Follies’ Elaine Paige: Still here and finally gunning for a Tony Award
Photo: Joan Marcus
On May 1, Elaine Paige, the actress who originated the roles of Eva Peron in Evita and Grizabella in Cats could likely be nominated for her first Tony Award. Despite a lauded stage career that goes back nearly 45 years, the British actress has only been on Broadway twice (and not in those shows), having done most of her work in London’s West End. Her Broadway debut was in Sunset Boulevard, and although she played the lead role of Norma Desmond, she was ineligible for a Tony nomination, as she was a replacement. However, her return to Broadway last fall as the saucy stage and film star Carlotta who belts out “I’m Still Here” in the revival of Follies has her on everyone’s frontrunner list for a nod for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. As she readied to begin rehearsals for Follies’ Los Angeles run, Paige telephoned Stage Rush to discuss chumming it up with her Follies costars, being Andrew Lloyd Webber’s go-to gal, and what a Tony nomination would mean to her.
You’ve taken this show to three locations now. How does that feel?
Here we are in LA for the third and final installment. It’s extraordinary. It feels like we’re on tour, really. It’s all very unexpected, of course, because initially it was just going to be in Washington, DC. To then be told we were going to New York was a wonderful surprise. Now to be here in LA is even better. It keeps on rolling.
What’s going on with this production? Has anything different? How’s it going with Victoria Clark, who is replacing Bernadette Peters?
I haven’t yet started rehearsals; I start on Friday. One thing I know is different is that the leading lady, Bernadette Peters, is not in this production out here. It’s a young lady by the name of Victoria Clark, who I’ve yet to meet. That will make a different complexion on the piece. Sometimes when somebody new comes into something, I think that could be a breath of fresh air.
Stage Rush TV: Episode 84
Talking points:
- Ron Raines gives the rundown on each of his Follies costars
- The best performances of the Suites By Sondheim benefit concert
- Broadway grosses
What do you think, Rushers? Who is your favorite character in Follies? Do you see where Ron Raines is coming from with his assessments of his castmates? Were you at the Suites By Sondheim concert? Who do you think gave the best performance? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Follow Stage Rush on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for the weekly newsletter!
Stage Rush TV: Episode 79
Talking points:
- Celine Dion, Bernadette Peters, and Kristin Chenoweth introduce this week’s episode! (Just watch.)
- NEWSical‘s Christina Bianco’s incredible celebrity impersonations and her strangest voiceover gigs
- Broadway grosses
What do you think, Rushers? Which impersonation of Bianco’s did you like best? I’m partial to Celine. What do you think of Bianco’s story? Are you surprised Billy Elliot is closing? Do you think it had a good run, or does it deserve a longer life? Let it all out in the comments below!
Follow Stage Rush on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for the weekly newsletter!
Stage Rush TV: Episode 78
Talking points:
- Steve Cohen, the Millionaires’ Magician, performs an exclusive magic trick for SRTV
- The no. 1 reason to see Follies
- Win a pair of tickets to see Relatively Speaking
- Broadway grosses
What do you think, Rushers? Did Steve Cohen’s magic trick blow your mind as much as it did mine? What is your no. 1 reason to see Follies? Make sure you enter to win a pair of tickets to see Relatively Speaking and leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Follow Stage Rush on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for the weekly newsletter!
The No. 1 Reason To See: Follies
If there’s a lesson to learn from Follies, it’s “Don’t look back.” Because if you do, there’s only a mess there. Featuring a fearsome foursome of Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein, and Ron Raines, this revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s musical follows a group of former showgirls who gather for a reunion at the theater where they once basked in the spotlight before it’s demolished into a parking lot. What seems to be an innocent trip down memory lane exposes the cracks of marriage and the open wounds of regret for the two main couples.
The No. 1 Reason To See Follies: Bernadette Peters’ performance of “In Buddy’s Eyes” Read more 
Ticket giveaway: Follies
The fall Broadway season is already packed with new, exciting shows. Here at Stage Rush, we are so stoked about all the new plays and musical revivals about to open that we want to give you a head start on your theatergoing. Stage Rush is giving away two free pairs of tickets to Follies starring Bernadette Peters and Jan Maxwell at the Marquis Theatre!
