Seth's Broadway Diary, Volume 1: Part 1 (34 page)

Raúl was then set to play Zangara in the revival of
Assassins
, which was going to play the Music Box Theatre. However, after September 11th the show was canceled because of the theme. Unfortunately, Raúl had already quit
tick, tick… BOOM!
, so he had no gig. Out of the blue, The Roundabout called and offered him the role of the Emcee in
Cabaret
. He had seen it months before and coveted the role but never thought he'd ever get it. He loved doing it and felt that whole experience was about conquering fear and constantly growing. Sam Mendes, who directed it, told him that if he gave the same performance two nights in a row, he was failing himself. He needed to keep changing and re-inventing it. The hardest and scariest part for him was that, as the Emcee, he had to constantly improv with the audience. He eventually grew to love it… especially when he got to sass audience members who put their drinks onstage.

We then spoke about him playing Philip Sallon in
Taboo
. He said that the real Philip came to see the show on Broadway and afterwards Raúl asked him what he thought. Philip said, "Hmm… do you want me to be honest?" Raúl said, "Yes." (Mind you, Philip was still dressed in his "going to the theatre outfit": A Vivienne Westwood white pantsuit, Vivienne Westwood brooch and an afro made out of shaving cream. Seriously.) Philip shook his head, and afro, and said, "Frankly, darling… I'm not that camp." Interesting.

I dared to ask Raúl about the famous fight he had with Rosie O'Donnell during
Taboo
. He said that the rehearsal period was a very stressful time: the show was in the gossip columns a lot, Rosie was being sued by her former magazine, and he felt there wasn't a strong director taking control. During one rehearsal, it was apparent that Raúl was having a hard time making a quick change. Rosie asked him to exit the scene earlier so he'd have more time to change. Raúl said that he needed to be in the scene because his character needed the information being said onstage and wanted the costume change cut. The argument escalated until Rosie said that another actor could play his role just as well, and Raúl said that she was right! He stormed off the stage and out of the theatre.

Unfortunately, for those of you that think he had an incredibly sassy exit, please now visualize the outfit that he was storming off in: Henry VIII balloon pants, a cape, a crown and orb, scepter and elf shoes (that curled up at the end). So, first of all, (this was also confirmed by Jen Cody who was standing onstage with him at the time) his "storming off" was greatly de-sassified by the incredible difficulty of walking in elf shoes. Plus, right before he got offstage, his crown fell off and rolled on the stage. Everyone in the theatre was stunned by Raúl's departure and froze in silence — silence that was only broken by his dresser scurrying onstage, picking up said crown so it wouldn’t get dirty and scurrying off. Charles Busch (who wrote the script) immediately tracked Raúl down and, over lunch with Polly Bergen (!), they both convinced Raúl to get back to work ASAP. Raúl said that he and Rosie get along great now and he thinks she was an excellent producer. As a matter of fact, he wishes she'd do another show because he feels she had amazing ideas that helped bring Broadway into the twenty-first century.

Finally, we discussed
Company
, and he informed me that he gets annoyed by the people who always say Bobby can't be acted because all the action happens around him. He feels that there's a lot to be done in observation. The audience is watching a character grow by how he reacts to the situations around him. He explained it by saying that sometimes, during a conversation, the one not speaking is the more interesting one. I was about to agree, but realized that I usually speak non-stop during conversations, so I wound up feeling insulted. Not cool, Raúl. He admitted he was terrified playing the piano during "Being Alive" and was so nervous the first time that his over-sweated hands kept slipping off the piano! Sondheim saw that first nerve-wracking performance and afterwards asked Raúl if he could look up while he was singing at the piano. Raúl flat out said no. "I can act, sing, do the correct lyrics or play the piano… but I can't do it all at the same time!" Brava on the honesty! Raúl thought Sondheim would hate what they did with the show, but he loved it. When they were discussing the theme of the show, he told Raúl that the show is about accepting exactly who you are, and the moment you do that, you become an adult. Hm… I guess that's why I'm a kid at heart?

The interview ended with Raúl saying that he's going to be doing a new musical, but when I asked him for any information, he was more silent than the
Taboo
cast after he stormed offstage in his elf shoes. (P.S. He also sang a song that got cut from
Company
, "Multitude of Amys," and I played for him.)

Another time, we were
Show Boat
and during intermission, the guy playing Ravenal went next door to the ice cream place for a cone. Suddenly, Act Two began and he was still there! The ladies playing Magnolia and Parthy were stuck onstage, frantically making up lines while waiting for him to appear. Jason knew where Ravenal was, but instead of running outside and getting him, he ran to the men's dressing room and breathlessly informed everybody, "Ravenal's still getting ice cream, Magnolia and Parthy are stuck onstage waiting for him…
and they're ad-libbing!
Come on!" Everyone ran to the wings to crouch down and watch Parthy repeat over and over again, "Well! He's just a river rat, that Ravenal. Yes, he is. A river rat." While Magnolia kept up a constant and low energy, "Oh, Mother. Mother, stop." It was the one time it would have been appropriate to use the
Grease
school of improv:

"Do you see Ravenal coming?"


"
No
."

All right. I'm off to mourn the loss of
Lend Me a Tenor
and try to get another gig… one that allows me nights off for the new season of
Top Model
and
Top Chef
. Best of both worlds. Peace out!

Buckley, Brown,
Blonde
and Martin

February 25, 2008

This week began with an interview with Jason Robert Brown for the Broadway Artists Alliance. BAA, which is the sassy abbreviation, is a great program for kids where they come and train for a few days and then present a song or a monologue for casting agents and agent/managers. Jason talked about his first big job in New York which was at the WPA Theater music directing 
New York Rock
, the musical Yoko Ono wrote. The music was as great as other songs she's written and recorded. Let me repeat: It was at the same level as other music she has put out in the world. 'Nuff said… and implied. It was a "challenging" experience for Jason and, as a thank you, the WPA offered to do something for him. He asked them to produce a revue of his songs, and that's how 
Songs for a New World
 got a production.

