August 31, 2023 • 18 mins
Michael Riedel and Christine Nagy chat with two-time Tony nominee Alex Brightman about his return to Broadway in The Shark is Broken, a new comedy about the making of Jaws. Brightman plays the role of Richard Dreyfuss and talks about the dynamic with his co-stars Colin Donnell and Ian Shaw. He also discusses joining "the play club" after becoming known for musicals. The Shark is Broken is currently playing at the Golden Theatre.
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(00:02):
iHeart Radio Broadway presents Inside Broadway,the podcast about everything theater. It's where
you hear what happens from the ticketwindow to the stage door, with the
stars and creative forces that make itall come alive. Here are your hosts,
Wars, Michael Reidal and Light FM'sChristy Naggy. Him Michael, I'm
(00:24):
very excited to talk to our gueststoday. You know, he's got a
huge, huge fan base. He'sa two time Tony nominee and now starring
in The Shark Is Broken on Broadway. Alex Brightman, Good morning, Alex.
How are you hey? Alex?How are good morning? I'm so
thrilled to hear that. One ofmy credits is that I have a big
fan base. That's super nice.Well, mom, dad to me exactly
(00:47):
beyond my family appreciate Michael me.Every time I go to your show's Alex,
there's a ton of people waiting tomeet you, and they love you
and with good reason, of course. And I think what was your your
breakout performance was School School of Rock? Right and the Andrew led Webber Show.
That's right, That's right. Iremember I remember going to the opening
night. I went with I went, Yeah, but I was with Andrew
(01:11):
Lloyd Webber, were you. Oh, no, you're very lucky. I've
never I've actually never met him.No, not so all right, So
tell us about the shark is broken. Everybody loves the movie Jaws, but
this is behind the scenes of tryingto get the movie up, which was
fraught with drama, tension and problems. Yes, and and and a little
(01:34):
bit of alcohol on the side.There you go. It's it's really you
know, it's funny. I keepexplaining it to different crowds different ways,
but I think for the theater crowd, it really is like a much more
intense alcohol fueled tension, you know, feuding fueled waiting for good dough.
And the good dough in question isa mechanical shark named Bruce that famously never
(01:57):
worked on set, which left theactors just of you know, sit with
each other longer than they would have. And so it's a lot of ego
in a very small room. Andit's a show about acting and actors,
and it gets a little meta becausewe're actors playing actors playing parts, and
so it's really about where people comefrom, the trauma that's led us to
(02:20):
who we are today. And ifyou like Jaws, it will enhance your
experience because there's so many little eastereggs, not just in the script but
on sets and you know, inlittle references and little moves that we do.
There's a lot of recognizable stuff inthe movie. Yeah, it's wonderful,
and like you said, it's it'smulti layered. There's a lot going
on here. So we have awe have a lot of comedy, we
(02:44):
have a lot of touching moments,and your your characters have quite some journeys
that they go through. So Ithink I think that can only come from
when a movie runs one hundred daysbeyond schedule. I think that you start
to kind of wear out the youknow, the niceties, and you start
to really get talking about stuff.So that's what's kind of the play captures
not only behind schedule, but theywere sitting on the boat out in the
(03:07):
ocean for all that time. Yeah, right, yes, I mean it
would happen to the best of us. Right now, you're playing You're playing
Richard Dreyfuss, right, I am, indeed, And but I know I
don't know how you approached the role, but I know at the time personally,
I know this that Richard was hismovie career was beginning to take off
(03:29):
with American Graffiti. This was theone that was going to put him over
the top. But he was acomplicated guy and he was doing a ton
of cocaine and alcohol. But inthose days, is that where you're doing
up there on the stage. I'mvery I'm so method that I've been to
many many problems. No, Iknow, I really what was I mean,
(03:51):
what was great for me or inanybody who would be, you know,
studying a role of a person whohas such a cannon is that there's
so much footage that exists from thattime, right, and so there's so
many interviews and behind the scenes,and that's what I really tried to pay
attention to. I didn't really lookat a lot of stuff post his huge
successes as Academy Award winner, andbecause that's sort of not as interesting for
(04:13):
the moment, because at that pointhe was dealing with severe imposter syndrome and
ego at the same time, andsome narcissism. And he's also the young
he was the young guy on setbeing you know, brutalized by the old
Renaissance artist that was Robert Shaw andso yeah, I mean I just looked
at a lot of stuff from thatvery small period of time, like right
(04:34):
before the volcano kind of exploded forhim, which is a really weird,
tense time, thinking am I goingto make it? Am I huge?
