By Andrew Gans
14 Dec 2007

Question: There are just a few of you who have done the role. Is there any sort of sorority among you?
Block: Well, we laugh. It truly is, quote-unquote, a "little club." The admiration that I have for everybody else who is playing this role… I'm gonna do a shout out to Ms. Eden Espinosa because she has done it for years and years. Her endurance and her consistency blow me away, and that instrument of hers is baffling to me, quite frankly. But you can name the gals that have been part of Wicked . . . Of course, the German company I don't know [and] the London company, I'm still not familiar with. But if you were to ask a lot of these fans [to] name five Elphabas, immediately they would know. We've all kind of made an imprint on this character, and it's really beautiful to see how five or six different actresses who have now played it on Broadway can tell the same story night after night but bring a completely different — and this is so pun-intended — a different color to their performance.

Question: I don't think there are that many singing actresses that can do the role justice.
Block: She's a tough role, she really is. There are those voices that I think could knock it out of the ballpark at an audition and knock it out of the ballpark a couple times a week. But to find a voice that can sing it eight times a week for six months to a year — and I think Eden's going on her two-and-a-half or three-year mark — that's quite an instrument and quite an accomplishment.

 

	Stephanie J. Block in The Pirate Queen
	photo by Joan Marcus

Question: I just want to go back to last season a little bit and Pirate Queen. Tell me about your experience with that show. Were you surprised by the critical response?
Block: Yeah, I was. We kind of were fighting an uphill battle in Chicago. I'll tell you, that was the first time other than Wicked where I had opened out of town. Boy From Oz just came right into New York. So this, to me, was very much a work in process. I knew, every night, the show was changing. I knew, every night, what battles we did need to fight and to make right. It was a very slow, gradual process, but I really hoped that when we got to New York, it would have been a new beginning. For some reason with this project, and I'm taking liberties in saying this, New York didn't let us do that. It kind of carried with it some residual chatter. The reputation seemed to precede it from Chicago into New York. I'm not going to say Pirate Queen was perfect, but there were some really extraordinary moments. When nobody wanted to voice that, it was a little hurtful. . . . I will still stand by this, the costumes were out of this world. The lighting was the most beautiful I had ever seen. The choreography truly was a standout that season, and there were multiple performances that I was really, really hoping that people would sit up and take notice, and it didn't happen. You can never guess what that season is going to bring or what the flavor for that season is. It seemed to me that the last award season was very much about a smaller boutique, edgy type of musical. It wasn't about bringing back the epic. Even though our audiences were telling us very different feedback, the New York and American theatre community were saying what they wanted to say, which was [that] we're really behind the American composer and we're really behind the smaller, edgier new pieces. My take on Broadway is that you're going to want all different forms of theatre — whether it's a black box or something edgy and small like Spring Awakening, or something like Company where the actors are playing their instruments, or something like The Pirate Queen that's got a cast of 40-some and spectacles coming out of its ears.

Question: It must have been something backstage at Pirate Queen.
Block: It was unbelievable. But I'll tell you, that work environment and being with that cast . . . was the best learning experience and probably, to this date, the best work experience I've ever had. I will certainly take that with me forever and ever and ever. . . . We didn't think we were going to run for years upon years upon years, but we certainly were hoping to get through the summer. So that was a little like, "My gosh, what happened?"

Question: You mentioned earlier 9 to 5. How did that come about for you? I know you were in a workshop of the musical.
Block: I got a call from my agency. I understand that they had done two or three workshops before me. They were having auditions [with] Joe Mantello directing [who] had worked with me in the past. He and Bernie Telsey were casting, and they just thought I'd be a good fit. They hadn't seen a lot of my comedy work as a comedienne, so I'm sure it was kind of like, "Well, let's see what she's going to do with this." . . . When I was familiarizing myself again with the movie, which is a truly unbelievable flick [laughs], a great movie, I just looked at Sebastian and I went, "Oh, I can do this part!" It was a great audition — everybody was in the room. Of course, meeting and seeing Dolly Parton kind of puts you out of your own headspace into somewhere else, but I just tried to stay as grounded as I could and do the material as fresh as I could, the way I would have interpreted the role that Jane Fonda made so iconic. I got a call a couple days later saying, "We'd love you to do the workshop." That went over like gangbusters, and then a couple weeks later, Joe Mantello called me personally — which meant the world to me — to say, "You were fantastic, and we'd love to offer you the role for out of town and hopefully its journey to Broadway."

