Janney, Knight, Dratch make transition to musical theater
T.R. Knight and other well-known actors take the daring plunge into musical theater.
It's a noble tradition. Think of Rex Harrison in "My Fair Lady," Richard Burton in "Camelot," Anthony Quinn in "Zorba," Katharine Hepburn in "Coco," and Lauren Bacall in "Applause." And the list goes on. When accomplished actors who are untrained and inexperienced in the demanding disciplines of musical theater courageously jump off the diving board to leap headfirst into the genre, it can be a frightening yet exhilarating swim. The challenges are enormous, but the rewards can be sweet.
Fresh off his five-year run on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," Emmy-nominated stage and screen actor T.R. Knight has taken on the multifaceted role of Leo Frank, an ill-fated Jewish factory superintendent in 1913 Atlanta, in an acclaimed revival of the fact-based, Tony-winning musical drama "Parade" by composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown and librettist Alfred Uhry. The production is currently playing at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. The payoffs for Knight have been intense personal satisfaction, a tremendous growth experience, and laudatory reviews.
Back Stage spoke with Knight as well as Allison Janney (Emmy winner for "The West Wing") and Rachel Dratch (former "Saturday Night Live" star) about their maiden musical-theater experiences.
Janney played the fearlessly subversive office worker Violet Newstead in "9 to 5: The Musical" during its fall 2008 world-premiere run at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre, then on Broadway, where she earned a Tony nomination. Dratch adroitly filled the scene-stealing supporting role of klutzy would-be showgirl Beula in January's world premiere of the burlesque musical comedy "Minsky's" (book by Bob Martin, who co-wrote the book for "The Drowsy Chaperone") at the Ahmanson. According to Neel Keller, associate producer of Center Theatre Group, this show is in the planning stages for a Broadway run, with further details to be announced.
Before 'Parade' Passed By
Knight credits CTG's casting director, Erika Sellin, for "thinking outside of the box" in contacting his agent to request that he audition for the role of Frank. The actor had been pondering his job possibilities since giving notice earlier this year that he was leaving his role on "Grey's." The "Parade" offer completely surprised him. Knight says he's extremely grateful that the audition and, ultimately, the role were offered to him. Though he has a lot of stage experience, including Broadway and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, musicals weren't in his repertoire. "This is not the first thing a lot of CDs would have thought of for me," he says. "Plus, I have never sung professionally, and musical theater hasn't been a part of my life." Knight describes the challenges he faces in "Parade" as "terrifying yet exciting."
Janney likewise had to muster her courage to make this career leap. "If I had to audition, I wouldn't have gotten it," admits the respected actor, whose many screen credits include "American Beauty," "Hairspray," "Juno," and this year's "Away We Go." "I don't have much confidence in my singing abilities. So I was very lucky that [director] Joe Mantello and I had worked together. I've done two plays with him. So he called me and said, 'Will you come do this workshop of "9 to 5"?' And I said, 'Oh God, no. I can't do that.' He convinced me. He said, 'Just come and try it and see how it fits and if you like it.' And I went and did the workshop and fell in love with Dolly [Parton, who wrote the music and lyrics and who starred in the original 1980 film version] and with the whole show and thought, 'Okay. I can do this.' And I actually got more excited than I've ever been to do anything."
Dratch's trepidations were less intense, in that the role she was tapped for in "Minsky's" was that of a misfit in a burlesque show-the producer's talent-challenged daughter-so it relied more on her long-proven comedic skills than on musical talents. The path that led to this casting originated a few years prior, when director Mike Nichols auditioned her for "Monty Python's Spamalot." Nichols was considering having a woman play one of the male roles, but the creative team ultimately decided against that. Yet Casey Nicholaw, who choreographed "Spamalot" before directing and choreographing "Minsky's," remembered Dratch. The actor was hired for "Minsky's" without an audition.
