San Francisco Report

A Conversation with Faith Winthrop
by Charles Wixson

How can a person as real as Faith Winthrop be a legend? She hadn't seemed to fit the normal definition of a legend -- a small bit of fact and a lot of embellishment -- but the honesty of her true persona became more and more apparent as we chatted recently in her home while enjoying the view of her spectacular garden rising up the hill outside and the earthy aroma of a vegetable stew bubbling happily on her large, much-used range. When one ventures into public with Faith, however, and experiences the near-adoration that greets her from her vast number of friends, fans, colleagues and students it is clear why she has been accorded "legend" status.

Sipping very real, very comforting mint tea we talked about Faith's past, present and future; her likes and dislikes; the business of singing; how she constructs her shows; her students, famous and not-at-all famous; what singers she admires; and just a little gossip. Although, as Faith told me, she has nearly 50 years of show business experience to remember, she is really most excited about the present and the future.

Winthrop has more than enough to keep her very involved in the present and the future. Having recently completed work on "Havin' Myself a Time," a CD and video of her 2000 show "It's All About Faith," she is busy compiling, rehearsing, adjusting keys, changing performance order and polishing patter for her new show "Songs of Whining, Dining and Dancing (a pre fixe menu of eclectic jazz and musical theater bonbons)" to premier at THE PLUSH ROOM at the York Hotel (940 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA - 415-885-2800 - http://www.plushroom.com/) at a CD release party on May 13th at 8 pm and be repeated as part of Old First Concerts on Sunday, June 3rd at 5 p.m. at OLD FIRST CHURCH (1751 Sacramento at Van Ness, San Francisco, CA - 415-474-1608).

As its title indicates, Winthrop's new show covers a panoply of subjects including many aspects of food, drink, dancing and whining. Having pulled songs from many sources, she says that "What was really fun about putting together this show was being able to include a song that I have carted around for 45 years, that I always wanted to sing but it was never the right time; it finally is the right time." The song, written by Alan Arkin, is "I Like You Because You Don't Make Me Nervous" and she describes it as "a perverse whining song. It's wonderful; it's not like anything else." It was transcribed for her in the 1950s by a pianist she worked with at San Francisco's hungry i, but it sat unused until she began to compile songs for this show. The show will also include a couple of her own songs: "New Age/Old Age Blues" and a newly written combination food/whining song which is actually a restaurant review inspired by a recent disappointing visit to New York's famous Carnegie Deli.

Also in the planning stages are shows devoted to traveling music, Faith's own compositions and more show business anecdotes. She will soon be traveling to Europe for singing engagements, she is scheduling cruise performances, and she hopes to do an Australia circuit soon. And, because she has always enjoyed singing classical music, she travels across the Bay Bridge each week to study operatic technique with a former Metropolitan Opera diva.

Although very rooted in the present, Faith agreed to talk a bit about the past and share some interesting insight into changes that have had an impact on the music business. During her time as a singer and Bay Area resident, Faith has seen many trends come and go. She thinks that the community's overwhelming fascination with food and the latest "in" restaurants, while being good for cooks, restaurateurs and those who love to eat, has harmed entertainers. "People are more likely to go out for an entire evening at a restaurant than they were during the 50s and 60s and that takes away from the clubs, concert venues and theaters." She wonders when, and if, the trend will shift and people will again begin to explore the less caloric, quieter and more relaxing world of night clubs.

But some things haven't changed all that much and Faith is bemused by continuing attempts to distinguish today's cabaret from jazz. She comments: "I will have been a singer for fifty years in 2003. For at least twenty-five of those years I was a jazz singer; cabaret was never attached to my name. But I always sang show tunes that were a little off the beaten path in terms of being a jazz singer. One Down Beat reporter criticized me for doing songs that were not strictly jazz songs, but I was never considered a cabaret performer." In those days she sang at places like the hungry i in San Francisco, Mr. Kelly's in Chicago, and The Blue Angel and Village Vanguard in New York. Today she sings at venues such as The Plush Room in San Francisco and Judy's and the former Eighty-Eights in New York as well as at the annual Mabel Mercer Foundation Cabaret Conventions in both cities. She goes about her business without giving a lot of thought to how people classify her performance style; she just does what she has always done, creatively linking songs and ideas, melding them into shows that make sense musically and are entertaining.

Although her 2000 show, "It's All About Faith," was just what the title indicated -- it was about Faith Winthrop -- the Faith in the title could just as easily have referred to her faith in the joy of singing. It could also have deeply religious connotations and Faith comments, in retrospect, "It never occurred to me that the title would have a double meaning, that people might well have gotten the wrong impression from the title and expected me to come out wearing a bible belt." To avoid misleading purchasers of the CD she has named it "HavinŻ Myself a Time" (the show's opening song) instead.

With most of the anecdotes eliminated, the new CD still follows Faith Winthrop's musical journey from her initial experience as a child, entertaining riders on a Boston streetcar, to today and beautifully captures her immediately identifiable voice and her simple, uncanny grasp of pitch, phrasing and melody line. The video of the show provides the full hour-long journey, during which Faith shared numerous touching, amusing and personal anecdotes and stories: about her mother who never accepted Faith's desire to be a singer; Winthrop's under-age visits to a Boston nightspot to hear Sarah Vaughan perform; a personal reminiscence of Billie Holiday; a mobster/club owner who was besotted with Faith; her move to San Francisco to perform as the house singer at the hungry i; about leaving the profession to marry, raise a daughter and teach voice; teaching and coaching experiences; her return to singing; and how she deals with the process of aging. A singer, new or experienced, could learn many valuable lessons just by studying Faith's performance style.

