Broadway star Hugh Panaro has been thrilling audiences for years with his Hollywood good looks and talent to match, but it's his boy next door charm and down to earth personality that adds to his appeal.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 19, 1964, Hugh's love of animals interested him in a career in veterinary medicine. However, after seeing his first Broadway show (the original production of Annie), Hugh fell in love with theatre. His first role, Friedrich in a regional production of The Sound of Music, came when he was twelve. Hugh, who was a church organist at Saint Helena's Roman Catholic Church during high school and accompanied his mother on the organ or piano at weddings, studied music at Temple University (BA in voice, class of '85).
Over 20 years later, Hugh Panaro is back. He's starring in the Walnut Street Theater's much anticipated season closing production of Les Miserables and making quite a splash.
I caught up with Hugh on a Friday about an hour before he was ready to hit the gym, a ritual he tries to keep to keep him in top shape. "I know now how it feels to carry and drag a 170 pound man on your back several nights a week", joked Hugh.
Pati Buehler: Congratulations on landing such a popular role. You are doing a wonderful job with Jean Valjean.
Hugh Panaro: Oh, thank you so much. I am thrilled to be doing this.
BWW Review of Walnut Street's Les Miserables:
broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=28398
PB: Hugh, many fans of the show view Valjean as a valiant hero, but you play this role with several layers of emotions. What is your take on the role?
HP: While I was sitting with the directors and Paul Schoeffler (Javert) talking about the characters, sort of a Valjean/Javert meeting, we discussed the human element of these men. To be honest, I think my take on this comes from my late acting teacher, Freddie Kareman. Human beings are not black and white. I've always found that playing Javert as the bad guy and Valjean as Santa Claus just didn't interest me. In the last scene, the redemption, I feel if you get there way too soon, then why are you doing the show. I was pretty adamant about finding the darker moments for the character, hopefully showing the audience that Valjean and Javert are both men on their separate paths and their own truths.
"As far as my interpretation there's the risk of thinking, "Oh gosh, the audience might not like this." For instance, when Valjean gets the letter from Eponine to give to Cosette, the book shows that Jean Valjean is really jealous. Here's this boy interested in his daughter and he's not ready for this. I said to Mark Clements, our director, "Can I crumple up the letter, toss it to the floor then pick it up?" He said, "that may take too long." So we compromised and I crumple the letter, then decide to flatten it and keep it. I don't know if the audience would be used to this in the character, but I feel good and evil is a choice and at that moment Valjean could have gone either way and he chose the candlesticks again."
PB: That was a very subtle way of showing another facet of Valjean's personality. Also your response to Cosette's plea for more
information about the past; that was pretty intense.