Am I only huge? For asecond? And it's just it feels very
raw and present, and I thinkthat's kind of what I'm trying to get
at. Yeah, what about thatdynamic because Ian Shaw, who is the
co writer, is playing his dad, Robert Shaw, and he's absolutely wonderful
(04:56):
too, right, he doesn't glorifyhis dad like we we see how hard
his father was on everybody, butespecially Richard Dreyfuss. Yeah, it's a
very famous feud. I mean,for those of you who haven't looked it
up, it's like really an interestingthing to look at. There's still people
still talk about it. It's oneof the more famous Hollywood feuds. And
I think that it just had todo with Robert Shaw having this incredible,
(05:19):
storied career both on film and stage, you know, this true renaissance multi
hyphenit writer as well kind of beingon the same set as this punk who
truly in his eyes, just lookedat this as wanting to be famous,
and so he put him through theringer. I mean, he would make
him do push ups, he wouldhe would whisper in his ear right before
they called action. He would say, mind your mannerisms, boy, and
(05:42):
I mean imagine that. I mean, and then the idea of being brutalized
on stage for ninety minutes. Thebest part about Ian is that before and
after the show we give each othera hug, because it is ninety minutes
of him basically being a huge jerkto me. So, yeah, he's
a real bully, he really is. Yeah, And I'll tell you he's
a great actor, which means he'sreally good at that. So it's very
difficult sometimes as the actor Alex togo, is he met at Richard or
(06:08):
is it me? You know,so there is kind of that moment that
we kind of need if the showis like just that little reconciliation as two
actors being done playing these parts.You know, I also wonder too,
and if you factor this into yourapproach to playing Richard Dreyfuss, if they
were actors from different generations and differentschools of acting. Whereas Dreyfuss would have
been a far more methody kind ofan actor, and someone like Robert Shaw
(06:31):
would have been a guy who didn'tgo to acting school. I'm sure.
Just you know, he learned bybeing a spear carrier and a Shakespeare play
and he said, you've learned theblocking, you learned the lines, and
then you do it and you don'tagonize over it. I mean, I'm
reminded of the story of Laurence Oliviaand Dustin Hoffman, a famous story in
Marathon Acting Boy. Yeah. Well, yeah, Well the story is that
Dustin Hoffman he was getting ready forthe famous scene where Lawrence Olivia's drilling holes
(06:55):
into his teeth, and Dustin hestayed up all night and he didn't eat
because he on to look like hewas haggard and in pain. And Olivier
saw him do this and said,just try acting. Simple, Yeah,
he says, try acting. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. Is there
that generational thing going on with Dreyfussand Robert Shaw. Absolutely, I mean
(07:15):
I think that that is like it'smuch more of the feeling generation, or
as Robert Shaw calls him at theend of the play, is self absorbed,
neurotic. And so I think thatthere really is that sort of new
wave that Robert is I think inpart scared of, you know, I
think that that old generation they mightfeel like they're being pushed out and this
new wave of really bold, youknow, nuanced but still kind of big
(07:36):
and mercurial people. You know,it's always like the sun or the you
know, the apprentice eventually takes overfor the master. And I think that's
why maybe Scary and his defense mechanismswere up, and I think that he
kind of accepts it at the end, but not really. We kind of
leave it a little open there.But yeah, I mean he's Richard Dreyfuss
(07:57):
as part of that upstart, youknow, piece of chance kind of generation,
and so they're a lot of feelinggoes into the acting. Yeah,
And so how was the chemistry thedynamic for the three of you on stage?
Colin Donald Asbori Scheider is absolutely wonderfultoo. The Peacekeeper, right,
you say that that Ian does reassureyou after the show that you guys are
(08:20):
friends. Do you find that youhave that great dynamic? Oh, it
was instant, And I think that'sI think if that wasn't there, this
would be a nightmare, because Ithink that it's it really is a big
three ninety minute three people feud.And so the love that we have for
each other, and I say thisgenuinely. I feel like sometimes that's an
interview answer. It is like withthe love for each other we have it
(08:41):
was it started day one when wegot this permission to just be brave and
ask every question we want, especiallybecause this was a not a new production.
