Interview with Actor Blake Boyd

Joanne Mosconi's new play You Love That I'm Not Your Wife is set to open at the Avery Schreiber Playhouse in NoHo September 12. Blake Boyd is one of the leading actors in the play.

Tell me about the play from the actor's standpoint and about the character you play.

I play Tony Ciccarelli, an extremely successful entrepreneur who is in love with the idea of being in love.  Perhaps not attuned to the feelings of his previous conquests, Tony gets more than he can handle and (hopefully) a life changing lesson in the form of Marie. Tony’s relationship with Marie epitomizes the old adage that ‘characters get not what they want, but what they need.’

Is it comedic or dramatic? 

Both! Some parts are very moving and some are out right hysterical.  I think it depends upon the actors and audience on a particular night.  What one person feels is funny, another could feel is sad.  A lot of times people laugh at the irony of terrible circumstances.  Does that make them any less tragic?  I think we’ve found a lot of humor in Joanne Mosconi’s play You Love That I’m Not Your Wife by simply telling the truth and speaking honestly with each other.  With a cast of 10 and actors ranging in age from their mid twenties to their fifties, audiences are sure to find people, relationships, and scenarios they can personally relate to….for better or worse!

Describe your association with Joanne. Have you been in plays of hers before? What is her perspective?

This is my first of hopefully many times working with Joanne.  We met through a mutual friend on another play.  I’d heard many wonderful things about her:  her tireless work ethic, boundless energy, obsessive organization and communication and was thrilled when she cast me.  She is one of the most open, supportive, nurturing and yet tough people I’ve ever worked with in the 20 plus years I’ve been doing theatre in Los Angeles.

Rehearsals are truly a collaborative effort where actors are empowered and encouraged to take risks.  A few weeks ago, Joanne (writer/director) cut 10 pages of her dialogue.  This was a statement to all the actors that we are, above all else, committed to telling a compelling story at whatever cost. 

What is significant about the play? 

The play explores the lives of 10 different people living in Los Angeles.  We are all of different backgrounds, levels of maturity, and varying moral and ethical compasses.  Some characters are afforded the opportunity to grow and change as their relationships evolve but can’t or won’t. 

What kind of audience reaction is expected? What will they take away from the play?

 

Perhaps more than any other city in North America, living in LA will make a person more of who they really are. The hours spent alone in traffic or killing time waiting for the next appointment have tendency to reveal one’s true character. Similarly, romantic relationships reveal who we really are. Each of Joanne’s characters are afforded this opportunity to see themselves and each will make decisions….likely much more impactful than they ever realize.  

In LA, some can’t make it and move back home.  Other’s stay and keep taking swings hoping to connect with the ball and hit a home run.  I think what Joanne’s play says is that base hits – growing, evolving, giving and enjoying the game of life - are all that really matter.

The Avery Schreiber Playhouse is located at 4934 Lankershim Boulevard in NoHo. Opening Night is Friday, September 12th at 8:00 pm, followed by performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 7:00pm through October 5.

www.fringetheatreco.com

Interview with Playwright/Director Joanne Mosconi

Joanne Mosconi's new play You Love That I'm Not Your Wife is set to open at the Avery Schreiber Playhouse in NoHo September 12.

What kind of plays do you write? Comedies? Dramas? Where does this play fall in the spectrum?

I write plays that examine the complex and chaotic world of love.  They fall under the romantic dramedy genre.  I always aim to evoke strong emotions from my audience by portraying different couples in different stages of relationships.

What made you write it? Is it based on real life experiences or is it total fiction?

I wrote You Love That I’m Not Your Wife because I wanted to explore what modern day love in Los Angeles looks like.  Los Angeles is a character in this script, as this play could not take place in any other city.  No one comes to La La Land to fall in love, as Los Angeles is arguably the most lonely, non-committed city in the world. People move to Los Angeles to chase “the dream”.  The characters in this play are very much influenced by this, as well as the city’s abundance of beauty, glamour, wealth, consistent sunshine and amount of options.  Although this is not an autobiographical piece, some characters were based on real life experiences.  The ten characters in this play are all very different, but they are bound together by one thing- their need for love and the fear they experience when they are not receiving it.  This causes them to act in ways they never expected.  These are insatiable, crazy, complex, but lovable characters all yearning to be understood and wanted.

