McGillin's Broadway credits include The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Anything Goes, The Phantom of the Opera, The Secret Garden, Kiss of the Spider Woman and She Loves Me.
As previously announced, the singing actor will join Tony winner — and former Anything Goes co-star — Patti LuPone as well as Norm Lewis and Seth Rudetsky on Playbill's third Broadway on the High Seas cruise.
| Full given name: | Howard Francis McGillin. Good Jewish name. You can see why I don't use my middle name. |
| Where you were born/where you were raised: | Los Angeles, CA |
| Zodiac Sign: | Scorpio |
| What your parents did/do for a living: | My father was a salesman most of his life, and later worked as an accountant. My mom was a nurse, counselor and college administrator. |
| Siblings: | Two brothers and a sister. I'm the baby. |
| Current audition song/monologue: | "Home" from The Wiz. Seriously? I can never think of a song to audition with. |
| Special skills: | Learning to play the ukulele. |
| Something you're REALLY bad at: | The ukulele. |
| First Broadway show you ever saw: | Agnes Of God, which probably explains a lot. |
| Did you have any particular mentors or inspirations when first starting out? | I was a huge fan of Richard Kiley growing up. The late Wilford Leach was responsible for my start in New York, and I miss him every day. |
| If you could go back in time and catch any show, what would it be? | Streisand in Funny Girl, Preston in The Music Man |
| Current or recent show you recommended to friends: | Patti LuPone at 54 Below. I hear she's coming back in September. She was sensational. |
| Favorite showtune(s) of all time: | "A Quiet Thing" by Kander and Ebb. I'm a softie, what can I say? |
| Some favorite modern musicals: | I think Once is very good. |
| Some favorite classic musicals: | Sweeney Todd, Follies, Merrily, Sunday In The Park. Do you detect a trend? |
| Broadway or screen stars of the past you would most have loved to perform with: | Kiley, Preston, Streisand, Cary Grant, Gene Wilder |
| Your personal vocal idols, living or dead: | John Raitt was brilliant. In the opera world, Domingo and Caballe. Of course, Streisand, and Sinatra in his golden days. |
| The one performance – attended - that you will never forget: | Lily Tomlin's The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life In The Universe. Changed my life, literally. |
| Music that makes you cry, any genre: | Mary Chapin Carpenter |
| MAC or PC? | MAC |
| Most played song on your iPod: | Whatever I'm currently rehearsing. Thank God the days of cassette tapes are behind us. |
| Most-visited websites: | New York Times, CNet (I'm a gadget geek), and lately ukuleletricks.com |
| Last book you read: | Robert Caro's "The Passage of Power" about Lyndon Johnson becoming president. Riveting page-turner. Really good. |
| Must-see TV show(s): | Brian Williams, Anderson Cooper, "The Daily Show" |
| Last good movie you saw: | "The Intouchables." Loved it. |
| Some films you consider classics: | Peter Sellers in "Being There," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Young Frankenstein," "Annie Hall" |
| Performer you would drop everything to go see: | Rebecca Luker |
| Pop culture guilty pleasure: | "Real Housewives of New York" "Extra" "Access Hollywood" |
| Favorite cities: | New York, Paris, Prague |
| Favorite sport/team/player: | Excuse me? Um, go Mets? Oh, yeah: Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. |
| First CD/Tape/LP you owned: | The Rolling Stones' "Flowers." Don't laugh, I actually wanted to be Mick Jagger when I was a teenager. Seriously thought I'd be a rock singer. |
| When you first realized you could sing: | Singing along with Mick and the boys |
| First stage kiss: | My high school sweetheart, Anne Van Horne, in our school's production of "She Loves Me." She played Amalia. |
| Favorite or most memorable onstage role as a child/teenager: | I made my stage debut as Johannsen the Swede in Paint Your Wagon. I sang exactly one solo line: "'Tink I look for better ground." And I was bitten by the theatre bug. |
| How you got your Equity card: | In the chorus for a summer in stock at The Sacramento Music Circus. |
| Favorite pre-/post- show meal: | Bar Centrale or Joe's. |
| Pre-show rituals or warm-ups: | I like to get to the theatre early, see the house before it opens. |
| Most challenging role you have ever played: | I just did The 39 Steps at George St. Playhouse. Never played a more exhausting role. I'm too old to work that hard, but boy was it fun. |
| Worst flubbed line/missed cue/onstage mishap: | Fell flat on my ass during the big Fred and Ginger number in Anything Goes at Lincoln Center. First, the audience gasped, and then they laughed. God, I'm (not) a dancer. |
| Worst job you ever had: | Stock boy at a 7-11. That's not a fun job. |
| Leading man role you've been dying to play: | Henry Higgins |
| Something you are incredibly proud of: | My two sons. They're wonderful guys. |
| "I'll never understand why…" | ... people can practice religion and be so full of intolerance for anyone else's beliefs or lifestyle. |
| Words of advice for aspiring performers: | If you can do anything else for a living, do that. The theatre is just too tough a life. But, then, I never listened to anyone who tried to talk me out of it. |