This was you know, this hadbeen at other iterations, but they
with Guy and Ian, they treatedit like a new one. So we
have all of our blood and sweatas on this show. So we really
truly love it and each other,and we have a great time backstage with
(09:03):
someone just said it yesterday, thisis one of the chilliest backstages they've ever
been a part of, and sothat's a really nice thing to be felt
across the building. Another interesting dynamicin the play and the characters that you're
playing. You guys don't know thatJaws is going to change movie going forever.
You don't know it's going to bea blockbuster. You don't know everyone's
(09:26):
going to get famous from it.And there are is there a point where
you, as Richard drives, thinkingwhat am I doing here? Being upstaged
by a mechanical shark that doesn't workwell. I mean, here's the really
true, great answer for this actuallyis that Richard dreve has turned down Jaws
twice because he thought it was goingto be this sort of like hokey summer
(09:48):
blockbuster and he was much more intothe idea of the apprenticeship of Diddy Kravitz
and American Graffiti, these sort oflike real films in his opinion, And
then when he saw that Diddy Kravitznot be a huge success, he called
Steven Spielberg and said, I'll dojobs. So I don't know whether you
know, I doubt right it began. He really thought it was going to
(10:11):
be something, but I think heneeded it. He needed some he needed
to get back on this sort ofwave of success and fame, and so
yeah, I think that part ofhim wasn't sure and maybe even didn't think
this would be a hit. AndI think really nobody does when they're making
anything. I Mean, sometimes youfeel like you're in something great, but
you don't know because you're in it. So it's very difficult to sort of
(10:31):
know that you're in something wonderful becauseit truly is like I have the beholder
stuff and then only afterwards when somebodysays it's great you I always knew it
was great, right, And howdoes it feel for you, Alex?
I know you're being asked this ina lot of interviews, but you know
you've you've said goodbye now to musicalsfor a minute, and you're doing a
straight play. And how has thatexperience been for you? It's a great
(10:54):
question. I really don't have notgotten sick of this question, honestly,
it's just such. It is sucha cool little shift in what I've been
doing for the last decade and ahalf. I've gone away from musicals,
but as you said, for aminute, I'll never leave you, baby,
I'll never leave you. It's alwaysmy first love that it will always
be my last lot, I imagine. But being led into this sort of
(11:15):
play club that I feel like sometimesit is a bit hard to break into
if you're known for doing the sortof wacky musical stuff. It's a true
thrill for me because I my firstshow ever was a play in two thousand
and six seven, I did TheHistory Boys at the National Theater, and
I fell in love with doing plays. And I turns out people were just
(11:35):
like, but you can sing,right. And so I've had the chance
to really flex this muscle in awhile and it's been really fulfilling, and
it's also opened up a few otheropportunities playwise for me already. And I
just love, I really love doingthis because it's so challenging because there really
truly is no net. It's justme talking, and that to make that
compelling seems slightly impossible if you're notgoing to sing and dance. And so
(11:58):
I'm very happy to be sort ofworking out this muscle. It's a thrill.
But I do remember something that NathanLane told me once. He said,
you know what my diet plan is? I said, I said,
he said, you know what mydiet plan is? I said, well,
I said, starting a Broadway musical. Because you dropped the pot,
and I, if I'm not mistaken, weren't you having to basically force feed
(12:18):
yourself to keep the weight on whenyou were in School of Rock? Weren't
you just dropping the pounds right andleft? Yes, I was dropping downs
right and left. You're hyperbolizing slightlyabout force feeding myself. I wouldn't recommend
that to anybody, but I hadgained a slight bit of weight to sort
of feel a little more slobby andlook a little more, you know,
(12:39):
portly for the school of rock ofit All. But then if you've seen
the show, it just is aNonStop, oh yeah, two hour marathon
for me, so inevitably, it'sjust like I started shedding weight, and
that happens with every show. Ithink Nathan Lane is actually spot on.
It's like you just start having whatI guess wedfoot is like some kind of
showbody. Your body just changes becauseyou are doing consistent basically exercise, I
mean, lack of a better word. It's like I'm if you've seen my
(13:01):
show Shark is Broken, I putmyself through a physical ringer for ninety minutes
and I feel like I've been workingfor three hours. So yeah, I
think that it does kind of affectyour health, usually in a good way.
