Brown has recently released “Speak Low,” a new solo debut album of romantic standards from the American Songbook. The acclaimed songstress makes a third appearance on ShowBiz Chicago to catch readers up on life on the Mary Poppins road, the process of making a debut album, and why her dog, Eddie Elizabeth, is still very much a theatre fanatic.

Click on the picture to hear the podcast or follow the transcripted interview below.

ShowBiz Chicago: Welcome back to ShowBiz Chicago! First off, congratulations on the amazing “Tonight Show” appearance.

AB: Thank you! It was so much fun. Conan could not have been nicer to us. He’s- I think- the tallest person I have ever met hands down [laughs].

ShowBiz Chicago: So we’ve heard. What was it like in the historic environment of “The Tonight Show,” with a paragon piece of storytelling such as Mary Poppins?

AB: It was amazing just watching the whole process happen with “The Tonight Show.” You get to the show about 7am and [we did] our camera blocking rehearsal, then start filming at 5 and we went on about 5:45 in front of a live studio audience. So it was so exciting. I’ve always been such a huge fan of the Conan show so it was a dream come true.

ShowBiz Chicago: What was it like setting up the production of “Step in Time”? It seemed to be the biggest number ever performed on the program.

AB: Conan was like, ‘We didn’t have you guys when I was in New York because the studio wasn’t big enough,’ but you know they built Gavin’s proscenium walk in Vegas and brought it over, set it up in Conan’s studio. So there was a lot of work that went into it, to re-block everything because we only do three minutes and “Step in Time” is usually seven minutes. So we had to cut and paste. All of our swings were on and so it was a full cast.

ShowBiz Chicago: Let’s talk about your album, which is just an incredible debut. You have some iconic selections on there from the American Songbook, standards like “My Funny Valentine” and “I’ve Got the World on a String”, and the title song. How did you first get introduced to the American Songbook and what inspired you to revisit it with the album?

AB: There were songs that I’ve always grown up and I think that they’re songs that no matter how old you are you’ve heard them and you know them, because they’re such relatable songs. They were always my favorites growing up and I sang some when I was in college. So with it being my first CD I just wanted to go with a genre that really spoke to me and that I really loved and felt comfortable singing. It’s also so different from anything anyone has seen me do in Mary Poppins or Beauty and the Beast. So it’s also to show that I can do something completely different than what people seem me do on the stage, and it was a really intimate CD. It was really nice going in with my musicians and singing with them live. It was just great.

ShowBiz Chicago: How did you go through the material to select the songs, with such a fruitful compilation?

AB: It was a really hard process, because you know there are so many great songs. There were songs that I wanted to do that I couldn’t do because they need to tell a story, there has to be somewhat of a through-line. So that was one of the hardest processes to figure out exactly what songs would mesh well and you have to make sure you have some up-tempos. I wanted it to be somewhat unique and so that’s why I got the arrangers that I did. Tony Bennett and all these great people who collaborated with me to really make a song like “My Funny Valentine” that’s so popular a little different. It was made for me. Like the songs “Smile” and “Make Someone Happy”, I combined those two and made it more of an up-tempo song. So that was one of the fun parts, the creative process [of] trying to find a way to make it my own.

ShowBiz Chicago: Since graduating from CCM you’ve played these mammoth, iconic roles with Belle in Beauty and the Beast, the title role in Mary Poppins, even singing the Disney standards in On the Record. What was it like inviting audiences to hear you alone as a solo artist for the first time?

AB: It was great just to go out there and be Ashley because I’ve been in all these huge productions which is amazing. It’s been really nice for me to just walk out there with just an orchestra, just a trio and just be me and not have all the other spectacle. It’s a whole different thing to get used to [when you don’t have] all that behind you, but I think that’s what has been so appealing to me so I’ve been able to go out there and just be me and do what I love to do.

ShowBiz Chicago: So are you getting a little tired of playing Mary Poppins, and getting itchy to be out on the road?

AB: [Laughs] It’s not that I’m getting tired, you know I’m leaving the show in February for good. So I’m going to stay in LA and I’m traveling around this next year with lots of different orchestras, working on my album. You know there’s a part of me that’s really ready to move on from the show, I mean it’s been three years and my body is tired from doing eight shows a week since 2004 basically. So that’s starting to take its toll [laughs], but it’s been such an amazing journey and there’s going to be so much about it that I miss. It’s become basically a relationship in my life and I know when I leave in February it’s going to feel like a break-up. Just doing something everyday for three years, it’s going to be really hard in that aspect. But the big part of me is ready to move on.

ShowBiz Chicago: How has it been performing in the different cities? How have varying audiences reacted to the show?

AB: It’s been great because it really shakes us up to because we have different theatres, different backstage space. When we’re onstage it feels like the same thing but backstage is a little different. Audiences all react to different things. It’s really fun to see what they find funny. Some are more vocal than others. It’s funny to see how people react to it so differently. Every city has been very different from New York. But L.A. is loving it, they’re very vocal audiences- they just come along with us for the ride! So we’re having a good time here.

ShowBiz Chicago: Have you had any more flying incidents since we last spoke?

AB: [Laughs] No…knock on wood! You can’t ask me that because now I’m going to jinx myself!

