Alice Ripley Previews the Jazzy 'Dream World' of Her New Single, 'Beautiful Eyes'

A subway rider sings of her lover in China in “Beautiful Eyes,” the newly released single from Alice Ripley and her eponymous band. The Tony-winning actress wrote the song herself and is accompanied by bandmates Shannon Ford on drums and Christopher Schelling on keyboards. “I feel like I baked a plate of brownies for everyone,” Ripley laughingly tells Broadway.com. “Just bring your own milk.”

The jazzy single “plays out like a dream,” Ripley explains. “I have had the feeling of falling asleep on a train for a split second. The rhythm of the train is rocking and everybody in in their own dream world.” The actress and director John Carucci are putting finishing touches on a music video for the song (pictured above), which will feature Ripley singing into what she calls “one of those old-fashioned Ella Fitzgerald microphones.”

The ability to release one song via iTunes appeals to Ripley, who notes, “In these economic times, it makes sense to me to release a single; we’re a self-made band, so it’s easier for us to absorb the cost, and the audience knows that this is a song we feel is worth listening to. It only costs a dollar, so why not? Maybe I will write a whole album of tracks like ‘Beautiful Eyes,’ but for now, it’s interesting to see how fast we can get a single out there to people.”

Of course, theater fans are eager to see Ripley return to the stage. She played the supporting role of a wife and mother last fall in the play Wild Animals You Should Know at MCC Theatre after a demanding stint in the national tour of Next to Normal. “Doing that show, and that role, on the road was not easy, but the audience kept me afloat,” she says now. “I’ve been taking some time to recover from what was a long marathon, but I’m eager to get back into a work schedule. I have been auditioning for a lot of television, and I’d like to try that; it would be a nice change from eight shows a week.”

Ripley has just booked a March 17 concert date at the Metropolitan Room, which will feature songs from her 2011 acoustic album Daily Practice. “I like having the freedom of just booking myself with my guitar,” she says, “but there’s nothing like collaborating with a large group of people and seeing a project come to fruition.”