An interview with Dan Furman, the pianist for Granny’s Blue-Mers. Rev. Mary and Granny’s Blue-Mers are synonymous with wild and woolly wordplay from back in the day. For a while it was sexy banter … but now her act has gotten smokier. I’m Soooo High: Rev. Mary’s Reefer Revue extols the contributions of cannabis as sung by some clever writers spanning 1910-1950.
Dan Furman has been the pianist and arranger for Granny’s Blue-Mers since its inaugural show at The Duplex.
How did you get involved with this wacky bunch?
I first met Mary when I began playing piano for the performance classes she was giving at a school building down in Bay Ridge. Later on, I continued working with her at the M Center when we did our performances up at W 36th St in Manhattan. When Mary
You’re a composer as well, share with us some details.
Some of these songs [in the Granny shows] have never been notated. How do you & Mary collaborate/orchestrate them?
You are also a fixture in the cabaret circuit, tell us all about it. I have been playing piano for cabaret pretty ever since I moved to NYC back in 2003. I like cabaret—it’s an intimate art form performed in small rooms that falls somewhere in between a solo concert and music theater. In our world of mega-concerts and blockbuster movies, it is great to help keep cabaret alive!
What’s next?
I recently wrote songs for a new play by Arnold Schulman which is opening at Theater for a New City on March 14th and will play through the 31st. I also hope to organize another production this year of my tavern musical, “Impossible But True,” which is a retelling of the Rip Van Winkle story.
Showtones 