Alison Stewart: You're listening to All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Our Get Lit with All Of It book club selection audition centers around acting and performance. We wanted to invite a musical guest who also knows a little something about the actor's creative process. We were thrilled that actor and musician Reeve Carney was able to join us. Reeve is best known for originating the role of Orpheus in the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown. He's also fronted rock bands and performed as a soloist. In 2017, he released the solo album Youth is Wasted.

You'll hear some of my interview with Reeve in just a bit, but first, let's kick things off with some music. Here is a special live performance from Reeve Carney.

[MUSIC - Reeve Carney: America]

There's an unrequited dream I'm praying for

She flies, weathered, wise, and frayed

May she stand by the cause she's been waving for

The red, the white, the blue, the free and brave

America, oh my sweet America

May you come to be all that you aim to be

America, oh my sweet America

May you come to be all that you claim to be

Upon the back of those shackled to stolen shores

A nation under God and unrepaid

Under the stripes and the stars, they're still bleeding for

May we do more than only say their names

America, oh my sweet America

May you come to be all that you claim to be

America, oh my sweet America

May you come to be all that you aim to be

Oh, say can you see a land where wombs are not policed

Where justice, liberty, and peace remain the cardinal decree

And where our kids don't have to flee from someone's emptied magazine

Now, tell me 'bout your freedom

Is it man or machine we are crying for?

Institutions, I can't entertain

Thoughts and prayers for the cause they've been dying for

Their memories, I will not betray

America, oh my sweet America

May you come to be all that you aim to be

America, oh my sweet America

May you come to be all that you aim to be,

America, ooh

May you come to be

America, ooh

May you come to be all that you aim to be,

America, ooh

May you come to be

America, ooh

May you come to be all that you aim to be.

[applause]

Reeve Carney: Thank you. This is like my first. It's like a daytime late-night talk show.

Alison Stewart: Kind of, right?

Reeve Carney: Yes.

Alison Stewart: It's good, right?

Reeve Carney: It's awesome.

Alison Stewart: Where were you when you wrote that song?

Reeve Carney: At home in New York.

Alison Stewart: Yes?

Reeve Carney: Here, yes.

Alison Stewart: What prompted you to write it? Just listen to the lyrics.

Reeve Carney: I love this country, and I love people, and I do think that America at its best does both of those things. It's the American experiment that we're still striving towards reaching our ultimate goals in a positive way. I guess that's where it comes from for me.

Alison Stewart: When they said we have to find a musical guest to go with Katie's book, your name was first in my mind.

Reeve Carney: Thank you.

Alison Stewart: See a green card, it would be great because you're an actor, because you're a musician. When you think about the two of them working together, how has being an actor helped you as a musician, and how has being a musician helped you be a better actor?

Reeve Carney: That's a great question. I do have the opportunity to work with amazing writers in this business, so it certainly helps. I was talking to Katie backstage. I think writing is the hardest part of what I do. It takes the longest. It's very isolating as well. You're there by yourself. I guess you could write-- That'd be pretty boring for all of you guys, though, if I were sitting here writing a song in front of everyone. Especially since they take-- This was a fast one. That one took me maybe 40 hours, which for me is fast, but sometimes they take years.

I don't know. I guess you learn. It's nice to have things to jump between because this business, as Katie, you were both speaking of this in her book, we were speaking backstage a little bit, it is an interesting business when you don't have something else aside from auditioning or waiting for the next job. I'm really grateful that I do have these other things because it keeps my mind really engaged.

Alison Stewart: You grew up around actors. Your mom's an actor. Is that the case?

Reeve Carney: Yes, my mom has a degree in musical theater from Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. She's right there.

Alison Stewart: Hi, Mom.

Reeve Carney: She lives in New York, too. Then, both my parents met as musicians in the '70s, at the bitter end.

Alison Stewart: Really? [crosstalk].

Reeve Carney: Which is funny because they're not married now, so it's kind of a funny little twist.

Alison Stewart: The bitter End. Well.

Reeve Carney: They met back then. My uncle's a very famous actor. Some of you might know my great uncle, Art Carney. It's been in the family, definitely.

Alison Stewart: In the book audition, the protagonist is having a hard time with her part. She doesn't seem to feel that she can get the part down. When you're struggling to get a part down, when you're struggling to find the character, what do you do?

Reeve Carney: That's another good question. I think that's one thing that's nice about the audition process, when it's reasonable, because sometimes it's a bit-- There are some new SAG rules which are really helpful, because during the pandemic, it got nuts. You get auditions and they'd be due the next morning by 12 noon or something like that. You're like, "Oh, my gosh, I don't even have time to develop this character," but with a longer process, I find it's really useful because then you learn yourself, "Am I going to be able to do this or not?"

