Kate Baldwin Keeps On Singing!

Kate Baldwin isn’t letting a not-so-little thing like being seven months pregnant stop her from performing. The celebrated actress, who received a Tony Award nomination last year for her work in Finian’s Rainbow, will perform on February 14 as part of The Broadway Musicals of 1921 at the The Town Hall; will give a solo concert as part of Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series on Saturday, February 19, and will team up with lyricist Sheldon Harnick for a salute to his work at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, March 8-12. TheaterMania recently spoke with Baldwin.

THEATERMANIA: Why aren’t you just taking a break from performing right now?
KATE BALDWIN: I don’t want to take too much time off from singing; I need it for my brain and spirit. In 2009, when I had six months in between the Encores! production of Finian’s and the Broadway production; I had to make an album to keep myself busy. I’m not good at taking time off. Fortunately, I don’t have the energy to do another CD this time.

TM: Tell me about how you put the American Songbook show together.
It’s about where I am in my life right now. When you put together an evening like this, you have to tell the truth, and it feels like I’m in another phase of my career. Finian’s was great, but I feel like so much has happened since then; I did Paradise Found in London, and I Do, I Do at Westport. I want the Allen Room show to have a fun feeling. I don’t want to do ballads all night; that makes me tear my hair out. Most of the stuff I’m doing I haven’t sung in New York yet – I am even doing a song by the Beatles. But I think people would be mad if I don’t sing “How are Things In Glocca Morra?” and some Broadway standards, as well as stuff from my Harburg & Lane CD.

TM: Why did you decide to do your Feinstein’s show with Sheldon Harnick?
KB: Last year was Stephen Sondheim’s year, and I think this should be Sheldon’s year. Sheldon’s lyrics are just as worthy of celebration. And especially with the recent passing of his collaborators Jerry Bock and Joseph Stein, we need to celebrate him and preserve his shows. I love Fiorello, The Apple Tree, Fiddler on the Roof. But we’re also going to do a jingle he wrote for Nabisco. The plan is for him to have one solo and join me on two songs, and I hope to convince him to tell a story. He’s so charming on stage. Really, there’s no better showman than Sheldon.

TM: You did Sheldon’s show, She Loves Me, at the Huntington and at Williamstown in 2008. Do you have a long history with him?
KB: I actually met Sheldon when I was in college. We did his musical version of It’s a Wonderful Life when I was at Northwestern — I was in the ensemble — and he was there and gracious to all of us. I’ve discovered he gets very involved when his work is done, wherever it’s done. After She Loves Me, Michael Kerker asked me to do a Kennedy Center concert with Sheldon as the special guest. I did a demo for Sheldon after that. So I felt like there were so many signals for me to do this show about him and with him.

TM: How does being pregnant affect you as a performer?
TM: I’ve been reading Renee Fleming’s book, The Inner Voice; she’s always been an inspiration to me and she has a wonderful outlook on life. I think you have less room to breathe and more need to rest, but otherwise everything feels great.

TM: How soon do you plan to go back to work after the baby is due?
KB: I’ll probably take off at least through June, though if the right summer stock offer comes up, you never know. Right now, I am doing lots of readings of new works. I just did one of Giant by Michael John LaChuisa and Sybille Pearson. It’s so gorgeous — it’s one of the most rhapsodic shows I’ve ever seen. Broadway needs something like this and I’d be thrilled to be part of it. And I hope there will be casting directors out there who will give me a chance to do straight plays; I’ve done a couple. It’s really all about who will give me opportunities.

For information and tickets to The Broadway Musicals of 1921, click here.

For information and tickets to American Songbook, visit www.lincolncenter.org.

For information and tickets to Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, visit www.feinsteinsattheregency.com.