Who is your greatest inspiration as a writer? Why?

Woody Allen is my greatest inspiration as a writer because he never stops working and is committed to uncovering all the many ways to tell a story.  His talent, discipline and passion towards his work are all things I strive for. He is a risk taker.  Allen has a unique mind and his work is always original.  His imagination is one of a genius and his courage to write such complex and interesting characters inspires me.  Like me, he is also a neurotic native New Yorker, who is obsessed with life, death and why we are all here. 

What do you hope audiences will take away from the play? 

No matter who we are, where we are from, and what our age is…our need for connection with others shapes the structure of our emotional lives and causes us to act in ways we never imagined.  Love at its best is a bouquet of great feelings, such as: joy, romance, passion, trust, interest, curiosity, and openness.  This is the love we all strive for and want.  The characters in this play disconnect from their partner when someone or something threatens them from getting this kind of love.  Love triggers our fears and vulnerabilities.  To love another means accepting them exactly as they are.  Without this acceptance, we will never be able to have a committed relationship sealed by trust.  I want our audience to take away these ingredients from my love recipe.

What is it like wearing several hats in the production of a play? Are you serving as director/producer/writer in this case? Do you like a third eye or not?

I am serving as the director, producer and writer of this production, and it is exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time.  I actually do not think I could do it any other way.  I love wearing all these hats, as I am a control freak who needs to micromanage every part of this production.  I have not slept a full night since we started rehearsals, yet I am more awake then ever. I do receive help from my co-producer Stacy Raposa, as well as my technical director Kajal Ardestani and publicist Michael Sterling.  Paul Storiale, theater manager of The Avery Schreiber Playhouse, often serves as my third eye when I choose to listen to what he sees.  I find that the best directors are open to the collaborative nature of our work.

Anything else you care to add?

I am dedicating this production to my beautiful dog Match, who died of sudden death from an unknown cause on July 18^th 2014.  I wrote this play with her on my lap, and she is at the center of all the heart, passion and love I have put into this.   Her sister Skype has been my assistant director who radiates Match’s loving energy at every rehearsal. I also have been blessed to be working with a very talented and supportive group of actors who helped me bring my words to life. 

The Avery Schreiber Playhouse is located at 4934 Lankershim Boulevard in NoHo. Opening Night is Friday, September 12th at 8:00 pm, followed by performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 7:00pm through October 5. 

www.fringetheatreco.com

Interview with Christian Lebano

New artistic director of Sierra Madre Playhouse Christian Lebano is busy as director rehearsing 4000 Miles for its opening at Sierra Madre Playhouse September 26. Lebano talks about this play, this season at Sierra Madre and his role as artistic director, including his plans for the playhouse.              

What is your background at Sierra Madre Playhouse?

           When I first came to the Sierra Madre Playhouse as an actor to play the Stage Manager in Our Town, I had the same reaction to the building that a lot of people have. I loved that I was walking into a space that had been designed to be a theater, albeit a movie theater built in 1923, but a theater nonetheless. By the time that I worked at SMP in Our Town, the theater had already begun its transformation from its days as a community theater.  In that cast alone there were two actresses who had been on Broadway – one of whom had been nominated for a Drama Desk – so the attraction of the space and the company were working on other actors besides me. The coincidence of doing that particular play in this town (Sierra Madre is a lovely, quiet, and very charming community) made me feel that there was an enormous potential for the theater to become a real draw – almost a destination theater, if you will. I worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and the Utah Shakespearean Festival both for a couple of seasons years ago and both of them started the same way – as small theaters in charming towns.  Both of them also had leaders who could envision something larger and more substantial growing out of their intimate beginnings.

I was invited by the Board to direct Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind (artistic decisions were made by a smaller committee of the Board as the theater had been without an Artistic Director for several years.)  Directing this play allowed me to learn what producing a play was like at the theater and the challenges inherent in the model that the theater had been using. That play got an LATimes Critic’s Choice designation – the first in the history of the theater – which gave me some credibility. I joined the Board later that year and joined the Artistic Committee. 

