INTERVIEW: Rita Harvey to sing Linda Ronstadt tunes at intimate cabaret show
Photo: Rita Harvey will pay tribute to the music of Linda Ronstadt at The Green Room 42. Photo courtesy of Jayme Thornton Photography / Provided by Fortune Creative with permission.
Linda Ronstadt is one of the most legendary singers of the modern era. She infused so many tunes with her remarkable and unique voice, and seemingly felt comfortable in a variety of genres, including country, pop, opera and folk.
In recent months, Ronstadt has toured the nation offering an evening of conversation with her fans. She no longer sings because of Parkinson’s disease, but she has many stories to tell.
Rita Harvey, herself an accomplished and versatile singer, pays tribute to Ronstadt’s impressive catalog of songs with a special cabaret show entitled Heart Like a Wheel, which will play Wednesday, Oct. 3 at New York City’s The Green Room 42. Fans can expect to hear Harvey’s renditions of Ronstadt’s iconic songs, including “You’re No Good,” “When Will I Be Loved,” “It’s So Easy” and “Desperado,” among many others.
“I’ve always been, like a lot of us, a big fan of Linda Ronstadt,” Harvey said in a recent phone interview. “I am a singer myself. I’ve pretty much studied voice my whole life. I’ve done Broadway, but now I do quite a bit of concert work, all different styles of music. And I always admired her because she has always done all different styles of music, too. She didn’t let anyone pigeonhole her, peg her as just one style. It paid off for her. Sometimes record producers just want to pigeonhole you, and she refused it. And she ended up doing all the things she wanted to do, and I find that really inspiring. She started out in folk and country, and went to rock and pop, and ended up even doing opera and Broadway and American songbook and Mexican songs, and it’s just inspiring to me to see that she could find a way to make all those different things her own.”
Harvey’s own career includes performing the central role of Christine Daae in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera and Hodel in a revival of Fiddler on the Roof. Other theater credits have taken her to the Irish Repertory Theatre, 59E59 Theaters and Lambs Theatre.
For as long as she can remember, Harvey has been a fan of Ronstadt’s music. The singer said most people love these tunes, even if they are unsure of the original recording artist.
“She covered so many songs that there’s not a person who is not kind of a fan, even if you don’t realize that song is the one you like because she would often take these covers of all these songs and arrange them in her own way and say them in such an honest and intriguing way that she would often chart higher in the charts than the original,” Harvey said. “I’m intrigued by her, especially at a time when there was a lot of boys’ club going on. She was a frontrunner. At one point, she was the biggest female rockstar in the world, so that’s inspiring as well.”
Harvey’s arrangements for the evening align with the original versions. She is not trying to mimic Ronstadt, but she recognizes that audiences will most enjoy renditions that are close to the original.
“I’m not trying to vocally sound just like her, but her songs do fit me really well,” she said. “I started out in opera and musical theater, and now I do a whole lot of pop singing and all different styles. That’s what I find really fun to be able to do all these different things in one evening and show different aspects. But arrangement-wise, I’m trying to keep it really close to what she arranged because that’s really what made her special was her own arrangements, and that’s what people recognize, too. So when they come see the show, they’re going to get that nostalgic experience of, ‘Oh, I remember this song. Oh, yes, I used to love this song’ — rather than doing something outside of the box that they might not recognize.”
The setlist for the night will include most of the classics; however, there are a few departures into Ronstadt’s deep catalog. For example, in Harvey’s research, she found some tunes that are extremely meaningful to Ronstadt’s life and career.
“There were songs that were very, very important to her that might not have been huge hits but that really speak to what she found important,” Harvey said. “I named the show Heart Like a Wheel because that particular song was really important to her. … It was about the simplicity of some of these delicate ballads that she really kept close to her heart. So the song ‘Heart Like a Wheel’ is a small, little, delicate ballad, and she made sure she did it even in her big arena concerts. She always put it in there because it meant a lot to her, so I definitely do that one.”
She added: “Songwriters actually went to her to have her interpret their lyrics, so it wasn’t just about this big, powerful rock song or vocal fireworks. It was also about delicate lyrics, and I go into the catalog a little bit for that. And also some of her country stuff, her first original country stuff that people might forget like ‘Love Is a Rose,’ ‘Silver Threads and Golden Needles.’ Those are some of her early country songs that diehard fans will know, but some of the casual fans might not. I try to give a balance of both.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Rita Harvey will sing Heart Like a Wheel — A Tribute to the Music of Linda Ronstadt Wednesday, Oct. 3 at The Green Room 42 in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