That's one thing I do like about auditions is that it gives you the opportunity to say, "Maybe this one's not for me," or "Yes, I can pull this off." Sometimes you get it quickly. I'd say a couple of days at least to memorize the lines and get a foundation of a character is what I would like to have.

Alison Stewart: I want to ask you about Green Room 42.

Reeve Carney: Oh, yes.

Alison Stewart: You've got a big show coming up.

Reeve Carney: Oh, thanks. I love Queen, and I'm doing a tribute to them. They're one of my favorite bands of all time. I try to keep it interesting. Change it up every month. I play there every month, but I do a different show every month there.

Alison Stewart: Why do you like that space?

Reeve Carney: It's a lot like this, actually, in terms of the size. I have a more elaborate setup there just because it's more music of the night in the night. They've got a nice piano there. I like the intimate spaces. It's a real listening room, which is really nice. I love that. As opposed to-- It's fun playing a rock club when you're with a band, but it can get distracting when you're doing a solo act and all you hear is people ordering drinks in the back.

Alison Stewart: Wait, last month, did you do Broadway Divas?

Reeve Carney: I did, yes. Wow, that's great. Thanks for knowing that.

Alison Stewart: You're doing Queen next month?

Reeve Carney: Yes, on June 20th?

Alison Stewart: June?

Reeve Carney: Yes.

Alison Stewart: Do you give yourself a break between Broadway Divas and Queen? That's a lot on the Voice.

Reeve Carney: I guess you just got to practice a little bit every day, and that helps.

Alison Stewart: How do you take care of your voice? How do you preserve your voice?

Reeve Carney: I try to get enough sleep and drink a lot of water. Eat a diet that feels right for me because I don't like to tell people what to eat, but you listen to your body. I think that helps. Then warm up, that's really important.

Alison Stewart: Really?

Reeve Carney: I didn't warm up as much today because I didn't quite have a-- If you're singing a lot of music, you've got to really warm up.

Alison Stewart: I want to say congrats to you on your engagement.

Reeve Carney: Oh, thank you. You and Eva had an-- Thank you.

Alison Stewart: Yes, Eva Noblezada.

Reeve Carney: She told me she had an amazing conversation with you a couple of weeks ago.

Alison Stewart: Oh, we had a good time. She was on fire. She came in hot.

Reeve Carney: Oh, I bet. There's no one like her. I like to watch that. I haven't watched it, but is it available online? Probably. I'll find it.

Alison Stewart: You can get it online? All Of It, WNYC. What are you going to play for us next? Two songs.

Reeve Carney: I'm going to play a song from my album, Youth is Wasted, called CheckMate. Why not?

Alison Stewart: It's Reeve Carney.

[applause]

[MUSIC - Reeve Carney: CheckMate]

It started with a kiss

Alone in the abyss

We used to be strangers

We were just strangers

And every step we'd take

With every move we play

Your heart is in danger

In a dance with a stranger

Your scars will send your tears to say it's over

And your heart will bend the rules to suit the soldier

When love has the power play

Checkmate!

We're losers in the game of love, my love

We're losers in the game of love, my love

We'll take the future blind

And you'll trust your heart with mine

And I'll try to take it and hope not to break it

But I'll see it in your eyes

I'm not much for long goodbyes

Let me do us a favor

Cause sooner or later

Your scars will send your tears to say it's over

And your heart will bend the rules to suit the soldier

When love has the power play

Checkmate!

We're losers in the game of love, my love

We're losers in the game of love, my love

Turn around and trust your hesitation

Cause I can only hurt you when I fall

And everyone must fall

I'd rather watch you walk away

Than to take you with me down in flames

I'll always love you, baby

My scars will send your tears to say it's over

And your heart will bend the rules to suit the soldier

When love has the power play

Checkmate!

[applause]

Reeve Carney: Thank you.

[MUSIC - Reeve Carney: Think Of You]

When I don't know where to go

And I feel like I'm alone

When I hang my head down low

I think of You

Each night you wait outside my door

'Cause you want to know, I think of you

When I fall into a snare

And it's all too much to bear

When I think nobody cares

I think of you

When the going's getting tough

And I feel like giving up

When I think I've had enough

I think of You

You've always been, and you'll always be

Even to the end, I'll think of you

You are the way, the truth, and the life

And I'll follow you

When it's time to say goodbye

And a tear wells in my eye

I can hold my head up high

When I think of You

My flesh is weak, but your spirit wills

That my heart and mind will think of you

[applause]

Reeve Carney: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

Alison Stewart: That was a special performance from Reeve Carney, musician and former star of Hadestown on Broadway. He joined us for our May Get Lit with All Of It book club event. That is All Of It for this hour. Stick around to hear my conversation with author Richard Price about his novel Lazarus Man, about the collapse of a tenement building in East Harlem and the people who live there. Plus, here's some music performed live by trumpeter and bandleader Anthony Hervey. That's coming up right after the news.