An Interview with Greg Jbara

Greg Jbara is currently starring as Andre in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and we sat down recently in his dressing room to speak about the show, his career, his love of New York and lots more…

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels doesn't just represent Greg's return to the stage, it also marks his return to his favorite city in the world. "For me, it was sort of a gift, a miracle job" says Greg describing his current role in Scoundrels. "I used to sit at home in Los Angeles, and go to all the web sites about Broadway, look at the Times Square web cam, and look at the people walking around at 4 o'clock in the morning. Then I'd pan over to Howard Johnson's, and I'd pan over to the Marquee where I spent I lot of time in New York, and I just missed the place."

After many nights of this, Greg got the approval he needed to make the move back to the Big Apple. "Finally my wife just said to me 'enough! You have until the fall of 2006, when our oldest son has to start kindergarten back in LA, one school...so we're not dragging him all over the world, so if you can get a show together by then, we'll go to New York.' Luckily, this is one of the richest musical theatre seasons in decades in terms of product coming in, and this show just happened to be the one. I put my hat into the ring for some others, including Spamalot, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but this one was just the right thing."

Fate began falling in place for Greg and the show from day one. "I read the script, and I laughed so hard, that my wife said 'you're going to audition for this job, aren't you?' and I said 'I have to! I haven't read something like this in years, I want this role, this is going to be the one honey. We're going to go to New York now, so get ready!' Her response was 'Oh...ok, sure... go get that job!' – very skeptical, and then it came to fruition, and she went 'oh ok, bye house, bye yard, I'll see you in 18 months.'

The show's journey officially kicked off in San Diego, with a work-in-progress out of town opening. "It's the first time that I've ever had such a featured participation in a new musical, but it has not been stressful at all, it's been very easy. I think that we had the luxury of a lot of time from San Diego to here, and that really gave us a lot of time to just fail…constantly. It also gave us the time though to really succeed, making choices that we really loved, and which initially may have been perceived as 'going too far' but ultimately were best for the show."

 

The show's creators, David Yazbek, and Jeffrey Lane were still writing parts of the show, as rehearsals began. "I had a song written for me, which was the duet that Joanna and I do that didn't even exist a month into rehearsal. On the page of the script, it said 'musically somehow, these two characters will realize a romantic connection.' That was it, and literally, they sent Yazbek to go leave rehearsal to go write the thing. He did, and it was amazing."

The show's audition process took place in San Diego, with the part of Andre becoming available when Dennis O'Hare, who played the role in workshops decided to go with Sweet Charity instead. "I went down to audition one day in San Diego, drove on down, and I was the only person on that list who I didn't recognize. Everyone else that came in for the part, had either starred in a major picture, or had their own TV series. Fortunately though, I got the gig!"

The show's tryout period in San Diego gave the cast and creative team the opportunity to tweak the comedy in front of a live audience. An interesting point though is how the audiences on both coasts have differed. "The New York audiences, as opposed to the conservative Southern California audiences, reacted differently so when we brought the show to New York, we were happy to see that some of the things that weren't working, that we believed in - finally worked."

Audiences so far have been eating the show up, but when doing comedy, the differences night to night are visible. "The other night, we had an audience that was a bunch of kids, a bunch of spring breakers, and it was the biggest boo that we ever had on the George Bush joke. All the broad fart and laugh stuff was getting laughs, but for any of the really smart humor, all we heard was just literally mind numbing silence. Onstage, we were doing all we could to not laugh in disbelief, because they just weren't with us on it. That aspect has been amazing though, because there's only been a few less than effusive audiences."

"We were all sitting there, going 'I know what it would take to make that work,' so you'd offer a suggestion, and if it was right, people would go YES!"

From rehearsals, to San Diego, to previews, and to opening on Broadway, the show went through a large amount of tweaking to come up with the current hit package. "A biggest focus in San Diego, was to establish the opening of the show. We needed to figure out what were we trying to say, what was the style of the show – and how were we going to get the exposition all laid out so people were all wrapped and ready to take the ride. I still think, had we the time, that everybody would have loved to have kept working on it. The best part is that there were many, many changes, especially after we arrived here, from the first preview to when we actually opened. Trimming, cutting, big rewrites, lyrically in that opening number, as well as adding exposition, little vignettes that helped establish what was going on. They were very important changes, and basically, everyone was willing to give up jokes. We were all going 'yeah, that scene is funny, but you know what? We need to get from point A to point C, so let's take point B out.' So we'd have a little meeting, and everyone would go, ok this is better, and move on. There were a lot of good bits that everybody was, like 'oh man, this isn't working, why isn't it working? And then someone would go – 'oh it should be that,' and everyone would go 'yes of course.'

