BWW Interview: Betsy Wolfe Talks Toronto Symphony Debut

Steven Reineke's inaugural year as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's Principal Pops Conductor continues next week with 'Love Will Keep Us Together', a diverse evening of romantic favourites wrapped up in a glowing, glittering package. Joining him on stage are Tenor Mike Eldred and Soprano Betsy Wolfe, and they will perform love songs from across the decades.

Soprano Betsy Wolfe has performed this particular concert in cities across the country and is thrilled to be coming to Toronto for the first time. She just finished starring in the hit musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood on Broadway, and took a few minutes to talk to BWW about the concert, her musical influences and the joys of dueling with Mike Eldred:

Welcome to Toronto! Is this your first time here?

It is my first time! I've been asked three times before but was always engaged in something else so I was determined to make this work. I know it's a top rate city and I'm beyond excited to go.

Could you give us a bit of a general overview of the programming for Love Will Keep Us Together?

It's all the best love songs throughout the ages. We work our way through all the decades. Steven (Reineke), Mike (Eldred) and I got together and picked some representations of good love songs and we've got everything from ballads to rousing up-tempo stuff. We have material that people will know and also songs that are off the beaten path that I'm confident the audience will fall in love with. It's romantic and energetic.

We've done this specific concert in a few other cities and it's always a huge hit so I'm grateful that they've booked it for Toronto. We make some changes to ensure it's unique for the town we're playing, and we've been rehearsing and have some fun things in store.

You and Mike have a Broadway background, is it mostly showtunes or is it a more eclectic mix?

I think it's a brilliant mix of popular songs from movies, standards from recording artists and Broadway songs. It expands and crashes into several different genres. There's no typical sound that you will hear all night but you will hear classic songs as well as songs from something like Dirty Dancing.

How different it is to perform with a full symphony versus performing in a Broadway show?

The orchestra is a huge part of the show when you're singing with the Symphony. That's not to diminish their role in a Broadway show, but when you are singing directly in front of 90-100 people playing there's just this incredible wall of sound that you can't possible experience in any other form. It's thrilling. I love performing with symphonies and I love how much they're incorporated into this program. They transform the song and make it gorgeous in a whole new way.

This is Steven's first year as the Principal Pops Conductor for the Toronto Symphony. What's it been like working with him?

I think Toront is in for a real treat. I remember when we first got together for this he talked about bringing it to Toronto as one of the first choices for the season. It's a huge honour and it shows how much he loves this program. He's immensely talented and I've fallen in love with him. He's a joy to watch conduct and a joy to work with and I think musicians really respect his talent.

Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Judy Garland all the way to Celine Dion and Billy Joel. I think that's part of why I love this concert so much, it's representational of music that I like and it crosses so many genres. It allows for singers to do everything within their range and makes for a great evening for the audience.

Do you think this show is good for a younger audience?

Absolutely. Steven is so careful about picking material and selecting music that is universal. I consider myself a 'young audience' and I knew every song he chose. I love the classic ones as much as the current pieces. That's why it's so appealing - you can love all of it.

Kelly Cameron's love affair with the theatre began when she was just five years old, on an outing to see the Original Canadian Cast of Les Miserables at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. She instantly fell in love, and since then has been lucky enough to be involved in various theatre activities and productions, including a regional production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and a local production of Where the Sidewalk Ends. She has also received training from various teachers throughout Southwestern Ontario in both piano and voice, and competed in vocal competitions for which she received a few awards. Her writing career started almost by accident, when she had the opportunity to become a ghostwriter for up and coming businesses. She continues to do this, writing the content for all sorts of companies who are starting websites and looking to find their voice. Her passion and love for theatre led to her becoming involved with BroadwayWorld where she is thrilled to be writing for the Toronto contingent of the rapidly growing website. When she isn't at the theatre, you can generally find her firmly planted in front of her trusty Blackberry - tweeting, Facebooking or partaking in other such social media activities to ensure that those who want to know are kept apprised of everything that Toronto theatre has to offer. Other interests include movies, art, music, shopping, fashion and martial arts with the occasional foray into the world of finance. Follow Kelly on Twitter at @broadwaybabyto Creep her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Kelly-Cameron/500187141

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