Although I have more bruises in mybody right now than I have in
any show I've ever done. Whoais that from the climbing on and off
the boat and you have anything fromthe Shark the shark trying to eat this
(13:22):
foot the Shark, Yeah you don't. I'm a very method I'm a very
I have a shark tank here athome that I battle with the shark every
day, just to keep it real. You're so wonderful in this and I
just love, love love this play. You know, friends going to see
it twice already, and it's earlyinto the run, so make sure you
catch the shark is broken at theGolden Theater. I have you guys running
(13:45):
through November nineteenth, Is that correct? Yeah? Currently? Yes? Okay,
awesible extension, yeah, I wouldthink I would you know. Here,
here's here's open from your lips towhoever for two Elane stritches ears well,
definitely Alex Breyman. So wonderful,Thank you for everything. Bye bye,
thank thank you guys very much.Bybye. So Christine, I'm off
(14:07):
to London next month and I'm goingto be seeing this revival of Cabaret starring
Eddie Redmain, which is coming toBroadway next spring, and I'm doing a
piece for Vanity Fair on the wholehistory and impact of that great musical Cabaret.
Okay, hang on a second.You do need a personal assistant,
so I'm right here. Okay,you research this project, that's right.
(14:30):
Well, you know I've been I'vebeen doing the research for Cabaret, and
it's really, it's really very interesting. I was with Joel Gray, who
created the role of the EMC thatEddie Redmain is playing. Yeah, and
Joel told me the story, said, when he was doing the original musical,
how Prince the great producer and directorwas directing it. And Joel said,
you know, I had everything down. I had the songs, I
(14:50):
had the blocking, and I hadthe dancing, he said, but I
didn't have the character of the MC. It just didn't have it. And
he said, and I knew somethingwas missing, and he said, and
Joel came from the vaudeville world,and Joe Joel had this memory of going
to see a washed up, old, pathetic borsch belt comedian in Saint Louis,
and he said, the guy wasterrible. He was absolutely terrible.
(15:13):
His hair was dyed, he wastoo old, he was telling lecherous jokes,
he was telling homophobic jokes. AndJoel thought, this guy is just
pathetic. And then it occurred toJoel that's who the MC is, this
guy who's old, not that talented, pretty much washed up but still unable
to leave the spotlight. And thenJoel said, I started putting lecherous things
(15:37):
into the blocking. I was squeezingthe kit gat girl's breast, smack him
on the ass, and they wereall looking at me like, what is
he doing? This is not inthe script, not in the blocking,
said, they were furious with me, and he said when I finished that
rehearsal, I thought, okay,that's it. My career was over with.
I tried something that didn't work andI'm going to be fired. And
how Prince came up to him said, Joel, you've found the character.
(15:58):
Wow. It was the pathetic,sad, broken down guy who puts all
the makeup on his face. Youknow, he the MC wears the white
makeup with the pink rouge circles allthere to disguise the fact that he's old
and passed his prime and was neverthat good to begin with. I thought,
(16:18):
wow, that's a real insight intohow somebody creates an iconic character like
the MC. Absolutely. And sodid you see the You must have seen
it on Broadway when Alan Cummings wasI did, yeah, yeah, I
mean it was great. It waswith Natasha Richardson and Alan Cumming was terrific.
But I would only say this aboutand it was a It was a
terrific production, and I loved everyminute of it. I saw it many
many times when a lot of TonyAwards. But they could be much more
(16:41):
open about things than they could bein nineteen sixty six. So it was
clear that the MC was a gaycharacter or bisexual character. And Cliff,
the man in the play based onCharles Isherwood who wrote the novel it's based
on, he was gay, bisexual. They could deal with all those issues
openly and out front. In nineteensixty six they couldn't. And Joel always
(17:04):
thought, you know the fact thatI couldn't basically convey to the audience that
he's gay, he's bisexual. Hesaid that gave the androgynous character an edge
to it because we could never beopenly sexual in a way that I could
put it under wraps, under cover, and that kept the audience on edge
(17:26):
right right. And so now I'mcurious with Eddie Redmain and what his take
is going to be. Well,you know Eddie Redmain, he's pathetic,
washed up, never any good,so he knows exactly exactly what he's doing
the part why you need your assistantto go right? Yes, Well,
when I get back from London,i'll give you a full report on the
(17:48):
new production of Cabaret. Really exciting. I can't wait to hear all about
this. Absolutely all right. Thatdoes it for Christine and me. But
listen to us on the iHeart RadioBroadway channel. We'll talk to you next
time. So I brought m HM
iHeart Radio Broadway presents Inside Broadway,the podcast about everything theater. It's where
you hear what happens from the ticketwindow to the stage door, with the
stars and creative forces that make itall come alive. Here are your hosts,
Wars, Michael Reidal and Light FM'sChristy Naggy. Him Michael, I'm
(00:24):
very excited to talk to our gueststoday. You know, he's got a
huge, huge fan base. He'sa two time Tony nominee and now starring
in The Shark Is Broken on Broadway. Alex Brightman, Good morning, Alex.