He knew Andréa Burns from the summer camp they had both gone to when they were tweens-teenagers (French Woods), and then he ran into her when he moved to NY. She started doing demos for him and that segued into her getting cast in his show. He told us that he also used to accompany Brooks Ashmanskas and Billy Porter because they'd both come in and sing at Don't Tell Mama, where Jason worked in the piano bar, and that's how Billy and Brooks wound up in the show. I love how Jason met all three of them in everyday life, and I feel it's a perfect illustration of how the people you start out with can wind up working with you in the big league. And by "big league," I mean "limited Off-Broadway run," but regardless, it's cool!

Songs for a New World
 was directed by Daisy Prince (whose voice I'm obsessed with on the 
Follies
 concert CD), and then her father (Hal Prince) asked Jason if he wanted to work on a new project. Actually, what he said was "Are you interested in working on a project I'm doing… because Sondheim dropped out?" That's right, Jason was asked to replace Stephen Sondheim! That's like someone asking, "Can you run the world? God's taking a break." Jason wrote the words and music to 
Parade
... and won the Tony Award (before he was 30!). But the show wasn't a hit, and the experience left him depressed. He decided to write a really small show after 
Parade
 so that he'd have more control and wrote the brilliant 
The Last Five Years
. I loved the show so much and ditto the CD. Not only must you listen to all the brilliant orchestrations which Jason did himself, but you also need to hear Sherie Rene Scott's excellent E flat on "A Summer in Ohio" (when she sings "…and Mrs. Jamie Wellerstein…") and Norbert's amazing hard R's in "Shiksa Goddess" ("…if your motherrr and your brotherrr had relations with each otherrrr"). Love 'em! Right now, Jason's working on 
13
, which is a musical featuring all 13-year-olds
.
And also starred a 13-year-old pre-pop stardom Ariana Grande!
Not only are the actors 13, but so is the band! Where was this show when I was hating seventh grade!?!! I would have auditioned with the Haftorah section I did for my Bar Mitzvah which was, no surprise, entirely belted and featured full vibrato.
L’Chaim.

Tuesday night, James and I went to see Betty Buckley at Feinstein's. After the show, James and I went up to her hotel room to hang out, and Betty said that she was doing an all-Broadway request show on Saturday. What happens is people show up, write down the name of a song that Betty has sung on Broadway, and she'll sing it. I brazenly started rifling through her music charts and began hyperventilating when I saw the music to "Writing on the Wall" from 
Drood
. She knew her only options were to get me oxygen or ask me to be a guest pianist at the show, and she chose the latter. We came back for the Saturday show, and Betty was a little stressed because she had done a ton of shows at Feinstein's and then flew to Texas to do a concert the night before! Betty had gotten around three hours of sleep and, before she went on, told me that I should pray her voice holds out. Turns out, she sounded more amazing than ever! She was belting so high I wound up being incredibly impressed with my praying skills. I guess my Haftorah paid off.

Someone (thankfully) requested "Writing on the Wall," and I shot up from my seat and walked onstage. When Betty began, it felt surreal to me. I've been listening to the recording of Betty singing this song obsessively since college… and here I was, onstage, actually playing it for her. It was 
thrilling
! Then I stayed onstage and we wound up duetting on "Love Song" from 
Pippin
… which was also surreal for me because I saw Betty play the role of Catherine when I was seven! Every song Betty did was prefaced with a hilarious, self-effacing story (including Betty's two attempts to get the role of Genevieve in 
The Baker's Wife
… both failures), and I decided that she 
must
 do this show in New York at a bigger venue. It's a delicious, mega-dose of Broadway with a brilliant star
.
Betty asked me to do the entire show with her and we wound up doing "Broadway By Request" all over the country for the next few years… and spent an entire month at Feinstein’s
!
The only devastating part was one request someone shouted out from the audience. I was not devastated by the breaking of the fourth wall, but because the request was for the song "Memories." Let me be clear:
there is no Broadway song called 'Memories'!"
 That makes me crazy! It's called "Mem’ry." And, by the way, so-called Barbra fans, there's no Barbra song called "Memories" either. It's called "The Way We Were." 'Memories' is the first word she sings, not the title. That's like me calling Frederik's first song in 
A Little Night Music
 "Now." Oh, it is called that? All right then, what about "Soon"? Huh. "Later"? And cut.

This week I also had the thrill of interviewing Andrea Martin on my Sirius radio show, and, of course, she was hilarious. She told me that her childhood inspiration to become a performer was Chita Rivera. Her parents had a condo in San Juan, and they would go see Chita perform, and Andrea (who's Armenian) thought that if Chita could make it and not be blonde and all-American looking, then so could she. Right after Andrea moved to New York in her early twenties, she got her Equity card playing Lucy in the Canadian tour of 
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
 (FYI, Judy Kaye played the role in the American tour). Andrea stayed in Canada and decided to try out for the Toronto production of 
Godspell
. She thought she was right for it because, although she didn't consider herself a great singer or even actress, she knew the main requirement for the show was personality. Everyone who was auditioning was able to see everybody else because they were in a theater. Finally, Andrea was called to the stage and belted out "Somebody," a song from 
Celebration
that’s basically about being a sex kitten. After 20 measures she got the dreaded "thank you" and was not asked to stay for the callback. She said that perhaps she tried too hard… and by "perhaps," she admits she was pushing more than a mother whose baby has crowned.