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DIVA TALK: Chatting with Tarzan's Jenn Gambatese Plus Karen Akers on Disc
By Andrew Gans
07 Jul 2006
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Jenn Gambatese; Gambatese and Josh Strickland in Tarzan
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| photo by Joan Marcus | News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.
JENN GAMBATESE
Jenn Gambatese, who boasts a crystal-clear and rangy Broadway belt, has been a notable presence on The Great White Way ever since her debut as Urleen in film-turned-musical Footloose. Featured roles in the Tony-winning Hairspray and the short-lived kids' show A Year with Frog and Toad followed, and two seasons ago the spirited performer created the roles of Natalie and Ed opposite Cheyenne Jackson in the Elvis Presley-inspired production All Shook Up. These days, the singing actress is riding high — figuratively and literally. Not only is Gambatese co-starring in the new Disney musical Tarzan — she plays Jane in the Bob Crowley-directed production, which requires her to sing "Waiting for This Moment" while suspended in mid-air during this dazzling, botanically-themed number — but she is also in the midst of planning a June 2007 wedding to television actor Curtis Cregan. I recently had the chance to chat with the charming actress about her latest role and her hopes for the future; that brief interview follows.
Question: How did the role of Jane come about for you?
Jenn Gambatese: Well, I had actually first auditioned for [a Tarzan reading] back when I was in the ensemble in Hairspray. They wound up going with Laura Bell Bundy, who's so funny and so perfect and so different from me. I think she did some readings — I don't know if anybody else had. Then, for whatever reason, when I was in All Shook Up, they were going a different way, and I went back in. I remembered that audition back in 2002, so I was excited because I remembered at that first audition we had to do an obstacle course. I was like, "Okay, I was an athlete back in high school, so this should be a challenge — it should be fun." So, I went back in, and this time it worked out.
Q: What was the obstacle course like?
Gambatese: Well, years ago it was a different one — they just wanted to see how comfortable you were climbing things and singing. That was in 2002. For this time, when it was the actual production, there was a big scaffolding. We did it over at 37 Arts [Theatre]. I always joke [that] I'd never been to an audition where I had to put on a crash helmet! They had us warm up a little bit, and then we were in harnesses and were really, really going beyond our comfort zone. [Laughs.]
Q: Tell me about the rehearsal process because I know it was quite different from most Broadway musicals.
Gambatese: It was. I have to say Disney has been so great in having a lot of foresight with this show. I think they really knew that this was unlike anything that had been done before. They couldn't just follow a mold — they had to make their own mold. We started rehearsals Dec. 27, and we were out at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, and we were rehearsing five days a week then — long days. . . . We would do yoga every morning for an hour or hour-and-a-half and . . . South American martial arts, all kinds of interesting things that none of us had ever done. [Laughs.] There was so much technical stuff to address, but what was lovely was Disney had the foresight to give us weekends off during our time out at Steiner, so our bodies had a chance to recover. On Broadway, when you only have that one day off, a lot of times you just don't feel like you recovered at all. [Laughs.]
Q: How did you approach the role of Jane? Did you go back to the original novel? Did you watch old "Tarzan" films?
Gambatese: I knew some of the old movies with Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. But I didn't go overboard with anything. I knew that this was going to be its own thing. If anything, I watched the Disney animated movie twice. I figured — for our audience, which is going to be a lot of families and kids — that was who they had in their minds. And, Minnie Driver was so great in [the animated film] as the voice [of Jane]. Beyond just a little bit of preliminary stuff, I was just approaching it on my own to make it my own thing.
Q: Do you have a favorite moment in the show for Jane?
Gambatese: I have so many. [Laughs.] When I first come on, I have this enormous song. . . [and] then Tarzan rescues me from a perilous situation, and we have our first scene together, and I really think that's such a great part in the show. I don't come on until toward the end of Act One, and Tarzan doesn't grow up until just before that. He's a kid first, then he grows up, and you can tell when he grows up, the [audience] is like, "Where's Jane? Where's Jane?" Then we have this scene where we're discovering each other, and it a really funny scene, and Josh and I have found all kinds of great moments, and the timing is good, so I enjoy that a lot.
Q: What do you think Jane finds so appealing about Tarzan?
Gambatese: Ultimately, I think it's his spirit — he's so connected to the world around him in a way that she's never experienced. But, initially, she's coming from Victorian England, and I think the most that Jane has ever seen on a male body is a neck and some hands. [Laughs.] She's seen art, but live and in person she's never seen the physique. But not just the look of the physique, but he does such amazing things with his body — he's flinging it around that stage. It really is amazing.
Q: What's it like performing the song with all the different creatures where you're suspended in air?
Gambatese: It's become fun. It was an ass-kicker [at first]! [Laughs.] It's so technical. What happens is when I come out in the big skirt, the spider web is in the skirt. That was challenging because that skirt weighs 26 pounds. . . . I come out, I've got on a harness — that was challenging throughout the developmental process to make it comfortable. Pichón Baldinu is our aerial coordinator—he did De La Guarda, which was an amazing show, but nobody was really singing in De La Guarda. The harness can really press on your diaphragm. So I have the harness, a corset, a 26-pound skirt. Initially I was in heels, but that didn't work. [Laughs.] And, then these plant people come out of the floor, and they're billowing that green silk. I'm walking on a moving target, and the things that come up from the floor — there are holes cut out in the floor, and the silk is covering the holes. So I have to be so aware of my spacing and my surroundings. That's an obstacle course! [Laughs.] . . . It's really something to finish my big note at the end, and then the spider web is deployed, and you hear people go, "Ohhhh!"
Q: Tell me about working with Bob Crowley since this was his Broadway directorial debut.
Gambatese: I adore Bob. I remember working with him at that first audition when I didn't get [the role] four years ago. He's the most lovely man. When he comes up and talks to you, you feel a real connectedness, and that helps so much for an actor. You feel like he cares about you. Then we started this process, [and] he had three different hats to wear, which were really big hats. He was doing so much with the show, but he still always had us feeling like he was taking care of us.
Q: How much did the show change during the preview period?
Gambatese: A lot and not a lot in a strange way. There was one new song for Chester, but that happened before previews started, so there was no huge musical changes. The book — things definitely changed and tightened, but the basic structure remained the same. But then those little changes . . . made a big impact. It was a slow and steady process, which was nice. Continued...
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