How are you hey? Alex?How are good morning? I'm so
thrilled to hear that. One ofmy credits is that I have a big
fan base. That's super nice.Well, mom, dad to me exactly
(00:47):
beyond my family appreciate Michael me.Every time I go to your show's Alex,
there's a ton of people waiting tomeet you, and they love you
and with good reason, of course. And I think what was your your
breakout performance was School School of Rock? Right and the Andrew led Webber Show.
That's right, That's right. Iremember I remember going to the opening
night. I went with I went, Yeah, but I was with Andrew
(01:11):
Lloyd Webber, were you. Oh, no, you're very lucky. I've
never I've actually never met him.No, not so all right, So
tell us about the shark is broken. Everybody loves the movie Jaws, but
this is behind the scenes of tryingto get the movie up, which was
fraught with drama, tension and problems. Yes, and and and a little
(01:34):
bit of alcohol on the side.There you go. It's it's really you
know, it's funny. I keepexplaining it to different crowds different ways,
but I think for the theater crowd, it really is like a much more
intense alcohol fueled tension, you know, feuding fueled waiting for good dough.
And the good dough in question isa mechanical shark named Bruce that famously never
(01:57):
worked on set, which left theactors just of you know, sit with
each other longer than they would have. And so it's a lot of ego
in a very small room. Andit's a show about acting and actors,
and it gets a little meta becausewe're actors playing actors playing parts, and
so it's really about where people comefrom, the trauma that's led us to
(02:20):
who we are today. And ifyou like Jaws, it will enhance your
experience because there's so many little eastereggs, not just in the script but
on sets and you know, inlittle references and little moves that we do.
There's a lot of recognizable stuff inthe movie. Yeah, it's wonderful,
and like you said, it's it'smulti layered. There's a lot going
on here. So we have awe have a lot of comedy, we
(02:44):
have a lot of touching moments,and your your characters have quite some journeys
that they go through. So Ithink I think that can only come from
when a movie runs one hundred daysbeyond schedule. I think that you start
to kind of wear out the youknow, the niceties, and you start
to really get talking about stuff.So that's what's kind of the play captures
not only behind schedule, but theywere sitting on the boat out in the
(03:07):
ocean for all that time. Yeah, right, yes, I mean it
would happen to the best of us. Right now, you're playing You're playing
Richard Dreyfuss, right, I am, indeed, And but I know I
don't know how you approached the role, but I know at the time personally,
I know this that Richard was hismovie career was beginning to take off
(03:29):
with American Graffiti. This was theone that was going to put him over
the top. But he was acomplicated guy and he was doing a ton
of cocaine and alcohol. But inthose days, is that where you're doing
up there on the stage. I'mvery I'm so method that I've been to
many many problems. No, Iknow, I really what was I mean,
(03:51):
what was great for me or inanybody who would be, you know,
studying a role of a person whohas such a cannon is that there's
so much footage that exists from thattime, right, and so there's so
many interviews and behind the scenes,and that's what I really tried to pay
attention to. I didn't really lookat a lot of stuff post his huge
successes as Academy Award winner, andbecause that's sort of not as interesting for
(04:13):
the moment, because at that pointhe was dealing with severe imposter syndrome and
ego at the same time, andsome narcissism. And he's also the young
he was the young guy on setbeing you know, brutalized by the old
Renaissance artist that was Robert Shaw andso yeah, I mean I just looked
at a lot of stuff from thatvery small period of time, like right
(04:34):
before the volcano kind of exploded forhim, which is a really weird,
tense time, thinking am I goingto make it? Am I huge?
