BWW Interviews: A Chat With Tony Winner Anthony Crivello

A few times a year, some of Broadway's best perform at Northport's John W. Engeman Theatre for their ongoing Concert Series. This past weekend, Tony winner Anthony Crivello was part of the cast and took some time to speak with me as rehearsals were getting underway.

Very exciting times with the Tony nominations being announced last week; Who are you rooting for in addition to Golden Boy, of course?

Well that is a loaded question! ::::laughs:::: I definitely want Golden Boy to win as many as we possibly can. I've seen some things and some I have not. I want to see Orphans before it closes, which is unfortunate the early closing. I've heard good things about Lucky Guy; Danny Mastrogiorgio who was also in the cast of Golden Boy is in that and I know other people in it as well. I also want to see Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. I would love to see Ann too just for the intriguing subject matter. I've seen Cinderella which I thought was terrific. It was such a throwback to a sort of style of doing a musical; I think it was cleverly handled and the rewrites of the book were terrific. I saw and loved Motown. I thought it was really classy in the way they did their presentation. It is really a crowd pleaser, the choreography was stupendous, and the staging and performers were wonderful. I unfortunately didn't see Hands On a Hardbody which I wanted to see. I haven't seen Kinky Boots. Billy Porter is a friend, I worked with him years ago doing a film called Twitsted. It's hard to even say because I have so many friends in the community and I just want everyone to win.

As there are many first-time nominees this year, what advice do you have for them as a Tony winner yourself?

For me, what I always say is... that particular time; from the time you're nominated until the time they announce the winner is a very special, exciting, and nerve wracking time. And for everything that it's worth, enjoy that portion of the ride. So I say to everybody that during that period of time, whatever the circumstances are, enjoy that moment and you never know when it's going to come around again and it's a special time not for the individual performers but for their families and loved ones as well and everyone really basks in it. It is also a very special time for the community.

As for you appearing here at the Engeman tonight, how/who approached you to join the cast tonight?

::::Chuckles:::: Funny story! Ironically, I had just wrapped a six and a half year run with Phantom Of The Opera in Las Vegas portraying the Phantom. It closed on a Sunday and the following Wednesday I flew into NY and my phone rang and, speak of the devil, this guy (pointing to Producer and Host Stephen DeAngelis who walked into the Engeman Lobby) was on the phone and we caught up and Stephen asked "Where are you?" I said I'm in JFK literally walking on the tarmac and he said "I want to be the first person to give you your first job back in New York" So, he told me about the situation here and asked if I was interested and I said "Yeah!" I was actually going to come to an earlier performance date, but I booked Golden Boy! ::: laughs::::

What songs did you choose to sing for this evening?

I've given them about six and we're narrowing it down to four. I'm going to do "Oh What A Circus" from Evita, then "Marta" from Kiss Of The Spider Woman, "As Good As You" from Jayne Eyre, and then we're debating "Stars" from Les Misérables but more likely it'll be "Music Of The Night" from Phantom Of The Opera.

One of the running themes for the Engeman concerts is career highlights; besides your Tony win, of course, what are some other highlights of your career?

You know Golden Boy which just happened... there have been several times in my career and life that I've worked with some really talented people and I think that is sorta pinnacle highlights for me career wise. The cast of Golden Boy, from day one, when we did the reading at Lincoln Center, it was obvious the level of talent in the room, the bar was extremely high and very exciting. The cast of Les Misérables was also an extraordinary group of people. Also, I did a production in Los Angeles of Steve Martin's "The Underpants" and that was another wonderful cast. It's working with those special companies, performances, and performers. I could go on and on about the special nature of all the shows I've done. I've been fortunate to work with Hal Prince three times with Evita then Kiss Of The Spider Woman and finally with Phantom Of The Opera. I guess the most appropriate answer would be you hope the pinnacle thing is the production you haven't done yet.

What projects are you currently working on?

Next week, I'm going to Middletown Connecticut and a piece that I co-wrote and directed is going to have a performance at the Odd Fellow's Theatre called Hear What's In The Heart. It's an 80 minute one man piece performed by Steve Scionti. It's 6 week run, but the way tickets have been selling we've had discussions and it looks like we're extending possibly as long through the summer into the fall.

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