What are the theatre's strengths and weaknesses?

It starts with the building and the location and our place in the theatrical community of the San Gabriel Valley. I believe that you have to assess your strengths and weaknesses before you can make any decisions.  Our strengths were in our location, the fact that we owned a lovely little playhouse, that our theatrical reputation had been on the rise, that we had a loyal base of patronage, and that we had a small but really dedicated group of people who cared a lot about the Playhouse and its future. Our weaknesses were that we didn’t have a “brand” that distinguished us from other theaters, that little attention had been placed on fundraising, that the old model of directors coming in and having free reign to make decisions that had a great impact on the theater as a whole (I likened it to occupying armies) made a unifying vision impossible, and that because of those factors there was no overall marketing strategy to get the word out about what we were doing.

What is your mission?

Our new mission is to celebrate the American experience in plays written by American playwrights and to put those plays in a cultural and historical context.  What better place to celebrate America than in Sierra Madre? Those plays will create an identity for us, one that fits beautifully with our location and will distinguish us from the other theaters with whom we are competing for patrons. 

How do you plan to carry this forward?

I have always felt that a theater has to look at the complete experience that a patron has – from his or her first visit to the website, to their interaction with the box office, the lobby, the program, the show and what happens afterwards.  That’s why I’ve been so big on our placing the plays in context and have made it part of our mission – we started with my production of Driving Miss Daisy  (our first Ovation Recommended play) for which we had a couple of symposia with Freedom Riders mixed in with songs of the Civil Rights movement, to the world we built around our first Field Trip play (a Series I created to produce school-day matinees) Battledrum, a play about Civil War drummer boys, which included talkbacks with Civil War Historians at every show, a beautiful study guide, and a wonderful lobby exhibit.To the lobby exhibit we have up for our first play of my tenure, 6 RMS RIV VU, which highlights the references in the play and has some fun interactive things (designed by Diane Seigel) for the audience to engage with.  The lobby is already planned for 4000 Miles, our next play, and we are now working on A Little House Christmas, our holiday offering this year. It adds another level of planning and deadline pressures, but I am convinced after seeing audiences engage with the exhibits that it is worth the effort.

Another initiative I started was a refinement to our Sunday Series which had been a really loosely structured series with occasional Sunday evening performances.  I set about curating it more aggressively.  The theater is a wonderful space for music and I thought a music series would be fantastic.  Last year I developed a collaboration with the Colburn Conservatory of Music in downtown Los Angeles.  I call that part of the Series “Emerging Artists in Concert at the Playhouse” and it features young, incredibly talented musicians making wonderfully beautiful music in our acoustically fine little gem of a theater.  The series proved very popular and is back this year with six concerts with the Colburn, two with Idyllwild Music Conservatory, and a concert featuring our new Resident Composer, Jonathan Beard.   With this series I am trying to link the music to the plays that we have on the stage at the time of the concerts.  So for this year’s Field Trip play Einstein is a Dummy I hope the String Quartet will feature music that Albert Einstein enjoyed – filling out the experience of that play.

Finally, and most importantly is engaging the audience with what we are doing.  We’ve been using the line “Come home to the Playhouse” lately – that’s just what I want people to feel.  I want the Playhouse to be a place our patrons feel belongs to them, a place in which they feel comfortable – comfortable to take risks with programming they may not be familiar with, comfortable to engage and speak up about issues that the plays may bring forth, comfortable encouraging other people to join in because they will be sure that no matter what the quality of the work will always be good – whether or not they like the play.  This is the key to my overall strategy.

Tell our readers about 4000 Miles and its significance to this season.

As I said earlier, I’m thrilled that we are premiering 4000 Miles. I thought the LA premiere would have happened at the Geffen or the Douglas, and I’m amazed that we got it and this play could really put us on the map theatrically. It is a beautifully written play and I’ve had enormous luck with the casting – Mimi Cozzens is playing Vera, the grandmother and heart of the play. Mimi has had a long career and has been on Broadway several times directed by the likes of Herb Ross and Gene Saks. Christian Prentice is playing Leo, her grandson. This play brought out a wonderful group of young actors to audition - Estelle Campbell (managing director) and I think it was the strongest showing we’ve ever had – a testament to the attraction of the material – and Christian is an example of that. He’s just so right for the role. The relationship he’s developing with Mimi is beautiful and funny and true. Susane Lee is playing Amanda, the girl Leo picks up in a bar and Alexandra Wright is playing Bec, Leo’s girlfriend – both of these women are remarkably good actresses and are going to be wonderful in the show. I’ve got a wonderful design team who are as committed to making this a success as I am and in whom I have the utmost respect and with whom I’m having a very happy collaboration.