Am I only huge? For asecond? And it's just it feels very
raw and present, and I thinkthat's kind of what I'm trying to get
at. Yeah, what about thatdynamic because Ian Shaw, who is the
co writer, is playing his dad, Robert Shaw, and he's absolutely wonderful
(04:56):
too, right, he doesn't glorifyhis dad like we we see how hard
his father was on everybody, butespecially Richard Dreyfuss. Yeah, it's a
very famous feud. I mean,for those of you who haven't looked it
up, it's like really an interestingthing to look at. There's still people
still talk about it. It's oneof the more famous Hollywood feuds. And
I think that it just had todo with Robert Shaw having this incredible,
(05:19):
storied career both on film and stage, you know, this true renaissance multi
hyphenit writer as well kind of beingon the same set as this punk who
truly in his eyes, just lookedat this as wanting to be famous,
and so he put him through theringer. I mean, he would make
him do push ups, he wouldhe would whisper in his ear right before
they called action. He would say, mind your mannerisms, boy, and
(05:42):
I mean imagine that. I mean, and then the idea of being brutalized
on stage for ninety minutes. Thebest part about Ian is that before and
after the show we give each othera hug, because it is ninety minutes
of him basically being a huge jerkto me. So, yeah, he's
a real bully, he really is. Yeah, And I'll tell you he's
a great actor, which means he'sreally good at that. So it's very
difficult sometimes as the actor Alex togo, is he met at Richard or
(06:08):
is it me? You know,so there is kind of that moment that
we kind of need if the showis like just that little reconciliation as two
actors being done playing these parts.You know, I also wonder too,
and if you factor this into yourapproach to playing Richard Dreyfuss, if they
were actors from different generations and differentschools of acting. Whereas Dreyfuss would have
been a far more methody kind ofan actor, and someone like Robert Shaw
(06:31):
would have been a guy who didn'tgo to acting school. I'm sure.
Just you know, he learned bybeing a spear carrier and a Shakespeare play
and he said, you've learned theblocking, you learned the lines, and
then you do it and you don'tagonize over it. I mean, I'm
reminded of the story of Laurence Oliviaand Dustin Hoffman, a famous story in
Marathon Acting Boy. Yeah. Well, yeah, Well the story is that
Dustin Hoffman he was getting ready forthe famous scene where Lawrence Olivia's drilling holes
(06:55):
into his teeth, and Dustin hestayed up all night and he didn't eat
because he on to look like hewas haggard and in pain. And Olivier
saw him do this and said,just try acting. Simple, Yeah,
he says, try acting. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. Is there
that generational thing going on with Dreyfussand Robert Shaw. Absolutely, I mean
(07:15):
I think that that is like it'smuch more of the feeling generation, or
as Robert Shaw calls him at theend of the play, is self absorbed,
neurotic. And so I think thatthere really is that sort of new
wave that Robert is I think inpart scared of, you know, I
think that that old generation they mightfeel like they're being pushed out and this
new wave of really bold, youknow, nuanced but still kind of big
(07:36):
and mercurial people. You know,it's always like the sun or the you
know, the apprentice eventually takes overfor the master. And I think that's
why maybe Scary and his defense mechanismswere up, and I think that he
kind of accepts it at the end, but not really. We kind of
leave it a little open there.But yeah, I mean he's Richard Dreyfuss
(07:57):
as part of that upstart, youknow, piece of chance kind of generation,
and so they're a lot of feelinggoes into the acting. Yeah,
And so how was the chemistry thedynamic for the three of you on stage?
Colin Donald Asbori Scheider is absolutely wonderfultoo. The Peacekeeper, right,
you say that that Ian does reassureyou after the show that you guys are
(08:20):
friends. Do you find that youhave that great dynamic? Oh, it
was instant, And I think that'sI think if that wasn't there, this
would be a nightmare, because Ithink that it's it really is a big
three ninety minute three people feud.And so the love that we have for
each other, and I say thisgenuinely. I feel like sometimes that's an
interview answer. It is like withthe love for each other we have it
(08:41):
was it started day one when wegot this permission to just be brave and
ask every question we want, especiallybecause this was a not a new production.
