Seth's Broadway Diary, Volume 1: Part 1 (32 page)

The big turning point in Chip's career was when he auditioned to play Marvin in
In Trousers
at Playwrights Horizons. He sang "Jackie" from
Jacques Brel
, and Bill Finn (who wrote
In Trousers
and was directing it at that point) told him that a) he hated that song and b) if he insisted on singing it, he should put his hands in his pockets and stand on the piano... which Chip did. Suffice it to say, Chip thought that Bill was the oddest person he had ever met, but he got the gig and they became great friends.
In Trousers
turned into a cult hit and next came
March of the Falsettos
. Michael Rupert took over the role of Marvin and Chip became Mendel, his psychiatrist, which he considered a demotion. He says he remembered that there were a lot of lunches where he was explaining his issues to William Finn, and at one of them he offered to write his own song for Mendel. The offer was not accepted.

He told me that
March of the Falsettos
was being considered a workshop so there was no official opening date. However, one random night, Frank Rich came, gave it a rave and suddenly the show was frozen. We then talked about
Falsettoland
, which is the sequel to
March of the Falsettos
and one of my favorite shows ever. He said that
Falsettoland
is the only show where he didn't care what the critics said at all. He felt that the show's message was so important that it transcended anything negative a critic could possibly say. I asked what he felt was so important, and he said that the show spoke so well to our time and what people in the theatre have gone through in terms of the losses we've suffered due to AIDS. And the message was that all of us treat each other as best we can, whatever our peculiarities… and that we're all a family. I then asked him if he was completely obsessed with the song "Unlikely Lovers" as I am. Of course, Chip-style, he said that song was a big bone of contention for him, and he was constantly arguing about it because he felt that it was missing something… him! (And Trina). Addition denied.

Finally, I brought up
Into the Woods
. He was in L.A. doing TV work when Ira Weitzman (the fabulous producer) called him and said that they were considering him for the role of the Baker
but
if anyone called and asked him to audition, he should say no! Ira felt that the creative team didn't know what they wanted and if Chip came in they would find a reason why he wasn't right. But if he didn't come in, they would just offer it to him. Well, they did ask him to audition, he said he couldn't… and they offered him the role! While they were rehearsing in La Jolla, James Lapine (the director/writer) said that he was concerned because Chip didn't look like a baker. He imagined the Baker as a big roly-poly guy and Chip is small and wiry. Chip got incredibly insecure during rehearsal until Joanna Gleason had lunch with him and told him not to freak out because she was sure he was going to keep the part. He calmed down, and they told everyone that the show was coming to Broadway — unfortunately, not for another eight months… and Chip has two kids. Hello, money? He didn’t feel he could accept another job knowing he’d have to leave in eight months. Thankfully, his wife was working for the ballet and his family continued eating.

The reason the show waited eight months is that the second act was being worked on. Audiences didn't like the fact that the Baker's Wife died and they never saw her again. So the creative team decided to bring her back during Act Two… but then they couldn't decide if Jack's Mother should also come back. Apparently, the only time you can have two dead people visiting is in a dream (See: Grandma Tzeitel and Fruma-Sarah).

They worked it out, and Chip loved doing the show… and working with Sondheim. He said he remembers Sondheim coming into a rehearsal room at La Jolla and performing new music for them. He said it was so moving when Sondheim sat at the piano, got out his sheet music, laid it out so it was neat and then sang "No One Is Alone." He remembers Paul Gemignani, the music director who's a big, imposing presence, literally having tears streaming down his cheeks. And Chip remembers that when the show was rehearsing in New York, Sondheim presented him the song "No More." Chip said he couldn't believe that Sondheim was writing songs based on how Chip played the character, what his range was, etc... and that he was actually going to be able to sing that brilliance onstage!

His fondest memory is about when they filmed
Into the Woods
for PBS. The audience was filled with Sondheim fanatics who simply loved the show. Chip went back to his dressing room after the curtain call and noticed that it was dark even though he had left the light on. He opened the door and saw someone sitting there. Chip turned on the light and Sondheim looked up at him with tears in his eyes and said, "When could it ever be this good?" How sweet is that? Isn't it nice to know that it's not just the audience that's moved by a genius' work, but the genius himself can be moved by the piece, the performances and the love from the audience as well?

All right, tonight I'm hosting
Broadway Backwards
for the third time and later this week I'm seeing
Applause
at City Center Encores! (featuring Chip Zien and starring Christine Ebersole) and then I'm interviewing Nathan Lane for Sirius radio! All this Broadway makes me thirsty. Maybe I'll have a nice, cold glass of FreshWater. Gregus? Mason?

Nathan, Christine and
Broadway Backwards

February 11, 2008

This afternoon James borrowed my laptop, so he could go to a coffee shop in the village and do some writing. In the middle of the afternoon, I suddenly began thinking about what would happen if he lost it. I'd definitely have to replace it but would feel awful asking him to pay for it. Yet I don't have any insurance on it. Later that evening I was at Sirius, and I got a call on my cell phone.

RANDOM PERSON: Is this Seth?

ME: (Distrustingly. Subtext: Aren't I on the "do-not-call" list?)
 Yes…

RANDOM PERSON: I have your laptop.

What the-!?! I got his address and said I'd be right over.

I called James and told him I just got a phone call from a man who had my laptop.

"How?" James asked. "I have it here."

"You do?"

