Interviewer (3:16)

Well Phil this as somebody who is not only a theater lover, but also a Billy Joel lover. This album is exquisite from top to bottom. I guess my first question is, with all of the work that the Broadway Ensemble has done with the Sondheim Project over the years, where did the impetus to go in the Billy Joel direction come from?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (3:36)

Well, it's kind of a long story, but when we finished Sondheim Unplugged, we were at the Grammys, and I was there with MP Kuo, who's our brilliant recording engineer, and we were sort of looking for a new project. But anyway, they were announcing the nominees, and it was like Bruce in our category, and it was Bruce Springsteen and Ricky Lee Jones and Pentatonix and all these great people. And they came to us and they said, and various artists. This is before we became the Broadway Ensemble. And I thought, I don't want to be various artists. I want to be a name. So I gave us a name and we became the Broadway Ensemble. So anyway, I was talking to MPs, you know, sort of during the commercial breaks, and I said, you know, we did this Billy Joel show years ago at 54 below, and I'd really love to revisit that and expand the cast and make it a bigger thing. So that's exactly what we did. And that was. That became our new project. And we went into the studio last October, and it's been over a year in the making, and it's finally, finally out. And I just couldn't be more proud of.

Interviewer (4:33)

Really is fantastic. And I'm interested. There are, I think, 24, two dozen songs on the album, but still, Billy Joel has a massive collection, decades of hits. How do you go through and figure out which ones you're going to include?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (4:50)

Well, you know, there are a lot of things that I'm really bad at a lot, but they're. The one thing that I like to say that I'm pretty good at is matching the right song with the right singer. So we started out with the cast we had from 54, and we sort of expanded that. You know, I was thinking of some of my favorite Billy Joel songs, but then I went to them and they had some ideas as well. You know, it was Farah Alvin's idea to sing A Matter of Trust, for example. It was Annie Goldin's idea to sing Turn the Lights Back On. You know, those. Those didn't come from me, they came from the singers. So when they perform them, there's something very organic about it. It really means something special to them. All of the songs, really, but particularly the ones that they chose themselves. Yeah, it's. It's a. It's a huge. I mean, he's, as, you know, he's very, very prolific. Not so much anymore because he's sort of given up songwriting for the most part. But, you know, you look back at the 70s and the 80s and it's just. There's so much amazing material. So. Yes, I'm not ruling out a Volume two.

Interviewer (5:43)

I was going to ask you done so much Sondheim Unplugged over the years, is there more to it? Is there. Is there an Elton John, you know, creating a Piano man franchise in this is like there. Is there a next evolution of this? But is it Volume two? Is it other artists? What comes on the heels of Billy Joel?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (6:01)

Well, we'll have to see how this one goes. It's only been out a few weeks digitally and then the Physical comes out on the 26th of September. But I would love to do a second. A second volume at some point. Goodness knows, there's plenty of material and plenty of great singers, but, you know, the goal of the Broadway ensemble really is to get contemporary music out there performed by Broadway performers. So we would like to do a Joni Mitchell album and we would like to do a Mary Chapin Carper album and we'd like to do an Elton John album and there's a whole list of people whom we'd really like to tackle. So let's just see how things go and we'll hope for the best and knock wood.

Interviewer (6:37)

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, so many times when we hear people putting together an album of covers, whether it's of one artist or another, they are reinterpreting songs and reimagining them for a different audience or in a different style. While adding Broadway Voices certainly changes, you know, the tenor of some of these.

Matt Timminini (6:58)

Songs, they are, more or less, at.

Interviewer (7:00)

Least from my non musically trained mind, fairly authentic to and honor Billy's original compositions. What is the thinking behind that? And, you know, going in a different direction and rearranging them, which so many people do not. Not only on albums, but also, like you said, at 54 below and in other cabaret spaces as well.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (7:19)

Yeah, we didn't want to reinvent the wheel with this. You know, it's been done so definitively and so wonderfully that I thought simply putting Broadway Voices and a Broadway sentimentality and a Broadway storyteller to interpret these songs was plenty. There's some arranging here and there done by the brilliant Jeremy Robin Lyons. Who's our musical director? You know, we've tailored the songs to the voices of the singers who are singing them. But to that end, these aren't, you know, crazy arrangements that you're hearing. They're pretty religious to what Billy recorded originally, which is exactly what we set out to do.

