Broadway Beat: Marc Kudisch
By Richard Ridge
Transcript by FreakyMartian
April 12, 2001
Marc Kudisch: Honestly, this has been the easiest preview period I've ever had in my life. You know, I'm serious. It's been carefree, it's been fun, from the minute we got to New York we've been very accepted and I think audiences have been charmed and surprised by the show... Most people don't know the show, really know it. I mean, they know the film, but the film is not the musical, and the musical is not done often. So, to do it and to have people see it and know where some of that music comes from has been just wonderful. And it's such a sweet story - it's intimate, and it's very character driven, and it's not often that you get to see that on Broadway anymore and I think people have left surprisingly charmed. Because it's so open-hearted, and, you know, that's not - unfortunately, that is not the society we're in today, but in 1956 they were, and we really try to keep to the truth of the material. So I'm not kidding you - literally, last week I think we had three shows that were funky because we did some major changes. There was, like, a bump in the road and everyone was afraid we had a flat tire - you know what I'm saying? And that's the worst of our preview period. So it's been wonderful, and fun. I mean, come on, man, I get to work with Faith Prince, I was directed by Tina Landau. Two women who I absolutely love and that I have I know lifelong friendships with now.
Richard Ridge: And also having Comden & Green there -- what has that been like?
MK: Well! Betty and Adolph -- I mean, to have, you know, to get it from the horse's mouth, there's nothing like it. And it's funny, because, you know, Betty and Adolph - have been around so long - and for people who are not great at hearing, boy, do they hear at times like you wouldn't believe. And the notes that I've gotten from Adolph especially have been so insightful - and it's wonderful to hear that from him because you go, "Oh! That's why you wrote that in '56." And it's just amazing - it's this wonderful thing to have them around - I mean, look, they're the most accomplished duo still living today, and they're still writing. And to have that presence -- it's been really a gift.
RR: Talk about the man that you play, tell me about him.
MK: Jeffrey Moss? I love him. You know, what's wonderful about him is that I find him to be so contemporary, such a New Yorker, such an interesting personality, and I mean that - for a "leading man" if you want to call it that, he is such a character - and I'm a character man! So, it's been wonderful to work on it, because I find him to be so different from most characters that I've played [applause, cheering in the background] - most leading men - and I don't usually - honestly, this is my first leading guy, so, and that's Faith [turning around] -- woohoo! So, I mean, what can I say, the guy starts at a very dark place, which is unusual, and by the end of the show is completely together which is quite the opposite of most other characters that I get to play. And, he's incredibly flawed which is so wonderfully human, and so is Ella, which is again, so wonderfully human, and they belong together - I mean their imperfections make them perfect for each other. And how contemporary is that?
RR: That's what I was going to ask you - there are so many parallels between 1956 and now...
MK: Of course there are! I mean, the whole thing with, you know, answering services is the whole thing that's going on with the Internet today. People hiding behind this wonderful barrier where they can try to be what they would always want to be - but ultimately, if you're going to really go for it, you have to risk the truth. And that's what Jeff and Ella do, and that's what really makes them better, whole human beings. And if there isn't a message in that -- then you are a very jaded person.