Timeless...Marilyn Maye

By: Jeannette de Beauvoir, August 8, 2011

There’s one word that comes to mind when you listen to veteran cabaret singer/performer Marilyn Maye: gleeful. She knows what she’s doing, she loves what she’s doing, and it shows.

Holding the illustrious the singer’s record for her number of appearances on The Tonight Show (76), Maye was dubbed “Super Singer” by the late Johnny Carson. She has been heralded throughout her career for her amazing vocal dexterity, the sheer excitement, boundless energy and authenticity of her performances, and the unique party atmosphere she creates wherever she appears.

That’s the word she uses, too: party. “It’s always a party,” she tells me. “It’s always a lot of fun.” There’s a slight pause, “Jeannette—it’s called entertainment for a reason!”

It may be about fun now, but a lot of hard work and dedication has gone into Maye’s career.

“Singers tell me I’m an inspiration to them,” she says. “I’ve stayed with it for so long, you see. And I’m not just talking about music. Whatever it is that you do, there’s a certain level of achievement you want to reach. It’s what you’re about.”

Maye started early: after some producers heard her at a Topeka, Kansas junior high school singing contest, they decided to sign her on the spot with her own radio show.

She’s been singing ever since, working her way from the nightclub circuit—which she calls singing in “upholstered sewers”—to musical theater, which has included Can-Can, Mame, and Hello, Dolly.

“It’s what I’ve done all my life,” she says, simply. “I’ve dedicated my life to it.”

Tales of the jazz age

She’s been named an official jazz legend by the American Jazz Museum, and listed as one of the best performers of 20^th century by the Arts Council of the Smithsonian for her recording of Lerner and Lowe’s Too Late Now.

But perhaps the best accolade came from Ella Fitzgerald, who has referred to Maye as “the greatest white female singer in the world.”

All that is well and good, but what does her Ray Charles/Steven Sondheim/Broadway show tunes act bring to younger audiences?

“The magic of live performance,” Maye answers immediately. “Believe it or not, most of my audience these days is young. People are rediscovering cabaret music, and it’s usually people in their twenties in New York City, who stand in line to discuss it with me. I teach master classes in New York, you see, and it’s young people who want to learn from me.”

Now 83 years old, Maye says she has no plans to retire from show biz.

“I am timeless,” she says, laughing. “What’s the point in retiring? Your work should be something that inspires you, that is what you’re about, that keeps you going. It’s what gives you a purpose in life, a reason to get up in the morning. That’s what music is for me.”

Provincetown may be hosting Maye professionally for the first time this summer, but she’s been a regular visitor.

“For the last three years I’ve come here on vacation,” she explains. “I want it to be a party. I’ll be bringing some great music that people may or may not know, but we’ll all have a wonderful time. It’s going to be fun!”

You can see—and hear—Marilyn Maye soon! She’ll be at the Art House on August 11^th and August 12^th.

Art House

214 Commercial St., Provincetown

www.ptownarthouse.com