Song and Dance, Body and Mind
As Knight began the arduous process of vocal lessons, he worked six hours a week for two months ahead of the rehearsal period for "Parade," which was five weeks out from the show's opening. "Eric Vetro is my voice teacher," Knight shares. "He's fantastic-an incredible teacher in every way. So is Tom Murray, the musical director. They combined forces to help me learn how to sing. I'm so thankful to both for their patience and support."
Janney likewise worked with Vetro to prepare for her role. She explains, "I started studying with [him] and just kept doing my singing lessons and working on the music. Knowing that we were going to be in rehearsals for the L.A. production, I just took voice lessons like a maniac-just singing every day, singing in the car, singing." She continued her sessions with Vetro during the L.A. run, then began preparing for the Broadway opening. She adds, "I worked with Liz Caplan in New York, and sometimes I would do Skype sessions [from New York] with Eric. They helped me build my confidence."
Dratch didn't take voice lessons, nor was she expected to. She says, "I can sing like a regular person singing karaoke, but I'm not one of these amazing belters. But it kind of works for certain parts. I had a very 'character' part [in 'Minsky's']. I think I asked them [about my singing], and they were like, 'No, it's fine.' It was fine because the way our song is sung, it's a very simple song that anyone off the street could sing. Not to be too self-deprecating, but the fun part of this role is the contrast between her and all these show people."
Neither was dancing a major concern for Dratch in "Minsky's." She remarks of her character, "Everyone's, like, a burlesque dancer, and I'm the person who has no talent, charisma, or desire to be on the stage. So that all kind of worked. It was fun to be getting laughs off of someone who's supposed to have no comic timing." Dancing was also less crucial for Knight, because he has only one dance number in "Parade," a surreal fantasy scene in the courtroom, in which his on-trial character gets up from the bench and dances around with some of his accusers. "It did take me a long time to get that," Knight notes, "but [director-choreographer Rob Ashford]; the associate choreographer, Chris Bailey; and our dance captain, Sarah Jayne Jensen, worked with me, and it was just a lot of drilling and drilling, over and over again."
Janney had few concerns about dance demands, as she has studied ballet and modern dance and used to be a figure skater. Furthermore, hers wasn't a big dance role. She elaborates, "I found out that they don't really allow the principals to do too much dancing, because I realized how hard it is on the dancers. There were so many injuries. But my number with the boys, 'One of the Boys,' was a real showstopping number that's every girl's fantasy-I mean, any actor's fantasy. Every time I did that number, I was like, 'I can't believe I'm doing this.' It was so much fun."
Even more so than in a play, it's important for a performer in a musical to keep voice and body in shape during the run. Knight turns to the creative team as well as his fellow performers for advice. He says, "I think the overriding things are sleep and water. Don't go out boozing. There are certain foods to avoid, certain teas you can drink, and you learn that honey is your friend." Knight recalls his days appearing in plays on the New York stage: "Granted, I was younger, but part of the whole thing was going out afterwards to talk about the play. The bars are open quite late in New York, so you're out there, poring over the play and acting and going over those thoughts with cigarettes and alcohol. It's a very different life."
Janney had to make it a point to maintain her energy during the run. She says, "I pretty much had to take care of myself more than I ever have before. The maintenance for doing a musical is extraordinary. So I'd just get lots of rest and not go out after the show like I usually do. When I do a play, it's fun to go out with people afterwards, but I think I did that maybe once the whole run [of '9 to 5']. I just would go right home and go to bed. And I used lots of Purell and tried not to get sick. That was the worst fear."
Dramatic Liberties
Janney and Knight believe that aside from the obvious song-and-dance skills, there are basic differences between preparing for a musical versus a nonmusical. "First of all," says Knight, "screen acting and stage acting are total opposites. Besides the optics, it's the process. In theater, you get rehearsal. In television, in my experience at least, there's not much rehearsal at all. As far as a musical, there's the whole idea of musical interludes that are a continuation of the theme. These are a completely different beast, and it took me a while to get my head around it: the way the music feeds the scene, the scene goes into music, and then after a song, another scene. There's a certain amount of energy that a song brings that you have to pay attention to, whether it's a more quiet energy or a louder energy. I've just been used to acting, and now I have to concentrate on sustaining notes." He found that there's a lot that the music does in a musical. "You often have to trust that the song is another way of communicating the character," he continues. "You don't want to gild the lily or slide into overkill. Just relax and let the song take care of certain things."
