Kerry Butler
Nominated for her performance as Clio/Kira in Xanadu at the Helen Hayes Theatre.

Kerry Butler had just finished promoting her debut solo recording — "Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust" (PS Classics) — May 13 on the "CW Morning News" when she received a call from her friend Craig.

Craig: Kerry, I wanted to be the first to congratulate you on your Tony nomination.
Kerry: But it didn't even come out yet. How do you know?
Craig: I don't know, but it's up on the [Tony] website already.
Kerry: What if it's not real? Don't tell me that. Don't call me until it's announced. [Laughs.]
Craig: They announced that it's up on the website, so I think it's not a mistake.

"So then after that," Butler says, "I turned on the TV right as they announced my name. Then I felt safe, like, 'Okay, I guess I really was nominated!' I was also really excited and relieved for our show that we got a nomination [as Best Musical]."

Butler, who originated the role of Penny Pingleton in the Tony-winning musical Hairspray, says that her favorite audience-interaction story concerns her comedic co-star, Jackie Hoffman. "One night," Butler relates, "we had all of these cadets from West Point up onstage. Jackie, during her improv, went over to [one cadet] and she said, 'Thank you for serving our country,' and then she went and kissed him on the lips! As she walked away she said, 'Not bad for a thousand-year-old muse, is it?' That was my favorite, and they were all in uniform, so it was fun having them onstage with us."

It's definitely been a balancing act for Butler these days: juggling her eight-performance-a-week schedule in Xanadu with the release of her new CD and her offstage life as wife and mother. "It's been challenging," Butler says. "I'm getting a little bit better about balancing things. It's definitely a learning experience because it was my first year of working full time. My husband used to make fun of me because I always used to count the hours with my daughter in my head. Every week I'd think, 'Did I put in at least 40 hours this week with my mom job?' I'm always counting my hours. It's kind of become an addiction where I know I shouldn't be doing that anymore. I know I spend enough time with her, but I kind of can't stop doing it!"

	Patti LuPone in Gypsy.
	photo by Joan Marcus

PATTI LuPONE
Nominated for her performance as Rose in Gypsy at the St. James Theatre.

Patti LuPone was riding high the morning of May 13. And, why shouldn't she be? The Olivier and Tony-winning performer had been named Outstanding Actress in a Musical one day earlier by the Outer Critics Circle, and she awoke that day to find she had received her fifth Tony nomination for her remarkable performance as that stage mother of all stage mothers, Rose, in the current, Arthur Laurents-directed revival of Gypsy.

"Well, it's always a relief," LuPone says with a big laugh, when asked her first reaction to the Tony news. "It's definitely recognition for one's work — positive recognition for one's work," she adds.

LuPone, who dazzled audiences with her performance as Rose first at the Ravinia Festival, then at City Center — the premiere production of the Encores! Summer Stars series — and now on Broadway, says that the challenge of the part, arguably the most demanding female role in the musical theatre canon, is to "harness and distribute and be democratic about my physical energy. At my age, now it's all about breath and energy [and] to make it look as it's supposed to look: effortless. I don't think one should ever see an actor struggling onstage in any capacity, and I don't think one should ever see an actor, quote, 'working.' It should look effortless. In order for it to look effortless, in my particular case, it's about distribution of energy and where to breathe — especially in the music, where to breathe — especially in 'Rose's Turn.' If I went to my singing teacher and sang it for her and showed her where I was breathing, she might just be horrified, or she might just say, 'That's the way you need to do it, if that's what you need to do to get through it.' It's so simplistic and so essential but, for me, it all comes down to breath — not even just the singing, but in the speaking."

LuPone may have found her breath, but she has been leaving audiences at the St. James breathless with her performance, which is as thrillingly sung as it is emotionally powerful and nuanced. Especially riveting are her performances of the showstoppers that close each act: the shocking "Everything's Coming Up Roses" at the end of the first, and the aforementioned, breakdown-in-song "Rose's Turn" that concludes the second. When asked whether Rose's emotional baggage follows her after the performance, LuPone says, "I learned a long time ago . . . [to] leave it all on the stage. I'm not shallow about it, but if I've done the work correctly, I've gotten that character's emotional catharsis out, and [I don't have to] carry it out to the dressing room and start weeping and wailing."

LuPone doesn't have a favorite moment for Rose — she relishes the entire journey. "It's just one of the greatest parts," the former Evita and Anything Goes star says. "There's two of them: Mrs. Lovett and Rose, and I just love to play both of them. But no, there's no favorite moment: I don't really have a favorite anything because then you're gearing up for that one moment. That's not fair to the rest of the moments," she laughs.

