Interview: BRIGHT STAR's Hannah Elless Is Gonna Shine Again on Broadway

This spring couldn't be brighter for Hannah Elless. Later today, the Michigan native will officially make her return to Broadway in Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Bright Star, which opens tonight at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street).

Inspired by a real event, this "unabashedly romantic" (The New York Times) original musical tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and '40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past - and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives.

Hannah plays Margo Crawford, a role that she originated in both the Old Globe and Kennedy Center productions of the new musical. She just checked in with BroadwayWorld about her big Broadway return and her journey with the show so far. Check out the full interview below!

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How are previews going so far?

Really well! Our audiences have been so warm and generous. The first preview that we had, I got offstage and thought to myself, "Where did we find the nicest New Yorkers in the city?" They were so generous and kind and that has sort of been a theme in the weeks that we've been in previews. People have just been really warm and ready to hear a story that they've never heard before.

Let's talk a little bit about Margo. How does she fit into the story?

She is a young lady who lives in 1945. There are two different time periods in this show. There's the 1920s and then the 1940s. My character lives in the 1940s and she works at a book shop in a small town called Hayes Creek. She is longing for this boy named Billy Cane and he's a soldier boy that just got back from WWII and is pursuing a career in writing. So, that's really my story.

Of course he leaps into this bigger plot that is sort of mysterious for people who haven't seen the show, but I think there is something so refreshing about sitting down in a theater and not having any expectations about what you are going to see. I think we are the only completely original Broadway show in this season. We don't have any source material. The story is original and the music and the lyrics are obviously all original. There is something quite magical about sitting down and hearing a story that you have never heard before. I think they are trying to preserve that for people because it's part of the magic.

Definitely. People that I have talked to in the past have always told me that creating a part is its own beast... its own specific challenge. Have you found that as well?

First of all, creating a new role in a new Broadway show is a dream come true. It's been something that I wanted to do ever since I've been pursuing this and since I've been in the business. I love new theater; I love new work; I love working on new shows. It's truly my heart. This has been such a joy and a pleasure.

I agree though. I think when you are starting from scratch there is something a little intimidating about it- a little daunting because you have a blank page and the possibilities are endless. But there is also something really beautiful about that because there is so much space to bring your personally into the picture. There is so much space to bring me into the character. I can mix Margo Crawford with my isms and my background and world view. There is definitely a balance. Margo has some things in common with me for sure, but there are other things that are completely outside of me. There is a balance... and every time I work on something new it sort of feels like square one.

I watched you guys on The Tonight Show the other week and that song has been in my head since then. We have to talk about this music a little bit.

Yeah! The score is really special. When I think about words to describe it I think about words like 'warm' and 'authentic' and 'earthy.' I know the word bluegrass has been tossed around a little bit, but as much as it is bluegrass it's also Americana, I think. It's kind of like if a string quartet and a banjo had a baby. There is something sophisticated and heightened about it. It definitely has the sound of the mountain and of North Carolina, but there is something sophisticated and very romantic about it too.

What has it been like working with Edie [Brickell] and Steve [Martin]?

A dream! It sounds cheesy, but seriously it's like, "How did I get here?" [Laughs] I'm standing in the middle of midtown, waiting for my second show of the day and tomorrow I get to go back in the theater and rehearse with Steve Martin and Edie Brickell and Peter Asher and Paul Simon. Sometimes you just stand back and try to look from the outside so you can just laugh and wonder how you got here. It's so dreamy. I don't think I'm totally taking it all in to be quite honest. I think maybe after opening I'll have a time to take a breathe and really look at what my day-to-day has been like.

Everyone always thinks of Steve Martin in a different way too. I grew up watching Father of the Bride on repeat. So when I met him I was wondering if he was going to be like that or if he would be someone different. He was a lot like that. I like to pretend that he's my Dad and we are living Father of the Bride.

So you've had a lot of 'pinch me' moments I'm sure?

SO many moments! I've been trying to journal in the moment, but even that is overwhelming. I'm just trying to live in the moment and soak it up and be really thankful.

I saw that you guys were in the recording studio recently?

Yes! We just finished the cast album yesterday! That was a beast. We were doing it in the middle of previews and so those are long days, but so fun. And seeing Peter Asher standing behind the sound board and coaching you on your first Broadway album... This is my first original Broadway cast album, so I'm having a lot of monumental firsts in this process. The album is gonna be really beautiful and very listenable. Every song has this heartbeat running through it and it's sort of a heartbeat of hope. Whether the song is full of happiness or full of devastation, there's this heartbeat of hope that runs through it. It's really uplifting and I think it will be an album that people will play on repeat because of that.

Did I hear that you are also working on your own album?

Yeah! I'm working on my own music. I've always grown up playing in bands with my brothers and writing. I come from a very musical family, but I've never put my foot down and said, "Yeah, let's hear my music that's totally me" until this year! So I'm working on an EP and that should be coming out soon, either this spring or summer.

This is your first Broadway show since Godspell, so it's been a few years! Do you feel at home being back on Broadway?

Yeah I do, especially with this show. Godspell was such a lovely debut. It was a really good show to get my feet wet in. It's a big ensemble number- you never leave stage. It kind of feels like if you do Godspell you can do anything. I wasn't afraid of anything after Godspell and I also realized that I really liked creating because in Godspell we got to improv from show to show. We got to do new jokes and have new moments and so there was this element of always creating something new and I got really hooked on that.

That's sort of what ushered me into the love of new musicals and so for the last three years that's what I've been doing. New musicals, workshops, new readings. So, it's really nice that one of them has come fully into fruition and it does feel so right. This music feels like home and this character does too. Even at my callback for this show there was something so special about it. I knew even in the moment, even if I didn't book the show, I knew that something really special had happened. I think it's because the music feels like home. I am so happy to wake up every day and do the show and you can't say that about every project. I just know how lucky I am.

So, with opening night just around the corner, what do you think you will be thinking about when you take your bow [tonight]?

Well I'll be lucky if I'm not crying because my parents are going to be in the audience. This is their first Broadway opening because it's my first Broadway opening! I will probably be weeping and just so thankful that they're both there. In 2015, they both had huge health scares and the fact that they're here today and the fact that I have both of them here on this planet for an opening night on Broadway is a miracle. They are both miracle cases. So it will be really personal to have them in the audience. There will just be a lot of gratefulness and basically my heart will just be exploding. No big deal!

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Elless made her Broadway debut singing "Bless the Lord" in the revival of Stephen Schwartz's Godspell followed by a very "Neil" turn in the Drama Desk-nominated The Other Josh Cohen under the direction of Tony Award-winner Ted Sperling. She recently starred as Elise McKenna in the world premiere of the new musical Somewhere in Time and can be seen this spring originating the lead ingénue role in Steve Martin's and Edie Brickell's Broadway musical, Bright Star. Ms. Elless has been seen on Fox Television's Glee and her screen credits include Before Winter, The Lake Effect, and the upcoming film When Mary Met Ally.