Maude Maggart has gained a following by singing standards such as “Always” and “Star Dust.” In her new show “Speaking of Dreams” which runs at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel through May 10, she adds some modern songs to her repertoire. Maggart met with Playboy‘s Joe Westerfield to discuss her new show, the state of cabaret, and her sister Fiona Apple.

PLAYBOY: How does someone your age, 33, get into cabaret?
MAGGART: I sang a standard at the funeral of family friend, composer Marshall Barer, and the singer Andrea Marcovicci heard me. Afterward she told me I should consider singing that kind of song and offered to help me. A couple of years went by before I took her up on it. She asked what I was interested in and suggested music from the 1920s and 1930s because she thought that would be appropriate for my voice. Then she helped me pick out songs, create my first show and get a booking at the Algonquin.

PLAYBOY: Most people think of cabaret as Marlene Dietrich singing in a dingy dark room. How would you disabuse them of that notion?
MAGGART: First of all cabaret is noun, not an adjective. One of the worst abusers of that is Simon Cowell, who always says “Oh, you’re toooo cabaret.” He doesn’t seem to know what the word means. A cabaret is a room where people traditionally sing songs from the Great American Songbook, but they don’t have to.

PLAYBOY: You’ve been called “voice of a generation just not her own,” yet your new show features songs that are more modern. Are you rebelling against that nickname?
MAGGART: I’m really just expanding my notion of what’s appropriate. I used to be really locked into the 1920s and 1930s, because I could get my hands around that type of song. But what really interests me is marrying different genres. All good songs have a story about what it is to be a human being, so why should I be generationally specific? So this show features samba, Broadway show tunes, Joan Baez, Judy Collins songs in addition to standards.

PLAYBOY: Along the lines of marrying genres is your recording of Irving Berlin’s “Yiddisha Nightingale.” I think it was originally a honky-tonk song, yet you sing it like a modern love song.
MAGGART: It was written in 1911 and meant to be sung in a vaudeville show. But I read the lyrics, and I liked its tender aspects. I thought it was a love song, a sonnet to a Jewish woman. And there aren’t many love songs to Jewish women. There are generic love songs and Jewish novelty songs but hardly any Jewish love songs. It’s particularly funny when consider that almost so many songwriters were Jewish.

PLAYBOY: You recently sang at the Irish Rock Revue here in New York. How did that come about?
MAGGART: Again, it was Andrea, who put me in touch with Joe Hurley who put the show together. I didn’t actually sing Irish rock; I sang some traditional ballads. It was fun—something completely different.

PLAYBOY: Your sister is Fiona Apple. What’s it like having a famous sibling?
MAGGART: It’s great. I’m proud of her. She’s famous for her talent—not for doing outrageous things. Musically, the big difference between us is that she composes her own material, while I interpret other composers. But we’ve talked a little about singing together.

PLAYBOY: So when you’re not performing. What music do you like to listen to?
MAGGART: I like a lot of pop music out there—Jonatha Brooke and Alison Krauss. It’s not necessarily stuff I would sing, but it’s still good.

PLAYBOY: When I first talked to you, you said you had a connection to Playboy.
MAGGART: (Laughs) Well, I was invited to the Mansion for movie night—I know that’s a big deal—but I lost the phone number—honest. I hope I get another chance.

PLAYBOY: You’re shows sometimes seem like set pieces straight out the better Woody Allen movies. Has he ever seen you perform?
MAGGART: No, and he’s worked with Andrea in The Front and Karen Akers in The Purple Rose of Cairo. (laughs) I should be next. He should come. I’ll comp him—no cover.

(Photo: Monique Carboni)