Theatre Interviews with Top Broadway Stars

Kristin Chenoweth on returning to 'Wicked' after 15 years

It's good to see her, isn't it? Fifteen years after Kristin Chenoweth first made her entrance in a magic bubble, she's back celebrating Wicked's anniversary. Decked out in pink sparkles, fitting for the good witch, Chenoweth performed her signature song "Popular" for the 15th anniversary celebration, which airs on NBC on October 29.We caught up with Chenoweth to discuss how the musical shaped her career and whether she'd ever return to Oz.Get Wicked tickets now.How do you feel Wicked has shaped...

How Annie-B Parson teamed up with David Byrne to reinvent Broadway

Annie-B Parson doesn't want to put labels on her work, and you'd be hard-pressed to do so even if you tried. The accomplished choreographer has created movement and dance pieces for everything from musicians like David Bowie and St. Vincent to the Royal Ballet to modern ensembles like Martha Graham Dance Company to operas to a Jonathan Demme film to her own group, Big Dance Theater, to theatre. Basically, if there are bodies moving in space, Parson has a vision for them.Her latest venture comes...

‘Between the Lines’ star Arielle Jacobs on bullying, mother-daughter stories, and working with Jodi Picoult

Most people wouldn't want to relive high school. But Arielle Jacobs is alright with the do-overs.In fact, playing young women in youthful stories has become one of Jacobs's specialties. Her first professional gig was as Gabriella in the High School Musical stage show (directed by Jeff Calhoun, who also helms Between the Lines), and many know her as Princess Jasmine in Broadway's Aladdin, a role she was playing on a Disney Princess Concert tour when we had our virtual interview.Next, she'll next...

Max Clayton and Matt Doyle on quarantining together and the importance of hope

Not every quarantine is created equal, and being in lockdown in a one-bedroom apartment with your significant other can prove challenging no matter how strong your relationship is. But for Broadway performers Max Clayton and Matt Doyle, isolating together has shone a light on each other's strengths. "Max makes me laugh so hard all the time that I think it's actually been the saving grace of all of this that I live with a big clown that keeps me laughing and pulls me out of my darker moments in...

Ali Stroker on acting opposite Danai Gurira in 'Richard III'

This summer, Tony Award winner Ali Stroker is acting in Shakespeare in the Park for the first time in Richard III, and so far, it's been a very wet experience. It rained almost every night during the first week of performances. One night, the show even started 80 minutes late because of rain. But Stroker is taking it in strides."It's been amazing," she enthused one evening before the show. "It has always been on my bucket list."Stroker had never acted in a Shakespeare play professionally. In...

Christopher Fitzgerald on working with Stephen Sondheim and how the pandemic changed ‘Company’

Christopher Fitzgerald has made a career out of playing the "nice guy." From the delightful oddball Ogie in Waitress (which earned him a Tony Award nomination) to the charming munchkin Boq in Wicked to now, David in Marianne Elliott's gender-flipped revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival and is playing through July 31. "It's nice to evolve from playing creatures, and playing weird fantasy characters, like munchkins and leprechauns, to playing actual...

'Six' creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss reflect on their journey to the Tony Awards

"I'm so proud of my friend Toby winning a Tony. The Tonys are going to rename themselves for Toby Marlow!" joked Lucy Moss, the co-creator of the musical Six, after she and Marlow won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Original Score.Even without getting the awards renamed, Marlow's win is particularly historic. They were the first openly non-binary Tony nominee in history, and now, they've become the first non-binary winner. Alongside them this year was A Strange Loop actress L Morgan Lee, the first...

Tony winner Joaquina Kalukango on the Black theatre artists that lift her up

Mid-show standing ovations are rare on Broadway — unless you're at Paradise Square. When leading actress Joaquina Kalukango sings the penultimate number, a power ballad called "Let It Burn," she's met with a standing ovation nearly every night.So it's no wonder that when she performed the song at the 2022 Tony Awards, holding an impossibly long final note as tears rolled down her cheeks, the audience at Radio City Music Hall, too, rose to their feet. (It's worth seeing for yourself.)Kalukango's...

Matt Doyle on his Tony-winning performance in 'Company' on Broadway

At the 2022 Tony Awards, Company on Broadway became the most awarded musical of the season with five trophies. Besides the Best Musical Revival honor, set designer Bunny Christie got a prize, and stage legend Patti LuPone picked up her third Tony for playing Joanne. Marianne Elliott picked up her third directing Tony for reimagining the story of the bachelor Bobby with a bachelorette named Bobbie (Katrina Lenk), who at 35 faces societal and biological pressure to settle down. But Bobbie isn't...

Hugh Jackman on 'The Music Man': 'There's nothing like doing a musical on Broadway'

"The thrill is mine, trust me," Hugh Jackman said, when told it's thrilling to see him on Broadway for the first time in seven years. Since December 2021, Jackman has been leading the big parade as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man, and he was just nominated for the 2022 Best Leading Actor in a Musical Tony Award for his performance.Jackman, whose roots are on stage in Australia, achieved A-list Hollywood stardom by playing Wolverine in X-Men and leading other high-profile films like Les...