This was you know, this hadbeen at other iterations, but they
with Guy and Ian, they treatedit like a new one. So we
have all of our blood and sweatas on this show. So we really
truly love it and each other,and we have a great time backstage with
(09:03):
someone just said it yesterday, thisis one of the chilliest backstages they've ever
been a part of, and sothat's a really nice thing to be felt
across the building. Another interesting dynamicin the play and the characters that you're
playing. You guys don't know thatJaws is going to change movie going forever.
You don't know it's going to bea blockbuster. You don't know everyone's
(09:26):
going to get famous from it.And there are is there a point where
you, as Richard drives, thinkingwhat am I doing here? Being upstaged
by a mechanical shark that doesn't workwell. I mean, here's the really
true, great answer for this actuallyis that Richard dreve has turned down Jaws
twice because he thought it was goingto be this sort of like hokey summer
(09:48):
blockbuster and he was much more intothe idea of the apprenticeship of Diddy Kravitz
and American Graffiti, these sort oflike real films in his opinion, And
then when he saw that Diddy Kravitznot be a huge success, he called
Steven Spielberg and said, I'll dojobs. So I don't know whether you
know, I doubt right it began. He really thought it was going to
(10:11):
be something, but I think heneeded it. He needed some he needed
to get back on this sort ofwave of success and fame, and so
yeah, I think that part ofhim wasn't sure and maybe even didn't think
this would be a hit. AndI think really nobody does when they're making
anything. I Mean, sometimes youfeel like you're in something great, but
you don't know because you're in it. So it's very difficult to sort of
(10:31):
know that you're in something wonderful becauseit truly is like I have the beholder
stuff and then only afterwards when somebodysays it's great you I always knew it
was great, right, And howdoes it feel for you, Alex?
I know you're being asked this ina lot of interviews, but you know
you've you've said goodbye now to musicalsfor a minute, and you're doing a
straight play. And how has thatexperience been for you? It's a great
(10:54):
question. I really don't have notgotten sick of this question, honestly,
it's just such. It is sucha cool little shift in what I've been
doing for the last decade and ahalf. I've gone away from musicals,
but as you said, for aminute, I'll never leave you, baby,
I'll never leave you. It's alwaysmy first love that it will always
be my last lot, I imagine. But being led into this sort of
(11:15):
play club that I feel like sometimesit is a bit hard to break into
if you're known for doing the sortof wacky musical stuff. It's a true
thrill for me because I my firstshow ever was a play in two thousand
and six seven, I did TheHistory Boys at the National Theater, and
I fell in love with doing plays. And I turns out people were just
(11:35):
like, but you can sing,right. And so I've had the chance
to really flex this muscle in awhile and it's been really fulfilling, and
it's also opened up a few otheropportunities playwise for me already. And I
just love, I really love doingthis because it's so challenging because there really
truly is no net. It's justme talking, and that to make that
compelling seems slightly impossible if you're notgoing to sing and dance. And so
(11:58):
I'm very happy to be sort ofworking out this muscle. It's a thrill.
But I do remember something that NathanLane told me once. He said,
you know what my diet plan is? I said, I said,
he said, you know what mydiet plan is? I said, well,
I said, starting a Broadway musical. Because you dropped the pot,
and I, if I'm not mistaken, weren't you having to basically force feed
(12:18):
yourself to keep the weight on whenyou were in School of Rock? Weren't
you just dropping the pounds right andleft? Yes, I was dropping downs
right and left. You're hyperbolizing slightlyabout force feeding myself. I wouldn't recommend
that to anybody, but I hadgained a slight bit of weight to sort
of feel a little more slobby andlook a little more, you know,
(12:39):
portly for the school of rock ofit All. But then if you've seen
the show, it just is aNonStop, oh yeah, two hour marathon
for me, so inevitably, it'sjust like I started shedding weight, and
that happens with every show. Ithink Nathan Lane is actually spot on.
It's like you just start having whatI guess wedfoot is like some kind of
showbody. Your body just changes becauseyou are doing consistent basically exercise, I
mean, lack of a better word. It's like I'm if you've seen my
(13:01):
show Shark is Broken, I putmyself through a physical ringer for ninety minutes
and I feel like I've been workingfor three hours. So yeah, I
think that it does kind of affectyour health, usually in a good way.
