In an exclusive interview in the new issue of Parade, Harry Connick Jr. gets personal about his wife and daughters and his latest project, Harry Connick Jr.—A Celebration of Cole Porter, a multimedia Broadway stage show celebrating the iconic American songwriter.
Hey, Porter. Connick not only stars in the Broadway show, which will have him onstage eight times weekly Dec. 7–29, but he also conceived the idea, wrote the script and directed it. The production ties to his new album, True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter, in which he puts his own spin on Porter’s timeless classics, including “Anything Goes,” “Begin the Beguine” and “You Do Something to Me.” Porter, he says, “has always been one of my favorites. I’m not concerned whether people know who [he] is. My goal is for them to come to the theater and leave feeling better.”
Born to Make Music. Connick made his debut, in his home state of Louisiana, early in a family where music was everywhere. At 8, he played piano at Preservation Hall. At 9, he was playing with the New Orleans Symphony. Music was “the only thing that came easy to me,” he says. He’s now a Grammy winner who has sold some 30 million albums worldwide.
Home for the Holidays. This Thanksgiving, he’s looking forward to family time with his wife of 25 years, Jill, and their daughters, Georgia, Kate and Charlotte, at their home in Connecticut. “We don’t do anything special, but it’s nice to sit down and eat dinner together,” he says, adding that he and his family will be reminding themselves this year of the “incredible gift” of their health and their many blessings. “I am grateful.”