That was odd. I wondered if I was being scammed. Suddenly I heard a lengthy, loud gasp. It
was
gone. James told me that he had picked up Juli from school and decided to take a cab home because he had to get her dinner and help with her homework before we saw
Applause
that night. He realized he must have left it in the cab because he was in such a rush. He was
so
apologetic. I told him not to worry since: a) That morning I forgot my sweatpants at home and had to do a full cardio workout in tight jeans, b) That afternoon I walked a block down Ninth Avenue before I realized that I left my wallet sitting on the floor of The Coffee Pot on 49th Street, and c) That evening I left my Treo cell phone in studio D at Sirius.
I don’t think Treo phones exist anymore! AND there’s no more Studio D at SiriusXM!

Anyway, I advise you all to put a little card inside your computer carrying case with your name and phone number in case it’s lost. It worked for me! And Christine Pedi, my co-host on Sirius, advised me to always leave a cab only after you've leaned back in and looked everywhere… something she calls the "lean and look"… which I've re-titled the "Bend and Snap" in honor of
Legally Blonde
's Orfeh. Speaking of which, I did a full video blog deconstructing her unbelievable riffs in
The Great American Trailer Park Musical
. She riffs down and then riffs
up
the same notes! It's like a staircase of riff... you must listen! Look it up on my website!

Okay… lots of Broadway this week! First of all, I hosted
Broadway Backwards
. It's a benefit for the New York Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Community Center where men sing women's songs and vice versa. But what makes it special is that the director, Bob Bartley, puts the songs in a context to make it about gay relationships. Tony Yazbeck from
A Chorus Line
and Aaron Lazar from
Les Miz
sang "A Boy Like That"/"I Have a Love," and it wasn't about them pretending to be women, it was about a gay man being warned by his brother not to be in love with the wrong guy. And "I Want It All" from
Baby
was brilliantly performed by Jose Llana and Gavin Creel as men who were eagerly attending a meeting of "Wanna-be Daddies" at the Center and Brooks Ashmanskas as a guy who was only at the meeting because his partner wanted a kid. Of course, by the end of the number, Brooks was belting "I Want It All!" à la Beth Fowler. It brought ye olde house down. I commented that people are always talking about how "gay" Broadway is, but there are
so
few actual gay stories that have been told on Broadway in musicals. Off the top of my head, I can think of
Falsettos
,
La Cage
and
Rent
. There are some more, but it seems as though Broadway is behind Hollywood in terms of gay stories. What's up with that? Or as the kids say, "what" up with that?

It was so great to see all different kinds of gay characters portrayed at
Broadway Backwards
… including Michelle Blakely and Jenn Colella doing
Into the Woods
' "Hello Little Girl" (the song where the Wolf first encounters Little Red Riding Hood) as a song between an aggressive and a reticent lesbian at the downtown bar Henrietta Hudson. Keeping with the theme of this column, I just realized I left my black sweater at that bar years ago when I was doing stand-up!

Lainie Kazan sang "The Gal That Got Away," and I wouldn't let
her
get away ‘til I got a
Funny Girl
story out of her. I asked her about the first time she went on as Fanny. She said that she was a Ziegfeld girl and waited more than a year before Barbra finally missed a show. Lainie got the call in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day calling everybody she had on a special list… relatives, critics, publicists, etc. Lainie showed up at the theatre… and so did Barbra! She was suddenly well enough to go on. Hmm… The next day Lainie got a call from the stage manager. "You're on today... but you can't call an-y-body on your 'list'!" Lainie asked if she could at least call her mother. "Fine." said the stage manager. Lainie told us that she called her mother… who also had a copy of the list! And a star was born!

That night, James and I went to City Center to see the final dress rehearsal for
Applause
(after the laptop debacle). First of all, what I love is that Encores! gives free tickets to big groups of students. Excellent! Please get more teenagers to see and experience live theatre, not only so they can grow to love Broadway, but also so when I finally have a lead in a Broadway show, I'll have an audience show up (I'm nervous that my following will be too infirm by that late date). Before the show, Encores! artistic director Jack Viertel announced that Christine Ebersole had the flu and had missed the last few days of rehearsals (at Encores!, you only rehearse for a few days, so essentially she missed 75 percent of rehearsal!). He said that she didn't want an announcement made, but he assured her that the Metropolitan Opera does, so Encores! can, too! He said he was worried they were going to have to transpose the songs back down to Lauren Bacall's basso profundo keys, and I was about to exchange my free ticket, but he said they didn't. Phew. Well, cut to, Christine was amazing. I told James that I was obsessed with her performance because it was obvious she was sick, but only vocally. She was so
relaxed
onstage. Not pushing anything, not nervous before she had to sing, making us completely comfortable.
And
it was the first performance in front of an audience! Where was the panic? Where was the "I hope I land this joke and if I don't, it will confirm I have no talent"? Where was the "We haven't rehearsed this section enough so I'm going to make it obvious I'm uncomfortable"? Why doesn't she have all the demons that plague me constantly? It was so inspiring. She was completely at ease.
And
she did all the dances flawlessly! Had she been rehearsing via satellite
?
This was pre-Skype. Brava!

I also have to give a big shout-out to Mario Cantone, who gave a fantastic performance as Duane, Margo's hairdresser. The role could have been played with no nuance… simply as the sassy sidekick delivering every punchline straight out front, and I'm sure people would have laughed. However, I love that Mario played Duane as a warm person who happened to also have a great sense of humor. Here's the thing, in real life, people make jokes to their friends; in bad-acting world, they make jokes to the audience. So many sitcoms have people rattling off funny quips but, for some reason, no one around them acknowledges that the comments are funny… it makes me crazy! And, P.S., Mario also looked amazing and sang up a storm!