Says Janney, "Both of my vocal coaches helped me find my voice-that was my voice and came from a real place. The singing became part of me and part of Violet, instead of outside of myself, like, 'Now I'm a different person because I'm singing.' That was just working with a vocal coach, and I wish I had done that before, even. I feel like for any actor, especially theater actors, it's just an important thing. It helps you with your breathing and voice control, and there's so much that singing opens up. Learning to sing teaches you about your instrument and your breath. It's invaluable. It was my struggle to do the singing and dancing but also to be a real character and not have them all be separate things-to make it all fluid as part of the character and not jarring. Because when I was singing, they kept saying, 'Now you sound like you're singing. You've got to be Violet singing.' To make those all fluid was my biggest challenge."
Unlike Janney and Dratch, who appeared in comedic musicals, Knight had to create a multidimensional character within the conventions of a dramatic musical. Furthermore, there was the responsibility of playing a real-life character. "Parade" recounts the plight of Frank, a fish-out-of-water in 1913 Atlanta. Besides the culture shock of being a Jew and Yankee from Brooklyn, Frank was an introspective and socially repressed individual who came across as quite eccentric to Southerners. When 13-year-old Mary Phagan was murdered in the pencil factory where Frank served as superintendent, he was railroaded in the media, in the court of public opinion, and in kangaroo court proceedings, convicted of the crime, jailed, and ultimately lynched by an angry mob.
Knight says playing a complex character in a musical is not necessarily harder than in another dramatic form, but he notes the process is different. "In musicals, you have isolated scenes where you have to give a lot of information in a short amount of time, though in some ways that is similar to serial television," he explains. "But in a musical, you get a good two-and-a-half-hour chunk to interpret the character. Playing a real character such as Leo Frank, there's a respect you want to maintain. You do a lot of research and want to work toward a respect for the characters, for the story, for the script and music. You have to really work hard; you can't fluff off at all, because you're retelling an event, even though dramatic liberties are taken."
Knight sums up the career milestone that came to him via this job opportunity: "Every single aspect was a challenge in so many ways. There was not one second that was easy. This is definitely the hardest thing I've done as an actor, because there was so much ground to cover. I still really have a lot to learn, but I'm getting more and more comfortable as I continue finding ways to refine things. I continue with my voice lessons and work with the musical director twice a week."
Has this show whetted Knight's appetite for more musicals? With a chuckle, he replies, "There's much to do before we close the doors on this on Nov. 15. But I'm going to New York right afterwards to work on a workshop of a musical. Will I be doing more? I guess that's up to the people who hire me. I just consider myself lucky to be working with people I admire and can learn from. As for the future of my career, I just want to keep learning and challenging myself. That's all I could ask for."
Janney says, "I want to do more [musicals], but this was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The schedule is relentless, the eight shows a week. It was very hard to have a life outside of it. I was thinking of starting to work on the music for 'Mame' because I would love to be able to do that sometime. I definitely need a break after doing this, though."
And Dratch? "I hope 'Minsky's' goes to Broadway…. I [also] hope to do other stuff on Broadway at some point, and I if I have to take voice lessons at some point, I would definitely do it."
A thrilling moment in the musical "42nd Street" that never fails to bring down the house occurs when impresario Julian Marsh, trying to persuade reluctant debutante Peggy Sawyer to step into the shoes of the injured star, shouts out: "Think of musical comedy…the most glorious words in the English language." It appears that these three actors bitten by the bug are beginning to appreciate that sentiment.
source via kelbelle
Janney as Vera in Mame? Yes, please.