There was a lot of contribution from people that weren't all in the same scenes, but had a chance to watch. While we were all sitting there, going 'I know what it would take to make that work,' so you'd offer a suggestion, and if it was right, people would go YES!, or people would even say ok, let me just try it,.' It's been really great that way, really easy. "

Aside from the show changing in general, there were also specific changes for Greg's character of Andre. "A lot of the part was originally geared for the Denis O'Hare, Joanna Gleason dynamic, and then when I came in, they realized that we could go another way with it. Fortunately Jeffrey, David, and Jack all went yeah, yes, let's reshape how this thing all tumbles out. For me, they added more songs, primarily because I think in San Diego, people thought I was a butler initially, and so they really had to clarify that I was not part of the service industry. If you don't realize that I've got a more important role than that, then later on in the play in San Diego, people were going – 'why is she involved with him? That makes no sense, that's confusing,…'. There were a lot of things done that way, great things to help my character have a little bit more weight and specificity about him when he was introduced so that people were very clear."

The plan was initially for Greg and his family to only stay in New York for 18 months, but now that might change to a permanent move back east. "The original plan was to go back in time for our oldest to start school. Now he's been placed at a wonderful school here on the Upper East Side, and my wife even said 'you know, if work keeps us here, and that work makes you happy, and it pays our bills, we don't have to go back to LA.' My reaction was 'YES! Can I get that in writing?' The upside is, that we can ride this wave, because we're not obligated to go anywhere because our boys are protected, and that's our biggest concern. It's really about the kids, so luckily my jobs are a gas, and I'm able to pay the bills, and enjoy my boys. It should be about that, and thanks to my wife helping me realize what's most important, it is."

Talking about the current theater season, and the age old controversies about the "business" part of show business, Greg revealed an interesting backstage reminder at Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. "There's an article downstairs that the automation operator pulled out of an old New Yorker, from the early 1900s, and it was the same dilemma then, talking about the great plays that never made it past opening night, compared to the other dreck that was staying alive because of some critic simply loved it, or it was just commercial. The writer described Broadway as being artistically a barren dessert, with a few shows making a killing. I think that the dilemma has always existed, and it is all about making a buck. There are some great works out there, and there are a lot of great shows today and through the years, but it's a business, it is."

"One of the many great things about working with Joanna….is that I always know that she will just tune right in."

Comparing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to some of his previous musical appearances on Broadway yields some differences that have added to his appreciation of the current experience. "I remember working on Damn Yankees, where a few of the cast members had this tendency to pull pranks on stage, and to subsequently undermine some very important comedy in the show. I personally feel that there is no place for that sort of behavior. One of the many great things about working with Joanna especially is that it doesn't matter how lousy the audience is, or what else is going on, anything, because I always know that she will just tune right in. Her doing that helps to pull the audience right along, and to get them right where we need them to be so they can enjoy the most of what this comedy has to offer. She's just really solid, and fun, and sweet."

One of the other bits that required work while developing the show, was Greg developing the French accent that his character uses. "I do a lot of voice over work, and a lot of dialects, so the execution of a French dialect was not an issue. What was hard on this job, was that my French dialect initially was much more rich and to the point where a lot of the humor was unintelligible, where jokes just weren't landing. I literally had to go back through and really tone the French thing down... especially in "Chimp In A Suit". There are a lot of punchlines where I have to say a 'th' and 'h' sound and some vowels in an American tone, because when you spin them French, it's just not familiar enough to hook the audience for the humor. It's been an enlightening process."

Regarding his other co-stars, Greg gives them high marks as well as friends, and as co-workers. "The offstage friendship definitely helps with the onstage stuff, and it's made it a very warm workplace. John Lithgow goes and checks in with everyone before the downbeat of the overture. He'll make sure that he's out of his dressing room five minutes early just to poke his head in at everyone and wish us all a good show. He's a great role model."