Interviewer (7:51)

You mentioned about bringing Broadway storytellers to these songs, and in many cases, these songs either tell a story that Billy came up with or tell a story that is important to his life or drawn directly from events in his life. But when you add in not only one somebody who didn't write the song, but somebody whose job it is to literally tell stories as a musical theater performer, what are some of the examples in there where you think that that added something unique to this song that has probably been covered hundreds of times in the past, but makes this version of it from a Broadway voice different than what people have heard in the past?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (8:26)

Well, that's a great question. You know, everything. You're right, everything Billy Joel writes is somewhat autobiographical, whether you're looking at Uptown Girl or New York State of Mind or. And so It Goes, you know, And I'm sure you saw that great documentary about his life that's been airing. So. Yeah, like, for example, a lot of what he writes is so ambiguous, and yet he wrote it so specifically, which speaks to his powerful. His power as an artist. You know, something that's so specific to him can be universal to so many people. You know, you take a song like youe're My Home, which was written about him driving cross country with his first wife, you know. Well, I don't interpret it that way. I've known that song for many years, as I'm sure have you and many people. But until I saw the documentary, I didn't really know that that's what he was writing about. And that's the power of that song, because it means something entirely different to me than it does perhaps to you or certainly to Bill Joel and to Michael Winther, who records it on the album.

Interviewer (9:18)

When you are going through this and you are assigning the songs as you talked about to people or people are suggesting songs, how do you go through and. And organize a track list? Is there a through line? Is there a story? Is it just we, you know, don't want to do too many ballads in a row or do too many upbeat songs in a row. How does the construction of taking this massive catalog, paring it down into two dozen songs and then arranging them, fit into kind of the story being told across the entire Album, Right.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (9:49)

Well, it's not a song cycle, so there's no story being told from song to song. It's simply. You try to mix it up and put a diverse mix of alps. What we've done with this is try to make it more like a show. So we have an Act 1 and an Act 2. And Act 1 starts with.

Interviewer (10:02)

Got the entre act. Yeah, in there, in the middle. Yeah, two.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (10:04)

We have the entre act, and then we have the bows at the end, which is sort of what held us up a little bit, because Billy Joel's publishing company didn't know quite what to do with that. But we figured it out and they were great, and we have it all worked out now, but that delayed us a little bit. But, no, we wanted to make it like, if you went to see a Broadway show performed by these Broadway performers, what would be a healthy mix of material for act one? And what would be a healthy mix of material for Act 2? And so that's how I looked at it. And we have an 11 o' clock number in each act, and that's the way we sort of structured it. That's the only way I know how to structure something is theatrically.

Interviewer (10:37)

Yeah, I love that. Well, when you were putting together your cast, so to speak, what were the types of voices that you wanted? What were the types of storytellers that you wanted? How did you land on this group with people as varied and accomplished as you have on that? You mentioned Annie golden, you've got John Tracy Egan, Nicholas Edwards, all of these different people. Farah Alvin, that you mentioned as well. Like, how did you assemble this great group of storytellers and Broadway performers?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (11:04)

Well, you know, I've been doing this a long time, as you probably know, and we have a great stable of performers, you know, 70 or 80 people who we used regularly in Sondheim, for example, but for other projects as well. And I just matched the right. What I thought was the right performer with the right song, and it really was as simple as that. So every time the Broadway ensemble does a project, it won't necessarily be these 11 people. I mean, I hope they'll come back and play with us in the future, but it'll be a diverse group of people. But always what's paramount is who's the right singer for the right song, be it vocally or sentimentally or from a storytelling standpoint, who do I think is best suited for that material for a variety of reasons. So that's really why we chose these 11 folks. And, boy, were we lucky. And we have someone I've never worked with before, and his name is Nicholas Edwards, who's just going into the new Phantom. He's one of the Rauls, and he's been in Frozen and Juliet. And it was funny because I was looking for a song for Nicholas Rodriguez, whom I've worked with an awful lot, and I thought, oh, this might be good, but I just want to look up some clips of Nicolas Rodriguez singing. I've worked with him for 20 years, so I know his voice very well, but I just want to try to hear the song in his voice. And I typed in Nicholas Rodriguez, and Nicholas Edwards came up, and I said, I don't know who this guy is, but let's see if we can find him. And we did, and we were so fortunate. He said, a lovely, lovely guy. And he's come in and recorded three songs for us, so that was certainly a find for this album. So I love it that we're constantly expanding as well as relying on our wonderful company of actors.

Interviewer (12:30)

Obviously, I don't want to ask you to pick favorites, because I'm sure that is kind of like picking favorite children on here. But for people who might not be Billy Joel enthusiasts, maybe younger audiences who, you know, weren't people who grew up listening to his songs, what are some of the numbers that you think are the perfect exemplars of what not only Billy Joel was as a songwriter, but what the Broadway ensemble's interpretation of Billy Joel's songs is like?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (13:00)

You know, I'm so glad you asked that, because a lot of people, even 30 and under, don't really know Billy Joel's music. And that shocks me, of course, as. As a musical person, as a theatrical person, but a lot of people don't know his music under 30, so there's a treasure trove of material. I can't pick any favorite tracks because I'm in love with them all. And I'm in love with all.

