Imagine being 23 years old; an aspiring actor who comes to New York with dreams of "making it big" and having it actually happen two weeks later. Sound too good to be true? Not so, if A Little Night Music's Hunter Ryan Herdlicka is any example. Fresh out of Carnegie Mellon last year, Herdlicka quite literally stepped off of the proverbial boat and into one of the most high profile productions of the season, starring as 'Henrik Egerman' in Sondheim's Night Music alongside Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones, directed by Trevor Nunn.
Sondheim's musical interpretation of Ingmar Bergman's film 'Smiles of a Summer Night,' A Little Night Music centers on the elegant actress Desirée Armfeldt and the spider's web of sensuality, intrigue and desire that surrounds her in a weekend country house in turn-of-the-century Sweden, bringing together surprising liaisons, long simmering passions and a taste of love's endless possibilities.
Trevor Nunn's production debuted to critical acclaim at London's Menier Chocolate Factory in November 2008 and subsequently transferred to the West End where it played a successful limited engagement through July 25, 2009 at the Garrick Theatre before transferring to the Great White Way last fall.
A Dallas native and 2009 graduate of Carnegie Mellon, Herdlicka has appeared regionally in Fiddler on the Roof (Motel) and Othello with the Utah Shakespearean Festival, The Full Monty (Malcolm), Disney's High School Musical (Ryan) and My Fair Lady (Freddy) with the West Virginia Public Theatre. He has additionally participated in readings and workshops for The Greenwood Tree for NYMF '09, Bubble Boy: The Musical (Bubble Boy) and Mrs. Sharp with PCLO/ASCAP.
And now, A Little Night Music on Broadway. Quite a story indeed. BroadwayWorld recently caught up with the up-and-comer to talk specifically about this particularly unique Broadway debut, what he will miss most about the show after it shutters on June 20, and how he plans to pursue his next role in New York: that of a tourist.
Tell me how A Little Night Music came into your life.
It was actually an incredible experience. I graduated school in the last week of May 2009. Feeling ambitious, I sold almost everything I owned, packed up the rest and moved to New York into a sublet. I then went on my very first audition - A Little Night Music. Two weeks later I had the part. I'd never done any auditions! I did a callback for Trevor and the producers and then Sondheim came in two days later to listen to me sing. And that was it. I found out the next day I had the job. It's like a fairytale story. I'd never gone on an audition...it was incredible.
I'm wondering, for a show like A Little Night Music, which is such a staple in the canon, how much autonomy did you have to make the role your own? How familiar were you with the show? Did you look to past productions for inspiration?
Well, I'd been listening to the CD since I was in 6th grade, but I hadn't seen a production and was not really familiar with the story. When I was in college and I heard that they were doing it on Broadway - all of my friends were talking about - my initial thought was "Aaaah, I'll never be in that. I'm not right for that show." [Laughs] So it's actually hysterical that I'm in it. As for our autonomy as actors, they had done the production in London already, and so pretty much the structure of the production and all of the staging was set from the show Trevor did there. The rehearsal process, accordingly, was very quick so I didn't feel like there was a lot of our own creativity allowed to be put into it, just for that reason. However, it was an incredible experience, though, to be working with Trevor and Angela and Catherine and Alexander [Hanson]...all of them. This has been a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Can you elaborate on that a bit more? I would imagine that working with such an iconic combination for any actor would be thrilling, and for a newcomer even more so. What was the most significant thing you learned from working with this talent?
You know, I was never star struck. I think that when you're a part of a company, it just takes away that hierarchy. We had a really well-established company, and I always felt like it was truly an ensemble cast. After all, there are about eight leads in the show. That said, there were - and still are - those moments every once in a while that hit me...where it's like "Oh my gosh, I'm seeing Angela Lansbury rehearsing a song and rehearse with a script and figure out where the laughs are." That's where it's just fascinating. It's fascinating to see celebrities and theater legends in rehearsal and it reminds you that they're just like us. They're regular people, regular artists, and we're all the same. I guess I learned a lot of things from Catherine and Angela but I think the biggest thing I've learned is about being generous with your time and your energy. They're both so encouraging and so supportive. Especially Angela. She's always there to teach and encourage and to talk about her experiences in life as an actress because she wants to pass that along to us, this younger generation, for when she retires. There are not a lot of people left of her class and caliber and she wants to pass those traits and traditions along. She doesn't want certain things to be forgotten.
