Hughes was the standby for Johnny in the original production, eventually taking over the role full-time and performing in the final company. Other Broadway credits include 9 to 5 and Hairspray.
He has appeared on screen in "Sex And The City: The Movie," "SATC 2," "Tenure," "Rachel Getting Married," "Book of Love," "Law & Order: SVU & Criminal Intent," "Six Degrees," "As the World Turns" and "One Life To Live."
| Full given name: | Van Michael Hughes |
| Where you were born/where you were raised: | Norfolk, VA / Chesapeake, VA |
| Zodiac Sign: | Aries/Taurus cusp |
| Current audition song/monologue: | When I met Dolly Parton at the 9 to 5 audition, I sang “Something” and played along with my ukulele. She said, “I bet you threw that yodel in just for me!” |
| Special skills: | Lariat trick roping, guitar, drums, piano, creepiness |
| Something you're REALLY bad at: | DIRECTIONS. I have no internal compass. |
| First Broadway show you ever saw: | Footloose when I was 16 |
| If you could go back in time and catch any performance, what would it be? | Sunday in the Park with George |
| Current show—other than your own—that you have been recommending to friends: | Fuerza Bruta Sleep No More |
| Favorite showtune(s) of all time: | “Come Down Now” from Passing Strange “Shiksa Goddess” from Last Five Years |
| Some favorite modern musicals: | Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Passing Strange, Parade |
| Favorite classic musical: | Oliver! |
| Stage or screen stars of the past you would most have loved to perform with: | Charlie Chaplin, Gwen Verdon, Heath Ledger |
| Your personal vocal idols, living or dead: | Buddy Holly, John Lennon |
| The one performance – attended - that you will never forget: | Final Saturday night taping of Passing Strange. I’d never seen a roof be blown off a theatre like that before. I was weeping like a baby. |
| Music that makes you cry, any genre: | Régine Chassagne, the female vocalist in Arcade Fire. There’s something so beautifully desperate in her voice. |
| MAC or PC? | .me in a cloud |
| Most played song on your iPod: | “Behold a Marvel in the Sky” by Deerhoof |
| Most-visited websites: | metafilter.com |
| Last book you read: | "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan |
| Must-see TV show(s): | "Breaking Bad"!!! |
| Last good movie you saw: | "The Skin I Live In" |
| Some films you consider classics: | "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest" "Pee Wee’s Big Adventure" "The Deerhunter" "Koyaanisqatsi" |
| Performer you would drop everything to go see: | Deerhoof |
| Pop culture guilty pleasure: | YouTube videos of skateboarding accidents |
| Favorite cities: | Brooklyn, Austin, Prague |
| Favorite sport/team/player: | Dirk Nowitzki on the Mavericks makes it look so easy. |
| First CD/Tape/LP you owned: | "Shaq-Fu" was the first CD I ever owned. It came with the Sega videogame "Shaq-Fu" where Shaquille O’Neal fought at a kung-fu tournament. He rapped on the accompanying CD, and it was awful! |
| Greatest Bands of all Time: | The Beatles, ELO, GREEN DAY! |
| Favorite or most memorable onstage role as a child/teenager: | I played Will in Will Rogers Follies at the Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA when I was 16.
It was a thrilling production where we used sets and costumes from the 1st National Tour and a orchestra of 30 professionals! Not your normal high school experience... |
| Moment you knew you wanted to perform for a living: | I saw a children’s theatre production of Mother Goose by the Hurrah Players when I was 8. After the show, I told my mom, “I can do that.” I later joined the Hurrah Players and became very inspired by Hugh Copeland to fall in love with theatre. |
| How you got your Equity card: | Hairspray in Vegas |
| Favorite pre-/post- show meal: (note where) | PRE: Chipotle tacos POST: La Superior tacos |
| Favorite liquid refreshment: | VITA COCO. Like sticking a straw in a coconut. |
| Pre-show rituals or warm-ups: | I listen to music, drink tea, and stretch A LOT. |
| Most vocally challenging role you've performed: | Johnny in American Idiot |
| Worst flubbed line/missed cue/onstage mishap: | Because of a last-minute backstage microphone swap in American Idiot, I missed my usual entrance at the top of the stairs for “Letterbomb.” As I’m running to enter late from the wings instead, I made a split-second decision to dive and roll like a human tumbleweed across the stage. I must have rolled three times -- each one getting more air than the last before crashing into Will’s couch -- but got there right on time! |
| Worst costume ever: | In Hairspray, in the song “Without Love,” I had to be a dancing silhouette in the female jail because there weren’t enough ladies in the cast to fill all of the slots on the set. I wore a very large wig and a corset on top of my normal Sketch costume and wiggled quite girly. I hated putting that wig on everyday. |
| Favorite Green Day tunes not in the show: | "Geek Stink Breath" "Burnout" "Pulling Teeth" |
| If you could trade roles/tracks with anyone in the show for a week, who would it be? | WILL! |
| Any cities on the itinerary you're particularly excited to visit: | Seattle and San Francisco! Never been... |
| Leading man role you've been dying to play: | George in Sunday in the Park with George |
| Leading lady role you wish you could play: | Dot in Sunday in the Park with George |
| Something about you that surprises people: | I was an Elvis impersonator ages 13-16. Enough said. |
| Something you are incredibly proud of: | Billie Joe proposed to me onstage at the encore one night. |
| Career you would want if not a performer: | Astrophysicist |
| Three things you can't live without: | Maps, humidifier, plants |
| "I'll never understand why…" | ... we can shoot missiles and bombs across the world, but we don’t shoot food to countries with people starving. |
| Words of advice for aspiring performers: | “The aim of art is to ask the questions clearly - not provide the answers.” Summarizing Tolstoy. |
