Songwriter/Dramatist Rupert Holmes Speaks to Upper School Chorus

The Upper School Chorus finished the week with a lively and entertaining Zoom call with singer/songwriter, dramatist and author Rupert Holmes, who is widely known for the hit singles "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" and "Him.” He is also well-known for his musicals The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which earned him two Tony Awards, and Curtains, in which he collaborated with John Kander and Fred Ebb.

The Zoom call was arranged through MBS Choral Director Ben Krauss, who co-orchestrated the 2012 Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood and subsequently worked as Mr. Holmes’ music assistant. 

On Friday’s call, Mr. Holmes discussed his career path and shared some of the keys to success in the performing arts.  He underscored the importance of being true to yourself. 

“In your career, the best thing that you can do is to be unique and be as much yourself as you can be,” he told the students. “Being unique is important because if someone likes what you’re doing, they have no choice but to go to you to get it.”

He discussed working with Barbra Streisand (whom he said truly epitomizes being true to oneself) and recalled speaking with her for the first time.  “I had just put out an album, and it was not a commercial success. One day, I got a phone call in my apartment from Barbra Streisand and I refused to believe it. I said, ‘This is the worst Barbra Streisand impression that I’ve ever heard! Who is this?’ he said.  “When she mailed me a first class ticket to L.A., I started to think this was a very elaborate – and very expensive – prank.”

He recalled Streisand picking him up at the airport and taking him to a screening of Funny Lady before working on her Lazy Afternoon record. “The most famous female film star in the world is chauffeuring me around L.A.,” he remembered thinking. “If this is a dream, I’m going to kill whoever wakes me up!”

Holmes also discussed his most famous song, “Escape (The Piña Colada Song) and changing the lyric from “If you like Humphrey Bogart” to “If you like Piña Coladas” just a few seconds before recording the vocals.  “It’s amazing that the thing that most identifies the song – and completely altered the course of my career and my life — was a spur of the moment decision,” he said. “It’s amazing and scary!”  

Although Holmes had written the title simply as “Escape,” the record company lobbied for him to change it to “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” after people started requesting it that way on the radio. 

Mr. Holmes also spoke about his collaboration with the legendary songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb for the 2006 show Curtains.  As part of a Q&A with students, Mr. Holmes discussed writing for different mediums, the creative process, and collaboration.

“On some shows, like Edwin Drood, I wrote it entirely on my own. I’m used to working alone. Everyone agrees and there are no fights,” he said. “When I work with other people, you have to understand what your goal is jointly and how you can best facilitate that. The credit that I’ve always loved in French films is ‘realized by.’ You work together to make something real.”