The lives of Philip Chaffin and his husband, Tommy Krasker, are immersed in music. Together they own PS Classics, a small, indie record label dedicated to musical theater.
Chaffin is also a singer in his own right. A regular performer on the stages of various theater companies, he's just released Somethin' Real Special, a CD devoted to the music of lyricist Dorothy Fields.
"My husband Tommy is a big fan of Fields," Chaffin said. "For a long time he kept saying 'Dorothy Fields, Dorothy Fields', he collected all of her music. So I started listening. Her lyrics were something I connected to."
Fields ( 1905-1974 ) won an Oscar in 1936 for co-writing ( with Jerome Kern ) "The Way You Look Tonight," the classic song from the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers film Swing Time. By then she'd already made a name for herself on Broadway. Until her death nearly 40 years later, she wrote regularly for film and for the stage. One of the most notable works toward the end of her life was the Bob Fosse musical Sweet Charity, which was adapted into a 1969 film starring Shirley MacLaine.
"It was unusual for a woman to write songs during that era," said Chaffin. "Yet she wrote for fifty years. A lot of people don't know who she is, yet her lyrics are very familiar."
He pointed to the line "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again" from Pick Yourself Up, another song Field and Kern co-wrote for Swing Time, as an example of a Fields lyric that was well known, even if Fields' name was not. President Obama paraphrased that lyric during his 2009 inauguration speech.
"Her lyrics are how you talk," said Chaffin. "She wrote like human speech, but poetically."
The singer acknowledged that it's tough to sell those old songs in today's market. "I'm not Michael Buble," he said. "So I don't have millions of people following me. It's hard to get this material across to people, but it's what I like to sing."
When he's not singing or performing in shows, he and husband Tommy are hard at work on producing recordings for PS Classics. The label's repertoire of more than 100 CDs includes Broadway hits, such as the recent cast recordings of the Fiddler on the Roof revival with Alfred Molina. The label also offers lesser known titles from off-Broadway and smaller theater companies.
"Since we're a gay couple, we gravitate towards gay shows," said Chaffin. Their extensive catalog includes Zanna Don't!, a "musical fairy tale" in which homosexuality is the norm, while heterosexuality is the taboo. The show starred Jai Rodriguez of Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
They're also preparing to record Fun Home. Based on a graphic novel by Alison Bechtel, author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, the well-received musical is currently running at New York's Public Theater. It's an autobiographical tale about a young lesbian who comes out, only to find out her father is gay. Bechtel wrote the story based on her own life experiences.
"We don't have much in the way of lesbian CDs," said Chaffin. "We'd like to do more. We'll do anything if it's good. I only do recordings that I like because it takes me out of auditions and away from stage work. It's a niche market, but I'm living a dream, and our fans are very vocal."
Philip Chaffin Chaffin: Somethin' Real Special, is now available via PS Classics. Visit www.psclassics.com .
