By Wayman Wong
01 Feb 2006
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| Michael Berresse |
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| photo by Ben Strothmann |
“Each day is Valentine’s Day” for this heart-y trio: Michael Berresse (The Light in the Piazza, [title of show]), Duncan Sheik (American Songbook) and Colin Hanlon (I Love You Because).
THE SUCCESS OF BERRESSE
If MGM were still making movie musicals, Michael Berresse would be this generation’s Gene Kelly. Happily, this acting, singing and dancing dynamo has found a home in the theatre. Currently, he’s bringing his bright smile and radiant charm to Giuseppe, the dashing but adulterous older Italian brother in The Light in the Piazza. Berresse says, “I’ve probably learned more about my craft as an actor doing Piazza than any other show I’ve done.” Aaron Lazar, who plays Fabrizio, says, “Michael’s an amazing actor and a great singer, and he takes what could be a forgettable supporting character and makes him so specific and heartfelt and true.”
Berresse has played Billy Flynn in Chicago opposite Chita Rivera (“I had a good time with Michael; he’s such a talented guy,” says Rivera). But he is best known for his Tony-nominated triumph as Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me, Kate. There, the one-time 5-foot-11 gymnast from Holyoke, MA, shimmied and swung himself up three flights of the show’s set. Nancy Anderson, who played Bianca in Kiss Me, Kate in London, adds, “A lot of people think of Michael as a song-and-dance man, but he’s also a beautiful actor. We had great electricity, and he’s a fantastic kisser.”
This month, Berresse will make his New York debut as a director and choreographer with [title of show], which starts previews Feb. 15 and opens Feb. 26 at the Vineyard. A hit at the 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), [title of show] is a new musical about writing a new musical. And it stars the two guys who wrote it: Hunter Bell and Jeffrey Bowen. Though he’s in rehearsals with [title of show], the 41-year-old hunk also has been offered the role of Zach, the director-choreographer in A Chorus Line; the revival will star Charlotte d’Amboise as Cassie and open this fall in New York. “It’s thrilling to be asked to do Chorus Line at around the same time I’m directing and choreographing my first show here.”
Question: Congrats on Piazza! It just keeps extending.
Michael Berresse: I think the romance and the humor of it just transports audiences, and it’s so beautifully designed, conceived and performed. And I really love playing Giuseppe. That dude’s a great guy. Yes, he’s irresponsible and immature, but he has a huge heart. He loves women. He loves clothes. He loves sex. He adores his brother Fabrizio, and would do anything for him. That’s what redeems him.
Berresse: He loves his wife, and it wasn’t frowned upon for an Italian man to have a mistress, but he couldn’t be flagrant about it. Sarah [Uriarte Berry] is fantastic, and the two of us provide sort of a heat. I think of all of the couples as seasonal. Fabrizio and Clara are spring. Giuseppe and Franca are summer. The Nacarelli parents are fall, and Margaret and Roy are winter. No matter where you are in your life, there’s someone you can relate to. Even the costumes reflect it. Franca is in hot pink, and I’m in a red suit. It’s exciting to be in the prime of passion. More people have come back to see Piazza than anything I’ve done. It has such heart and integrity.
Q: Congrats, too, directing on [title of show]. What’s the plot?
Berresse: In a nutshell, it’s about two guys who write a musical in three weeks, about writing a musical in three weeks and submitting it to the New York Musical Theatre Festival. It’s very autobiographical. Since 2004, we’ve done a lot of development and included all the events that came after: meeting a producer and having backers’ auditions. It’s not just about writing the show. It’s about what it takes to go from concept to a realized production without compromising your artistic voice.
Q: Is [title of show] still a one-act musical?
Berresse: Yes, and it’s extremely funny. Jeffrey Bowen and Hunter Bell are a bunch of first-class nerds, and I mean that in the best way. They also enlist two girls [Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff] who are friends, and a musical director [Larry Pressgrove]. They are very irreverent and speak in their own language. And the show has lots of heart. This is a love letter to the art form of the musical. We just did our first table read for the Vineyard staff. I still laugh my ass off and cry my eyes out every single time I hear it. I believe it. And I have a really good bull**** meter.
Q: How’s it feel being offered Zach in A Chorus Line?
Berresse: If you’d told me when I was 12 that I’d grow up to do this, my head would’ve exploded. It’s one of the greatest shows ever. Believe it or not, I never saw it on Broadway. It just closed before I got here. All I’ve ever seen is a dinner-theatre version of it in Florida. But the thought of the New York opening gives me chills.
Q: You’ve been in your share of classic musicals, and you had a showstopping stunt in Kiss Me, Kate. Whose idea was that?
Berresse: It was Kathleen Marshall’s idea. In rehearsals, she said it’d be great if Bianca came out at the top level and I could find a creative way to get up [three flights] to her. I said, “How creative do you want it to be?” I discussed it with [set designer] Robin Wagner just before the dinner break and asked him: “Do you need that step? If you can cut it out and solder in an one-inch bar, I can swing through the staircase and do a back flip off that.” We went to dinner, and a half-hour later, they had done that, which was astounding. By that evening, we had the routine. It was such fun. Our director, Michael Blakemore, is a genius, and that company was one of the greats.
Q: While you were in London doing Kiss Me, Kate, you gave a refreshingly frank interview about being an out actor.
Berresse: It sends out a good message. Sexuality has nothing to do with your skill or your heart. Shelfing a part of yourself to move forward compromises your work. My work is about being as honest as I can be. I can’t allow that limitation of hiding who I am. Sexuality is a wonderful thing, and it hasn’t been an issue for me.
Q: What was it like coming out for you?
Berresse: It was very, very painful. I felt ostracized even by the gay community because I didn’t fit that either. I was never the kind of guy who wanted to look like, dress like or act like all the other gay people I met. I mean in the “standard issue” way that the media portrayed gays. I’ve always been an individual, like everyone else is. I’m happy and proud to be out, but I don’t define myself [only] by that. I think of myself as a musician, a dancer, a gay person, a family member and a godfather.
Q: What else have you got on your plate?
Berresse: I'm working with Martha Clarke on two different pieces. One of them is a Pirandello adaptation called Kaos. And the other one is a Lincoln Center Theater workshop called Ann, the Word. It's a new play based on the book about Mother Ann Lee, the founder of the Shakers, and Alfred Uhry is writing it. There are four main actors: Frances McDormand, Denis O’Hare, Michael Stuhlbarg and me. It’s got the potential to be so beautiful and moving. I’m also working on a screenplay and a play. I like having multiple skills. Why limit yourself? In Piazza, there’s a line in “Aiutami” that says, “To risk is everything.” I see it as the center line of my entire work. You have to commit. You have to follow through. That’s what [title of show] is all about.
For more information, visit www.lct.org and www.vineyardtheatre.org. Continued...
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