Eugene:
How important is it for you to be involved with the New York Musical Theatre
Festival?
Stephanie: It seems like, in a very short time, the Festival
has managed to utilize the talents of just about every young working New York stage actor, be
it in an actual Festival show or a benefit for it. It's a great group of people
to be associated with. And if singing a couple of songs in a benefit will help
keep the Festival alive and known, well, how can I say no to that?
Eugene:
What is your previous experience with NYMF, if any?
Stephanie: I performed in the very first NYMF Kickoff
Concert in September of 2004, and I also was in the staged reading of Oh What a Lovely War, which was
presented as part of the Festival in October of 2005. And of course I was in
the Ben Folds benefit this past March. My first NYMF show as an audience member
was Altar Boyz, and wow, what a
staggering success that show continues to be!
Eugene:
Theatre and TV-fans alike were greatly amused by the musical episode of "Scrubs"
in which you starred as a woman with a "unique" condition. Tell us more about that and what it was like!
Stephanie: I had a wonderful time shooting that episode and
I was so incredibly lucky to not only have the opportunity to work on such a
unique episode of a wonderful series, but also to work on a show that I have
been a personal fan of since it began. The cast and crew there are amazingly
talented and astonishingly kindhearted. I was on that set for a short two weeks
and I still miss that experience.
Eugene:
Do you miss Kate Monster? Sorry for the bad analogy [laughs]… but some war amputees say
they can sometimes feel their missing limb.
After holding that puppet 8 times a week for almost 2-1/2 years, do you
sometimes wake-up at night feeling like she's there?
Stephanie: I have performed many puppet and non-puppet
characters in my career. Some I miss, some I do not. But when I miss them, I
only miss performing them. The actual sweatiness of the fur and foam and
fleece? Not so much.
Eugene:
You worked alongside Avenue Q's Robert Lopez in providing the voices to Sheldon
and Deb in the Finding Nemo: The Musical studio recording. Have you run down to Orlando to see the show?
Stephanie: I did not exactly run down to Orlando
to see it... but I was in Florida
recently with friends and we did happen to wind up seeing the show. I still
remembered every note I had sung 9 months ago (I also did background vocals for
the group numbers).
Eugene:
Something new for you (outside puppetry and voice-work) was your turn as Diana
opposite Farah Alvin in the off-Broadway musical I Love You Because at the Village Theatre. Tell us a little about that production.
Stephanie: I like to think that what I did in I Love You Because was no different than
the kind of work I did on Avenue Qexcept for the fact that I wasn't holding a puppet. In fact, it was easier than Avenue Qin many ways: I only played
one character, I had much less stage time, I didn't have to speak and sing in
character voices, and I could actually pick up props. But it wasn't really
"new." I think that so many actors are defined by the first thing
that people see them do, and there were people who simply couldn't accept the
fact that I was doing something that they perceived as being a radical
departure from Avenue Q. The irony is
that the role of Diana is actually a little closer to my personality than
either Kate or Lucy. As for the
production itself, it was a nice, albeit short, run of 111 performances (kind
of a relief after nearly 1000 at Avenue Q)
and it was great fun to get to dance that Christopher Gattelli choreography!
Eugene:
You also appeared with Farah in If You
Give a Mouse a Cookie for TheatreWorksUSA last year. Looking at some of your other credits,
children's television and theatre has played a significant role in your performance
history. Why is this an interest for you?
Stephanie: I am always interested in working and fun things
like health insurance. If You Give a
Mouse a Cookie gave me 8 weeks of Equity work. When I got called to do it,
I was grateful for the gig. The fact that it was a children's theatre piece was
pure coincidence. I hadn't even read the
script or knew what roles I would be playing when I accepted the job. When I
decided to pursue a career as a Muppet Performer when I was in college, it was
my hope to be able to play a wide range of Muppet characters in all areas and
genres of television and film. At that time, the Jim Henson Company was making
films and TV series that appealed to a wider age range, and was creating
characters that had depth, humor, heart, and unlimited potential for an
unlimited demographic. Even though I had a great deal of respect for children's
TV and theatre, it wasn't my intent to specialize solely in that area. I did
indeed want to work on shows like "Sesame Street" and I am honored to
be even a small part of that legacy, but I also wanted to do characters that
had wider vocabulary and satirical humor.
It just happens that there is more employment for puppeteers in preschool
television than anywhere else right now. I've been proud to work on some really
great children's shows, but they are not my only interest. The reality of an actor's life is that we do
not always have the luxury of choice. We
take what comes to us.
Eugene:
What can fans hope to see (or hear) you in next?
Stephanie: I will be in The
ATrainPlays XII on June 20 at Dodger Stages, and will be performing a song
at Jeremy Schonfeld's Joe's Pub show on June 24.
Eugene: Thank you very much for your time, Stephanie, and have a fantastic night at "Undercover Showtunes!"
Photos: Stephanie D'Abruzzo (courtesy www.AvenueQ.com); Stephanie D'Abruzzo with Kate Monster (by Nick Reuchel); Stephanie D'Abruzzo with Farah Alvin in I Love You Because, 2006 (by Ben Strothman); Stephanie D'Abruzzo with David A. Austin as part of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, 2006 (courtesy TheatreWorksUSA)