It's a noble tradition. Think of Rex Harrison in "My Fair Lady," Richard Burton in "Camelot," Anthony Quinn in "Zorba," Katharine Hepburn in "Coco," and Lauren Bacall in "Applause." And the list goes on. When accomplished actors who are untrained and inexperienced in the demanding disciplines of musical theater courageously jump off the diving board to leap headfirst into the genre, it can be a frightening yet exhilarating swim. The challenges are enormous, but the rewards can be sweet.
Fresh off his five-year run on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," Emmy-nominated stage and screen actor T.R. Knight has taken on the multifaceted role of Leo Frank, an ill-fated Jewish factory superintendent in 1913 Atlanta, in an acclaimed revival of the fact-based, Tony-winning musical drama "Parade" by composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown and librettist Alfred Uhry. The production is currently playing at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. The payoffs for Knight have been intense personal satisfaction, a tremendous growth experience, and laudatory reviews.
Back Stage spoke with Knight as well as Allison Janney (Emmy winner for "The West Wing") and Rachel Dratch (former "Saturday Night Live" star) about their maiden musical-theater experiences.
Janney played the fearlessly subversive office worker Violet Newstead in "9 to 5: The Musical" during its fall 2008 world-premiere run at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre, then on Broadway, where she earned a Tony nomination. Dratch adroitly filled the scene-stealing supporting role of klutzy would-be showgirl Beula in January's world premiere of the burlesque musical comedy "Minsky's" (book by Bob Martin, who co-wrote the book for "The Drowsy Chaperone") at the Ahmanson. According to Neel Keller, associate producer of Center Theatre Group, this show is in the planning stages for a Broadway run, with further details to be announced.
Before 'Parade' Passed By
Knight credits CTG's casting director, Erika Sellin, for "thinking outside of the box" in contacting his agent to request that he audition for the role of Frank. The actor had been pondering his job possibilities since giving notice earlier this year that he was leaving his role on "Grey's." The "Parade" offer completely surprised him. Knight says he's extremely grateful that the audition and, ultimately, the role were offered to him. Though he has a lot of stage experience, including Broadway and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, musicals weren't in his repertoire. "This is not the first thing a lot of CDs would have thought of for me," he says. "Plus, I have never sung professionally, and musical theater hasn't been a part of my life." Knight describes the challenges he faces in "Parade" as "terrifying yet exciting."
Janney likewise had to muster her courage to make this career leap. "If I had to audition, I wouldn't have gotten it," admits the respected actor, whose many screen credits include "American Beauty," "Hairspray," "Juno," and this year's "Away We Go." "I don't have much confidence in my singing abilities. So I was very lucky that [director] Joe Mantello and I had worked together. I've done two plays with him. So he called me and said, 'Will you come do this workshop of "9 to 5"?' And I said, 'Oh God, no. I can't do that.' He convinced me. He said, 'Just come and try it and see how it fits and if you like it.' And I went and did the workshop and fell in love with Dolly [Parton, who wrote the music and lyrics and who starred in the original 1980 film version] and with the whole show and thought, 'Okay. I can do this.' And I actually got more excited than I've ever been to do anything."
Dratch's trepidations were less intense, in that the role she was tapped for in "Minsky's" was that of a misfit in a burlesque show-the producer's talent-challenged daughter-so it relied more on her long-proven comedic skills than on musical talents. The path that led to this casting originated a few years prior, when director Mike Nichols auditioned her for "Monty Python's Spamalot." Nichols was considering having a woman play one of the male roles, but the creative team ultimately decided against that. Yet Casey Nicholaw, who choreographed "Spamalot" before directing and choreographing "Minsky's," remembered Dratch. The actor was hired for "Minsky's" without an audition.
