What is your creative process?

Randy Newman: In the case of writing to assignment, I get as much information as I can. As many adjectives, adverbs—slow, fast, sad, happy. I read the script. And I ask them to keep it as simple as they can make it. Often people preface their remarks to say, 'Well, I'm not a musician...' But I don't want any musical hints, really. What you need are feelings about things, and then I'm able to execute it, and try to give them back what they gave me, only in the music.

Do you believe in fairy tales?

Anika Noni Rose: Yes.

Is this a fairy tale for you?

Anika Noni Rose: Yes. I believe that, in this moment with the gift of this project, I'm living my own fairy tale. It truly is, for me, a dream come true. I feel that we need more fairy tales, particularly at this point in time. Real life has become so invasive. You can't turn on the TV or the radio, or get on the internet, without getting every intricate detail of every horror that has happened at every minute of the day. I think that children need a break from that. I think the adults need a break from that, too. We do need to be informed. But, we also need to be able to sit back and think the about the soft things in life. And I think that fairy tales are a nice way for that to happen. And then, they're not always fake. Sometimes fairy tales really do happen.

Were you able to sing with the other performers, or did you sing to pre-recorded tracks?

Anika Noni Rose: You know, it was interesting, because I think 'When I'm Human'...

Randy Newman: Yeah, the gator song...

Anika Noni Rose: We were together, but not. We were all in a studio that was pretty big, and the orchestra was there, sort of in the center. And then, somebody was off to one side. And I was in a room in the corner. And then, somebody was in another booth. Sometimes, I was on the outside, with the orchestra. It depended on where you were, if you could see each other. And you could hear them in the earphones, but you weren't really standing next to each other. But that's one of the few times that we actually got to work together. But there is something fantastic about working with the orchestra live, right there. You can feel that music moving through your body. It really informs the energy that you're able to give. And there were some times that Randy was making changes, as we went along with the musicians, which was just wonderful, because that also informs you. And he gets to hear where things are working in your voice—where you might want to slide to the side a little bit, or shake it up a bit. That's a wonderful experience. I love recording with a live orchestra. Having everybody's energy there...

Randy Newman: I do, too. There's something about an orchestra. It's a great thing.

Anika Noni Rose: It's amazing.