After Damn Yankees, Greg starred alongside Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria. "It didn't matter what the product was, because it was Julie Andrews back on Broadway, and therefore it was a guaranteed success. It was a nice ride, and I learned a lesson there, because a friend of mine, said 'you know, as great as you are in this, there's no way you're going to get any kind of nominations, because you don't sing... it's a musical, and you don't have a song, that's that.' I never thought about that, but it knocked the wind out of me for a few days, and then I got over it.'"

"The first months of Chicago were probably the most awful experience of my life…"

Following that, Greg next appeared on the Great White Way in Chicago, replacing James Naughton, a production in which he got off to a rocky start. "The first months of Chicago were probably the most awful experience of my life, not because of the people involved, but because every job I had before that, I had the luxury of starting from the first day of rehearsal and finding it with everyone else. Here, it was two weeks of me, a piano player, a stage manager and a dance captain alone in the rehearsal space saying here's what you have to do, here's what you have to do, and have you to do it like this, and it has to be this way, and this is what we need, and what we expect. It was hard, and it took about a month of performing that show before I was actually comfortable knowing that all the words would come out of my head, and comfortable that I sorted out all sorts of simple details so that it felt, and appeared organic on stage. After Broadway, they'd call me every now and then when they were between Billy Flynn's on the road. It wasn't until a six week run in Vegas that I finally got to do the show that was mine. That Chicago experience was great, Billy Flynn has one of the best entrances ever, and such a great, fun role.'

Having then made the move to Los Angeles, Greg's next theater experiences came out in LA, at the Blank Theatre Company. "I did Michael John LaChiusa's west coast premiere of First Lady Suite out there and it was a gas. because you don't get paid for it, other than travel expenses, but I had some of the most gratifying experiences while in Los Angeles working for The Blank Theatre Company run by Daniel Henning and Noah Wiley. There's also a playwright named Jason Connors, who wrote There's Someone Living in the House that Jack Built for The Blank Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival, which he wrote at the age of 16, and I couldn't believe that these ideas were coming out of a 16 year old soul. So I got to do this play (thanks to Daniel Henning's insistence) which was another great experience. We're currently developing the play for the big screen. I also ended up doing the west coast premiere of Precious Sons, with Nora Dunn and directed by Henning. That was also one of the great professional experiences of my life."

"I was constantly being seen for leading roles in new Broadway shows, but they were always going to somebody who had more TV or film celebrity"

The decision to move to Los Angeles initially was to help raise his profile as an actor, which he feels certainly helped. "To me there's nothing better than theatre, before I left New York, I was constantly being seen for leading roles in new Broadway shows, but they were always going to somebody who had more TV or film celebrity so I said ok, I always knew I had to go at some point, I'll go now and get some TV work. I think that TV and film exposure has helped in letting people go 'oh, Greg Jbara, right!.' I've been gone for 8 years, but still there was no problem with anyone remembering who I was. So when it came down to the producers saying 'yeah, we approve that choice,' it wasn't like I disappeared which was nice. When I was doing Chicago on Broadway, I had relatives back in Michigan who would say, 'I just saw your commercial for whatever, you're really a good actor', and they had no idea that I was doing a Broadway show. But they saw a TV commercial, that media is powerful, and can be a helpful tool. It's hard to find TV work that's really challenging though, the jobs are fun, and the people are nice, and you're also being well paid, and have a lot of time at home so you don't mind. For me it's also kind of a holiday though, working on TV and film."

Back in New York though, Greg feels truly at home. "Here in New York it's about the community, it's being able to literally walk out the door and run into five people on your way somewhere, on the subway, or anywhere and there's just nothing like it. I'm also able now to re-experience New York with my boys. My wife and I see the city in a different way now, having kids means everything requires a little more planning. Getting to be here though, thanks to the generosity of my wife and two boys is a dream come true."

It's a dream come true for Broadway audiences as well, who are currently applauding Greg's critically lauded performance in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. In addition to the show, Greg will also appear in BroadwayWorld.com's Standing Ovations 3 on April 17th at Joe's Pub. For more information on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and to purchase tickets, click here. To learn more about Greg Jbara, click here to visit his official site.