After five seasons of playing Marcus, a CEO and advisor for Jean Smart's Deborah Vance on the Emmy Award-winning HBO Max series Hacks, Carl Clemons-Hopkins is looking forward to audiences seeing the character's story end as the final episodes air over the next month.
"We can expect a lovely conclusion to someone who has been on the journey to find himself," said Clemons-Hopkins, an Emmy nominee for their performance. "We can expect a new relationship between him and Deborah that is going to last into the future. [...] Our guy's growing up, and he is really doing his thing in a very new way. We can also expect some lovely shirts, some beautiful colors, some beautiful suits, and a touch more presence."
As it happens, concurrent with that end is a new beginning for Clemons-Hopkins, currently making their Broadway debut in David Lindsay-Abaire's new comedy The Balusters. The actor is glad for the overlap because it lets audiences see their range. Though people know Clemons-Hopkins for their "overnight" Hacks success, they said, they only landed that opportunity when the pandemic halted a production they were doing at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, which they eventually returned to during a filming break. The Atlanta, Georgia native has performed extensively off Broadway and across the country — most notably as Aaron Burr in the first Chicago cast of Hamilton — since graduating from Philadelphia's University of the Arts in their early 20s. ("[It] turned out to be a real estate scam last year," Clemons-Hopkins noted, "but at the time it was a really great conservatory.")
Their Balusters character, Brooks Duncan, is one of 10 members of a homeowners association whose trivial squabbles belie much deeper tensions underneath. Clemons-Hopkins described Brooks as "a little bit of a pot-stirrer, a little bit of a braggart, a little bit of an aloof individual" — traits that are just as much defense mechanisms as personality attributes.
Clemons-Hopkins hopes The Balusters reaches first-time theatregoers who might see themselves in at least one of the characters — all of whom are more than they seem — or simply relate to the hilariously exasperating experience of being on a board. In the latest installment of New York Theatre Guide's Broadway first-timers' series, Clemons-Hopkins shares their own journey from first-time Broadway-goer to Broadway star, as well as practical tips and recommendations for today's rookie theatregoers.
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What was the first show you ever saw?
I was involved in theatre before I saw theatre live, but the first show technically would be Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. The first play I ever saw... oh my goodness, it was a production of Beezus and Ramona at the Alliance Center in Atlanta that they did for kids. I was about 9.
The first Broadway show I ever saw was Beauty and the Beast because it was what we could afford when I came up when I was 16. [...] The Gaston was 6'4" and started as a dancer, and I'm also 6'4 and was, at the time, doing a lot more dance. I thought, "Oh, wow. Maybe it's possible."
And then the second show Broadway show I ever saw, that stuck with me much more, was Rent. I already had the double discs; I already had all the paraphernalia I could get without having seen it. But then I finally got to see it at 17.
Walk me through the day of your first Broadway performance. How were you feeling? How did you prepare?
My goodness, I think it was good. I'm sure it was good. It was fantastic.
Yes, we had a rehearsal period. Yes, we had all those things. But we learned so much in the previews, and we grew so much in the previews, and I know personally that I don't think I got it-got it till, like, two days ago.
We got to grow so much as an ensemble. I like to say it's a 10-piece band, and the more we get to groove, the more we get to play together, the more we get to learn each other, the better and the tighter and the more precise we can be. And also, thank god the play is good. David has given us such a brilliant and sharp text [...] It will be infinitely great as long as you just subscribe to that play and those words.
Would you recommend The Balusters to a first-time theatregoer?
I would completely recommend The Balusters to a first-time Broadway-goer. Get ready to enjoy a very good comedy of manners. It is a cross-section of the social experiment that is a homeowners association, and a lot of people know what that means. Even people who are not part of a homeowners association has an idea of the kind of forced community this country can lend itself to. Come with an open heart and open mind, ready to laugh. And it's one act, so that's always great.
Every [character], really, you see their outer layers fall away bit by bit and you're left with 10 very real, imperfect humans. You can see yourself in multiple people. Actually, I would say that's what I'm most excited for people to see, this societal mirror — not to necessarily judge, but to see that reflection, sit with that reflection, and see what you can change.
What has it been like for the end of Hacks to converge with your Broadway debut?
It's been a little bit incredible. The Hacks of it all gave me a level of confidence I didn't know I needed going into this. What's great about Hacks is, yes, it is very much a television program, but it can be so theatrical. It can be so improvisational. It still stretches and challenges and uses muscles that were honed in the theatre. Jean has a theatre background. Hannah has a a stand-up background, which is still very theatrical. We have that rapport, and those skills weren't just laying dormant.
I'm also excited for the fact that, while everyone else is seeing [Hacks air during The Balusters run], I'm actually just doing the show. It looks like I'm doing a lot more than I am.
