RAZZLE DAZZLER
As word hit the street that Jimmy Osmond will be playing Billy Flynn in the U.K. tour of Chicago, it's time to get acquainted with Broadway's current Flynn, Tom Hewitt. A Broadway vet with loads of good humor, Hewitt was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in 2001 for his role as Frank 'N' Furter in The Rocky Horror Show and later played the title bloodsucker in Dracula, the Musical. The western Montana-born Hewitt got the acting bug around the time he was in junior high: It was an Ashland, OR, production of Titus Andronicus that did the trick.

Question: How is Chicago treating you?
Tom Hewitt: I have to say it is one of the best jobs I've ever had. The role is great, and the company is so fun and nice and sweet. I'm having a great time.

Q: How did you hook up with the show?
Hewitt: You know [laughs]… I'm trying to word this in a way that doesn't sound like I'm bragging. I've been around for a while, and a lot of producers and directors know me, so I just got a phone call. I also think that they probably went down a list and one or two other guys weren't available [laughs], so I got the call!

Q: You actually ended up sounding quite humble there.
Hewitt: Well, I'm sort of at the stage now where a lot of people know me, so fortunately, sometimes I don't have to audition for stuff.

Q: I guess only when you can't get auditions at all, then you love to have them.
Hewitt: That's exactly right.

	Tom Hewitt with Chicago gals

Q: Do you get to play around with the character of Billy Flynn at all?
Hewitt: I was encouraged to by Walter Bobbie, our director. He's the busiest man in show business. He's got a million things going on. When I was in rehearsals, he was putting together White Christmas, but I was fortunate to get a couple of hours with him and Charlotte d'Amboise, and Walter made sure that we were on the same page as far as intentions for the character and what the character wanted to achieve, and then he said, "Now we're clear on that, so go! Do what you want to do." And that's been great. There have certainly been vastly different personalities [as Billy], from Huey Lewis to Usher to John O'Hurley, and they've all pretty much played the same intentions. It's one of those roles that allows for one's personality to come through, I think.

Q: So the show is not on some sort of autopilot. There is still a sense of attention to detail when people come and go?
Hewitt: I think it is one of the reasons why Chicago has been around for 12 years. The producers and Walter Bobbie have an investment in it. As you know, there are no scenic elements, no flying chandeliers, so it's about the performances and their integrity. The producers are very hands-on about maintaining the quality of the performances. It's also one of the reasons I'm on a pretty short contract, relatively speaking. They keep it short in case somebody more famous than I becomes available [laughs]. That's good producing. Keeping it fresh, getting return audiences. "Let's go see Ben Stiller in Chicago," or whatever, so they're smart.

Q:Or Ben Stein.
Hewitt: Now you're talking!

Q: Knowing that so many folks have played the role, how do you keep from thinking "anyone can do this"?
Hewitt: If I do think that, it really keeps me on my toes. You really want to do your best knowing that it's short-term and that it's not going to go on forever. Certainly, it makes me much less complacent. I'm really cherishing every minute I have on the stage. I don't have that sense of, "I just signed a one-year contract, so I'm going to settle in and show up and crank it out." Every day is precious.

Q: How is it working with Charlotte?
Hewitt: I. Love. Her. Every once in awhile, an actress comes along who you immediately feel a rapport with, and I certainly feel that with Charlotte. My agent saw the show the other day and said, "You and Charlotte work really well together." And I said, "Yeah!" So it's not just my imagination, I think we are a good team.

Q: You were Tony-nominated for your Frank 'N' Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. Was that performance the high-water mark for you having fun onstage?
Hewitt: I would say so. It's certainly a high-water mark as far as the most unique thing I've ever done. I know I will never ever do anything like that again. The nature of the character and the fact that the audience participated in the show physically and vocally…yelling things out, it was wonderful. You literally never knew what was going to happen from night to night. However much fun it was, it was also really challenging. It was a lot like throwing a party. I had to make sure that everybody was having a good time. Sometimes people were a little bit out of control. It was dangerous! I remember early on, especially, when we were trying to figure out the audience participation stuff, there were people with squirt guns inches away from Alice Ripley and Jarrod Emick, squirting them with water pistols. And one night when Lea DeLaria came onstage in character, [as] Dr. Scott, the stage floor was white with rolls of toilet paper! We had to stop the show because we couldn't change the set with all the toilet paper on the ground. It was crazy, and I will never have that experience again.

Q: It sounds like you were part ringmaster.
Hewitt: That's a good analogy. And the lions might escape from the cage at any time.

Q: How do you look back on your experience in Dracula, The Musical?
Hewitt: I was going to say, when you were asking about Charlotte, I was going to say, "Not since Melissa Errico, have I had such chemistry…" I loved working with Melissa. I loved doing that show every day. I had a great team. I loved my director, and I loved the creative staff. I would say it was my second-most fun job. There was so much flying and disappearing and all that stuff. I loved it. Of course, I would have wished that it was more of a critical success, but I think I got a little stronger for that. I know what's valuable to me. The fact that I was proud of it and loved my team. I have nothing but fond memories of that show.

Q: With what kind of eye did you look at the other vampire musicals?
Hewitt: [Laughs.] I did the voiceover for the radio campaign for Lestat, and I thought, "I wonder if the producers know that they've hired Dracula to do the voiceover!" I was grateful that the vampire musicals continued because I made a little money off of it!

Q: In your quest for an acting career, did you ever have that moment where you were on the precipice of giving it up?
Hewitt: I have it now in midlife. Early on, no. I devoted my life [to acting]. I was monastic in my approach to the theatre. I had very few belongings, and I could go anywhere at any time. I worked with an avant-garde Japanese theatre company, and it was very physically difficult, and I really devoted every ounce of my being to the theatre. As I mature, those things aren't nearly as important. What's important now are personal relationships. My partner and I recently moved into our house in Putnam County, New York. So things like a home and a family, those things are much, much, much more important to me, and I fantasize now about what else I might be able to do with my life. I don't have any plans to quit, but if I didn't get to act anymore, I don't think that I would die [laughs], so my attitude has changed as I've matured — I think!

[Chicago is playing The Ambassador Theatre, located at 219 West 49th Street in Manhattan. For more information, go to www.chicagothemusical.com.] Continued...