Good Day New York Interview - real audio
Penny:
Cheryl Washington is here now and she's talking to Michael Cerveris -
whose name I mispronounced earlier. Sorry about that guys.
Cheryl:
I'm sure he forgives you Penny -right? <laughing>
Cheryl:
I think Bobby can actually use a little bit of help
from you Michael because you're a much better
singer than he is.
Michael:
<laughing> Well...we'll have a little counseling session...
Cheryl:
Yeah absolutely! <laughing> Well everyone
knows you from Tommy on Broadway -
Europe as well as California. You did
1304 performances of Tommy. My gosh.
Was that the looongest show you've done in life?
Michael: <laughing> Yes!
I kept wondering when it was going to get tiring
and it never did.
<<clip from "Sensation" is shown>>
Cheryl :
We're actually seeing it right now and the
last time you performed it on the stage
was July of last year and now you're back
on Broadway in Titanic
- which has 5 nominations - the Tony awards
will be airing this coming Sunday. You've got 5
including Best Score; Best Book; Best sets;
Best Orchestration and Musical.
Michael:
<nodding> Um-hmm.
Cheryl:
Not bad!
Michael:
Not too shabby.
Cheryl:
Excited about that - huh?
Michael:
Yes -it's always... I mean the best thing is getting the chance to show
the show to the whole country via the telecast. And that's the main reason that
we're really excited to have that opportunity.
Cheryl:
Now this show has as you put it - something for everyone. It's got a little bit of
everything.
Michael:
Yes it does. I mean it's obviously a historic tragic event. It has all the range
of human emotions and operatic kind of scope but it's got an amazing amount
of comedy too and a lot of entertainment value as well as the tragic moments.
Cheryl:
You're character is of course the ship's designer. We're taking a look at you
right now <<scene from the Blame>>. This is a scene from "the Blame"
which
you sing in the second Act.
Michael:
That's right
Cheryl:
You want to set this up a little bit for us as we're taking a look?
Michael:
Myself and John Cunningham who plays the Captain and David Garrison
who plays J. Bruce Ismay who was the owner of the line meet in the radio room
after the iceberg has been hit to sort of figure out what can be done. What we're
going to do and then ultimately just start sort of throwing the blame around.
And asking who is responsible for it.
Cheryl:
Does it feel as if you're reliving a part of history night after night?
Michael:
It does. There's a kind of strange responsibility that you feel when you're playing
someone who actually existed as opposed to a completely fictional character.
And we all did a lot of research into - almost all of the characters -
all of the names of characters in the show are names of people that were actually on board
the ship. In some cases - some of the characters are kind of combinations of 2 or 3
different people. But there is a historical basis for everybody in the show and so you do
feel a kind of responsibility to the memory of those people - especially when we were
getting ready to open it was the 85th
anniversary of the actual event and so to sing these songs and do these things
reliving - recreating this moment in history - knowing that this actually happened
to real human beings some time ago was kind of chilling sometimes...
Cheryl:
I'm sure it is. Well we can catch your act every night at the Lunt-Fontanne theater
on West 46th Street and we're wishing you all the best in terms of the nominations
that the show is up for this coming Sunday at the Tony Awards.
Michael:
Thanks.
Cheryl:
And I guess you're next role will again be another Tommy since you have this
propensity for playing Tommy!
Michael:
Well I seem to be Mr. Broadway musical stunt guy. You know something falls
over - blows up- spins around - they call me!
Cheryl:
<laughing> That's you! Michael Cerveris. All right thanks Michael -
all the best to you!
Michael:
You're welcome.
Cheryl:
Congratulations again.
Michael:
Thanks Cheryl.
