Exclusive Photos + Interview: LADY, BE GOOD's Patti Murin & Colin Donnell on Reuniting on Stage, Upcoming Broadway Wedding & More!

Tommy Tune, Colin Donnell, Danny Gardner, Jeff Hiller, Erin Mackey, Patti Murin, Douglas Sills, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Kirsten Wyatt star in George and Ira Gershwin's LADY, BE GOOD, the opening production of New York City Center's 2015 Encores! season, running for seven performances, beginning tonight, through February 8, 2015. LADY, BE GOOD is directed by Mark Brokaw and choreographed by Randy Skinner. Founding Encores! Music Director Rob Fisher returns as Guest Music Director, and has supervised the restoration of the Gershwins' original score.

LADY, BE GOOD tells the story of a penniless brother (Gardner) and sister (Murin) who crash a garden party in hopes of some quick nourishment. They resolve to marry for money, but love gets in the way, as it usually does. Before true love wins out, they encounter Mexican gangsters, crooked lawyers, wealthy socialites, and a song-and-dance man with fascinating rhythm (Tommy Tune).

Murin and Donnell, who star opposite each other as Susie Trevor and Jack Robinson in the show, also happen to be one of Broadway's cutest couples. The duo recently chatted with BroadwayWorld about reuniting on stage, planning their upcoming wedding, and so much more. Check out the full interview below, as well as photos from their photo shoot at City Center with BroadwayWorld's own Kevin Thomas Garcia!

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What has it been like being back in the rehearsal room together? I'd imagine you're spending a ton of time together!

PM: It's been great! We like each other a lot, so we like spending a lot of time together! In all honesty, it's almost like I have two men in this show. I have Danny Gardner, who plays my brother, so I see him a lot. And then when Colin shows up, it's like, "Oh, yay!"

CD: Yeah, like Patti said, we like each other, so that certainly helps! The last time around we weren't opposite each other, so it's been a lot of fun to get to have that sort of fun with each other, and to get to do things together.

I know the Encores rehearsal process is fast and furious. Is it nice having someone to go through it with? Have you been helping each other?

CD: Yeah we've definitely been helping at home. Patti has more stuff to do than I do, which is great. We've been able to go through lines with each other. That sounds totally dorky...

PM: Yeah, it does.

CD: But when you only have ten days to put something up...

PM: You've gotta do what you've gotta do. And the thing about the rehearsal process is that it is kinda rough already, but it was the snow storm that screwed us up! The city shut down on Tuesday, so our day off was moved and now we don't get another day off until we close. So it's really the storm that is making things difficult! It's also nice though, because when we come home, we don't have to talk about it if we don't want to because we were both there. We know exactly what happened!

Do you enjoy working on these kinds of old-timey pieces?

PM: I do! HOLIDAY INN was actually my first classic musical in maybe ten years. I don't think I had ever done an old timey musical with my Equity card before then. It's crazy. I usually do a lot of new stuff that is very contemporary. Even the revivals I've done recently have been CHICAGO and THE LITTLE MERMAID at the MUNY. And then there was WICKED. It was amazing to get back into it with HOLIDAY INN, and then to be able to continue with something that's even more dancey. I've gotten to use skills that I didn't think I had anymore, so that has been really great.

CD: And she is really good at it too. I had a chance to see HOLIDAY INN a few times, and Dennis Jones' choreography for that was amazing, and Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge did such a great job. Now to see her do Randy Skinner's choreography...

PM: Yes, oh my god!

CD: I love Rob Fisher; we got a chance to work on ANYTHING GOES together. He is one of the best conductors and musical directors for this type of stuff. It's what he does and he does it so well. He and Bill Elliot have done such an amazing job of creating these orchestrations. We just got back from our sitzprobe, so it was the first time we heard it with a full orchestra. All of these new orchestrations that they put together are... I just can't say enough about them! John Bell, Bill Elliot and Rob Fisher have really out-done themselves.

I know you were in LOVE'S LABOURS LOST together a couple of summers ago. Is that how you initially met?

CD: No actually. We met through a mutual friend about eight years ago.

PM: It was actually right after you did FOLLIES at Encores! and right before I started XANADU.

CD: Yeah, our friend Patrick Garrigan introduced us then, but it wasn't until LOVE'S LABOURS LOST that we started dating. So it was only fitting that I introduce Patrick to his now wife.

PM: It's really bizarre!

CD: He was unknowingly paying it forward...but years before! [Laughs] It's pretty great kismet!

Have wedding preparations already begun?

PM: Oh my god, YES. We're getting married in June!

CD: I asked her on December 8, and then on December 9 she took off for Connecticut and I left for Vancouver. By the time I landed there I had a plethora of emails filled with wedding venue sites to look at.

PM: Yup!

Wow guys, that's quick turn-around!

