From “Caddyshack” to “Stripes” to “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray’s been entertaining us for decades. Now, he’s bringing his musical world to SoFlo.
The one and only Bill Murray is bringing a world of music and literature to the good people of South Florida. It’s part of Bill’s New Worlds tour, going down Friday night at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton. Deco’s Chris Van Vliet is live in Boca with the man who has truly lived a “Cinderella Story” — Bill Murray.
Chris Van Vliet: “We are just three guys hanging out on a balcony — world-renowned cellist Jan Vogler and the one and only, the legendary Bill Murray. We just saw a little performance there. Bill, you gotta tell me how this all came together.
Bill Murray: “Well, Jan and I met on an airplane. We were flying from Berlin to New York, and I said, ‘Are you gonna be able to fit that thing in the overhead compartment?’ and he looked at me like I was dense.”
Chris Van Vliet: “It’s a cello?”
Bill Murray: “Yeah, it’s a Stradivarius cello. It costs more than all the people on board the plane and it’s worth more, except for present company. But he looked at me like I was dense. He said, ‘No, it has its own seat. It has its own seat in first class.'”
Chris Van Vliet: “And Jan, did you know you were talking to Bill Murray? And did you know you guys would be coming up with what you have now?”
Jan Vogler: “Not really. I mean, it was a lot of fun talking, and we had a very good time, but I didn’t think that far, but Bill mentioned actually lately that he had a little bit of an idea — He’d met a cellist and maybe something would be born out of it. I think he was quicker than me, quicker mind.”
Chris Van Vliet: “So Bill, what can people expect when they come to see you at Mizner Park tomorrow?”
Bill Murray: “Well, we’re playing outdoors, which I’m excited to play outdoors. We’ve been up north for a long time, and just being outdoors… We jumped in the ocean today. That’s how northern we are.”
Chris Van Vliet: “You did?”
Bill Murray: “Yeah. So we jumped in the water. And it’s a show of words and music and songs. There’s poetry, there’s literature, there’s classical music, there’s modern American music of the Broadway type, there’s Gershwin, Bernstein, there’s great American writers like James Fenimore Cooper and Mark Twain. It’s a meat loaf of a show.”
Chris Van Vliet: “It sounds delicious. Being back here in South Florida is kind of like a homecoming for you. You filmed ‘Caddyshack’ not far from where we are here.”
Bill Murray: “Very close to here. As a matter of fact, I can feel my feet driving home from the nights out we used to have. Yeah, I spent a lot of time here on that fun movie, and I think about it all the time. I’ve made a few movies down here, and I like to work down here, but, you know, as most of you realize, it’s a nicer place to relax than to work, but it’s not like other places where it’s so nice that no one works — People actually do work in Florida. So I feel comfortable, very comfortable.”
Chris Van Vliet: “‘SNL’ fans will remember you singing as a lounge singer singing the ‘Star Wars’ song — Is that where all this began?”
Bill Murray: “Well, I don’t know. Probably began singing in the shower or something, I don’t know. Singing while hitchhiking — I did a lot of hitchhiking once upon a time, and, you know, you get lonely out there on the road. I learned how to whistle pretty well and sing pretty well just being there by myself wishing that someone would pick me up.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Do you still sing in the shower?”
Bill Murray: “No, but I hitchhike.
Chris Van Vliet: “Who wouldn’t pick up Bill Murray, right? Jan, what is your favorite Bill Murray film?”
Jan Vogler: “Oh, I love so many. I actually just saw the newest one — Wes Anderson’s ‘Isle of Dogs,’ and even just hearing Bill’s voice, and I thought the whole dog he incorporated in the film was just Bill Murray. So it was fantastic.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Bill, do you have a favorite Bill Murray film?”
Bill Murray: “Well, I like this one that Jim Jarmusch made called ‘Broken Flowers,’ and I like one called ‘Groundhog Day’ that a fellow named Danny Rubin wrote and Harold Ramis directed. And I really like them all. They’re sort of like your children — You’re not supposed to hate any of them. You’re supposed to really admire them and really encourage them, boost them all. I love them all, but I had a lot of fun making them. I’ve enjoyed the job of making them, and I’ve met a lot of nice people that way.”
Chris Van Vliet: “How do you feel like the film-making that you’ve done has inspired the music that you’re making now?”
Bill Murray: “That’s a good question. Well, I started in the theater, so being on a stage is not completely alien to me, but I think the collaboration in film is very powerful. People don’t understand how many people have to collaborate to make a film work. And even though we’re only four, and plus we’ve got a fellow that helps us with the sound and another fellow that helps us with the look of it, the light of it — you have to have all you together at all times. It’s really like everybody’s gotta be pulling their oar at the same time to make it go. So that sort of team play is really what I’ve learned in the movie business.”
The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.
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