Interviewer (13:19)

Exactly. Yeah.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (13:20)

But I mean, what a diverse songwriter to write something like. And so it goes. And also write Matter of Faith or write. We don't do matter of Faith, but to write Summer Highland Falls and also write. I Go to Extremes, for example, you know, what a diverse, inclusive songwriter. You know, some of his stuff, as you know, is almost chamber music. You know, in sort of the early 90s, he got into writing. So it goes, for example, you know, and it's so gentle and wonderful and poignant. And then you put that up against something like, I've Loved these Days or the Entertainer, you know, and they're such different animals and yet they speak so universally. So I think that the diversity of Billy Joel's music will be very appealing to people under 30. And I hope that they sort of. I don't want to say rediscover him because he's a household name, but a lot of people may know who he is, but not know the nuances of his songs. And I hope that this helps solve that.

Interviewer (14:18)

Well, I. When I first saw the track list of this, I. One of my top five favorite songs of all time, regardless of, you know, artist or composer, is Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, which I would imagine was as I was thinking about, like, how does that really make sense to do in this context? It's such a weird song. It's three songs mashed together. But to hear it done by this by Quarter Simmons, who I didn't. I was not unfamiliar with, with. With him, it's such a beautiful version of that song that it really, I don't know, it made me smile, it made my heart happy, that that was one that was preserved in such a tender way. Because it's a song that I think can feel a little bit unwieldy if it's not handled by somebody who is an expert storyteller. Because really it is like I said, three stories all mashed up into one.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (15:02)

I prefer to think of it as a three act play. It's more like a three act play. It's kind of like the Ladies who Lunch that way. Even though you know the sound between so different. Quarter Simmons is a brilliant actor and the perfect, the perfect fit for that song. He did it for us in the original show 11 years ago, 54 and matched with Jeremy Robin Lyons who put in. And the musicians who just put in such a beautiful, incredible, powerful soundtrack to that. We were just so incredibly fortunate. And it was very exciting. Just we had to record that one separately because Porter was performing. So we put the tracks down for the band first. And I just remember sitting in the control room listening to that band lay those down and thinking, this is going to be kismet when we get Quarter in here. And you know, egotistically I say perhaps it is kismet. It was just the perfect match of material and singer and musicians and musical director.

Interviewer (15:53)

I love that. Yeah, it's really fantastic. Let's talk about some of these performers that you have in there. Some of them, like I said, household names for theater people like Annie Golden. But some of the other folks I'm a little bit unfamiliar with so tell me about some of these folks. Rachel Olinat, Aaron Ramey, some of the other people that are on this list that musical theater people might have seen before but might not have clocked their names or their entire resumes and stuff like that.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (16:22)

Yeah, I mean, what. Our projects have never gone out to cast stars. They've gone out to cast hard working people working on the Broadway stage whom you might not know who possess magnificent instruments. You know, be it Aaron from everything from the Bridges of Madison county to Curtains to the Producers, I mean, he's just the visit. I mean, he's done. He's got so many Broadway credits to his name. And then, you know, Rachel with Love music and you know, some of them have done two or three Broadway shows, some of them have done 15 Broadway shows, but they're all magnificent performers. And, you know, this is an ironic term, but a little undersung in my opinion. And worthy of recognition.

Interviewer (17:01)

Yeah, absolutely true. When you put together an album like this of, you know, such a wide catalog, but also somebody who is so well known for Billy Joel, why do you think that it's important to tell these stories and to sing these songs from a Broadway musical theater perspective? Why is this something worthy of your time and the talents of the incredible group of performers that you put together?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (17:30)

Well, you know, lots of people have covered Billy Joel, but there aren't many, if any. I did look complete cover albums of his music, certainly non sung by Broadway performers. And what I say on the liner notes is, you know, Billy Joel is beyond a pop and rock and sometimes people will consider him a Jack Jazz star. He's almost a musical theater writer, which is, I think, what probably affected Twyla Tharp to create Movein Out. His music is structured in such a way that you could put it on a Broadway stage and it tells a story. Each song has a beginning, a middle and an end. And you can't say that about all pop songs, but you can certainly say it about Billy Joel, which was our primary attraction to going after his music. And people are so used to hearing Billy sing it. And this will put it in a different light, I think, and for better or for worse, not good. I really hope that they'll see the songs in a new light and it will open up new interpretations for the future because, you know, this is music that's going to live on far after Billy Joel. And you know, it's part of our job to, I think, all of our jobs to preserve that legacy and make sure that the music endures and it's not just identified synonymously with him.

