Steven Pasquale: Somethin' Like Love

The notes found in CD booklets are often filled with hyperbole, especially when they happen to be written by the producers. But that's not the case with Steven Pasquale's recently released album of standards, Somethin' Like Love. John Pizzarelli, who co-produced the recording with his wife, Jessica Molaskey, is only telling the truth when he writes, "Steve has a lyric baritone that can soar on a big stage or be muted for a late-night ballad, and his intelligence as an actor...makes his phrasing and interpretation of lyrics deeper than most of the current crooners in his age group."

Steven is well known to TV watchers as fireman Sean Garrity on the FX series Rescue Me and to theatergoers for his Off-Broadway roles in Spinning Into Butter, A Man of No Importance, The Spitfire Grill, A Soldier's Play, Beautiful Child, Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, and Neil LaBute's Fat Pig. He also had leads in two noteworthy musicals-in-concert: the Roundabout's January 2009 benefit performance of A Little Night Music, which co-starred Victor Garber, Vanessa Redgrave, and the late Natasha Richardson; and the unforgettable 2005 World AIDS Day concert of The Secret Garden, in which he met his future wife, Tony Award winner Laura Benanti.

Recently, Steven made a smashing Broadway debut as the reprehensible Kent in LaBute's reasons to be pretty. But he'll be back to his charming self on Sunday, June 28 at Feinstein's at Loews Regency, when he offers his first live performance of songs from Somethin' Like Love in the excellent company of the John Pizzarelli Quartet. He and I recently chatted about that gig and other matters.

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BROADWAYSTARS: Your album is great! Were you raised on this music?

STEVEN PASQUALE: No, I wasn't. I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, where the only thing I had a chance to hear was whatever they played on pop radio stations. It wasn't until later that I fell in love with jazz, Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald.

STARS: You sound completely comfortable in so many different styles of music.

STEVEN: Thanks, man. I'm not a trained singer; I've never really studied voice. I think I had one or two lessons over the years just to make sure I was doing everything right. I did national tours of West Side Story and Miss Saigon when I was really young, and I learned a lot as I got out into the world and had a chance to hear all kinds of music. I was always a great mimic, so I would try to sound like singers I heard on the radio or on cast albums or soundtracks.

STARS: Jessica and John have obviously been a great help to you in your latest endeavor.

STEVEN: Yes. Jessica and I have been friends since we did A Man of No Importance together at Lincoln Center. That's when I met John; she invited our cast to see him perform at Birdland one night, and it absolutely blew my mind. Jessica eventually got me together with John to work on an album, and we did the entire thing in, like, 14 hours. That's how fast and brilliant he and his musicians are.

STARS: The version of "Laura" that you do in tribute to your wife is gorgeous. And I'm so glad you included "Maybe" from Annie on the CD.

STEVEN: I loved that song as a kid, and I mentioned it to John and Jessica. She said she loved it too and always wanted to put it on one of her jazz albums, but she never got around to it. So we changed some of the pronouns to give it more of an adult sound, and I gave it a try.

STARS: Every track on the album is a winner, and the song list is going to be perfect for Feinstein's.

STEVEN: I'm really excited it. I've only done one evening of "me" before, at Joe's Pub a few years ago. I'm much more comfortable playing somebody else than playing myself. But I'm looking forward to this show because John Pizzarelli is my favorite musician on the planet, so to have him and his trio playing with me is the fulfillment of my wildest fantasy. I've been trying to steal some more rehearsal time with John, but he's like, "Don't worry about it. You know the songs, I know the songs. We'll be great!"

STARS: It's always a pleasure to hear you sing live or on record. I'll never forget that Secret Garden concert.

STEVEN: We had a great time. It's such a beautiful score. I think the show is ready for a revival.

STARS: I'm sorry reasons to be pretty didn't run longer. Was that the first time you ever played the bad guy?

STEVEN: Yeah, I always play the earnest protagonist. I had worked with Neil on Fat Pig, and I also knew [director] Terry Kinney. When they called me about reasons to be pretty, I thought it would be fun to play such an asshole -- and it was.

STARS: But, with all that anger and angst, didn't it depress you on some level?

STEVEN: Umm, yeah, it took its toll in a way. So many people said, "What's it like to play such a dick? You really went full-dick with that part. You didn't back away from the guy's dickness!" But it's a great play, and it was beautifully directed, so I had a fantastic experience.

STARS: Fat Pig is another great work by LaBute.

STEVEN: Yes. Now there's talk of it being done on Broadway. I hope that happens -- but not with Ashton Kutcher.

STARS: I read that rumor. My first reaction was that he shouldn't play the lead; if anything, he should play the other male role.

STEVEN: Or he shouldn't even be allowed into New York, or at least not within 150 feet of a stage. My God, are you kidding me? Casting him in a Neil LaBute play is like asking an NBA basketball player to play Mozart.

STARS: Well, I have no clue if he could handle LaBute, but I do find him amusing in his movies.

STEVEN: Of course, and I do as well. But I don't like this mentality of "Let's get a super-famous guy to star in a play and see if he'll be good!" I think that mentality is dangerous, and I hope we get away from it soon.

STARS: I didn't see you in Fat Pig; I saw Jeremy Piven. His performance was excellent, but I understand he was behaving badly even then, long before the scandal of his walking out on Speed-the-Plow. Would you care to comment on that situation?

STEVEN: Jeremy handled that about as poorly as anyone could handle anything. His reputation is tainted forever in this town because of what he did. You don't quit a show because a doctor says you're a little sick; you talk to your producers, you ask for some time off. You don't just get on a plane and fly off to California. That sense of entitlement is mind-boggling to me. California can keep him. If he's happy there, we're more than happy not to have him in our city.

STARS: Before I let you go, I have to ask about the fact that you've recently been given the opportunity to sing on Rescue Me.

STEVEN: Yes! Last week, this week, and next week, my character is in three musical sequences. The songs were written by one of the show's co-creators, Peter Tolan, who's a musical theater queen at heart.

STARS: Are you the only one who's going to sing?

STEVEN: Yes. The story is that my character is heavily medicated, so it's easy for us to slide into these fantasy musical sequences.

STARS: Then Denis Leary won't be singing?

STEVEN. No. Not in this lifetime. Maybe the next one.

[For more information or to book tickets to Steven Pasquale's show at Feinstein's, go to feinsteinsattheregency.com]

Tommy Kail in Oz

Not much longer than two and a half years ago, Thomas Kail was a relatively anonymous member of the New York theatrical community, working hard in the basement theater of the Drama Book Shop as one of the founding members of Back House Productions. Now he's very much a player as director of In the Heights, a little show that came out of Back House, had a commercial run Off-Broadway, then transferred to Broadway and won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical.

Kail and two of his cohorts from that show, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and musical director Alex Lacamoire, have reunited for the City Center Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz, which began previews this week. I first met Kail during the early days of Back House, well before Heights became a phenomenon, so it was fun to catch up with him on the phone earlier this week. Here's what he had to say.

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BROADWAYSTARS: Hey, Tommy. It's great to talk to you again. How's The Wiz going?

THOMAS KAIL: Very well. We just had our sitzprobe, at the same studio where we did In the Heights. It was great. The band is killin'!

STARS: I love that score. I didn't see the original production of the show, but I saw a tour that came through the Beacon Theater, with Stephanie Mills and Andre De Shields.

TK: My own experience with The Wiz prior to this was limited, to say the least. I listened to the album when I was growing up, but I never saw the show live, and I had never even seen the movie until I was hired for this job. One of the amazing things about our casting process was that so many people who came in to audition said that The Wiz was a major reason why they decided to become a performer. I wasn't aware of how often the show is done all over the country, and how pervasive it is in the culture. Everybody in our cast came in knowing every word and note of it.

STARS: I think it's fair to say that the movie is generally considered to be something of a disaster. Do you agree?

TK: No, I don't think it's a disaster at all. Making a movie is hard, and The Wiz is such a conceptual show. The filmmakers had an idea, they turned New York City upside down for however many months they were shooting, and they put it up there. I believe it was the largest production ever shot in the city up to that time, so it's a pretty fascinating piece of cinematic history in that respect. They shot at the World Trade Center; I think that number had 400 dancers, and they each had three costume changes. That's 1200 costumes for one number!

STARS: Maybe you can talk about what the writers of The Wiz achieved in their adaptation.

TK: For most people, the Wizard of Oz movie has become the touchstone, rather than the book by L. Frank Baum. The Wiz is faithful to Baum in terms of the relationship of the witches, and in other ways. Bill Brown, who wrote the book for the musical, has been very involved in our production; he's the real custodian of the show. There's something deep inside Baum's book that Bill, Charlie Smalls, and the rest of the Wiz team were really able to embrace. The heart of the show is so big. We all know the story -- we know that Dorothy's going to get back home -- so it's all about the ride and being invested in the characters. [pauses] I just ruined the ending for you, didn't I?

STARS: No problem.

TK: One of the beautiful things about Encores! is that you do a show as it exists. It's not about rewriting or reworking. Every song Charlie Smalls wrote for The Wiz is amazing. You keep waiting for a letdown; then the show is over, and you realize that a letdown never came.

STARS: You're reunited with your In the Heights boys, Alex and Andy, for this project. Do you think of yourselves as a team now?

TK: Let's put it this way: We all continue to work with as many people who inspire us as possible, but I certainly know that if there is ever a job and they are available, I will call them very quickly. Andy and I joke that somewhere there's a master list of people who can screw up a show. Alex and Andy have definitely been crossed off that list; I think I'm the only one whose name is still on it.

STARS: Before I let you go, I wanted to say how much I enjoyed the PBS special on In the Heights, although I was a little surprised that it didn't air until very recently.

TK: That's because they had 700 hours worth of footage. They continued to shoot even after the Tonys last year, and they spent the past year cutting and editing. I think people were really moved by the artistry that the filmmakers applied to our show.

STARS: You came across as charming and exceptionally articulate, and you looked great on camera.

TK: Well, the lighting was very generous. And my curls were behaving.

STARS: Did you ever act?

TK: I took one acting class in high school, in my senior year. I was an athlete, so I was never really able to do theater, because they practiced at the same time. I went to school with Ben Shenkman, Ana Gasteyer, and Robin Weigert, but I never thought of myself as someone who would have a career in the arts. I was pretty bad in acting class, and I did a terrible job in Jon Robin Baitz's Three Hotels. I played a 54-year-old businessman swilling martinis and talking about baby formula. There's a video out there that I hope never surfaces on YouTube, for everybody's sake.

STARS: What career advice would you give to budding directors?

TK: Whether you're working in the basement of the Drama Book Shop or you scrape together some money and rent a theater for a week, directing is about doing. I was very fortunate to have a group of friends who challenged me. Three or four times a month, we would put something up on stage. It allowed us to not be precious about our work, to fail -- and to "fail better," if I can paraphrase Samuel Beckett. I did a lot of assisting at first, and I learned a lot. Then I started doing my own stuff. Even if the show only played to 13 or 14 people on a Tuesday night, it was still directing. I founded Back House with three of my friends from Wesleyan, and we tried to make a home for creativity. You know, the last word of both In the Heights and The Wiz is "home," so I feel like I'm in the right place.

STARS: I'm really looking forward to seeing the show on the 13th. Will you be around that night?

TK: That's our second or third preview, so if I'm not there, it means that something went really right or really wrong.

The 2009 Phony Awards

Now that the Tonys have been doled out, it's time for the second annual Phony Awards -- a name I've borrowed from my friend and colleague Gerard Alessandrini, with his blessing. Again, I've tried to come up with categories that are tailored quite specifically to the shows and artists of the season, yet I was able to recycle several categories from last year -- e.g., Cutest Onstage Couple, Most Brilliant Comic Performance of the Season -- and simply plug in new winners. Remember that, because these are the Phonys and not the Tonys, Off-Broadway shows and artists are eligible. And allow me to reiterate that these awards are "phony" only in the sense that they don't actually exist and you're not going to see them on TV, which doesn't mean they're undeserved!

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Least Convincing Performance by an Actor:
To Jeremy Piven. Not for his work in Speed-the-Plow, which was excellent, but for his later attempts to convince people that he abandoned the production because he had become ill from mercury poisoning. What a fish story!

The Energizer Bunny Award:
To the fabulous Liza Minnelli

Most Brilliant Comic Performance of the Season:
Josh Grisetti in the York Theatre Company's Off-Broadway production of Enter Laughing: The Musical

Best Performance While Aloft:
Marc Kudisch, Nine to Five

Best New Musical Theater Writing Team:
Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal

The "Who Knew?" Award to a Show That Sounded Like it was Going to Be Horrendous but Turned Out to be a Blast:
Rock of Ages

The "Little Engine That Could" Award:
[title of show]

The "Blink and You Missed It" Award for Most Abbreviated Run:
The Story of My Life

The Classiest Dame Award:
To Angela Lansbury, who got through 2007's hideous Deuce with her dignity intact and has now returned to Broadway to delight us in Blithe Spirit

Cutest Onstage Couple:
Gavin Creel and Will Swenson, Hair

Most Disappointing Revival:
Tie: West Side Story and Guys and Dolls. I suppose we should thank Arthur Laurents and Des McAnuff for proving that execrable direction can't quite kill a classic, but I would have much preferred to see worthy productions of these two great shows.

Special Award to an Off-Broadway Play That Should Have Been Produced on Broadway and Should Have Won a Tony:
Ruined, by Lynn Nottage. The play captured the Pulitzer Prize, and the Manhattan Theatre Club's Off-Broadway production garnered reviews far better than any shows the company offered in its Broadway venue, the Friedman.

Best Performance in a Special Event:
Jeremy Irons in the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition. He was funny and charming in his wry remarks about the flop Impressionism, in which he starred, and he also indulged in some priceless byplay with the ebullient Jane Fonda.

The "Hello, Remember Me?" Award for a Fine Performance That Was Passed Over at Awards Time:
Daniel Radcliffe, Equus

The "Noises Off" Award for Technical Snafus:
To whoever was responsible for the sound and camera work at the Tony Awards. All those screw-ups and bad decisions were especially unfortunate, given that the show itself was the best in several years

Most Underrated Show of the Season:
Pal Joey

Most Overrated Show of the Season:
Billy Elliot. Please don't get me wrong: I love it overall, and given the competition, this show deserved to win the Tony for Best Musical. But BE does have a lot of significant problems, which most of the critics glossed over. Count this as one of those cases where people adore the whole so much, they forgive the fact that some of the parts don't work.

Superhero Celebrity Rehab

Holy addiction! Superhero Celebrity Rehab, a new musical comedy by William Segal and Brendan Snow, is about a bunch of oddball superheroes who retreat to the Origins Rehab Center in order to deal with their various dependencies on drugs, sex, Pop-Tarts, etc. Directed by Matt Johnston, the show stars Bill Coyne as Supernova and also features Bryce Kempf as The Great Fondue, Corrie Beula as The Black Hole, Jana DeBusk as The Scarlet Letter, Melody Moore as Dr. Bonnie, Sam Perwin as Nightmare, and Will Cooper as Critter. It will be presented for four performances only, June 5-7, at the Access Theatre. Here are my photos of the production; for more information, visit superheromusical.com .

Welcome to the Theatre

The 65th annual Theatre World Awards for Broadway and Off-Broadway debut performances were bestowed in an alternately heartwarming and hilarious ceremony at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Tuesday, June 2. Many celebs, including past winners of the award, were on hand to to celebrate this year's honorees: David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish (Billy Elliot); Chad L. Coleman (Joe Turner's Come and Gone); Jennifer Grace (Our Town), Josh Grisetti (Enter Laughing: The Musical); Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot); Colin Hanks (33 Variations); Marin Ireland (reasons to be pretty); Susan Louise O'Connor (Blithe Spirit), Condola Rashad (Ruined); Geoffrey Rush (Exit the King); Josefina Scaglione (West Side Story); Wesley Taylor (Rock of Ages); and the cast of The Norman Conquests: Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Mangan, Ben Miles, Paul Ritter, and Amanda Root. Here are my pics from the ceremony and the press reception that preceded it.

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The highly entertaining company of The Norman Conquests.

A king among actors: Geoffrey Rush.

A chip off the old block: Colin Hanks.

Presenter Kristin Chenoweth, adorable as ever.

Condola Rashad (right) with her proud mother, Phylicia Rashad (now in August: Osage County).

Chad L. Coleman with presenter Loretta Ables Sayre, who plays Bloody Mary in South Pacific

The lovely Josefina Scaglione, a.k.a. Maria in West Side Story.

Josh Grisetti (right) with presenter Craig Bierko (Guys and Dolls).

Jennifer Grace with presenter Dylan Baker.

The preternaturally talented David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish.

Rock on, Wesley Taylor!

Marin Ireland with presenter Jane Houdyshell, who's currently appearing Off-Broadway in Coraline.

Andrea Martin, who presented the award to her Exit the King co-star, Geoffrey Rush.

Presenter Tovah Feldshuh (Irena's Vow), with John Willis, founder of Theatre World, the oldest pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre.