Cy was working on a revamped version of Welcome to the Club (https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/welcome-to-the-club-4540), which had not done well on Broadway. He was very busy with other projects and, though he was fully capable of writing down all his songs, he did not have the time to do so. I was hired to transcribe them for him. I had been called about this gig by a couple of different people and was excited to begin.
Cy’s assistant, Terrie Curran, finally called me and we set my first appointment with Cy to be on December 11, 1992. There was a big storm that day and Terrie called to ask if I wanted to reschedule. This was before I had a computer, a cell phone, or cable TV, and I was unaware of just how bad this storm was (https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/ny/new-york-city/KLGA/date/1992-12-11). I told her I did not want to cancel and I would be there. I recall that the L train wasn’t running because the tunnel was flooded, so I walked from my apartment at 14th and First and got a subway uptown at Eighth Avenue. I arrived before Cy, and he came in bearing coffee and bagels for all.
In subsequent meetings, I would go to his studio on 54th Street and put a tape recorder on the top of his upright piano. I would then sit on the arm of a nearby well-worn chair that many a famous butt must have sat on and he would look into my eyes and play and sing to me. I would then take the recording home and write down the music. It was one of the best gigs ever! I sweated blood over every note and was thrilled that Cy was pleased with the end results.
I completed this project before leaving on a European tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, so, unfortunately, I did not get to see the workshop performance(s).
