SAM HARRIS BREAKS FREE

Some alumni of TV talent contests and "reality" shows have done very well on Broadway, others not so much. Sam Harris, who first came to fame on Star Search, has a proud place in the first category: He sang the hell out of "Magic Changes" as Doody in the 1994 revisal of Grease, gave an excellent performance as the hustler Jojo in the Cy Coleman musical The Life, and did a hilarious stint as Carmen Ghia in The Producers. Since then, he's done a lot of concertizing and recording, and he had a recurring role on the 2006 CBS-TV sitcom The Class.

Sam lives in L.A. and isn't scheduled to return to Broadway in the near future; but his NYC fans have a chance to see him perform live July 30-August 2 at Birdland, where he'll be debuting songs from his soon-to-be released CD, titled Free. I recently spoke with him about that gig and several other aspects of his life and career, including his new baby and his upcoming TV talk show.

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BROADWAYSTARS.COM: How's it going, Sam?

SAM HARRIS: I've never been so busy in my life. Between finishing the record, having the baby, and taking meetings about the talk show and other stuff that's coming up, it's been insane. I've had to learn to deal just with what's right in front of me. Now it's the show at Birdland, which will be mostly songs from the new record with some old favorites thrown in.

STARS: I've listened to some tracks from the album online. Would you say this is a new musical direction for you?

SAM: It's mostly a pop-rock, acoustic thing. I wrote most of the songs; there are only two covers, and the rest are original. The record is called Free, and pretty much every song is about a different type of freedom. I'm really proud of the writing, because I was able to explore some things that I hadn't before. Like I said, my life has never been so full. The main thing is our new baby boy, Cooper. He's given me a new perspective on everything -- and it's great that he was here when I was doing the final vocals for the record, because some of the songs are about him.

STARS: You recently wrote a wonderful article for The Advocate about how you and your partner adopted Cooper, but maybe you can summarize the story for readers of BroadwayStars.

SAM: After many years of discussion, my partner Danny Jacobsen and I decided to go forward in December, and we started the adoption process. It was the most amazing, extraordinary, emotional, terrifying experience of my life. The birth mother came out to L.A. a month before the baby was born. Then this little gift happened. It was beyond anything I've ever known.

STARS: I understand there's an interesting story about the birth.

SAM: Yes. I was on one of Rosie O'Donnell's R Family Vacations cruises last year when Danny took the birth mother to the obstetrician, and he said she was going to deliver early. I thought, "My son is going to be born and I'm on the ocean!" So I did my show on the cruise and then, the next morning, I got on a plane and high-tailed it out of whatever port we were in. But I loved the Rosie cruise; I think it's really extraordinary what Rosie and Kelli have done. You know, my partner and I introduced them; we took Rosie and Kelli on their first date together. So I feel personally responsible for the Rosie cruises. They never would have happened if it hadn't been for Danny and me!

STARS: What does Danny do?

SAM: He used to be an actor; now he's a hugely successful in another field. I call him the Tony Robbins of the corporate world. He goes to these major companies and teaches presentation, and he's a director of events as well.

STARS: What can you tell me about your TV talk show?

SAM: I'm in negotiations now with a major studio and a major network that are going into partnership to produce the show. It came as a result of these video blogs I do, which Rosie O'Donnell convinced me to start. I started blogging with great reticence, because I initially thought it would be very peculiar to share my life in that way. But it's become something I really love, and I think doing the blogs has actually made me a better person. They're funny, they're poignant, they're entertaining -- everything from me going backstage at the Emmys to my "Friend Fridays," in which I interview my friends, many of whom are celebrities.

STARS: How did the idea of turning the blogs into a TV series come about?

SAM: Jeffrey Klarik, one of the creators of The Class, saw the blogs and said, "I think there's something here. Would you like to develop this?" I love him and trust him, so we put our heads together and created this sort of talk-show hybrid. We started taking meetings and, pretty much everywhere we went, there was interest. So now we're negotiating and trying to figure out the best way to do this. I'm really excited about it.

STARS: I imagine there will be a lot of musical performances on the show.

SAM: Yes, absolutely!

STARS: I believe you have a place in history as the first reality TV star to make it on Broadway. Is that correct?

SAM: I guess so, if Star Search was reality TV.

STARS: Nowadays, they're creating TV talent contests specifically to try to cast Broadway shows, as they did with Legally Blonde and the current revival of Grease. How do you feel about that?

SAM: Well, we all want to look behind the scenes, and I think anything that informs people about the casting process is good for the aspiring young actor. However, what's funny to me is that what takes a season on TV can be done in New York City in a few days. And I'm concerned that some of the people who are cast in Broadway shows through television are cast because of their personalities rather than because they're right for a particular role. For TV, they always cast personalities, whether the show is Big Brother or The Amazing Race or Dancing With the Stars. Still, the Grease and Legally Blonde TV shows are big, fat advertisements for Broadway. If they actually get people to come to New York and see the shows, I'm all for it.

STARS: Is there more Broadway in your future?

SAM: I miss New York desperately, and I'm eager to come back to Broadway. But I'm really looking forward to the show at Birdland. I love that place. It's intimate, and yet it's right in the heart of the theater district. It's great for me to have an open door to a place where I can come in and do these songs that I've never performed live before. That's a real privilege for me.

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[For much more info on Sam, visit www.samharris.com]

ROSIE, CHRISTINE, DAPHNE, CAROLEE, ANDREA, LILLIAS...AND BARBRA?

No, Barbra Streisand did not sail on last week's R Family Vacations cruise to Canada and New England; such an occurrence would have been about as likely as George W. Bush joining Mensa. But if Babs wasn't aboard the Norwegian Dawn in the flesh, she certainly was there in spirit on "Barbra Night" and throughout the week, as Broadway stars and other super-talented performers covered a slew of her songs among the great many that were sung in a smorgasbord of great entertainment. Here are some pics!

Rosie O'Donnell, the big name (and financial muscle) behind R Family Vacations, made a big entrance in the all-Barbra show on the first night of the cruise.

Rosie didn't tackle an entire Streisand song, but she did sing snippets of a few of her idol's more obscure numbers, including "Queen Bee" from A Star is Born.

The concert headliner for the week was a real blast from the past: Sheena Easton, still looking and sounding gorgeous. She did not cover the Streisand repertoire, instead offering an SRO concert of her own hits, such as "For Your Eyes Only" and "[My Baby Takes the] Morning Train."

Among the many other talents who sang Streisand and non-Streisand songs during the cruise: Two-time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole...

...the fabulous Carolee Carmello, who was granted some time off from her starring role in Mamma Mia! (the show, not the movie) to be on board for the first few days of the cruise...

...Josh Strickland, who played Tarzan on Broadway...

...Forbidden Broadway veteran and Sirius radio personality Christine Pedi...

...the golden-voiced James Wesley, from whom we all will be hearing much more in the future...

...and the one and only Lillias White.

Seth Rudetsky, the cruise's entertainment coordinator, presented a shipboard version of "Chatterbox," the popular interview series that he hosts weekly at Don't Tell Mama. One of the interviewees was Miss Lillias White herself, who held nothing back in telling tales of Dreamgirls and such.

Andrea McArdle, Broadway's original Annie, made the cruise a family affair by bringing along two of her kinfolk...

...her brother, Michael McArdle, who could absolutely have had a singing career if he hadn't decided to become a yoga teacher instead...

...and her 20-year-old daughter, Alexis Kalehoff, who has already been on Broadway (in Les Miz)...

Here and below are The Broadway Boys, an exciting group founded by Jesse Nager (far left in the following photo).

The boys were a big hit on the ship, singing ultra-cool pop arrangements of great Broadway songs.

How many other cruises present tab versions of musicals featuring actual Broadway performers, including some who've appeared on Broadway in the very same show? That's par for the course for R Family. This year's offering? Chicago, with Brenda Braxton recreating the role of Velma Kelly, which she has played for several stints in the still-running Broadway revival of the Kander & Ebb classic.

"No, I'm no one's wife, but...."

"...oh, I love my life!"

The amazing cast of Chicago also included Lillias White, who has appeared as Matron Mama Morton on Broadway...

...Daphne Rubin-Vega, Rent's original Mimi, as one of the merry murderesses of the Cook County jail...

...and Andrea McArdle as lawyer "Billie" Flynn.

David Sabella, who played Mary Sunshine in the original company of the Broadway revival, recreated his performance of "A Little Bit of Good" -- in half-drag but in full soprano.

In this gender-blind production of Chicago, the role of Roxie Hart was played by R Family team member Michael Lee Scott.

And, in a real show-stopper, Klea Blackhurst and Christine Pedi performed "Class" in the personae of Ethel Merman and Liza Minnelli. Oh, it's heaven nowadays!

MICHAEL BERRESSE DIRECTS A BROADWAY [SHOW]!

When I interviewed Michael Berresse four years ago regarding his directorial debut with [title of show], it was just prior to the show's premiere at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Following its NYMF triumph, this hilariously funny, heartfelt little musical about writing a musical went on to an extended run at the Vineyard Theatre. And now it's about the open on Broadway, surpassing the wildest dreams of director/choreographer Berresse, writers Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, co-stars Bell, Bowen, Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff, and musical director/pianist/co-star Larry Pressgrove. (Pictured above, left to right: Pressgrove, Blickenstaff, Berresse, [tos] producer Kevin McCollum, Bell, Blackwell, and Bowen.) I recently caught up with Michael to ask for his thoughts about a theatrical journey that's far stranger than fiction.

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BROADWAYSTARS.COM: At one point in [title of show], Hunter and Jeff ask rhetorically, "Is art a springboard for fame?" In a day and age when fame often comes from a TV "reality show" or a tricked-up talent contest, that question is well worth asking. So, Michael, is art a springboard for fame?

MICHAEL BERRESSE: It partly depends on what your definition of "fame" is. In our culture, notoriety often passes for fame. But in [title of show], their concept of fame is to be part of it all, to be legitimized, to express themselves in a larger venue. Fame on Broadway is practically an oxymoron by society's standards. But I do think that, ultimately, people are looking for something that resonates more deeply than a reality show. All that stuff is like "donuts for dinner," as they say in [tos]; it may seem like a good idea to have donuts for dinner but, 30 minutes later, you're hungry for something meatier. I think that's true of pop culture. But if you create something that has deeper emotional resonance, people will hang onto it.

STARS: I realized a long time ago that I could never be a producer, because I never thought the original production of A Chorus Line would run anywhere near as long as it did. Yes, the themes are universal, but so much of that show is specifically about the theater world that I didn't think it would have tremendous appeal to the masses. Of course, I was wrong. In this respect, does [title of show] have some similarities to A Chorus Line?

MB: Yes! The audience for our first preview on Broadway was mostly made up of kids who've seen the show over and over, who follow the Internet series, and who really, really wanted to be there. It was like a rock concert -- but, of course, I knew it wasn't going to stay like that. So I was looking forward to the Sunday matinee, because I wanted to see how the traditional theatergoing public would react to the show. Certainly, there are some references that go over their heads, but we've had an incredibly strong response to every performance we've given so far. We're finding that, whether people understand all of the references or not, what this show provides is kind of a template for everyone to remember what it is they dreamed about doing in their lives.

STARS: One of the best songs in the show is "Die, Vampire, Die," which is all about how self-doubt and the negativity of others can sabotage a person's creativity. That obviously applies to any career.

MB: It's interesting to watch how different people connect to the show. There was an elderly couple at that first Sunday matinee; there were pretty quiet until they heard Kitty Carlisle Hart's name mentioned, and then they perked right up. We all think she was a really classy dame, and when we mention her and older people see that we feel that way, it makes them think maybe our priorities aren't much different from theirs. At some point in the show, almost everyone seems to feel that we're addressing them directly. I think that's very empowering for the audience.

STARS: I'm sure most people would love the show if they actually see it, but you may have a big challenge in getting them there in the first place.

MB: Yes, but word of mouth is really starting to carry us. The crowd of kids at the stage door after the first preview was staggering. I mean, they had to call in the police! The ball is rolling already. Our audience is sort of a protagonist in the show, because the point is made that if each person tells nine other people about us, they can help keep us afloat. If we survive long-term, that's what's it's going to be about.