Many will remember Molly Ringwald from teen movies such as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty In Pink. The young actress was nominated for a Golden Globe at the age of 13 for Tempest.
She tackled Broadway with Cabaret, How I Learned to Drive and the Tony-nominated Enchanted April.
The Molly Ringwald Quintet heads to Randolph Street to bring some spring this March with her first jazz album, titled Except Sometimes. Included is a cover of Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me" that harkens back to her past along with a variety of jazz standards.
Nunn rang Ringwald to discuss her tour called An Evening with Molly Ringwald.
Windy City Times: Hi, Molly. You are coming to City Winery in Chicago. Have you been to Chicago many times in the past?
Molly Ringwald: I did two movies there, in the suburbs anyway, in Chicago. Yeah, I have been back a few times.
WCT: You started singing when you were very young?
Molly Ringwald: Yes, practically pre verbal. I was a jazz singer with my father's jazz band. I was touted as the world's youngest jazz singer. I don't know if it was me or it might have been Sammy Davis Jr.!
WCT: What does your dad think about you singing jazz now?
Molly Ringwald: He thinks it's great. I'm not performing with my dad now and I have my own band. The music my dad does is more traditional jazz. I am a little bit more modern. What is the venue like? I have never been there.
WCT: City Winery in Chicago just celebrated three years and has a small intimate performance space. There are two floors with a wine room and restaurant.
Molly Ringwald: Sounds great.
WCT: Will you get to have any fun while in Chicago?
Molly Ringwald: I don't know how long I am there for. Usually everything is part of a little mini-tour. I go in and out. I have three kids so I can't stay out for too long. Usually I go out for a few days and it is boom, boom, boom. I don't know how I will be there but I hope to get to have a little fun.
WCT: Are your kids on tour with you?
Molly Ringwald: No, they are in school. The only time they went on tour with me was when I went to Australia and New Zealand because it was during the summer. We all went and did a family working vacation.
WCT: How was Australia?
Molly Ringwald: I love Australia. It was great and different because I had never been there during the winter months. Their summer is our winter. This was the first time I had been there during their winter.
WCT: Was it cold?
Molly Ringwald: Yeah, but cold the way California is cold—not really cold.
WCT: You lived in Europe for a while, didn't you?
Molly Ringwald: Yes, I lived in Paris for a few years. I live in California now. I lived in New York for a few years and had my first kid there, met my husband there, and now we are in California.
WCT: You are very well-travelled!
Molly Ringwald: [Laughs] Yeah.
WCT: Growing up you must have listened to jazz music in the house. Do you still own a record player?
Molly Ringwald: You know, I still have a record collection but I don't have a record player right now. We just moved so I have been unpacking boxes that have been in deep storage for years and years. I am intrigued by the stuff that I find. I was sort of hoping that I would find a record player. I guess I could always buy one too. I have held onto my records but I don't know the condition that they will be in. I miss vinyl.
WCT: It's making a comeback. Concord Records is a classic label that you recorded Except Sometimes on. How was the journey to singing jazz with them?
Molly Ringwald: It is really the only kind of music that I sing. I can sing other stuff, like when I did Broadway. I have sung with a couple of friends in rock bands before. In terms of music that I sing it is the music that I love. I love the songs and style. It is music comfort food for me. It is just what I enjoy doing right now.
WCT: Do you sing a Billie Holiday song?
Molly Ringwald: In concert I very often do a song that she wrote called "Don't Explain." I didn't record that on this album but I am hoping to record it on the next album. I have a really beautiful arrangement.
WCT: Were there several tracks that didn't make this first album?
Molly Ringwald: We recorded 13 and we narrowed it down to 10 on the album. We have way more material. We recorded the album in 2009 and then didn't actually release it for a really long time because I became very focused on these books I was writing. Since then I have released it and came up with way more songs. The next album will have more stuff and I am thinking about a live album. I think that would be interesting with a live recording and DVD.
WCT: City Winery is a good place to film!
Molly Ringwald: Okay, I will keep that in mind. How are the acoustics there?
WCT: Very good. I just saw Sinead O'Connor play there and it sounded great.
Molly Ringwald: Wow. I love her. Did she have hair or no hair?
WCT: No hair.
Molly Ringwald: I saw her record at an acoustic session in New York and she had hair then. It was so weird to see her with hair. She didn't quite look like herself.
