In 2014 I got to interview co-writers Pamela Weiler Grayson and Alice Jankell just as their show URBAN MOMFARE was having their encore run at Soho Playhouse's International Fringe Festival Encore Series.

Pamela and Alice co-wrote the book together. Additionally, Pamela wrote the music and lyrics, and Alice directed the show.

Now, 10 years after the cast album was recorded, which was in 2015, we get to revisit this show on the heels of the cast album finally being released!

The album is more a showcase of the songs, so that’s why Pamela took the lead in terms of getting the album made and organizing and funding the making of it. Alice was there for every recording session, making sure we nailed all the songs correctly, along with Clare Cooper, who was our M.D/arranger.

For this interview, Pamela took the lead on answering the questions below because Alice wanted to defer to her in terms of the songs, so that is why the answers below are in first person as opposed to "we" or a separate answer from Alice.

In this NEW interview, Pamela and Alice once again answered my call, but this time around they share:

• What made now the right time to release the cast recording of  URBAN MOMFARE
• Why they didn't put the album out in 2015, after it was recorded
• How they feel the show and songs relate to today's world
• Other dreams they'd like to revisIt
• So much more

Connect with Pamela: Website, Facebook, Instagram

Connect with Alice: Website, Facebook, Instagram

Listen to URBAN MOMFARE on all major streaming music platforms beginning February 10, 2025!

Graphic made by Elissa Stein

1. On February 10, the cast recording of your original musical URBAN MOMFARE will finally be released, 10 years after you recorded the album. Why didn't you initially release the cast recording in 2015 after you recorded it? When we first recorded the album, in 2015, after a hit run in the New York Fringe Festival, and then at Soho Playhouse for the Fringe Encore Series, the purpose was to have a professional studio recording of the entire show that we could send out to potential producers, theatres, etc. We had hoped all along that the show would move and have a second life on other stages. We were very proud of the recording, and had a fabulous CD, with our great cover art.

I sent the CD's out to some industry people, and at that time we didn’t even think to make it public. Especially since we weren’t sure if the show was going to change over time. And nobody was really streaming in 2015. We worked for two years with some Broadway producers, developing the show further, but eventually that relationship did not work out, which was very disappointing for us.

Alice and I were already deep into thinking about our next collaboration for a new musical, so we hit the Pause button on that show and moved on to other projects. I still have a box of the CD’s in my basement. And I have the album on my Dropbox and my own personal Apple Music files, so I do love listening to it. And Paul Adams, the A.D. of Emerging Artists Theatre (who produced us in the Fringe), tells me he still plays the CD in his car all the time!

2. What made now the right time to share this album with the world? As we were approaching the 10th anniversary of the show, I thought it would be a great way to celebrate the success of the show to release the album commercially and get it on digital streaming platforms. I went back to my cast and team, and everyone was very excited about it.

I did have to negotiate new streaming agreements with everyone, since we didn’t originally have that, and then I also signed up for Distrokid so that the songs would have a distributor to all the major music platforms.

We had so many fans of the show who kept asking over the years if we were going to do it again, so at least I feel like now the show can have a second life in this studio album. Our 10th anniversary feels like the perfect time to release the album publicly. I’m so excited for people who loved the show to hear it, and also hopefully to create some new fans!

2014 Cast of URBAN MOMFARE, Photo Credit: Dixie Sheridan

3. URBAN MOMFARE ran in 2014 and you recorded the album in 2015. How do you feel the songs & story relate to where the world is today? I am amazed at how well these songs have held up over time. They really are timeless and universal. As long as there are mothers who worry about their kids, compete over stuff, bond and argue with each other, and express feelings of inadequacy - essentially all moms, right? - then I think this show is relevant. More than just about mothering, this show was always about female friendships over time, and the songs really reflect that.

We had a broad range of audience members who felt the show resonated with them, including men and people who don’t even have kids. Our fans were also from different walks of life, even though this show is set in the rarefied world of the Upper East Side.

Although my kids are grown now, and it’s possible that I could be writing Urban Grandma-fare at this point, I see so many of the same issues and relationships with the younger generation of moms. In fact, one of our original actors now has a young daughter, and she told me that she just went through the same kind of harrowing kindergarten school admissions process in the City that we talk about in our show.

