By Ricky Spears

April 7, 2000

It isn't easy catching up with Marc Kudisch these days. Hot off The Scarlet Pimpernel, he's now drenched in 1920s Harlem allure in George C. Wolfe's production of The Wild Party at the Virginia

Theater. Kudisch has been racking up a steady stream of flashy Broadway credits (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Beauty and the Beast, High Society) since his first New York show, Tamara: The Living Movie. He also had the title role in Bye Bye Birdie on tour and in the TV version that co-starred Vanessa Williams, Jason Alexander, and Tyne Daly. Though he plays a lost soul in The Wild Party, it sounds like Kudisch is having a blast. He's tall, he's handsome--and he's engaged to Kristin Chenoweth. What more could a Broadway matinee idol ask for?

I thought I was going to be a politician-even in college. That's what I was going for in school, man. But sophomore year in college changed all that. I was in this Poli Sci class, and the subject was the New Deal and what happened afterwards. All political theory is based on failure, and I thought: I can't base my life on failure! So I focused more on the theater, which I was studying as a kind-of fill in. I'm still a politician, though. Really, I am!

Another Antigone at the Caldwell Theatre Company in Boca Raton, Florida.

"One Last Kiss," from Bye Bye Birdie.

"You Don't Know Everything."

My dad, who passed away a year ago.

I am my own personal villain.

Auntie Mame. Charles Busch did it in a benefit reading that I was in, and he was the best Auntie Mame I've ever seen. Better than any woman-or man, for that matter. It was an amazing thing to witness.

Fred in Kiss Me, Kate. Also, I'd love to do The Desert Song. I'm hoping that someone will write a musical of The Count of Monte Cristo. And I hear there's a musical of Batman floating around.

I was in Tamara. I played Mario, the chauffeur, and the show was done over in the Park Avenue Armory. I had to go into this antique armoire to get my suit out, and when I opened the door, I tore it off the armoire. It was so heavy, I couldn't even prop the thing up, so the actor who played my nemesis in the show had to come over and give me a hand. We had to stop the show. On top of it all, the armoire was some kind of landmark antique and had to be specially put back together. Another embarrassing thing happened in Bye Bye Birdie on tour: I was wearing this neon blue underwear/tights thing under my costume, and my fly was all the way down. This little burst of blue kept peeking through. Always remember to check your fly before you go on stage!

The lack of discipline and craftsmanship in this business. There is a lot of great talent, but little craftsmanship. And microphones. I hate microphones! The microphone has been a great undoing of what we do as singers and actors. I think it makes people lazy.

I wish I could fly, like a bird. And I wish I could really play the piano, the guitar, or some musical instrument.

I was in Ft. Lauderdale with my fiancée, Kristin, at the Bee Gees concert. They were awesome. They kicked.

The sound of a glorious, robust, well-used voice that is attached to the heart.

Kristin is amazing. Also Howard McGillin, Alice Ripley, Emily Skinner, and Norm Lewis. They all sing completely from their hearts.

F**k. You can add so many things to it!

To be home in front of the TV.

My brothers and sisters and I, after our parents would go out, we would run our own restaurant-with little pieces of bread, pizza. And, oh yeah, we used to put on strip shows with Ken and Barbie. We'd put some 45 on the record player, and one of us would hold a flashlight.

Little things that remind me of a place or time. Just yesterday, we were talking about going to the Carnegie Deli. That was my father's favorite deli; he loved the corned beef. I used to run over there and grab a sandwich for him just before I'd jump on a plane to go visit him.

Show tunes.

Both.

Intimate gathering. Definitely.

Boxers. Gotta have room.

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