Although I have more bruises in mybody right now than I have in
any show I've ever done. Whoais that from the climbing on and off
the boat and you have anything fromthe Shark the shark trying to eat this
(13:22):
foot the Shark, Yeah you don't. I'm a very method I'm a very
I have a shark tank here athome that I battle with the shark every
day, just to keep it real. You're so wonderful in this and I
just love, love love this play. You know, friends going to see
it twice already, and it's earlyinto the run, so make sure you
catch the shark is broken at theGolden Theater. I have you guys running
(13:45):
through November nineteenth, Is that correct? Yeah? Currently? Yes? Okay,
awesible extension, yeah, I wouldthink I would you know. Here,
here's here's open from your lips towhoever for two Elane stritches ears well,
definitely Alex Breyman. So wonderful,Thank you for everything. Bye bye,
thank thank you guys very much.Bybye. So Christine, I'm off
(14:07):
to London next month and I'm goingto be seeing this revival of Cabaret starring
Eddie Redmain, which is coming toBroadway next spring, and I'm doing a
piece for Vanity Fair on the wholehistory and impact of that great musical Cabaret.
Okay, hang on a second.You do need a personal assistant,
so I'm right here. Okay,you research this project, that's right.
(14:30):
Well, you know I've been I'vebeen doing the research for Cabaret, and
it's really, it's really very interesting. I was with Joel Gray, who
created the role of the EMC thatEddie Redmain is playing. Yeah, and
Joel told me the story, said, when he was doing the original musical,
how Prince the great producer and directorwas directing it. And Joel said,
you know, I had everything down. I had the songs, I
(14:50):
had the blocking, and I hadthe dancing, he said, but I
didn't have the character of the MC. It just didn't have it. And
he said, and I knew somethingwas missing, and he said, and
Joel came from the vaudeville world,and Joe Joel had this memory of going
to see a washed up, old, pathetic borsch belt comedian in Saint Louis,
and he said, the guy wasterrible. He was absolutely terrible.
(15:13):
His hair was dyed, he wastoo old, he was telling lecherous jokes,
he was telling homophobic jokes. AndJoel thought, this guy is just
pathetic. And then it occurred toJoel that's who the MC is, this
guy who's old, not that talented, pretty much washed up but still unable
to leave the spotlight. And thenJoel said, I started putting lecherous things
(15:37):
into the blocking. I was squeezingthe kit gat girl's breast, smack him
on the ass, and they wereall looking at me like, what is
he doing? This is not inthe script, not in the blocking,
said, they were furious with me, and he said when I finished that
rehearsal, I thought, okay,that's it. My career was over with.
I tried something that didn't work andI'm going to be fired. And
how Prince came up to him said, Joel, you've found the character.
(15:58):
Wow. It was the pathetic,sad, broken down guy who puts all
the makeup on his face. Youknow, he the MC wears the white
makeup with the pink rouge circles allthere to disguise the fact that he's old
and passed his prime and was neverthat good to begin with. I thought,
(16:18):
wow, that's a real insight intohow somebody creates an iconic character like
the MC. Absolutely. And sodid you see the You must have seen
it on Broadway when Alan Cummings wasI did, yeah, yeah, I
mean it was great. It waswith Natasha Richardson and Alan Cumming was terrific.
But I would only say this aboutand it was a It was a
terrific production, and I loved everyminute of it. I saw it many
many times when a lot of TonyAwards. But they could be much more
(16:41):
open about things than they could bein nineteen sixty six. So it was
clear that the MC was a gaycharacter or bisexual character. And Cliff,
the man in the play based onCharles Isherwood who wrote the novel it's based
on, he was gay, bisexual. They could deal with all those issues
openly and out front. In nineteensixty six they couldn't. And Joel always
(17:04):
thought, you know the fact thatI couldn't basically convey to the audience that
he's gay, he's bisexual. Hesaid that gave the androgynous character an edge
to it because we could never beopenly sexual in a way that I could
put it under wraps, under cover, and that kept the audience on edge
(17:26):
right right. And so now I'mcurious with Eddie Redmain and what his take
is going to be. Well,you know Eddie Redmain, he's pathetic,
washed up, never any good,so he knows exactly exactly what he's doing
the part why you need your assistantto go right? Yes, Well,
when I get back from London,i'll give you a full report on the
(17:48):
new production of Cabaret. Really exciting. I can't wait to hear all about
this. Absolutely all right. Thatdoes it for Christine and me. But
listen to us on the iHeart RadioBroadway channel. We'll talk to you next
time. So I brought m HM
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