More importantly, this show will let the theatrical community know that we are serious about broadening our reputation and ambition.  We’ve made it clear in our press releases and in our advertising that this is not a “family show” and though we have no intention of abandoning our commitment to families, we will have a range of shows in each season and this play will signal that.  I hope audiences respond to it as I have.

I’m one of the last of a dying breed – I really believe in theater as a place where good things can happen.   My goal is to remind our audiences of the power of live theater, of being in communion with a group of people sharing an unmediated experience, of the incredible thrill it is to be invited in to another world, to consider possibilities and choices foreign to our everyday experiences, to sit in the dark and laugh or cry surrounded by other souls.   That’s the real work of my position – and be it Neil Simon or Amy Herzog or Lee Blessing or any of countless playwrights and artists I hope to people the stage with – that will always be my personal mission and goal.

http://sierramadreplayhouse.org/playhouse/

2014 Interview with Director Glenn Casale

Prolifically talented director Glenn Casale's pursuits in the LA theatre community are immeasurable and should not go unnoticed. He took time out from an ultra busy schedule to talk about his post as artistic director of Music Circus in Sacramento - which is presenting its last offering for the current season  La Cage Aux Folles this week through Sunday August 24 - and also about a production of Beauty and the Beast which will open soon in Russia.

How long have you been artistic director with Music Circus in Sacramento? 

Since 2009.  

Is it a challenge to direct musicals in the round? 

I have been directing here for 27 years. It is exciting to rediscover musicals in the round. It is a challenge, but a good one. 

More so than on a regular stage? 

It frees your creativity up. You are not bound by a proscenium arch.

Tell us about your production of Beauty and the Beast. 

I  have done Beauty and the Beast in 13 countries.  All of the productions are in the the language of the country. One is closing in Paris, and we are building a new one in Moscow in October. My Little Mermaid just closed there. It is also playing in Japan. Beauty had been to Moscow for a two year run in 2009-10.  They are bringing it back.

What is so special about Beauty and the Beast?Audiences just adore it. Is it because it appeals to the entire family, do you think?

It speaks to all generations. I think it is a passionate and timeless story. I feel it really speaks to today's audience. Like Les Mis, it is based on a great French Novel.  

Talk a little about Peter Pan, which you have directed...how long? 

Peter Pan was in my life for 15 years. It is also a story that we love to hear over and over. We all don't want to grow up. Cathy Rigby made the piece. She was a great actress and she became that boy.  

How did directing musicals become your line of work? Did you start as a dancer or actor/singer/dancer in musicals? 

I started as an actor. I wanted to be a TV actor when I moved to LA. I had an MFA in directing. A friend wrote a play and asked if I would direct it. Mark Harmon, George Clooney and Brian Cranston were actors in it.  

Do you have a favorite show of all those you have mounted?  

They all are special, but The Little Mermaid is one that I am very proud of.  

Are you directing plays as well or is it strictly musicals at this point?

  

I love plays....I did Prisoner of Second Avenue with Jason Alexander two years ago. It is hard with my Music Circus job.  

Tell us what else is on the horizon for the coming season anywhere 2014-2015. 

I have been working on a couple of new musicals that are being developed. I am doing Mary Poppins for La Mirada in May In the fall of 2015 we are putting The Little Mermaid out on tour. Right now we are planning next years season at Music Circus.

Boy oh boy, you sure are one busy director. Can you give a little preview of what may be on at Music Circus in 2015? I know you talked a little about La Cage last year...and voila, it's up next this season!  

We are looking at the survey now. The titles that people want are what we want to give them. Interesting titles....Some old favorites, a couple of new. We shall see.