4. In getting ready to release the album, did you take a listen back to the original recording to see if you wanted to make any changes to it, whether in technology or other aspects? I listened to the album many times, in preparation for this release, and I’ve been very happy with all of it. I didn’t want to go back and change anything. Not only do I think the production aspects were very high quality for a studio cast album, but the point now is to showcase this show in its original format, so that it sounds just like the show we did in the Fringe. Including using the egg shakers from the staged version of the "Music for Gifted and Talented Babies" class.

This isn’t supposed to be a Broadway cast album, with a full orchestra. It has wonderful quality singers, and it’s done with our original three fabulous musicians playing keys, electric guitar, bass, and percussion. Chip Fabrizi, from PPI Recording, did a great job editing and mastering. Plus we have a few fun sound effects that really capture the essence of the show. You’ll hear what I mean when you play the album - no spoilers here!

5. By releasing URBAN MOMFARE 10 years after it was recorded, you are showing others by being living proof that it's never too late to make that dream happen. What are some other dreams you would now like to revisit? I love the idea that doing this might inspire others to hold onto their dreams and not give up on their shows, no matter what happens down the line. One important takeaway for other artists might be encapsulated by that old Sound of Music line about one door closing and somewhere else a window opening (I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea!). Releasing this album is my version of a window opening - and not just a window on your Apple Music app!

One of my dreams in giving this show a second life in the form of the album streaming, is that maybe someone listening, and bopping along to some of the tunes, or emotionally connecting to some of the songs, will be a producer who wants to do this show! We’d be thrilled to bring it back to the stage.

In terms of other dreams, I actually have been wanting to do more performing again, as I started out when I was much younger as a musical theatre performer, and I’d love to get back onstage at some point, maybe doing a cabaret show, which I have actually been thinking about a lot. A have a bunch of old “trunk songs” that I’d love to revisit that could have a second life in a cabaret, so there’s that. Stay tuned!!

More Interviews with Pamela Weiler Grayson and Alice Jankell:

2014 (Read Here): URBAN MOMFARE 2014 NYC International Fringe Festival Encore Series

2024 (Read Here): Pamela Weiler Grayson OBSERVANT play

Pamela Weiler Grayson

More on Pamela Weiler Grayson:

Pamela Weiler Grayson's award-winning plays and musicals have been seen on stages throughout the country, including Primary Stages, The Group Rep/Lonny Chapman Theatre, Cincinnati Lab Theatre, and Emerging Artists Theatre. Urban Momfare (composer/lyricist/co-book writer) won a Best Musical award at the New York International Fringe Festival, garnered four stars and a Critics Pick from Time Out. The Sustain, co-written with Alice Jankell and composer Aaron Drescher, and developed in Theatre Now New York’s International Musical Writers Lab, was a semifinalist at the 2021 Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Music Theater Conference. OBSERVANT is the recipient of a 2024 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and a semifinalist in the Jewish Plays Project’s 12th National Jewish Playwriting Contest. Dramatists Guild member. Education: Brown University, Fordham Law School, New York Theatre Workshop, and The BMI Musical Theatre Workshop.

Alice Jankell

More on Alice Jankell:

Alice is the Artistic Director of The Philipstown Depot Theatre.

For Disney, Alice helped to create and develop new Broadway musicals. As Associate Artistic Director of The Williamstown Theatre Festival, her directing work included AS YOU LIKE IT,  DINAH WAS, and ENOUGH ROPE, the special event on Dorothy Parker starring Elaine Stritch. Alice was the Creative Director of F.A.B. Women (For, About, and By Women) under The Barrow Group’s Off-Broadway umbrella, helming the company of 125 professional female writers, actors and directors. During her tenure, F.A.B. Women generated and produced 48 new plays.

Alice’s own scripts have appeared across the country, and a collection of her plays has been published by Leicester Bay Theatricals. Her play, THE SWEET SPOT, played Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters, and her musical (with Pam Weiler Grayson) about urban motherhood (Director/Co-Writer), won a Best Musical Award from the NY International Fringe Festival, was a Critic’s Choice, and garnered 4 stars from Time Out.