LuPone was able to investigate a few new moments in the recent cast recording session of Gypsy (the Time Life Records CD is due in August): "The surprise of that is that we recorded five numbers that were cut from the original production." LuPone will be heard on two of those additional tracks: "Smile, Girls, Smile" and "Who Needs Him?"

And, how has her Rose changed from City Center to Broadway? "I don't know if it's essentially changed," LuPone answers. "I think what it's done is it's deepened. I think having more rehearsal always helps. We went back to the table-reads and the rehearsal process, so I think it's deepened and it's become clearer. It's still a work in process. I talk to my stage manager every night, and we discuss my performance. I say it's a work in process. Things are evolving. That's the blessing of a long run. Your work starts when the audience shows up. And then it's the refining and editing process until I'm absolutely still and totally clear on my intentions. I love the discipline of a long run."

	Kelli O'Hara in South Pacific.
	photo by Joan Marcus

KELLI O'HARA
Nominated for her performance as Ensign Nellie Forbush in Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Kelli O'Hara, who was previously nominated for Tonys for her performances in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas' The Light in the Piazza and the Tony-winning revival of The Pajama Game, awoke Tuesday morning and found she had five missed calls on her answering machine. "I had a feeling [I'd been nominated this year]," she laughs. "My husband [Greg Naughton] and I . . . were like, 'Yay yay yay!' You're never not excited about it. But Greg said to me, 'I would have been upset for you had you not gotten [nominated] because it means so much to you, but [the nomination] is all that matters.' . . . You're just glad you can do your work and you're recognized, but you just have to go on from there. . . I'm very, very excited, but I am excited with [the nomination] alone."

O'Hara says that her latest role — the cockeyed optimist known as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific — has been "so fulfilling to me. I think it's such a historical and important role. In a lot of ways, it's been fluffed up [over the years], and I'm so glad to try and give it a new spin. I've been very proud of that. It's such a production to be a part of — just a beautiful production with 40 actors and 30 musicians. I just feel lucky and proud to be a part of it."

For those who have not yet had the chance to catch the beautiful staging at the Beaumont, the musical begins with a uniquely presented version of the gorgeous South Pacific overture. O'Hara says, "I told [director] Bart [Sher], 'I think you've done us all a great service by having that happen . . . because the audience gets in such a good mood, that we almost don't even have to do our jobs. They're already in love with the situation.' It sets a tone, which is to say, 'We're going to respect this piece and this kind of theatre, and we're going to do it right.' And I hope that we continue to do it as best as [we can], but it certainly does start off that way."

O'Hara also explains that she, herself, is affected by hearing the Richard Rodgers overture each night. "Even hearing [the orchestra] tune up from my dressing room is something that has always been, for me, [very important]… If I did a play, I think that would be something I would really miss. It's been something that always gears me and takes me into what I'm doing and gets me ready. It's so magical. Those orchestrations and the way they're playing it, and to have Ted [Sperling] conducting it is very special."

When asked her favorite moment in the show, O'Hara — whose Broadway credits also include Jekyll & Hyde, Follies, Sweet Swell of Success and Dracula, the Musical — says that she first thought it would be performing the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic "A Wonderful Guy." "Then," she explains, "I was really enjoying the meat of the racist scene, meaning if we were making an impact . . . I was really proud of that. Then, I was having so many laughs with [2008 Tony nominee] Danny Burstein that I thought I would die! So, it became 'Honey Bun' for a while. I think the great thing about the show is that it changes for me all the time. I find something new all the time, and hopefully that's gonna continue, because I think we're not going anywhere for awhile!"

And, what is it like taking a shower onstage? "I'll be honest," O'Hara says with a laugh, "it's cold! You're cold right at first, and so it gives you a shock, but once you get into it, your adrenaline takes over and you're into it. Being wet onstage is a very vulnerable feeling that also helps with the next scene, so it's all useful in its own way."

It's an especially busy time for O'Hara, whose debut solo recording, "Wonder in the World," arrived in stores May 6 on the Ghostlight Records label. About the release of the recording, O'Hara says, "[It's] such a relief [to have it in stores]. It's been two years almost since I made it. These things sometimes take a while, but it wasn't due to the fact that we weren't finished with it. We've been finished with it for two years, but it just has to get in the right hands and do the right thing. I feel like it's done exactly that, and we're making a good show. I'm really proud of it. I've been getting a lot of great response, which is surprising because I didn't know what to expect. I'm excited about that. . . I knew it was eclectic, but I kind of like that. If I wasn't going to do a theatre album, which I do hope to do, I just wanted it to be colors of so many other things."

O'Hara is also exploring the many colors of Nellie Forbush, whom she admires because "she's intelligent enough to change. I think that's the core of how I'm trying to play her. If she wasn't intelligent at all, then you don't believe that she's going to change for a minute. But you have to believe that she's actually going to stay there and take care of those children and change." Continued...