Thanks for your time, Glenn.

Thank you for being such a support of the theater.

Broadway Under the Stars Interviews Obba Babatunde

Chris Isaacson Presents has announced a one-night-only concert event at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Saturday, August 16 at 8pm. Broadway Under the Stars will star Tony Award-winner Jennifer Holliday (Dreamgirls) and will also feature (in alphabetical order) Obba Babatunde (Dreamgirls), Erich Bergen (Jersey Boys, stage and film), Rogelio Douglas, Jr. (In the Heights), Danny Gurwin (Little Women) and Tony Award-nominee Chad Kimball (Memphis). David Galligan will direct, and the music director is Gerald Sternbach.

Four of the male performers sat down to chat about their participation in this spectacular event and about some of their individual career highlights. They are Obba Babatunde, Danny Gurwin, Erich Bergen and Chad Kimball.

First up is Obba Babatunde.

Tony Award nominee Obba Babatunde has been set to host the evening. Obba Babatundé created the role of C.C. White in Dreamgirls, for which he received a Tony Award nomination.  Other stage performances have included Hal Prince’s Grind, Billy Flynn in Chicago, as Sammy Davis, Jr. in the new musical Sammy, and the original production of Jelly’s Last Jam (playing the title role). On television, Babatundé has appeared on Half & Half, NCIS, Cold Case, Are We There Yet?, Soul Food, Friends, and Love That Girl. His feature films include The Celestine Prophecy, Material Girls, After the Sunset, The Manchurian Candidate, The Notebook, John Q, That Thing You Do, and Philadelphia.

Are you performing in this event?

Well, I'm hosting as well as performing. I'll be doing three individual numbers. We open with "Magic To Do" from Pippin and I'm also going to do "Mr. Bojangles".

Oh, wonderful! You'll be great with that.

Thank you. Then I have something special that I'm going to surprise everyone with.

Great! Tell me about working with Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls.

Jennifer and I were part of the workshop that actually created the musical Dreamgirls. She was 19 years old when she came into the company. It was her...really first foray other than Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. She was just like my little sister. So we developed a beautiful and wonderful friendship.

Describe the changes that went on during that workshop.

A lot of changes! Jennifer left after the first workshop, which was six weeks. All of these characters were being built on us. We spent two more workshops trying to replace the essence of Jennifer Holliday, which was just not possible. Fortunately for us, and for her, I'm sure because of the success, she returned. The rest is history.

Wasn't one of her big numbers not in the show originally?

"I Am Changing". She had done "I Am Telling You..." in the first workshop. The second act changed drastically when Jennifer came back, because of Jennifer and her brilliant foresight. We couldn't replace the essence of that character...her character was left to die. And Jennifer said, "No I won't come back if my character dies." So, the whole second act took a different turn, and it was actually great for the production. That's what created the record war between Dena Jones and the Dreams and Essie White and C.C. White. It worked for the better.

You had a fabulous time with the whole run, correct?

Oh, it was a magnificent experience.

Tell me about your show on Sammy Davis Jr.

There are two shows. Once in a Lifetime is the show I created after I had done Sammy. Once in a Lifetime is my tribute to the great late Sammy Davis Jr. Sammy at the Old Globe (San Diego), a brilliant production...there's still hopes for it to have a new life. Getting a show to Broadway is a long journey.

What is the difference between the two musical shows?  

Sammy is a full-on musical with several cast members and Lifetime is a one-man show with just me. Sammy tells the story of Sammy's ongoing journey. The other is Obba Babatunde speaking of his personal relationship with Sammy Davis Jr, and paying tribute to him with the type of show that he would have done.

Any chance you may do Once in a Lifetime anytime soon here in LA?

Yes. I've done it now a couple of times to huge success. I'm going to be doing a promotion for Under the Stars with an excerpt from that on the 30th of July.
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You do not want to miss this spectacular evening of songs from the world of theatre!

Broadway Under the Stars is at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard East, in Hollywood, for one performance only on Saturday, August 16 at 8pm. Tickets are $40, $55, and $95; for students and children, tickets are $20. VIP packages are available (includes premium seating and a post-show reception with the artists). Purchase by August 2 and save $5! Discount tickets are available at FordTheatres.org or by calling 323-461-3673. To learn about discounts for groups of eight or more, call 323-769-2147.