Question: That's great.
Block: I know! That was totally great! [Laughs.] So it was amazing to me that they were putting offers out that far in advance, but I think they saw the chemistry between Megan [Hilty], Allison [Janney], and myself and they wanted to keep that intact. We start rehearsals in July, but we don't even come to Broadway until spring of '09. So it was like a year-and-a-half in advance that they started trying to solidify the cast before we were to hit Broadway.

Question: How similar to the movie is the musical?
Block: Pretty close. I think the movie lends itself to be a musical. When you watch it, you could almost go, "Insert song here." [Laughs.] And Dolly did that. . . . I think the songs that kind of surprised me, and I was so happy that they found these little niches to put them in, were for the boss.

Question: How is Dolly Parton's score?
Block: It's fantastic. I was ready to hear country song after country song, and it's not that at all. She has three or four country tunes that are really catchy, and then the rest of it is perfect musical theatre, which was surprising to me. Her ear is so fantastic. She was there at the workshop. She was there changing music on the spot, adding lyrics on the spot, and she is a smart and brilliant musician. I'm crazy excited to be working with her and sharing in the whole creative process. You're in awe because you're there with Dolly Parton, but then she backs it up with all the skill and all the pedigree that goes along with it, and you're just like, "Okay, teach me. Teach me, oh wise music one!" [Laughs.]

Question: Does she seem excited to be working toward Broadway?
Block: Oh, yes! When I met her… I don't know if I stuck my foot in my mouth. She seemed very pleased when I said this, but I was just like, "I feel like I'm meeting the Easter Bunny." You hear that this person exists, but you're not quite sure — and then [here she is]. She brings happiness and joy, she has little chocolaty or good-tasting treats in every pocket. She's like the most beautiful little Easter Bunny you ever saw.

Question: How long will you stay with Wicked?
Block: I am here at least until April with the possibility to extend until mid-June.

Question: Any chance of a solo recording?
Block: Oh, my gosh. You know what? That has been my dream and my goal for so long. . . . It's so funny because when you have the time, you don't necessarily have the money. And when you have the money, you don't necessarily have the time. [Laughs.] . . . I actually lay down tracks with Stephen Schwartz last year, and he and I recorded that song I mentioned earlier in the interview, "Making Good." It's kind of an unreleased [track] and very few people have heard that song. So he and I laid down tracks, went into the recording studio, and that's put away. Here I have in my apartment, I have some beautiful arrangements. Everything is ready to go except for the time that I need and the vocal rest that I need to actually get in there and deliver a first class product. I don't want to just squeeze it into a small time. When you're playing Elphaba, the day off is not necessarily when your voice is in its perfect recording [condition]. I want to make sure that the time is there, and right now I'm happy to say that I'm booked until early 2010! I'm going to try to find the place to do that, but it may not happen for a little while.

Question: Is Broadway set for 9 to 5, or are they still…?
Block: They're still talking. The talk, I can say, looks very positive, but no, I can't quite release that news yet. [Laughs.]

Question: Are you interested in TV and film work?
Block: Very much. I enjoy it. I know it's a whole different world. It would be something that I'm sure I would have to adjust many things. I'd probably have to lose 30 pounds! [Laughs.] . . . When we're out there in LA, we'll see what the feedback is with 9 to 5, me being onstage doing a comedic role that can lend itself to open a few doors. I'll take it when it comes. It's not something that I'm going to drop my entire life here in New York and my very happy life on Broadway to start again for the television and film [world].