Interviewer (18:34)

You mentioned folks like Joni Mitchell and Mary Chapman, Carpenter and Elton John, as are the people that you would like to do versions of this album for in the future. But. But you said you wanted to do, like, modern music. Modern pop music. But some of those people might not be considered as modern as maybe you and I think of them as from our childhoods. Are there performers from the 21st century that have become big pop stars that you think would lend themselves well to a Broadway ensemble album?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (19:01)

That's a wonderful question. You know, Annie Lennox, but you might consider her the same genre as Billy and Annie. And that's a great question. There are a lot of great people out there. You know, Seal creates wonderful music. I would have to give that more thought. But, yes, there must be. That's a wonderful idea for future names on the roster. Thank you.

Interviewer (19:28)

Well, I would imagine that it's not just about having a catalog of great songs, but it's also about the way, as you were talking about with Billy, like his songs are structured as a storytelling song. You can't necessarily do something like just throwing out a name here, you know, Britney Spears, because those songs are written very pop, hook focused rather than story focused. Is that part of the decision as to who would make sense for a project like this?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (19:53)

Absolutely. We look more to like a Lauwe, you know, someone. Someone who's. Who's writing structured music, which is what attracts us as actors. Laufey, who won the Grammy over us in 2024. But we're not bitter because, you know, it would have been something if we lost to someone who we thought was terrible. But she's a brilliant, incredible artist and I think is going to endure for many years to come. So her songs, definitely. And she just had that great duet with Barbra Streisand on the Partners album where she. She and Barbara record one of her greatest songs. Yeah, there's one. Lau Vey.

Interviewer (20:28)

Okay, Very good, very good. Well, people have the opportunity to listen to the album digitally now, as you said, coming up in September, the physical copy.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (20:37)

Oh, and you know Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish writes great. Structured too. So. Sorry to interrupt you.

Interviewer (20:40)

No, no, that's great. Well, yeah, yeah. They write so much for the screen. I think they've won at least one or two Oscars at this point. It would make sense that there are stories that could be really well mined for Broadway performers in their music as well.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (20:54)

And certain songs by. Certain songs by Adele and now you've got me Thinking, no, I love that. Sorry.

Interviewer (21:02)

That's great. No, no, absolutely. By. People can listen to the album digitally now. It'll be available for physical purchase in September. When people can dive into this, what are you hoping they take away from the experience of listening to the Billy Joel project?

Phil Jeffrey Bond (21:18)

Oh, you know, I just hope that they're able to immerse themselves in it and have as good a time listening to it as we had making it. You know, when I listen to it now, you know, I put some time between the mastering process and the release process, so I can go back to it now and just appreciate it and not hear all of the. All of the things we had to go back and focus on and fix and the. You know, the whole. The whole process. I just hope that they can immerse themselves. Billy Joel has created a whole world with his music. You know, there's a whole, like, Billy Joel land that you can enter. And what's great about an album like this is 24 tracks. You can really just spend, you know, an hour and a half. I think it's an hour and 40 minutes immersed in Billy Joel land. And I hope that they're able to just put their seatbelts on and go there.

Interviewer (21:58)

That's the. I was exactly thinking the exact same thing as you said. Put your seatbelt on. I was like, this is a great road trip album for theater and classic. Yeah. It's like you could just sit back. Yeah. And it just kind of rolls through. I mean, it feels like. I mean, I grew up listening to the double Billy Joel greatest hits album. So, like, this feels like a wonderful companion piece to that because it's not chronological like those albums were, and it's not obviously all Billy singing, but you get. Get all of the different nuances of his catalog while getting different interpretations that. As I was listening to it the first time a couple weeks ago, I was just kind of surprised. Hearing it's like, oh, that's a different. Not only a different take on something, but there were some lyrics that I've never understood before when I'm listening to Billy Singham that I can understand now with some of these Broadway voices, but they were just little nuances and surprises that I heard throughout. Even though I'd heard all of these songs for decades at this point, it was really kind of a lovely treat and a surprise.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (22:55)

Well, that's a wonderful compliment. Thank you so much.

Interviewer (22:57)

Well, Phil, thank you so much. We, of course, will have links to where people can purchase the album and can stream the album in the show. Notes and congratulations on a beautiful project and a beautiful piece and hopefully there is many, many more of these things to come in the future.

Phil Jeffrey Bond (23:11)

Matt, thanks so much for doing this. I really appreciate.

Billy Joel (singing) (23:24)

Oh she takes care of herself she can wait if she wants she's ahead of her time oh, and she never gives and she never gives in she just changes her mind she is frequently kind Then she's suddenly cruel she can do as she pleases she's nobody's fool and she can't be convicted she's earned her degree and the most she will do is throw shadows at you but she's always a woman to me.