows like Paint Your Wagon, Camelot, and My Fair Lady.

TM: What specifically made you want to do this show?
KO: Of course, there’s the fact that I get to sing some duets with Paulo. I miss being with him on stage so much. And I didn’t really study musical theater — I was going to be an opera singer — so I love being able to add new songs to my repertoire and expand my knowledge. And any time there’s a big orchestra behind me, that’s a great feeling!

TM: Do you remember your first exposure to the music of Lerner & Loewe?
KO: I remember seeing a little production of Camelot in Oklahoma, where I grew up, and just loving it. When I was a kid, I loved anything where I could picture myself onstage, and even then, I thought Guenevere would be right up my alley.

TM: In 2007, you did a celebrated semi-staged version of My Fair Lady with the New York Philharmonic. Is Eliza Doolittle a role you’d like to revisit?
KO: Yes, Give me My Fair Lady any day of the week. I just love it, and I don’t think I’d ever get sick of doing the show. Eliza has a lot of spine. There are only a few roles for sopranos where you don’t feel you’re just planted on stage; where you really get to say something. I was sorry it didn’t move to Broadway. Plus, you know if you can’t have something, you just want it more.

TM: Do you remember the first time you sang on the stage of Carnegie Hall?
KO: I’ll never forget it; it’s one of those things you talk about forever and forever. In April 2007, I sang with Barbara Cook in one of her concerts there; we did “Make Our Garden Grow” together, and it was like she was passing on the torch.

TM: What makes Carnegie Hall so special for singers?
KO: There’s something historic you feel part of, being there. And the design of the place — that style of old opera houses — just envelopes you. When you go on that stage, you feel like you’ve arrived as an artist.

TM: Are you making any plans to come back to Broadway?

KO: Until the right show comes along, I am really enjoying this personal time with my baby. Broadway is great, but an evening at home with my kid is the best thing I’ve ever done. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.