Exclusive Interview with Singer Ryan Elliott Green.

Singer and Performer Ryan Elliott Green performed his most recent show, Rio Lisboa: A Concert in Portuguese, at the new Dixon Place.

The show mixed singing with storytelling and poetry (entirely in Portuguese), and everything was subtitled on a large projection on the back wall of the theatre.

Here is an exclusive e-mail interview with Mr. Green, given to BrazilNYC days before his shows at the Dixon Place. For more info, go to www.dixonplace.org

Also, you can listen to two tracks from the concert Bossa and Fado (players are right next to the song titles):

Primavera

Retrato

Rio_Lisboa: Um Concerto em Português takes place on Feb 11, 2009.

Q: When did you decide to incorporate Brazilian and Portuguese music into a single show? Were you born in any of these two countries?

A: It’s something that I’d been thinking about this past year.  I have been singing Bossa Nova for a couple of years, and always wanted to figure out a way to make it theatrical in some way. I went to school for music and theatre, so it’s hard for me to do one without trying to incorporate the other. I only recently began to sing Fado, and I think the dramatic nature of Fado is what pushed me to do a theatre show in Portuguese in the first place.  And no, I am neither from Brazil nor Portugal. I’m from Ohio. Isn’t that boring?!

Q: Your show has a touch of performance art added to the music performances? Why did you decide to go into a more experimental terrain?

A:  Well, a few years ago, I got into cabaret performance, you know, stories and songs, and wrote a one-person show called “Ms. Green – Assisted Suicide.”  And that show had some performance art moments in it. Performance art is really cool, because it allows you to think outside of labels and do things that sometimes don’t make all that much sense right away. I just got tired of my musical theatre training, in which everything you do has to be for a reason.  Sometimes I just want to do things for the hell of it, you know!   I actually sang a Fado  in that show,and it was people’s positive reaction to that song that gave me the confidence to do this show. In that show, I just sang that song straight, no subtitles or anything, but to do an entire show of foreign language music, I knew that I would have to use subtitles, so that people could get the full effect and really understand the meanings to these songs.  So, I knew I was going to subtitle the songs, and then I thought well hell, if I’m going to sing in Portuguese, I might as well speak in it too. So both the speaking and singing will be in Portuguese.

Q: What are your most important musical influences? When did you become interested in Brazilian music?

A: I love Elis Regina.  Let’s face it, she was and is the best Brazilian jazz singer.  When I was little I listened to Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland alot… Although people tell me that I sound like Rufus Wainwright.  I’ve always liked female singers better, I find them more expressive. I don’t know. I only became interested in Brazilian Music after I learned to speak Portuguese. My interest in the language was what came first.  Then I started listening to Boss Nova and I was like – Oh my God!

Q: The costumes you wear in the shows are quite fabulous? Who is your designer and what are the ideas behind them? Are you interested in the artistic possibilities of gender bending?

A: I actually find the whole idea of gender-bending pretty boring. I mean, I’m a boy in the dress, and that’s about it.  I think gender bending implies that there is some inherent way that men and women are supposed to act or dress.  I was interviewed for the Gay City News for my cabaret show last summer and the journalist, Christopher Murray, referred to me as “gender indifferent.”  I thought that was hilarious and perfect!!!

I actually designed the dress for the Lisboa section myself – I couldn’t afford to pay anyone to do it.  It’s sort of inspired by Mariza, this fadista who is quite famous right now.  I love how dramatic she is.

Q: It seems to me that your show is much more focused on the Portuguese language than it is interested in any particular culture. Are you interested in the Portuguese language as a vehicle of artistic expression? Why do you choose to sing in Portuguese?

A: I think people who say that French is the most expressive and beautiful language only say it because they’ve never heard Portuguese. Portuguese is just the best.  The show is definitely more about the language, but I also think it’s so cool that Brazil and Portugal share this common language, but culturally they couldn’t be more opposite.  I think that that contrast comes through on it’s own during the show.  It doesn’t need me to emphasize it, or comment on it.

Q: Can we ever expect you to combine Samba and Fado into a new rhythm? Any plans to start you own musical genre?

A:  I was actually just talking with Scott Anderson (he is playing guitar during the Rio section) about this today during a rehearsal.  Scott and I recorded a Bossa Nova Cd last year (Tive Razao – on Itunes) and I was saying that I would actually like to combine Brazilian Rhythm, bossa nova, and Fado.  I’ve always been strictly a singer, singing other people’s songs, and have never writtin any of my own, but I think this show has inspired me to maybe start my own thing.

Q: What are your next projects after Rio_Lisboa : A Concert in Portuguese?

A: Well, I’m hoping that someone becomes interested in this project so that perhaps it can continue and play in  other venues.  I also sing every Saturday at Le Gamin – 536 East 5th Street between A & B, from 8-11pm, and every Sunday at Miss Favela in Brooklyn from 3-7pm.  But, outside of music, I began teaching an ESL (English as a Second Language) class at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, where I work full time.