A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund, a national human services organization that helps everyone — performers and those behind the scenes — who works in performing arts and entertainment, serving more than 17,000 people annually. Programs include social services and emergency financial assistance, health care and insurance counseling, housing, and employment and training services.  www.actorsfund.org.

Broadway Under the Stars Interviews Danny Gurwin

Chris Isaacson Presents has announced a one-night-only concert event at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Saturday, August 16 at 8pm. Broadway Under the Stars will star Tony Award-winner Jennifer Holliday and will also feature (in alphabetical order) Erich Bergen (Jersey Boys, stage and film), Rogelio Douglas, Jr. (In the Heights), Danny Gurwin (Little Women) and Tony Award-nominee Chad Kimball (Memphis) David Galligan will direct, and the music director is Gerald Sternbach.

Danny Gurwin was among four of the performers who sat down to chat about his participation in this evening and about his 
career.

Gurwin’s Broadway credits include Little Women, Urinetown, The Full Monty, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Kismet, and A Little Night Music at the New York City Opera. He repeated his acclaimed performance in that production at the Los Angeles Opera and the Kennedy Center.  (www.dannygurwin.com) 

What are you singing in Broadway Under the Stars?

I'm going to do a medley of songs from Little Women, something that David (Galligan) wanted, and a song from Once and a one from Aladdin. So it's a combo of stuff I've done and then a couple of numbers from more recent Broadway shows. I may also do a song from Les Mis. 

Any plans for your wonderful cabaret show that you performed last November?

Because of my schedule with teaching at Arizona State and with John Randall's limited availability, it's been difficult to set anything up, but I'm looking at hopefully Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal next year.

What is your favorite show that you've done?

I loved doing The Scarlet Pimpernel, which was my Broadway debut. I loved the people and the whole process. I also really loved A New Brain. I stood by for Malcolm Gets. There's just something about being at Lincoln Center and watching Graciela Daniele work every day. As a young actor, it left such an impression on me... and it was a brand new Bill Finn show, so it was really amazing to be a part of it.

How does teaching and directing musical theatre full time at Arizona State work in with your career?

The school is very supportive of my professional work, which is nice. They're doing their best to let me travel when I need to and perform when I get to. It's been OK, and my agents have been amazing about stuff, so I will go in for big projects, and if something comes up, then I guess I'll deal with it then. It's a big balance, and I'm trying to move forward and still keep everything sort of in the air and move it along. So far so good. This kind of event is amazing to be a part of, and a week later I put my professor hat on again...

You seem excited about Broadway Under the Stars.

Gerry's (Sternbach) working really hard arranging. We're going to do a number with Obba Babatunde. I'm looking forward to working with both of them, Obba and Jennifer Holliday. I've watched them for years. It's really exciting.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Broadway Under the Stars is at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard East, in Hollywood, for one performance only on Saturday, August 16 at 8pm. Tickets are $40, $55, and $95; for students and children, tickets are $20. VIP packages are available (includes premium seating and a post-show reception with the artists). Purchase by August 2 and save $5! Discount tickets are available at FordTheatres.org or by calling 323-461-3673. To learn about discounts for groups of eight or more, call 323-769-2147.

A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund, a national human services organization that helps everyone — performers and those behind the scenes — who works in performing arts and entertainment, serving more than 17,000 people annually. Programs include social services and emergency financial assistance, health care and insurance counseling, housing, and employment and training services.  www.actorsfund.org.

Broadway Under the Stars Interviews Erich Bergen

Chris Isaacson Presents has announced a one-night-only concert event at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Saturday, August 16 at 8pm. Broadway Under the Stars will star Tony Award-winner Jennifer Holliday (Dreamgirls) and will also feature (in alphabetical order) Obba Babatunde (Dreamgirls), Erich Bergen (Jersey Boys, stage and film), Rogelio Douglas, Jr. (In the Heights), Danny Gurwin (Little Women) and Tony Award-nominee Chad Kimball (Memphis). David Galligan will direct, and the music director is Gerald Sternbach.