Song and Dance, Body and Mind
As Knight began the arduous process of vocal lessons, he worked six hours a week for two months ahead of the rehearsal period for "Parade," which was five weeks out from the show's opening. "Eric Vetro is my voice teacher," Knight shares. "He's fantastic-an incredible teacher in every way. So is Tom Murray, the musical director. They combined forces to help me learn how to sing. I'm so thankful to both for their patience and support."
Janney likewise worked with Vetro to prepare for her role. She explains, "I started studying with [him] and just kept doing my singing lessons and working on the music. Knowing that we were going to be in rehearsals for the L.A. production, I just took voice lessons like a maniac-just singing every day, singing in the car, singing." She continued her sessions with Vetro during the L.A. run, then began preparing for the Broadway opening. She adds, "I worked with Liz Caplan in New York, and sometimes I would do Skype sessions [from New York] with Eric. They helped me build my confidence."
Dratch didn't take voice lessons, nor was she expected to. She says, "I can sing like a regular person singing karaoke, but I'm not one of these amazing belters. But it kind of works for certain parts. I had a very 'character' part [in 'Minsky's']. I think I asked them [about my singing], and they were like, 'No, it's fine.' It was fine because the way our song is sung, it's a very simple song that anyone off the street could sing. Not to be too self-deprecating, but the fun part of this role is the contrast between her and all these show people."
Neither was dancing a major concern for Dratch in "Minsky's." She remarks of her character, "Everyone's, like, a burlesque dancer, and I'm the person who has no talent, charisma, or desire to be on the stage. So that all kind of worked. It was fun to be getting laughs off of someone who's supposed to have no comic timing." Dancing was also less crucial for Knight, because he has only one dance number in "Parade," a surreal fantasy scene in the courtroom, in which his on-trial character gets up from the bench and dances around with some of his accusers. "It did take me a long time to get that," Knight notes, "but [director-choreographer Rob Ashford]; the associate choreographer, Chris Bailey; and our dance captain, Sarah Jayne Jensen, worked with me, and it was just a lot of drilling and drilling, over and over again."
Janney had few concerns about dance demands, as she has studied ballet and modern dance and used to be a figure skater. Furthermore, hers wasn't a big dance role. She elaborates, "I found out that they don't really allow the principals to do too much dancing, because I realized how hard it is on the dancers. There were so many injuries. But my number with the boys, 'One of the Boys,' was a real showstopping number that's every girl's fantasy-I mean, any actor's fantasy. Every time I did that number, I was like, 'I can't believe I'm doing this.' It was so much fun."
Even more so than in a play, it's important for a performer in a musical to keep voice and body in shape during the run. Knight turns to the creative team as well as his fellow performers for advice. He says, "I think the overriding things are sleep and water. Don't go out boozing. There are certain foods to avoid, certain teas you can drink, and you learn that honey is your friend." Knight recalls his days appearing in plays on the New York stage: "Granted, I was younger, but part of the whole thing was going out afterwards to talk about the play. The bars are open quite late in New York, so you're out there, poring over the play and acting and going over those thoughts with cigarettes and alcohol. It's a very different life."
Janney had to make it a point to maintain her energy during the run. She says, "I pretty much had to take care of myself more than I ever have before. The maintenance for doing a musical is extraordinary. So I'd just get lots of rest and not go out after the show like I usually do. When I do a play, it's fun to go out with people afterwards, but I think I did that maybe once the whole run [of '9 to 5']. I just would go right home and go to bed. And I used lots of Purell and tried not to get sick. That was the worst fear."
Dramatic Liberties
Janney and Knight believe that aside from the obvious song-and-dance skills, there are basic differences between preparing for a musical versus a nonmusical. "First of all," says Knight, "screen acting and stage acting are total opposites. Besides the optics, it's the process. In theater, you get rehearsal. In television, in my experience at least, there's not much rehearsal at all. As far as a musical, there's the whole idea of musical interludes that are a continuation of the theme. These are a completely different beast, and it took me a while to get my head around it: the way the music feeds the scene, the scene goes into music, and then after a song, another scene. There's a certain amount of energy that a song brings that you have to pay attention to, whether it's a more quiet energy or a louder energy. I've just been used to acting, and now I have to concentrate on sustaining notes." He found that there's a lot that the music does in a musical. "You often have to trust that the song is another way of communicating the character," he continues. "You don't want to gild the lily or slide into overkill. Just relax and let the song take care of certain things."
