Interview: Ellyn Marie Marsh Gets Delusional about 1/3 Joe's Pub Concert

On January 3rd at 9:30pm, one of Broadway's favorite beltresses, Ellyn Marie Marsh debuts her new solo show, "Ellyn Marie Marsh. Live! From Carnegie Hall" at Joe's Pub (click here to purchase tickets). If the title and the show's actual location are a little confusing, that's likely because the evening is subtitled "A Night of Delusions of Grandeur."

"The whole joke is that the show is called 'Live from Carnegie Hall' and it's at Joe's Pub," Marsh said. "The 'delusions of grandeur' is that when you're an actor, you're your own marketing team, and sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader in a way that can look really silly to the outside world. Sometimes we forget that we are just singing and dancing, we're not solving world hunger or any kind of world crisis."

While Marsh admits that being a musical theatre performer does play a vital role in entertaining people and bringing important issues to light, sometimes actors can take themselves a bit too seriously.

"I'm making fun of everyone who thinks that they're a bigger deal than they really are, myself included" she said. "Of course I take things seriously, and I take things hard at times, but sometimes we get a little over-invested in things that we can't control."

The director of Marsh's show, Andrew Briedis, knows a thing or two about calling out obnoxious actor behavior. Even though this is the second time he has directed one of Marsh's cabarets, the two met in the early days of Briedis' online alter-ego, Annoying Actor Friend.

"For the first handful of months he was still anonymous to me," Marsh said. "We were carrying on these exchanges like we knew each other until he asked me to be in one of his concerts. I said, 'I'm not going to be in your concert until you tell me who you are.'

"We really found a mutual admiration for each other through making fun of the business, which we are both a part of."

Marsh says that like her previous shows, this one will include stories, sketches, and songs in a modern take on the classic TV variety show.

"I love the variety shows of the 60s and 70s, where they did comedy sketches, dances numbers, some songs," she said. "I would never subject someone to listening to me sing 10 songs back-to-back, I don't think anyone should have to do that, unless it is some form of punishment."

While Marsh plans on poking fun at her herself and her on-stage colleagues, she believes that in order to keep yourself grounded, you have to be able to see the humor in everything you do; well, almost everything.

"With any career, you have to be able to laugh at yourself, unless you're a brain surgeon, you can't laugh at yourself if you are a brain surgeon, you can't f*ck that up."

Ellyn welcomes Andrew in her latest concert teaser:

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Check out our delusional Q&A:

BWW: The title of your concert is "Ellyn Marie Marsh. Live! From Carnegie Hall," but it is at Joe's Pub, was there some sort of scheduling issue, or did Joe's Pub pull a fast one when it came to the contract?

Marsh: Well, Carnegie Hall got in touch with my people and my people wanted a more intimate space. So my people were like, "Let's find a more intimate space, but make sure The Public's people know that Carnegie Hall wanted you to have it there. It's a lot of show business."

(*BroadwayWorld has tried to get in touch with Ellyn's people, but the number she provided seems to be for her freshman year ballet teacher. We will report back.)

Joe's Pub is one of the most beloved and respected cabaret venues in the world, but given the fact that you have headlined the Sydney Opera House, La Scala, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Vatican, it is kind of small, compared to what you are used to, isn't it?

Um. Yes. All of those places were really really big. I have a really BIG personality, so those houses seem a perfect fit. We will see how Joe's Pub works out with regards to holding all of my personality.

Do you believe that Adele decided to play Joe's Pub in November to steal your thunder, or was she just pre-emptively riding your coattails?

I wouldn't say that. Well, yes, Adele and I have a back and forth, I always say, "Fine girl, you take these Grammys, and she's like "Okay," and I get the BroadwayWorld interviews. It somehow all balances out. We are super cool, me and Dele, I call her Dele.

Is there any truth to the rumor that you are, in fact, the person on the other end of the phone call in her song "Hello"?

I've signed an NDA about that.

Speaking of rumors, a source recently told me that Lin-Manuel Miranda had written HAMILTON with you in mind to star. However, the Broadway advance wasn't high enough to meet your contractual demands, so he was forced to play the part instead. Do you care to comment?

Listen, Linny and I had a lot of discussions about HAMILTON from its inception. Originally when they had me in mind to play Alexander Hamilton, they were worried about the lesbian misinterpretation, but once they saw my male take on the character, they understood the direction we had chosen to take the show. Honestly, I was happy to step down, how many times can one perform for the president before it becomes common place?

You have done cabaret numerous shows before, but now that you have been named Time's Person of the year and Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive has the process changed for you?

Just a lot more paparazzi everywhere. And I have learned to say "No" more; I just have to at this point. It did however dramatically up my likes on Instagram. That's always fun, right?

Do you have any specific rider demands for this concert?

The usual; purified air pumped through the vents, actual coconuts for my water, and James Earl Jones runs lines with me... nothing crazy.

Are you going to perform all of your platinum certified singles, or are you going to mix up the set list a little bit?

Like I tell my team, not every number can be a ten. You'll have to wait and see.

The press materials say that you will be telling stories about your daughter. Is it hard to shelter her from the paparazzi?

Very. At this point she is practically a Jolie-Pitt.

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Which of Ellyn's three-four dozen classic hits are you hoping to see her perform on January 3rd? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt. If you want to follow along with my "366 in 366" articles, you can check out #BWW366in366 on Twitter.

Banner Image Photo Credit: Curtis Holbrook
Video Credit: Katherine Paige