Erich Bergen took time out from his busy filming schedule in New York to chat about his appearance in Broadway Under the Stars and about his career.

Erich Bergen is best known for his stage portrayal of Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys, a role he played in  San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and in the First National Tour. Bergen was tapped by director Clint Eastwood to reprise his performance in the Warner Bros feature film, which opened in June. (www.ErichBergen.com)  

First of all, congratulations on the film of Jersey Boys! The camera loves you and you were quite funny.

I appreciate that. Thank you.

What are you doing in Broadway Under the Stars?

What we're putting together is sort of a history of musical movies and my connections to them, ending with my experience in a musical movie. Musical films were very influential on me growing up, so we decided to take a look at and sort of make a path through them, looking at the MGM stuff...and also talking about them on stage, I got to do Anything Goes and White Christmas in LA, so we're going to take a look at those productions as well, and go back and do a couple of songs from those as well, and end with Jersey Boys stuff.

It sounds like quite a lengthy number.

Yeah, about a 20 minute set. It's hard because I'm in New York, so they're sort of putting the show together without me and then I'm coming in and doing my thing. I've been rehearsing over scype with everyone.

Have you ever worked with Jennifer Holliday?

No. I've seen her in concert many times. She's fabulous. I saw her in Vegas where she was the guest entertainer in the George Wallace Show. It's always been a thrill, and now I get the chance to work with her.

How did you adapt your stage performance to film? Was it challenging?

I think what was so great was that Clint (Eastwood)...one of the reasons that he hired people from the show was...he always said "You can't beat having 1200. 1500 performances with the role. You can't beat that kind of rehearsal. No one would be able to do it better." He wanted us to continue to do the work that we did onstage in terms of our characters. He didn't want us to rethink it. If you're a smart, in-tune actor, there are some differences that occur naturally when you're working with the camera right in your face. We were saying the same lines; so much of the script was the same.

That's what I liked about the film. He kept it very close to the show.

Exactly. And that was the thing that it was so odd for me to be thinking about certain scenes like in the bowling alley. Onstage it was a piece of plywood that came down from the rafters. You had to pretend it was a bowling alley. We're doing the same scene, the same lines and we're inside of a real bowling alley in Pasadena. There were times when you had to remind yourself, "Oh my God, I'm actually doing this." He was really adamant that we do what it is that we had always done and what he liked about us when he first saw us. The experience was a thrill. Looking back on it all now, it's just wild for me that it even happened.

Would you now say that Jersey Boys is the favorite show that you've done?

It's a show that's been very good to me. Before I was involved in Jersey Boys, I saw the show. I thought it was one of the greatest pieces of live entertainment ever. It is crafted so brilliantly. For that reason, I love it. I love it not because I'm in it; I just love the show. Becoming a part of it is something I have to keep reminding myself of. I'm still and always will be just a fan of it.

Tell me about the TV show you're doing in New York.

I'm filming a new show in New York called Madame Secretary. It stars Tea Leoni, Bebe Neuwirth, Patina Miller, who the Tony for Pippin, Keith Carradine, Tim Daly...great cast.

Do you have a funny part?

I do. It's a one-hour dramatic show, but I'm sort of the comedy of the show. It's beautifully written. it reminds me a lot of The West Wing, and shows like that. We're having a blast. We're just finishing up Episode 3 right now.

I'm so happy for all your success, and I'll look forward to the show on the 16th.

Thanks, Don.

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You do not want to miss this spectacular evening of songs from the world of theatre!

Broadway Under the Stars is at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Boulevard East, in Hollywood, for one performance only on Saturday, August 16 at 8pm. Tickets are $40, $55, and $95; for students and children, tickets are $20. VIP packages are available (includes premium seating and a post-show reception with the artists). Purchase by August 2 and save $5! Discount tickets are available at FordTheatres.org or by calling 323-461-3673. To learn about discounts for groups of eight or more, call 323-769-2147.

A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund, a national human services organization that helps everyone — performers and those behind the scenes — who works in performing arts and entertainment, serving more than 17,000 people annually. Programs include social services and emergency financial assistance, health care and insurance counseling, housing, and employment and training services.  www.actorsfund.org.