WCT: She still has the pipes. At the City Winery they filmed Oprah's Where Are They Now? with her so maybe you could do one there.
Molly Ringwald: They actually filmed one with me at the Grammy Museum in California.
WCT: I was just trying to get you some work!
Molly Ringwald: [Laughs] Well, thank you for thinking of me.
WCT: You have performed in several musicals. What is your favorite?
Molly Ringwald: My favorite musical that I have done is hands down Cabaret. That was an amazing production. Sally Bowles is a great character. I guess Michelle Williams is going to do it pretty soon.
My favorite musical that I have not been in is Guys and Dolls.
WCT: A revival of that would be fun. Speaking of musicals, you have Stephen Sondheim on your album.
Molly Ringwald: Yes, we do "Sooner or Later" and also an upbeat jazz version of "I Feel Pretty," which is really cool. That is also Sondheim. We are working on a song from A Little Night Music. He's very interesting because he's so musically complex. It is not doing a straight ahead jazz standard. It is always a bit different.
WCT: Your life must be coming around in a full circle.
Molly Ringwald: It's a parabola!
WCT: Your novel When It Happens to You is coming out in paperback?
Molly Ringwald: It did—first in hardcover then in paperback after.
WCT: What inspired that story?
Molly Ringwald: I just thought it was a universal theme that everyone could relate to, which is the theme of betrayal. It is very deep and layered. You can write about it from so many different angles. My original idea was to do these very short stories.
I always liked the idea of interlinked stories. I don't know why but it is something that appealed to me. When I started writing the stories were longer than I expected and I spent more time with each character. The novels and stories just took place. It was a process. I think I was just intrigued by the theme.
WCT: Do you have time to write while out on the road?
Molly Ringwald: No. When I wrote the books it was this perfect moment where I was working on a television show and only had one day every two weeks. It was the perfect job to have while I was writing. Now I find it is much more challenging. I am actually trying to figure that out!
Everyone asks me how I do everything at once but the fact of the matter is you can't do everything at once. I've just been able to do one thing then do everything else. It is very hard to do that simultaneously.
It is hard to start something but once you are in it then I could go away and do stuff. I was already in the novel at that point and knew what I was writing. Once you get in that place you can kind of do it anywhere. Starting a project you need peace and quiet or at least I do.
WCT: I am sure with twins it is hard to find peace and quiet. What is your secret for staying young? You haven't aged.
Molly Ringwald: I am always so flattered when someone says that but it is absolutely not true. I think I look very different. I don't know. I guess I have good genes but I also try to take good care of myself. I try to stay focused on being happy. I think that is the main thing. Making happiness a priority is really good for youth and longevity. Also accepting the fact that you can't stay young forever. Aging gracefully is a really good thing.
WCT: What was it like being on the RuPaul show?
Molly Ringwald: I was not on RuPaul's Drag Race but on Drag U ,where they were teaching women to be glamorous. I don't know if they still have that show but it was an offshoot of the Drag Race. It was fun.
I haven't seen Drag Race in a while. I watched the first three seasons and I think he's amazing.
WCT: It just started again so you can watch the new one.
Molly Ringwald: What season are they on?
WCT: Season six.
Molly Ringwald: Wow, that's incredible.
WCT: With me being a gay boy growing up in the '80s, you really represented an outsider and showed it was okay to be different with your movies.
Molly Ringwald: Aw, thanks; that is nice.
WCT: I always thought Duckie was gay in Pretty in Pink.
Molly Ringwald: Yeah, right? I know! That's what I thought, too. It seemed so obvious to me but everyone thought no because a lot of people wanted to imagine that my character gets together with him. That was not the kind of relationship that they had in my opinion.
WCT: Back then it was hard for them to tackle the subject but if it were remade things would be different today.
Molly Ringwald: Yeah, I would like to think that too. On the other hand, John Hughes became more conservative the older he got so I don't know if he would have been able to go there. But that is life and who knows?
I agree that the movies if made now could be much more open. Ryan Murphy took it and went with it. There is a much sharper edge to what he does but Glee takes it one step further with having gay characters, different ethnicities, and characters with different bodies. The movies I did were very white, you know? They were specific for a certain time and not sure if they could be made now exactly in the same way.
WCT: See you in Chicago soon and safe travels too you!
Ringwald jazzes it up at City Winery, 1200 W. Randolph St., on March 19 at 8 p.m. Visit www.citywinery.com for tickets and details.