ShowBiz Chicago: Sorry about that. So going off of Mary Poppins, you’ve collaborated with a host of individuals in Disney Theatricals and other companies to create roles for the stage. What was the process of collaboration with David Lai and Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom for “Speak Low”?

AB: David Lai has been such a huge supporter of mine. We actually started working together about two years ago, and it’s just been such an amazing journey for us because we share the love for the art. You know that’s why we’re in it, for no other reason. He’s shown me the way because he’s been working for Sony and he’s done album after album, and this being my first it was really nice to have him. He really pushed me along to make this happen. If it weren’t for him this would not have happened. He really pushed me like “Yes we can do it!” I recorded it on my three months off. I [left] Broadway in October and started rehearsal for the tour in January, and I recorded it [in that time]. It was a passion project for both of us. I’ve learned so much and hopefully I can take all the stuff I learned and make more albums. It’s what I would love to do.

ShowBiz Chicago: Most importantly, how is Eddie Elizabeth Brown doing?

AB: Eddie is good, he’s sleeping on the couch right now. A hard life for Eddie! He’s liking L.A. because it’s cool and not humid, so he can run around the dog park for longer than ten minutes.

ShowBiz Chicago: Did you find a good doggie daycare out there?

AB: Yes I did but I haven’t taken him [yet]!  I’ve been so busy since I’ve been here. There’s a dog park I’ve taken him too a couple times. But he’s still coming to the theatre with me. He’s going to go through a transition too in February not having eighty people come and pet him every night. He’ll have to go through withdrawals like his mom [laughs].

ShowBiz Chicago: What is he going to do for vocal warm-ups after Mary Poppins ends?

AB: I’m going to have to make sure he can come backstage for my concert stuff to keep his voice in shape!

ShowBiz Chicago: You stated several months ago that just for the time being you just like being Ashley. So besides the upcoming concerts, what is next from you?

AB: I’m going to start auditioning, stay in L.A. for a little while, and then I’ll probably end up back in New York. But I’m just going to start auditioning and see what happens, you know take some classes and kind of get back into that. When you’re doing eight shows a week it’s hard to do anything but [that], so I’m going to get into my acting classes and voice lessons and see what else happens. You know, people think ‘You played this, you played that, you won’t have to audition anymore’ and I’m like ‘You’re wrong’; I wish that was the case because I hate auditioning. I’m just going to see what’s next. I’m doing Feinstein’s in New York on February 14th at the Regency, so I have lots of exciting things keeping me busy next year but I think I’m going to let myself take a breath and enjoy what’s going on and see what happens next.

ShowBiz Chicago: If you had your pick, what role would you like to play?

AB: I honestly don’t know. I would love to do something not Disney, just to show people that I can do other things. But you know it’s not that I would ever not do a Disney show again. I’m just going to wait for the role that’s right for me. You go back there and it’s scary because it’s like, I might never ever work again. But hopefully something will come around.

For more information on Ashley Brown, please visit www.AshleyBrownOnline.com. To purchase “Speak Low” please visit www.Sh-K-Boom.com.

According to the producers, “In this original story, the famously macabre Addams Family is put to the test when outsiders come to dinner, hurling Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Fester, Grandmama and Lurch headlong into a night that will change the family forever.”

The Addams Family runs through January 10, 2010  at the Ford Center For The Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre. Ticket prices are $28 to $105 and may be ordered through Ticketmaster.  Visit Broadway In Chicago for more information. Broadway previews will begin March 4, 2010, at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 W. 46th Street). The production is set to open on Broadway April 8, 2010.

Photo Credit: Karl Simone

Broadway’s estimable leading man Cheyenne Jackson has had quite a blitz-filled career on and off the Great White Way. The multi-talenteed performer has captivated critics and audiences alike in such productions as Encores! Damn Yankees, Xanadu (Drama League, Drama Desk nods), All Shook Up (Drama League, Outer Critics Circle nods), and The Agony & The Agony.

Traversing several media genres (and often simultaneously), Jackson has appeared in the Academy Award-nominated film United 93, Hysteria, as wel as television’s Family Practice and Ugly Betty.

Currently portraying Woody Mahoney in the Broadway revival of Finian’s Rainbow and alongside fellow stage veteran Jane Krakowski as ‘Danny Baker’ on NBC’s 30 Rock, Jackson caught up with ShowBiz Chicago to discuss the recent release of The Power of Two (with Michael Feinstein), his illustrious career, and why service with such organizations as amfAR and The Hetrick-Martin Institute keeps him grounded.

Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Feinstein’s new CD, “The Power of Two”

For more information on Cheyenne Jackson, please visit www.CheyenneJackson.com. To purchase your copy of “The Power of Two”, please visit here. For more information or to purchase tickets to Finian’s Rainbow, please visit www.FiniansOnBroadway.com

The disc boasts an eclectic array of freshly melodic arrangements from various composers’ songbooks, including Jule Styne, John Kander, and Maury Yeston. Luker’s consummate soprano mix and haunting interpretations of such numbers as “Unusual Way” and “Killing Time” pepper the inspiriting recording.

Luker recently caught up with ShowBiz Chicago to discuss producing her third solo album, launching a career as one of the Phantom’s first sopranos, and what it will be like to finally wave goodbye to Winnifred Banks.

For more information on Rebecca Luker please visit www.RebeccaLuker.com. To purchase “Greenwich Time” please visit www.PSClassics.com.