PM: I feel like everyone else is so worried for us! Even my mom was like "You might have trouble finding a venue..." But honestly, if you're not having a Saturday wedding, then any venue you call six months in advance has a Friday or a Sunday. Literally every place that I called had a date in June or July that would work for us. And we kinda knew what we wanted, so it was pretty easy. My dress is being designed by Alejo Vietti, who did the costumes for HOLIDAY INN and also for BEAUTIFUL. One of my costumes in the show was a wedding dress. This was back in September, but as soon as I put it on I started crying! I was like, "When I get married, will you design my dress?" and he was like, "Sure!" So I got engaged and he was one of the first people I texted! I said, "Can we have a dress by June?" and he was like, "Yeah, absolutely!"

CD: And I'm planning on wearing the tux that was made for me for LOVE'S LABOURS LOST actually! I'm crossing my fingers that it all works out!

Colin, congrats on THE AFFAIR at the Golden Globes! You've had a big couple of years on TV! What has that been like for you?

CD: It's been amazing. It's been kind of unexpected. Everything has just kinda worked out! From the time that I spent on ARROW, and if that run hadn't ended for me at the end of Season 1, I never would have worked on LOVE'S LABOURS LOST in the park. And then I never would have really met Patti. Things have been really great. I've had the chance to work in New York. THE AFFAIR shot here. Thanks to all of the production that's happening here right now, there has been a ton of opportunities and I've been lucky enough to capitalize on that.

PM: Heck yeah! I think the amazing thing is that THE AFFAIR just started as a pilot a year and a half ago. It was just a one-day thing, and they were like, "Well if it gets picked up it will be a bigger part." And then all of a sudden it was picked up and he was on a show on Showtime. He somehow found himself in one of the best new shows of the year!

CD: It's pretty wild. I remember when it got picked up, I texted Sarah Treem and said, "Hey, congratulations! I'm really excited!" and then she wrote back saying, "We're really excited! Hope you're ready to come back to work in May."

Do you watch together? Patti, Is it weird seeing him on TV?

PM: Ummmmm... no! [Laughs] I mean after a certain thing was revealed... the funny thing about it is that I kinda know what is gonna happen on the show for months, because he's been shooting it since May. So before it even aired I knew what happened. It's so bizarre because I watch TV show religiously, like HANNIBAL and THE WALKING DEAD. I can't imagine knowing what is going to happen, but it's really kinda neat from the inside out.

CD: Yeah, it's really neat to see how it all plays out. When I was doing ARROW it was a huge spoiler-heavy show because it was in the comic book genre. And it was the same with THE AFFAIR because of the mystery of the murder. I remember having an email conversation with my agent where I revealed what happened to my character. She was like, "I forgot about that! You shouldn't have told me!"

PM: We didn't watch all of it together because I was in Connecticut, but we did watch a few together and it was fine!

CD: Yeah, I think one of the coolest things about the show is that it prompts discussion- and not always easy discussion. People have very strong opinions about it one way or another. I watched it with my parents one time and that was... [Laughs].

I'm sure getting to perform together is special. Have you thought about other roles that you'd like to do together one day?

CD: Uh...Patti?

PM: Oh my gosh!

CD: One of the things I love right now, and I know that Patti loves, is new musicals. I love creating things.

PM: Do you know what we wanna do? We wanna do THE PRINCESS BRIDE!

CD: Yes!

PM: So whoever has the rights to it, I don't care if it's a musical or a play with music, we WANT to do it! That's the dream!

I can picture it now! Great, we'll put it out there in the universe. Until then though you have LADY, BE GOOD!

CD: We're having a great time. I'm excited for New York to see Patti do LADY, BE GOOD. She's such an amazing performer and I love watching her. I think the cast is phenomenal.

PM: There is SO much talent in every single human being working on the show.

CD: And I'm excited for people to see her do what she does so well!

PM: Awww. See, how could you not love him?!

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Murin created the title role of Lysistrata Jones, which she played at the Dallas Theater Center, Off-Broadway, and on Broadway. She has been seen in Broadway's Xanadu and Off-Broadway in Love's Labour's Lost and Fly By Night. Regional credits include Holiday Inn at the Goodspeed Opera House, Emma at the Old Globe Theatre, and The Little Mermaid at MUNY.

Donnell starred on Broadway in Violet, Anything Goes (Drama Desk nomination), and Jersey Boys, and in the national tours of Wicked and Mamma Mia! His Off-Broadway credits include Love's Labour's Lost (Shakespeare in the Park), Meet Me in St. Louis, and Almost Heaven: The Songs of John Denver. Television work includes recurring roles on "The Affair" and "Pam Am," as well as a series regular on "Arrow." He appeared in Merrily We Roll Along and Follies at Encores!

LADY, BE GOOD runs February 4-8, 2015 according to the following schedule: Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 and 8 pm, and Sunday and 2 and 7 pm. Tickets start at $30 and can be purchased at the New York City Center Box Office (West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues), through CityTix® at 212-581-1212, or online at www.NYCityCenter.org.

Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia