Anne Kerry Ford: The Sweetheart of the American Cabaret
A
CHAT WITH ANNE KERRY FORD, AMERICAN CABARET SWEETHEART!!
Q-
What people first notice about you?
Anne: Maybe people notice that I am slightly shy???
Perhaps they notice that I love beautiful clothes, that I have very straight
posture, and that I have a lot of curly hair!
Q- The best two lines you ever sang?
Anne: It's hard to pick just two lines as "the best" but I love the
lines in Kurt Weill's song with Langston Hugh's lyrics titled "Lost In the
Stars" . At the very end of the song the lines are "...and we're lost out
here in the stars...little stars, big stars, blowing through the night, and
we're lost out here in the stars..."
I close my Kurt Weill show with those lines because they are so haunting and
beautiful and poetic. It is great to leave the audience with a small dose of
heartbreak!
Q- Who is Anne Kerry Ford? To you, to your friends and to your fans?
Anne: I am a very spiritual, introspective person who loves to sing
because that is a gift that I can give to other people while I am alive.
Actually, although I think I am a very serious person, I think my fans see me
as a humorous person because I like to perform funny songs as well as dramatic
songs,, and I love to make people laugh. I suppose my friends would say I have
a good sense of humor, too. My pianist, whose name is John Boswell, makes me
laugh a lot, and I think that is why we work so well together.
Q-The
toughest choice you had to make in your life?
Anne: It was difficult when I decided to stop working as an actress
about nine years ago. I had worked all my life as an actress in theatre and
film, and there came a time when the roles I was being offered were not
challenging to me any more. The work was not fulfilling, so I had to walk
away from it for a while. It was very difficult to decide to stop that part
of my career. When I began to sing again, I felt like I could use what I had
learned as an actress in my interpretations of the songs I sang, but for a
few years before I began the singing career, it was difficult because I had
no means of expressing myself artistically.
Anne: I have to think about so many things! I have to make sure I
know the staging I have planned, I have to go over the lighting cues for the
whole show with the technical staff, make sure the piano is in the perfect
place, check to see if there water on the stage for me (in case my mouth is
dry. And where are the dressing rooms? Did I bring the right shoes? Where is
my music? Is my pianist prepared for the program? Where is my makeup? There
are hundreds of details and a million things to be concerned about. Some of
the details are very small, but they are all important.
Q- And the last?
Anne: The last thing I do before I go onstage is to take a big breath
in and let it out slowly, so I am calm and relaxed before my big "leap off
of the cliff".
Anne: I worry about so many things! My husband says I am a
"professional worrier"! I worry that I won't be able to fit all of the
things I am
Q- What is success to you?
Anne: Success is knowing that I have opened my heart completely and
made a real connection with the audience, no matter how many people I am
performing for. I can feel it when that connection happens...then everything
is effortless. It doesn't always happen, but when it does, that is success!
Q- Tell us about your highest success?
Anne: I was very elated about singing with WDR's Big Band in Cologne
and Düsseldorf for Kurt Weill's centenary in 2000, and it was equally
thrilling to perform the same program in Los Angeles the following year. I
am in love with Weill's music, so to be able to perform a program like this
was the high point of my career to date.
Q- Any disappointment, any regret in your artistic career?
Anne: There are situations where I may not feel like I gave 100 per
cent, or perhaps the audience didn't seem to appreciate me, for whatever
reason. That happens and it is sad when it does!
Q- The toughest experience you encountered on stage?
Anne: I once had a terrible fight with my pianist before the show and
as we were performing the show, I couldn't even look at him. That was hard.
The interview continues on the next page.