For a production that suggests a mysterious dreamscape, I have a particular affection for the Vivian Beaumont Theater. It is the largest dramatic space available in New York City in terms of plays, although musicals have been done there very successfully as well.
I was really into old musicals. When I was seven or eight, my mum and dad would be like, ‘How does she know who Ginger Rogers is?’ Then, one weekend, Josephine Baker popped up in a French film called ‘Zouzou,’ and I was so stunned because she looked like me.
I played piano growing up. I played classical piano since I was 5, and I sang in choirs, and I sang in plays and musicals.
I was always that fringe guy anyway, the guy who played football and then did the musicals.
But I think musicals are going to have to deal with important subjects.
Some of my favorite films are musicals, like ‘Walk the Line,’ ‘The Rose’ and ‘Lady Sings the Blues.’ I just love the way the music and the story fuel each other.
I don’t think theater is dying, and musicals are a great American art form. We’ve got apple pie, jazz and musical theater.
When I have an evening out I like to see big musicals where the whole audience is encouraged to giddy up out of the seat.
Growing up, I was in all the musicals and everything… I’d come home from school and bash out a few Whitney Houston songs.
I love architecture almost as much as I love my musicals.
In musicals, everyone is screaming.