Question: One last question. How has Broadway lived up to how you thought it would be when you were out in L.A.?
Block: It's awesome. It's awesome in that there is a real sense of community on Broadway that you don't necessarily get in regional theatres. I've always been one that, when you step onstage, it's kind of holy ground. I would like to think that the performance I gave at Austin Musical Theatre would be the same one that I'd give here on Broadway. But you really are working with some of the most talented people on the world and, in the aftermath of the strike, you're working with the best backstage crew and the best wardrobe people in the world. There is a level of professionalism, a level of community that makes you feel so fulfilled and know that you are working at the top level of your industry. You can't beat that.

[Wicked plays the Gershwin Theatre, located in Manhattan at 222 West 51st Street; for tickets call (212) 307-4100 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.]

 

	Karen Mason

DIVA TIDBITS
Karen Mason's upcoming concerts at Symphony Space — Dec. 22 at 5 and 8 PM — are shaping up to be one of the must-see holiday events. As previously announced, the celebrated singer-actress who created the role of Tanya in the Broadway production of Mamma Mia! will be joined by Liz Callaway, Gregg Edelman and the a cappella octet, The Accidentals, during the concerts, which feature direction by Barry Kleinbort and musical direction by Christopher Denny. Callaway will solo on "My Grown Up Christmas Wish" and will then join Mason for duets of "Christmas Time Is Here" and "O' Holy Night"; Edelman and Mason will join voices on "Happy Days" and "Starting Here, Starting Now"; and Mason will blend her sound with the Accidentals on "We Three Kings" and "Silent Night." Concertgoers can also expect to hear Mason's renditions of "River," "The Christmas Song," "We Three Kings," "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "Winter Wonderland," "Let It Snow," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Not This Christmas," "It'll Be Christmas Before You Know It," "Sweetest of Nights" and "I Eat." The Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space is located in Manhattan at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Tickets for Karen Mason and Friends: Christmas in the City, priced $35-$70 ($30-$60 for Symphony Space members), are available by calling (212) 864-5400 or by visiting www.symphonyspace.org.

Don't Quit Your Night Job — which was a downtown favorite at Joe's Pub before playing an extended run at the HA! Comedy Club — will return to the Zipper Factory Dec. 20. The holiday edition of Night Job, described as a "late night happening of improv, music, sketches and stories," will feature co-creators Dan Lipton (The Coast of Utopia), Steve Rosen (Spamalot), David Rossmer (Nerds) and Sarah Saltzberg (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) as well as Jill Abramovitz, Hank Azaria, Derrick Baskin, Todd Buonopane, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Lisa Jolley, Richard Kind, Maurice Murphy, Noah Weisberg, George Wendt, Alicia Witt and David Yazbek. Sean McDaniel will be featured on drums. The 11:30 PM performance will benefit Wendy Wasserstein's Open Doors initiative. The Zipper Factory is located in Manhattan at 336 West 37th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues. Tickets, priced $20, are available by visiting www.thezipperfactory.com or by calling (212) 352-3101.

The acclaimed actor-musician revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company — directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle — will be broadcast on PBS stations around the country in February 2008. The broadcast — starring Raúl Esparza as the confused bachelor Bobby and Barbara Walsh as Joanne — is scheduled for Feb. 20, 2008. PBS' "Great Performances" series teamed with producer Ellen M. Krass, whose credits include the televised concerts of Follies and Sweeney Todd, to film two performances of the Sondheim musical during its Broadway run, which ended at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre July 1.

Judy Kuhn, who is currently playing Fantine in the Broadway revival of Les Miserables, will reprise her evening of Laura Nyro tunes in January 2008 at the Iridium Jazz Club. After playing an acclaimed engagement at Joe's Pub, Kuhn will bring Serious Playground - The Songs of Laura Nyro to the Iridium Jan. 10-31, 2008. Kuhn will offer shows Thursdays at 7 PM. The Iridium Jazz Club is located in Manhattan at 1650 Broadway at 51st Street. There is a $30 cover and a $10 minimum. Call (212) 582-2121 for reservations.

Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.