So, let's see what I scribbled into my notebook as I interviewed about 20 Tony nominees last Wednesday morning....
David Hyde Pierce -
Me: If you could do any role in a classic musical, what would you be in?
David - "Sweeney Todd. No one would cast me.
Me: I think we'd all love to play Sweeney.
David - Yes. And no one would cast you either.
Michael Mayer - notes that he acted like a little girl when he found out he was nominated. It was "surreal." That if you look at the four shows nominated for best musical, they couldn't be more different. Notes that he loved CURTAINS. Funny, he didn't mention what he thought of MARY POPPINS.
John Gallagher Jr. - Notes how SPRING AWAKENING was the first musical he was ever in. When he auditioned for the two-week workshop, he sang "Hey, Jude."
Jonathan Groff - he's afraid of going up in front of the nation and messing up.
Michael Greif - I asked him about the process of moving the show from Off-bway to Broadway. "We got smarter about uniting the two acts....their psychological underpinnings...little leaner, little smarter...complicate the mother-daughter relationship...change motor of first act." And what about not bringing Sarah Gettelfinger to Broadway? "I think Sarah is an extraordinarily talented young woman....we needed someone who looked like Christine. I think Sarah too understood." Will RENT close, as per the rumors? "I haven't been hearing those things." What about Adam and Anthony going back to the show? "Adam was available. Then Anthony was available. I think they do a beautiful job in teh show." What about Frenchy getting fired? "Frenchy was ready to go. She sang the song ("Seasons of Love") beautifully."
Justin Bond/Kiki and Herb - "If someone's not walking out, we're not doing a good job. All we care about is that they pay."
Douglas Carter Beane - How did you go about writing THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED? "I hear turns of phrases that interest me. Why is XANADU going into the Helen Hayes Theatre, which has been used lately only for one-person shows? "It was available and intimate." Seriously, why are you making XANADU into a musical? Says sarcastically "It's an important piece of cinematic literature." Why didn't Jane Krakowski take the role? "Jane was never officially available....you know she's the ground zero of theater. The Judith Anderson of our generation." Will your coming version of the musical THE BANDWAGON be based on the original revue or the MGM film? "It's based on the screenplay. Before she died, Betty Comden gave me scenes that were cut from the film. You know, they never finished the film." Who'll star in BANDWAGON? "Fred Astaire passed."
Duncan Sheik - why was "There Once Was a Pirate" replaced with "The Guilty Ones" at the top of Act Two in SPRING AWAKENING? "The first one was oblique and metaphoric. The second is more of a pop song. Everyone wanted to try a different song." Why wasn't the character of the Masked Man written into the musical, like in the play? "Originally, Michael Cerveris played the role in the workshops. He was a kind of observer. It didn't work."
Debra Monk - Seriously, is your character based on Fran Weissler? "No. Couldn't possibly be based on Fran. She's not nasty. A tough negotiator, but not nasty."
Jack Viertel - If August Wilson was still alive, how different would RADIO GOLF be? "I watched his rewriting process happen before he died. He knew he was sick, so he did about 95 percent of the work in two and a half months. What he would have changed would be minimal. Literally, a couple of words. He gave the dramaturg permission to change stuff like that if necessary." Will next year's Encores season have a theme? "It's hard to do thematic seasons. We've thought about stuff like Rodgers without Hammerstein, Hammerstein without Rodgers, Hart without Rodgers. But that won't happen."