Here are the easy steps you need to take to have your chance to win these tickets: Read more
Hunter Ryan Herdlicka’s last page of ‘Night Music’
Hunter Ryan Herdlicka is preparing for the closing of A Little Night Music—for real this time. Last June, the cast of the acclaimed production was given a second life when Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch signed on to replace departing stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury—just two weeks before the show was set to close. For Herdlicka, who is making his Broadway debut at 24 as the morose Henrick, the extension was a fairytale ending to a story that already had one.
“We thought we were done,” Herdlicka said. “I was on my phone and I clicked onto BroadwayWorld.com and I saw that headline that we were going to stay open with Bernadette and Elaine. It was a shock.”
With Night Music, Herdlicka experienced an aspiring young actors dream. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009, Herdlicka was cast in the role of Henrick in the revival of A Little Night Music before he even moved to New York. He was, in fact, the first person cast in the show. “It wasn’t until that summer that I started hearing names like Uma Thurman, these celebrities that were going to come and be in the show,” Herdlicka said. “I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa! They’re not just bringing over the people from the London [Menier Chocolate Factory] production?’ It didn’t hit me till a few months into the run that it was such a huge deal.”
Herdlicka’s audition process took just nine days. During his final callback, he sang for the show’s composer Stephen Sondheim. “I had met him in the elevator on the way up,” Herdlicka said. “I shook his hand, he knew my name. That kind of helped me relax a bit. In the audition room, [director Trevor Nunn] was introducing me to everyone, which makes you feel so comfortable, I wish everyone would do that when you go to an audition. Trevor says, ‘Stephen, this is Hunter.’ And he says, ‘Oh, we go way back!’”
Stage Rush TV: Episode 40
Talking points:
- SRTV celebrates 40 episodes—thank you!
- Hunter Ryan Herdlicka’s star-filled show at Feinstein’s
- Colin Quinn: Long Story Short and other non-traditional Broadway fare
- Broadway grosses
Did you see Hunter Ryan Herdlicka’s Feinstein’s show, Rushers? Are you surprised Bernadette Peters and Jan Maxwell met there for the first time? What do you think of Long Story Short and these other non-play shows coming to Broadway? Leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments below! Follow Stage Rush on Twitter and Facebook for on-the-go updates, news, and sightings.
Concert recap: Hunter Ryan Herdlicka at Feinstein’s
Bernadette Peters and Jan Maxwell were there. Yes, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, who is making his Broadway debut as the morose Henrik in A Little Night Music, attracted quite the crowd to his second concert at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency Monday night. (Elaine Stritch, who also stars in the show, phoned ahead with her apologies—she was filming an episode of 30 Rock the next morning and needed to rest.) Intertwining charming stories of his New York and musical theater life with hilarious deadpan, Herdlicka performed classic songs from Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Stephen Sondheim.
With Mary-Mitchell Campbell on piano as his music director, Herdlicka began with Porter’s “I Happen To Like New York” in a mashup with another song on life in the Big Apple—“Another Hundred People” from Company. Herdlicka described himself as a musical theater addict. “Someone who is a musical theater addict living in New York is like someone with a gluten allergy working at Amy’s Bread—it’s not easy.”
After recounting his early-developed affinity for musical theater as an “intense” child and how it affected him, Herdlicka sang a medley from Peter Pan, which included “Distant Melody,” “I Won’t Grow Up,” and “Never Never Land.”
Herdlicka told of his callback audition for A Little Night Music, which included an awkward elevator ride alone with Stephen Sondheim. Herdlicka said he turned to the famous composer and said, “Hi, I’m Hunter. I’m here to sing for you,” to which Sondheim dryly responded, “And I’m here to listen.” Herdlicka followed this story with Gershwin’s “They All Laughed.” Read more