By Monty Arnold
11 Aug 2009

Alan Cumming, last year's Dionysus (in a National Theatre of Scotland production reprised at Lincoln Center), made a rock-star entrance from the top of the theatre, handcuffed, dangling upside down by his ankles, wearing a kilt (or trying to). Don't expect Groff to top (or bottom) that. "Our production is going more the traditional route than that one," he concedes. Which is not to say there won't be unconventional touches, with JoAnne Akalaitis directing and Philip Glass composing.

"We had a pretty intense work session when I went in for the audition. She [Akalaitis] is extremely eccentric and made it seem like the rehearsals would be a really specific and interesting process. They've been workshopping this version a while. There's a group of women — y'know, the bacchae — who have been learning and developing the music together now for years. I'm joining the team sorta late in the game."

For a curly-headed rustic who came to New York with hopes no higher than chorus duty in Hairspray, Groff's grasp has far exceeded his reach. Spring Awakening was just that for him: "We went into that show as one kind of person and left a totally different kind of person — the challenge of doing the show eight times a week and the emotional toll that takes on you and the emotional muscle that you develop. Vocally, you gain endurance and strength. You really glow, and it really changes you. Then, personally, you're suddenly thrown into the spotlight, given a huge work load and a huge amount of responsibility, and you have to grow up and take all that on and be able to come out of that on top. I've started doing films, and I don't think I could have without the training I got in theatre."

Even he's amazed at his progress. "When I moved to New York to become an actor, I was coming here just to work — get work, be employed, make a living as an actor — but every job I've had as an actor, every job, has been a job that spoke to my heart and said things that are very important to me. To be passionate about the work you do is a real gift, and I've been really lucky that I've been involved in projects that, for me at least, are very worthwhile. I am blessed in every way."