It’s been a joy to highlight the work of Barbara Anselmi. The music from It Shoulda Been You is a favorite of performers and audience members alike, leaving people inspired, hopeful, and full of love. The same might be said for Barbara Anselmi, who is a constant source of support and inspiration for many. I’m thrilled to celebrate her work in the upcoming concert, Women of The Wings: A Celebration of Female Musical Theatre Writers, and elated to have her be a part of the Music Magic Q&A Series here at thewriteteachers.com.
MM: First things first, when did you realize you wanted to be a songwriter?
BA: I had written a couple of songs here and there since junior high, but 9/11 became the turning point. Up until 9/11 I had been a music director/accompanist/arranger. The day after, a friend called me and asked if I would create an arrangement to be recorded to raise money for victims of the attack. I said “Absolutely”, hung up the phone, took a shower and a song flew into my head. I got out of the shower wrote it down, called her and played it. She said we would record that too. Then another friend called me to find a composer for a new piece being commissioned by the ACLU and I said, “Why don’t you send the material to me and let me see what I can do?” Immediately the lyrics sang to me and I was off writing my first musical. I loved writing so much. My favorite part of being in theater was always the rehearsals-figuring out the puzzle. Creating the actual show was the most magnified version of that experience. Within six months I was recorded and published. I got into the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop and I was on my way to refining my craft and realizing an even better version of my dream to be in theater. I hit a lot of road bumps as a musical director, but for the first time, when it came to composing, I was getting green lights. It was a combination of realization and positive reinforcement!
MM: What drew you to writing for musical theatre?
BA: I have always been passionate about musical theater! 🙂 It was when I saw A Chorus Line that sealed the deal for me. As soon as Zach read off who got the jobs, I said to myself this is what I’m going to do with my life. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do at the time, I just knew I needed to work in musical theater.
MM: Of all the stories you’ve been a part of creating, is there one in particular that’s closest to your heart
BA: It Shoulda Been You at this point is closest because there’s a lot of me in the character of Jenny.
MM: When one walks into your home, what books are permanently on your bookshelf?
BA: Did you know that when you walk into my apartment the first thing you see is a bookshelf!?!? Let me go see….The Great Gatsby, The Chosen (going with authors now…I tend to obsess when I like someone’s writing) John Irving, Armistead Maupin, Wally Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Emily Giffen, Milan Kundera, Adriana Trigiani, (now subjects) books about the human experience (basically books written by people who’s Ted talks I’ve loved), books on the zodiac, I Ching, two copies of Many Lives, Many Masters (I was really into that back in the 90s) books on Art, Leonardo Davinci, Italy and learning Italian and a bunch of biographies. My favorite being Tina Fey’s Bossypants. When I was finished reading it I felt like I lost a friend.
MM: If you were stranded on a desert island, what television shows and/or movies would you want available to you, (assuming of course you have a television and Internet connection?)
BA: TV first…This is Us, The Good Place, Will and Grace, Steve, Ellen, The Affair, Californication, Weeds, Masters of Sex, Sex and the City (all HBO series) shows that any of my students or friends are involved with-Modern Family, How to Get Away With Murder, LA to Vegas. I’m thinking if I’m stranded I’ll have a lot of time so… for my guilty pleasures I would like a subscription to Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and the Hallmark Channel (it’s a smart tv, right?) :). Actual Movies…The Hunger Games series (they should also be on my bookshelf, but I didn’t see them there…hmm), all Harry Potter, all Star Wars, Hidden Figures, The Help, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, I’ll Fly Away (the series and TV movie), Round Midnight, Love Actually, The Holiday, Moonstruck, League of Their Own, Something’s Gotta Give, Harold and Maude and podcasts. I would like to add podcasts to the list! Pod Save America (actually all crooked media podcasts), Modern Love, The New Yorker: Fiction, The Moth, Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel, The Daily, The New Washington, The Love Bomb and I would also like all the Ted Talk videos I can get my hands on!
MM: What’s the best piece of advice you’d want to offer aspiring composers (and lyricists)?
BA: Be prepared. One of my favorite quotes is “Luck favors the prepared mind”. It’s a variation of Louis Pasteurs’, “Chance favors the prepared mind” There’s also “Luck is preparation meeting opportunity”. Learn the craft, write a lot, record your work and when the opportunities present themselves, you’ll be able to take them!
MM: What sound do you love? What sound do you hate?
BA: I love the sound of rain in the woods (it’s also my favorite smell). I hate thunder when it’s really close.
MM: What literary or musical theatre character is most like your personality? Least like your personality
BA: Jenny from It Shoulda Been You comes close to me. Least like… I’ll go with Tracy Turnblatt. She has no fear (sometimes I run on fear).
MM: Time for shameless self promotion! Tell our readers what you want to brag about, what you’re excited about in your career at the moment.
BA: I’m really excited for two concerts! Women of The Wings: A Celebration of Female Musical Theatre Writers Volume II at 54 Below on Friday March 2nd and the It Shoulda Been You reunion concert at the 92nd St Y on March 5th. They’re both going to be fantastic! Come see us!
MM: In today’s economic state, arts education programs are being cut. What reasons would you give to a school board or politician for preserving arts education programming in schools?
BA: It was my music teachers in grade school who encouraged and nurtured me. One in particular (my violin teacher) made it her mission to find me a piano teacher after I outgrew my first piano teacher. If she didn’t do that, I may very well have been one of those people who would occasionally play a piano when I saw one and would have said, I wish I didn’t stop taking lessons. They gave me opportunities and the confidence to go on and pursue a career in music. If there were no music education programs in school when I was growing up, I would never have become a broadway composer. Music also taught me to collaborate, work and play well with others. It helped me find my people and my home away from home.
MM: Who is/was your greatest teacher? (Can absolutely be more than one)
BA: They all gave me something special. Mrs. Crowl, Paul Stefany, Barbara Tamburo, Anita Spyros (the piano teacher that Barbara Tamburo found for me), Jacqueline Washack, Jon De Revere, Nancy Klein, Lisa Lubin, Bill Jones.
Thank you, Barb!Live, Love, Learn,
So great to read this interview and to see that your artistry is being celebrated, Barbara — what an exciting weekend for you! Congrats and break a leg, my friend!