Says Janney, "Both of my vocal coaches helped me find my voice-that was my voice and came from a real place. The singing became part of me and part of Violet, instead of outside of myself, like, 'Now I'm a different person because I'm singing.' That was just working with a vocal coach, and I wish I had done that before, even. I feel like for any actor, especially theater actors, it's just an important thing. It helps you with your breathing and voice control, and there's so much that singing opens up. Learning to sing teaches you about your instrument and your breath. It's invaluable. It was my struggle to do the singing and dancing but also to be a real character and not have them all be separate things-to make it all fluid as part of the character and not jarring. Because when I was singing, they kept saying, 'Now you sound like you're singing. You've got to be Violet singing.' To make those all fluid was my biggest challenge."
Unlike Janney and Dratch, who appeared in comedic musicals, Knight had to create a multidimensional character within the conventions of a dramatic musical. Furthermore, there was the responsibility of playing a real-life character. "Parade" recounts the plight of Frank, a fish-out-of-water in 1913 Atlanta. Besides the culture shock of being a Jew and Yankee from Brooklyn, Frank was an introspective and socially repressed individual who came across as quite eccentric to Southerners. When 13-year-old Mary Phagan was murdered in the pencil factory where Frank served as superintendent, he was railroaded in the media, in the court of public opinion, and in kangaroo court proceedings, convicted of the crime, jailed, and ultimately lynched by an angry mob.
Knight says playing a complex character in a musical is not necessarily harder than in another dramatic form, but he notes the process is different. "In musicals, you have isolated scenes where you have to give a lot of information in a short amount of time, though in some ways that is similar to serial television," he explains. "But in a musical, you get a good two-and-a-half-hour chunk to interpret the character. Playing a real character such as Leo Frank, there's a respect you want to maintain. You do a lot of research and want to work toward a respect for the characters, for the story, for the script and music. You have to really work hard; you can't fluff off at all, because you're retelling an event, even though dramatic liberties are taken."
Knight sums up the career milestone that came to him via this job opportunity: "Every single aspect was a challenge in so many ways. There was not one second that was easy. This is definitely the hardest thing I've done as an actor, because there was so much ground to cover. I still really have a lot to learn, but I'm getting more and more comfortable as I continue finding ways to refine things. I continue with my voice lessons and work with the musical director twice a week."
Has this show whetted Knight's appetite for more musicals? With a chuckle, he replies, "There's much to do before we close the doors on this on Nov. 15. But I'm going to New York right afterwards to work on a workshop of a musical. Will I be doing more? I guess that's up to the people who hire me. I just consider myself lucky to be working with people I admire and can learn from. As for the future of my career, I just want to keep learning and challenging myself. That's all I could ask for."
Janney says, "I want to do more [musicals], but this was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The schedule is relentless, the eight shows a week. It was very hard to have a life outside of it. I was thinking of starting to work on the music for 'Mame' because I would love to be able to do that sometime. I definitely need a break after doing this, though."
And Dratch? "I hope 'Minsky's' goes to Broadway…. I [also] hope to do other stuff on Broadway at some point, and I if I have to take voice lessons at some point, I would definitely do it."
A thrilling moment in the musical "42nd Street" that never fails to bring down the house occurs when impresario Julian Marsh, trying to persuade reluctant debutante Peggy Sawyer to step into the shoes of the injured star, shouts out: "Think of musical comedy…the most glorious words in the English language." It appears that these three actors bitten by the bug are beginning to appreciate that sentiment.
source via kelbelle
Janney as Vera in Mame? Yes, please.