After many years of performing, Faith retired to be a wife and mother, a job she says was very difficult for her because her own mother had not given her a very good example of what it entailed. Although she returned to performing in the mid-80s, she feels no regret for having devoted those years to raising her daughter, Erika Lenkert, now a free-lance writer whose byline is frequently seen attached to food articles in San Francisco magazine. It is not surprising that Erika is a food writer -- she grew up with food. Faith admits without hesitation: "Food is my drug of choice. I don't cook anymore but I was a fierce cook. I cooked Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, Mexican, Swedish. At one time, I studied with Al and Katherine Williams who used to have the Papagallo Room at the Fairmont Hotel, and I remember one New Year's Eve where I prepared eight dozen escargots in butter, garlic and parsley - for just two people!"

During her performance sabbatical she began accepting private students, teaching them stage presence, microphone technique, basic singing technique, how to correctly phrase a song and how to structure a show. She has also served for many years on the faculties of Mills College and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As a result, so many singers and wish-they-were singers have stood before her piano and benefitted from her gently reassuring presence that it is not at all surprising she is honored with the love and respect of countless fans. She still gets a thrill from teaching. "I love what I do so much," she says, "and it excites me to see students change simply by my suggestion that they loosen their jaws, or put a twinkle in their eyes, and to hear their voices change; I still get very excited about it. How lucky for me!"

One's perception of Faith from seeing her in public is of an elegantly dressed and neatly coiffed person, makeup perfectly applied. Faith laughs at that idea and tells about her return to the night club stage at The Plush Room. As she appeared, dressed in a black velvet gown, the audience went wild with applause. Taken aback by what seemed to be an overzealous reaction to her entrance, she went ahead and performed the show. Afterward, while talking to members of the audience she realized that the thrilled reaction had come from their delight at seeing her dressed in something other than blue jeans and a blue work shirt, her daily costume for many years and the only attire many of the audience members had ever seen her wear. When she first started performing in the 50s, dress requirements varied throughout the country. She recalls that she always dressed in a simple classic style, but the first time she appeared at Mr. Kelly's the club's publicist took one look at her and dragged her out to buy a "glitzy, sexy babe gown" like those demanded by the clientele of that Chicago club.

A somewhat recent addition to Faith's list of loves is song writing, and she has thrown herself into it with her typical passion and delight. She regularly performs her own songs, many of them about the simple pleasures, vagaries and irritations of daily life. Her song's subjects have included: raising a child, having a husband who was never really there to help out, aging, serial shopping, shopping in her closet, herbal supplements, HMOs and the Carnegie Deli. Ideas for songs just pop into her head and she scratches down rhyme patterns and then fills in the music.

Winthrop creates shows in much the same manner; ideas just pop into her head and then appropriate songs and stories from her impressive memory follow close behind. Much of this ease comes from years of experience in the business, but much of it also comes from her inimitable style and show business savvy, a spark she seems to have always had. She says, "I have accrued so many (songs) I'm never at a loss." Her song collection is so large she rarely has to search for an idea; instead she spends most of her time weeding out songs from an overabundant supply, wishing she could fit in just one more jewel. Her advice: "In creating a show, you have to take people on a journey, and you have to make the journey very interesting, very creative. That journey also has to have a natural movement forward." For Faith, this journey is an emotional and rhythmic experience, not a story line. "I don't necessarily pace my songs fast, slow, fast, slow but there is always movement."

As required of a "Legend," Faith Winthrop always comes through with the very highest quality singing, and spending a couple of hours with her, whether in a cabaret room, a concert hall, or talking over mint tea in her home, is always a satisfying and entertaining delight. Her talent and her mastery of singing provide a strength and flexibility that allows her to be relaxed and natural in any setting.

Because Winthrop's show will be on May 13th, Mother's Day, Faith says that she "will be a mom to all" but quickly offers that "people can bring their own, too." When asked if she thinks she tends to be a mom to all, she immediately responds: "Yes, I think I do" and then adds, with a laugh, "a very youthful mom, of course." She pensively notes: "Someone recently called me an earth mother and a queen. I like to think I have a combination of both; the best of both of them."

"Songs of Whining, Dining and Dancing (a pre fixe menu of eclectic jazz and musical theater bonbons)" will premier at THE PLUSH ROOM at the York Hotel (940 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA - 415-885-2800 - http://www.plushroom.com/) at a CD release party on May 13th at 8 pm and repeat on Sunday, June 3rd at 5 pm at OLD FIRST CHURCH (1751 Sacramento at Van Ness, San Francisco, CA - 415-474-1608). Faith Winthrop's new CD "Havin; Myself a Time" and video tape of her 2000 Plush Room show "It's All About Faith" in addition to being available at her concerts are available from Tulip Records, P.O. Box 591015, San Francisco, CA 94159-1015 or at http://www.faithwinthrop.com/.

Charles Wixson

Copyright © 2001 Charles Wixson

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