America’s Sweetheart: An Evening with Molly Ringwald

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How could you forget her? As the late John Hughes鈥 muse for well-known 80s movies like The Breakfast Club听补苍诲 Pretty in Pink, the multi-talented, red-haired beauty can be found debuting her musical talents with her first jazz album, 鈥淓xcept Sometimes鈥. Ringwald is 44 now and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon, as a full-time actress, author, and mother of three.

You can catch her at the Berman Center for Performing Arts next month, March 20, where she will perform for one night only with the same band she鈥檚 performed with since 2008. 香港六合彩图库资料听spoke with Ringwald on the phone to discuss what inspired the jazz album, and what the future holds for the master at multi-tasking. Tickets to Americas Sweetheart: An Evening with Molly Ringwald can be found at .
香港六合彩图库资料: What was it like producing your own album for the first time, I know your dad was a jazz musician as well, and wondered if he helped your creative process along the way?听
Ringwald: My dad is a jazz musician and my roots of appreciating jazz start there, but he was not involved in this at all. It was really me and Peter Smith who鈥檚 my pianist and arranger, we really did it together.
When did you originally come up with the idea to produce your own album?听
I really think that it came about while we were performing together. I started performing with this band in 2008, and it just went really well, I was enjoying the experience, and it seemed like something I wanted to capture while we were doing it, and I didn鈥檛 know how long we were going to keep playing together, and so we did it a little bit commando-mission style.
Are you the type of person who sets five or 10 year goals for yourself? Did you always plan to become an actress, author, and jazz musician?
In some ways I have plans, but you never really know what鈥檚 going to happen in life so I would say I have what I鈥檇 like to call wish lists, and I try to keep those in mind. The only thing I can tell you I was set on was having kids, and I was very focused on that, and I鈥檓 really glad I did that. I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to put a jazz group together because I grew up with jazz and I just always loved it. And I guess also, writing books was something I was always interested in, so I鈥檝e always tried to work toward things, but I鈥檓 not really too set on I have听to do this or I鈥檒l be destroyed, I try to be more flexible.
What was the process like putting your own spin on some of the songs you included in the album? I thought it was really interesting you did your own version of 鈥楩orget About Me,鈥 most memorable for being the anthem of The Breakfast Club, I鈥檓 glad you included it. Was it easy to come up with your own version?
That happened pretty soon after John Hughes passed away and I wanted to do a tribute to him and I was also interested to see if I could even do a jazz version of that song, because its so iconic, and you think of it in that one way, but I鈥檝e always liked covers that completely reimagine songs, otherwise what鈥檚 the point? It was really my collaborator, my arranger Peter, who started to put these really beautiful jazz chords behind it, and I thought, 鈥淥h wow, this is really interesting!鈥
What鈥檚 the difference for you, performing on screen and in front of a live audience? Do you have a preference?听
They are really so completely different. There鈥檚 something really great about a live audience, and it gives an energy to performing that I don鈥檛 think you can get anywhere else. But then there鈥檚 also a sort of intimacy you have on film, the fact that you can do things over and over again, and really dig in and I think that鈥檚 interesting 鈥 it depends on the specific project.
It would be hard for me to pick a favorite and say that鈥檚 all I want to do, but I do think performing in front of a live audience gives you a really great foundation for being able to do things quickly and authentically on film, because for people who are only film actors, they can get a bit lazy in terms of knowing you can always cut, and when you鈥檙e on stage you don鈥檛 have that luxury.
As a lifelong Francophile, you moved to Paris in 1992, and even performed in foreign films there. Can you talk about your time there, and how it helped you evolve as a performer?听
It was really fun, I didn鈥檛 necessarily know it was something I would do, but I was always interested in living there. I knew that if I was ever going to do that, 听it was the right time, so I鈥檓 glad I seized the day and went when I did.
Do you speak French?听
Oui! I learned some in school, but became more conversationally fluent in France. I would love to learn another language.
You鈥檙e obviously a very multi-talented person, and I read somewhere that John Hughes insisted you direct someday. Do you still have a goal for yourself to direct one day?听
Yes, it鈥檚 definitely a goal of mine, and something I think about all the time. I鈥檓 totally ready, I just think it鈥檚 hard for the types of projects I鈥檓 interested in, which are character-based projects, it鈥檚 sort of what would be considered an independent film, and its hard to get the money. Maybe I鈥檒l KickStart it?
You should!听
(laughs) Director Zack Braff just did that, he did it for his last movie, and it worked, so anything is possible.
Do you have any favorite independent films?听
I love Frederico Felleni鈥檚 movies, like Nights of Cabiria. I like foreign, artsy movies, or character-based movies. I love 1970s cinema, Cindy Lumet鈥檚, Dog Day Afternoon, and of course the Coppola movies, and I also like Sofia Coppola鈥檚 movies.
Check out Ringwald鈥檚 website to see the latest she鈥檚 working on: