LIZ LARSEN
Broadway favorite Liz Larsen, who received a Drama-Logue Award as well as Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for her performance as Cleo in the critically acclaimed, Tony-nominated revival of The Most Happy Fella, is back on the New York stage in the intimate Off-Broadway musical Sessions, which features book, music and lyrics by Albert Tapper, at Off-Broadway's Algonquin Theater. The big-voiced belter, who was most recently on Broadway as the conniving Velma Von Tussle in the Tony-winning Hairspray, has also appeared on The Great White Way in productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Starmites, The Rocky Horror Show and The Smell of the Kill. Larsen, who is married to actor Sal Viviano (Broadway's Three Musketeers, Romance/Romance, City of Angels, Falsettos, The Life, The Full Monty), is also the mother of Alessandro, age 12, and Joey, age 9. Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with the intelligent actress, who spoke candidly about her theatre career — including her latest role as "beaten wife" Mary — and her family life. My interview with the multitalented performer, who peppers her conversation with much laughter, follows.

Question: How did the role in Sessions come about for you?
Larsen: They had been doing massive amounts of workshops and rewrites for, I think, three years now. At one point they needed to replace a character. They spoke about calling me to replace, and then they didn't. Later, when they moved to this new venue, one of the people in the show had to leave. They called me to go into her part, which was not the original part that they wanted me to play, but that's the part that was open. . . . They put me in that part and then as things went along, they decided that it would be better if I was in the original part that they had thought of me for! [Laughs.] They moved me over, and then they hired someone else to do the part I was doing.

Question: Which role are you playing?
Larsen: I'm playing the beaten wife — it's a great part. She has some very, very intense material, which is really interesting. What's great about it is, since I moved over into this part, they changed quite a bit of the writing for the character and even some of the vocal stuff to conform to what I do best. That was incredible — that never happens when you replace. You [usually] shut up, you do the lines, you do the blocking and you try not to stand out or make too many waves. [Laughs.] So this has been terrific.

	Liz Larsen in Sessions
	photo by Murray Head

Question: How would you describe the musical — is it musical comedy?
Larsen: It is. It's funny. It's about a group-therapy session over the course of about a month. Neurosis is funny, and bizarre and sad. It's a lot of stuff.

Question: Do you have a favorite moment in the show for your character?
Larsen: Yes. At the end of the show, after we've gotten to know all the people, the doctor is centerstage. He has gone through a crisis, and you don't know if he's going to be okay, after he's been taking care of all of us. His crisis is "I've never made a difference, and it doesn't even matter if I live or die." At the end, we stand onstage while he's thinking these things, and we give him one word that describes what we've learned from him. I have the last word. . . . My word is forgiveness: Basically "forgive yourself for the fact that you couldn't help me." I think that's human and powerful and beautiful in a way.

Question: How long had Sessions been running when you stepped into it?
Larsen: They started rehearsal in late September [2008], and they had been running since late October. I came in in the beginning of January.

Question: I know Robert Newman recently joined the cast, too. When a new actor comes in, do you think that adds new life to a show?
Larsen: The strangest thing about this show is that it's like an ongoing workshop. We're still changing things and trying to figure out the best way to do it. When Robert came in, it wasn't like, "You're replacing John [Hickok]." It was, "Let's reinvent this person. Let's do what's great for you. Let's work out some of the kinks . . . and make it make more sense. . ." He came in, and his energy is so positive. He's so adorable and so correct for the part. He's a true leader, and he's so easy on the eyes! I mean, he's handsome and you want this guy to win. It's been lovely having his energy. It changes how we relate to [the character], how we feel about him, who he is to us. In a weird way he's like Bobby in Company. He's kind of the audience, figuring out these crazy people dancing around him. He's such a warm presence that the audience doesn't really have to work hard.

Question: I know you've stepped into shows on Broadway, including Hairspray not too long ago. What's it like for an actor to join a show that's already running?
Larsen: First of all, the getting of the show is fantastic! [Laughs.] The joining of the show is — there's always kind of a weird insecurity, like, "Oh, she used to do it this way," and "Could you not stand so far upstage when you say that line, because it works [better] this way, and I'm not being upstaged and I get my laugh," and all that stuff. So it's usually kind of awkward for awhile until, of course, everybody falls in love with me. [Laughs.] Then it becomes fantastic. You know what I'm saying? People have to get used to the new [person]. I feel like I've done it a lot.

Question: Do you feel like you know the ins and outs of it now?
Larsen: I definitely know the hazards of it, what to do and what to let go and what to fight for.

Question: Do you have a favorite theatrical experience so far?
Larsen: There's a bunch. The most fun I've had onstage in a show is Damn Yankees because I ran around with Joey Pizzi and Scott Wise and jumped off the dugout and they caught me every night. We laughed and sweated, and it was the most fun ever!

The most exciting experience I've had was Most Happy Fella, not only because of the Tonys and the awards and everything, but that it was such an unlikely situation. I mean, we were a summer-stock production of this musical that I knew nothing about. I took the job initially because I needed my insurance weeks. I never really thought I was right for it, and I just thought, "I gotta go. I don't have any money. I gotta go to the Goodspeed and do this show." And then what happened was [director] Gerry Gutierrez, because of the fact that it was at Goodspeed, [he and the creative team] came up with the idea of doing this two-piano version of this show that had just been shelved somewhere. They thought, "That's a way to save money. It's a way to reinvent the show" because the show is very orchestration-heavy. It's gorgeous, it's like an opera. What they did was they cut about 45 minutes of music, did the two-piano version, and it turned into kind of a play with music and no microphones. So we did this kind of naturalistic version of this very deeply-felt opera. Of course, [the source play] They Knew What They Wanted — it was a beautiful play, and Gerry Gutierrez was shocking: He was so bright in how to approach this. We'd go to rehearsal, and we'd say, "Look what's happening. Magic is being made, and I'd better wake up!" Then we're doing it, and we're in this really interesting situation that's really fun, but nobody thought it was going to move. We're doing this great, interesting pared-down production. Well, Frank Rich was about to get married. This had always been his favorite show, and he was in Connecticut with his fiancé Alex. I guess they were looking at venues. I don't know what they were doing, but he said to her, "Hey, Goodspeed's doing my favorite musical. Can we just go see it this weekend?" He was not reviewing it. He was The New York Times reviewer at the time, but he was not assigned to review. . . . So he came to the show, and he loved it and got the approach so much that he wrote a special piece in The New York Times. It was just this, as they say, a love letter, and [he was] so excited by the reinvention of it. And then [Goodspeed artistic director] Michael Price said they got 1,500 calls from producers the next day to move it. I don't know if that's accurate, but Gerry loved the people at Lincoln Center, so he wanted them to do it. So we went to L.A., and then all of a sudden we were on Broadway. And then we were getting awards. And then I was walking in the Booth Theatre every night when I took it originally just because I needed insurance weeks!

Question: So you never know the outcome of a role.
Larsen: Yeah. That was the most exciting for sure. But there's also been artistic ones. Doing Falsettos was an amazing experience. Sunday in the Park was incredibly beautiful…while I was breastfeeding my baby! [Laughs.]

Question: Is there one role that you've been dying to play or anything that comes to mind that you'd really love to tackle?
Larsen: There are roles that I'd love to play… and a lot of them I've played, like Adelaide [in Guys and Dolls]. I think that the role that I'm dying to play is a role that is originated for me — something exciting. Actually, I've done a lot of the stuff that I think would be great, except maybe Mama Rose. But Adelaide, Trina in Falsettos, Dot in Sunday in the Park, Evita… I've gotten to do these things.  Continued...