This Sunday on July 13th, the Emmy and Grammy-winning Music & the Spoken Word—which has featured performances by Kristin Chenoweth, James Taylor, and Gladys Knight—will make TV history with its 5,000th consecutive broadcast. As Guinness World Record's longest-running program in broadcast history, Music & the Spoken Word has served as a weekly anchor of peace and hope for millions of viewers—through World War II, 9/11, COVID-19—and has outlasted every major variety show including Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, and 60 Minutes. I recently got in touch with Derrick Porter, the show’s executive producer, principal writer, and presenter, about a lot of this and more.
Jeffrey Kare: To start things off, would you mind telling us about Music & the Spoken Word?
Derrick Porter: Well, Music & the Spoken Word has been running continuously every single week for what will be this Sunday, 5,000 weeks in a row. A pretty notable feat considering so many world events such as the Great Depression, WWII, COVID-19, and many others that might have disrupted it. But every single week, it has pushed forward and on, even despite challenges and setbacks. We're thrilled and proud to be presenting this 5,000th broadcast this coming Sunday to the world.
JK: How did you come to be a part of it?
DP: Well, it's probably a very atypical route that I took, but one year ago, roughly, I was invited by the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to assume the role. As the announcer and as the host and as the writer for Music & the Spoken Word. So I now have agreed to do that. The person prior to me was here for 34 years in these shoes. The person before him was 19 years and the person before him was 43 years. That takes us back to 1929. So I am relatively new and young in tenure. My responsibility is to serve as the executive producer of Music & the Spoken Word, as well as being the principal writer and then the presenter of the Spoken Word message that is shared every single Sunday. Typically around 3 minutes long, 400 words to an audience of around 50 countries that broadcast the show on radio and television. Of course we have a live studio audience every single Sunday as well, which numbers from perhaps 2000 to 8000 people every single Sunday live sitting with us as the show is to put forward.
JK: How does it feel to be reaching 5,000 broadcasts?
DP: Well, I think it's an incredibly unique and humbling opportunity to be here to witness that and to be a part of it when you think of all that has happened and occurred and transpired over the last 5,000 weeks in the world.
To know that this program has been there, being written and produced and presented each week for the moment, for the needs of the hour, being directed and written for the people of the globe. It's again, incredibly humbling and satisfying to see that happen and I suspect that there will be. Many more thousands of broadcasts still to come.
JK: You’ve featured performances from some pretty high profile artists. How do you manage to get them?
DP: Well, that's a great question and we have had many like those over the years and many more. I think the reason is that they've been willing to come and to participate and to do this is because they understand the common purpose that so many of us have and that is to inspire people. To be their best selves and to go out and to instill hope, confidence, trust, and even faith in the world. We're all part of something bigger than ourselves. So for so many of those artists that you mentioned and others. We've gone and invited them to come and to witness that. In each instance when they come into the large theater that we're in that holds 21,000 people under one roof and they see that thing filled, we'll fill it for several nights in a row with them there. I think it is a humbling and incredible experience.
JK: Of all the artists who’ve come to perform, do you have any favorites?
DP: Well, Kristin Chenoweth has been amazing. We've actually had the opportunity to be with her several times. I've gotten to know her personally, and she's an incredible human being. She is a bright ray of sunshine every time she steps on stage. She's authentic and has always wowed the crowds and we have been able again to collaborate and be with her on multiple occasions over the years and she certainly is one of the favorites.
JK: Any others?
DP: I would say, and part of this is just that I'm so new and so I want to be authentic and not just share ones that I've that I've seen perhaps more so than I've participated with. Dallyn Vail Bayles is someone I've gotten to know very well who's had a number of. Of really important roles on Broadway and he was in Phantom and Les Mis and some others. In fact, he'll be with us this weekend participating in some pre-show work that we're doing for the broadcast and has been on the broadcast multiple times, including just just here recently. And he's another one that has been phenomenal. We've also had Ruthie Ann Miles recently on the show. She was a great contributor along and and she's become a great, a great friend, and has done some really incredible things with music in the spoken word as well.
JK: Going back to the beginning, how did you first get started in broadcasting?
DP: Well, believe it or not, 20 plus years ago, I was standing in line to deposit a check at the bank. I was depositing the check and someone behind me said, "Would you be interested in auditioning to be the voice of a credit union that they worked for?." I said, "Well, I've never done anything like that." But nevertheless, I went to the audition and I was successful and I became the voice of that credit union for about two years. So that was my first foray. Then I began to do some minor voiceover work and some things like that. Most of my time after that was spent building and running a business and then suddenly this opportunity came my way and have jumped right in now and been a part of the last 50 broadcasts now that the that that we have put forward, which may sound like a lot, but that is only 1% of the total number of broadcasts that this that this program has done over. These last 5,000 weeks and I look forward to many more to come.
JK: For those who’d like to pursue a career in broadcasting, where do you think would be a good place to start?
DP: Well, I think that the place that I actually started when I was young was I remember my father would go and clip out the news and I would read the news. As if I were a disc jockey into this little microphone and recording it and listening to myself. I did that many nights for a long time. So I think the answer to the question for me is start where you are, start with what you have. If that's a passion that you have, begin practicing that and working on that and refining that and listening to others and watching how they perform and what they do and begin to take that, but not necessarily mimicking it. Just look into having the opportunity to make it yourself. Be yourself through all of that and then go out and look for those opportunities. We have to create our opportunities very often, but go out there and dare to dream far bigger than you ever might think possible. That's really what Broadway is all about in so many ways, is daring to dream something big, something that seems fantastic and incredible and even magical, and then allowing yourself to go and achieve it. Something my dad told me many years ago is, "If not you, then who?." I think that's good advice for all of us. If not me, then who? So why can't I do something like that?
JK: For those who have never caught a broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word before, why should they start tuning in now?
DP: Well, I think that all of us have a need and a desire, of course, to be entertained, and that's important. We actually have a need and a desire even deeper than that, and that is to feel filled, to feel renewed. Music & the Spoken Word is supposed to take 30 minutes each week as a respite from the world, as a break from the busyness, the craziness, the complexities, the worries, the uncertainties, and to be able to pause and to feel renewed. As those feelings come, that then instills within us a confidence and an ability to be able to push forward and to be able to go out and to do big things. So my invitation to anyone would be come and come and let the music warm your soul. Warm your heart and carry that feeling with you. I think you'll find that it is so much more than entertainment, but it is something that is filling and is deep and it and it and it cures a thirsty desert. It's water in a thirsty desert.
JK: Before we go, do you have any other upcoming projects that you’d like to share with us?
DP: Well, the choir in August, we will be down in Buenos Aires, Argentina, performing live in the Movistar Arena. After that we'll be in Sao Paulo, Brazil. After that we'll be in many more exciting locations. So we do have the opportunity to travel and to be out and about. So each of those will be material milestones that we'll be chasing as well. Then of course, every single year for the last 25 years, we've had a major, major Christmas concert. This is the time generally, especially where we've invited major Broadway stars and artists to come and to be with us and to collaborate with us and we'll be. Announcing those names and appointments and times here shortly.
JK: Derrick, I thank you very much for devoting your time to this conversation. It was great getting to talk to you.
DP: Thank you, Jeffrey. It's great to get to talk to you as well. If you're ever in Salt Lake City, I'm going to hold a front row seat for you. We'll roll out the red carpet and we'd love to invite you and to have you as one of our special guests here to witness this moment.
JK: For those who’d like to keep up with your career, where can people find you on the internet?
DP: Musicandthespokenword.com or the Tabernacle Choir on YouTube are probably some of the best places to go and to be able to see and all of the many things that we're doing.
Jeffrey Kare: To start things off, would you mind telling us about Music & the Spoken Word?
Derrick Porter: Well, Music & the Spoken Word has been running continuously every single week for what will be this Sunday, 5,000 weeks in a row. A pretty notable feat considering so many world events such as the Great Depression, WWII, COVID-19, and many others that might have disrupted it. But every single week, it has pushed forward and on, even despite challenges and setbacks. We're thrilled and proud to be presenting this 5,000th broadcast this coming Sunday to the world.
JK: How did you come to be a part of it?
DP: Well, it's probably a very atypical route that I took, but one year ago, roughly, I was invited by the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to assume the role. As the announcer and as the host and as the writer for Music & the Spoken Word. So I now have agreed to do that. The person prior to me was here for 34 years in these shoes. The person before him was 19 years and the person before him was 43 years. That takes us back to 1929. So I am relatively new and young in tenure. My responsibility is to serve as the executive producer of Music & the Spoken Word, as well as being the principal writer and then the presenter of the Spoken Word message that is shared every single Sunday. Typically around 3 minutes long, 400 words to an audience of around 50 countries that broadcast the show on radio and television. Of course we have a live studio audience every single Sunday as well, which numbers from perhaps 2000 to 8000 people every single Sunday live sitting with us as the show is to put forward.
JK: How does it feel to be reaching 5,000 broadcasts?
DP: Well, I think it's an incredibly unique and humbling opportunity to be here to witness that and to be a part of it when you think of all that has happened and occurred and transpired over the last 5,000 weeks in the world.
To know that this program has been there, being written and produced and presented each week for the moment, for the needs of the hour, being directed and written for the people of the globe. It's again, incredibly humbling and satisfying to see that happen and I suspect that there will be. Many more thousands of broadcasts still to come.
JK: You’ve featured performances from some pretty high profile artists. How do you manage to get them?
DP: Well, that's a great question and we have had many like those over the years and many more. I think the reason is that they've been willing to come and to participate and to do this is because they understand the common purpose that so many of us have and that is to inspire people. To be their best selves and to go out and to instill hope, confidence, trust, and even faith in the world. We're all part of something bigger than ourselves. So for so many of those artists that you mentioned and others. We've gone and invited them to come and to witness that. In each instance when they come into the large theater that we're in that holds 21,000 people under one roof and they see that thing filled, we'll fill it for several nights in a row with them there. I think it is a humbling and incredible experience.
JK: Of all the artists who’ve come to perform, do you have any favorites?
DP: Well, Kristin Chenoweth has been amazing. We've actually had the opportunity to be with her several times. I've gotten to know her personally, and she's an incredible human being. She is a bright ray of sunshine every time she steps on stage. She's authentic and has always wowed the crowds and we have been able again to collaborate and be with her on multiple occasions over the years and she certainly is one of the favorites.
JK: Any others?
DP: I would say, and part of this is just that I'm so new and so I want to be authentic and not just share ones that I've that I've seen perhaps more so than I've participated with. Dallyn Vail Bayles is someone I've gotten to know very well who's had a number of. Of really important roles on Broadway and he was in Phantom and Les Mis and some others. In fact, he'll be with us this weekend participating in some pre-show work that we're doing for the broadcast and has been on the broadcast multiple times, including just just here recently. And he's another one that has been phenomenal. We've also had Ruthie Ann Miles recently on the show. She was a great contributor along and and she's become a great, a great friend, and has done some really incredible things with music in the spoken word as well.
JK: Going back to the beginning, how did you first get started in broadcasting?
DP: Well, believe it or not, 20 plus years ago, I was standing in line to deposit a check at the bank. I was depositing the check and someone behind me said, "Would you be interested in auditioning to be the voice of a credit union that they worked for?." I said, "Well, I've never done anything like that." But nevertheless, I went to the audition and I was successful and I became the voice of that credit union for about two years. So that was my first foray. Then I began to do some minor voiceover work and some things like that. Most of my time after that was spent building and running a business and then suddenly this opportunity came my way and have jumped right in now and been a part of the last 50 broadcasts now that the that that we have put forward, which may sound like a lot, but that is only 1% of the total number of broadcasts that this that this program has done over. These last 5,000 weeks and I look forward to many more to come.
JK: For those who’d like to pursue a career in broadcasting, where do you think would be a good place to start?
DP: Well, I think that the place that I actually started when I was young was I remember my father would go and clip out the news and I would read the news. As if I were a disc jockey into this little microphone and recording it and listening to myself. I did that many nights for a long time. So I think the answer to the question for me is start where you are, start with what you have. If that's a passion that you have, begin practicing that and working on that and refining that and listening to others and watching how they perform and what they do and begin to take that, but not necessarily mimicking it. Just look into having the opportunity to make it yourself. Be yourself through all of that and then go out and look for those opportunities. We have to create our opportunities very often, but go out there and dare to dream far bigger than you ever might think possible. That's really what Broadway is all about in so many ways, is daring to dream something big, something that seems fantastic and incredible and even magical, and then allowing yourself to go and achieve it. Something my dad told me many years ago is, "If not you, then who?." I think that's good advice for all of us. If not me, then who? So why can't I do something like that?
JK: For those who have never caught a broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word before, why should they start tuning in now?
DP: Well, I think that all of us have a need and a desire, of course, to be entertained, and that's important. We actually have a need and a desire even deeper than that, and that is to feel filled, to feel renewed. Music & the Spoken Word is supposed to take 30 minutes each week as a respite from the world, as a break from the busyness, the craziness, the complexities, the worries, the uncertainties, and to be able to pause and to feel renewed. As those feelings come, that then instills within us a confidence and an ability to be able to push forward and to be able to go out and to do big things. So my invitation to anyone would be come and come and let the music warm your soul. Warm your heart and carry that feeling with you. I think you'll find that it is so much more than entertainment, but it is something that is filling and is deep and it and it and it cures a thirsty desert. It's water in a thirsty desert.
JK: Before we go, do you have any other upcoming projects that you’d like to share with us?
DP: Well, the choir in August, we will be down in Buenos Aires, Argentina, performing live in the Movistar Arena. After that we'll be in Sao Paulo, Brazil. After that we'll be in many more exciting locations. So we do have the opportunity to travel and to be out and about. So each of those will be material milestones that we'll be chasing as well. Then of course, every single year for the last 25 years, we've had a major, major Christmas concert. This is the time generally, especially where we've invited major Broadway stars and artists to come and to be with us and to collaborate with us and we'll be. Announcing those names and appointments and times here shortly.
JK: Derrick, I thank you very much for devoting your time to this conversation. It was great getting to talk to you.
DP: Thank you, Jeffrey. It's great to get to talk to you as well. If you're ever in Salt Lake City, I'm going to hold a front row seat for you. We'll roll out the red carpet and we'd love to invite you and to have you as one of our special guests here to witness this moment.
JK: For those who’d like to keep up with your career, where can people find you on the internet?
DP: Musicandthespokenword.com or the Tabernacle Choir on YouTube are probably some of the best places to go and to be able to see and all of the many things that we're doing.