Interview: The Skivvies Strip Down for a Florida Mini-Tour

You know that fever dream where you walk onto a stage in front of a huge audience and you are nearly completely naked? Well, throw in a cello, a ukulele, pop and musical theatre mashups, and a healthy dose of laughs, and you've got The Skivvies.

Nick Cearley (ALL SHOOK UP, PAGEANT) and Lauren Molina (SWEENEY TODD, ROCK OF AGES) are musical theatre actors who have been stripping down songs (and their clothes) for the last two years, and taking the theatre and cabaret worlds by storm; thanks to their playful personalities, inventive arrangements, and, of course, rocking bodies!

Later this month, The Skivvies are doing a mini-Florida tour, and with the snow in New York, can you blame them? They will be performing at Sarasota McCurdy's Comedy Theatre and Humor Institute on Marsh 24th (get tickets), at The Abbey in Orlando on March 25th (get tickets), and on March 26th and 27th at the freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg (get tickets). While in the Sunshine State, they will also headline the Closing Ceremonies at the Florida State Thespians Festival.

I am a long time fan of the pair, fervently refreshing Lauren's YouTube page the day after performances for their newest videos. Recently, I chatted with Nick and Lauren about the origins of The Skivvies and what Florida fans can expect this month.

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BWW: Let's start at the very beginning; how did you two meet?

Cearley: We got our Equity cards doing a children's TheatreWorks tour of JUST SO STORIES, based on the book by Rudyard Kipling. As actors, we drove the sets and costumes across the land in a van and played the grandest of elementary school cafetoriums.

How did your friendship give birth to The Skivvies?

Cearley: We were instantly best friends from our times in that children's tour, and have always had similar sensibilities with humor and music. So it was around 2005 we started playing cabaret shows where one of us would guest in the other one's show regularly. Fast forward to us 10 years later, making music, stripping down a Rihanna pop song for YouTube. Lauren was walking around her apartment looking for something to wear when I said, "You should just wear that. We are stripping down the song."

So literally it made ironic sense. Boom. The Skivvies were born.

A lot of actors have bands, or release solo CDs, or have side projects, but I would have to imagine that the success you've had with The Skivvies has surpassed even what you could have anticipated.

Cearley: It has. It's funny that something that began as something we would do for fun for years and years became the full time "joy" because it is never a "job." And I feel like we have been around now for about two years, and it's our live shows that we have thrived on most. We don't have the album yet!

Performing nearly naked has to be pretty daunting. How nervous were you the first time you disrobed in front of an audience?

Cearley: We have both had to be in our underwear in shows before, so that broke us in a bit. But I remember the specific moment at the first live show where I remember just looking at Lauren and saying, "Well, here we go!"

And it truly felt like we were jumping into the deep end of a pool for the first time. And it was thrilling.

What kind of workout schedule do you have to maintain to stay in Skivvies' shape?

Cearley: I go to the gym regularly. I have always been that way since high school. I love Lauren's answer for this; love!

Molina: I don't go to the gym. I schlep my cello on my back and walk all over New York City every day. I also am a pescetarian and eat healthy foods.

Is there ever a day when you don't worry about what you eat?

Cearley: Not more than I would for a normal show. The Skivvies is a heavy sing for us on top of all the juggling of instruments. So, it's important for me to be full but not stuffed and not too close to showtime. Just like when I am in any show. For me, I just think about allowing enough time to get the burps out prior to show time.

Molina: On a daily basis I don't worry about what I eat, I just genuinely like healthier options for food. I will of course splurge on nachos and pizza, but not every day. I can't eat anything that is acidic or heavy before any show, or I will be giving you a gassy, bloaty, burpy performance.

For anyone who hasn't seen your show, either in person or via clips online, generally, you do mashups of songs that share some sort of theme. How does the process work of pairing songs together, both thematically and musically?

Cearley: It truly depends on the angle; every song has an angle, like a musical skit. We love to look at words from songs on a similar theme and try to create a story. A song that we are very proud of in that regard is "The Three Little Pigs" mashup we do involving Barbra Streisand's "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf," Sara Bareilles' "Brave," Katy Perry's "Roar," and Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger."

Are there any other mashups that you are particularly proud of?

I love anytime we collaborate with people and bounce ideas off of every wall. I loved getting to sing the words we "thought" Sophie B. Hawkins was singing in her Grammy nominated hit "As I Lay Me Down."

That was really fun for nostalgic reasons and comedy. I also love anytime we get to play with Laura Benanti. She brings so much cleverness and humor to what we all create together, and it always tells the most absurd story. It feels like we just keep going further and further with the humor until it physically hurts to laugh any more.

(For more Benanti-Skivvies performances, check out "Part of Your Independent SuperWoman," "PASSION Massion," and "Shake Something, I'm Giving Up on You.")

One of the fun parts about your concerts is that you often have special guests. Do you have a favorite guest performance?

Cearley: Always Laura! But I love anyone with a free, open mind when creating. "Butterflies and Hurricanes" with Lena Hall is one of my favorites, and the tribute to New York with Alice Ripley on drums and lead vocals is an anthemic dream to me:

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How do you go about recruiting guests, and how do you pick what songs they will sing? Are your theatre friends more nervous or excited when you call them now?

Cearley: We reach out to people we know, or want to know; and people reach out to us. It's typically very organic like, "We want to do something with you." And they say "When?" And we make it happen.

Can your Florida audiences expect any specific guests?

Cearley: Yes, in St. Pete, we have Matthew McGee (and his alter ego Patti Melt) and Joey Panek who are both appearing at American Stage in their production of GUTENBERG: THE MUSICAL.

And I am so excited about the show at The Tampa Theatre being for the entire Florida State Thespian Festival. What an honor to be the headliners for the closing ceremonies.

In Orlando, we have a married couple joining us! A lot of our friends have played The Abbey over the past few months, and we have heard great things, so we were excited to get to perform there as well.

Our show in Sarasota is going to be more intimate than the other cities as the venue is a bit smaller and they don't have enough room to accommodate the full band aspects!

Do you have a dream guest that you haven't been able to book yet?

Cearley: We would love to make magic with Neil Patrick Harris. And Audra McDonald has promised us a tune so we are excited to get to work with her.

I see what you did there with magic and NPH! Do you have a song in mind for either of them?

Millions!

What's next for The Skivvies? More concerts? An album? A TV show? World domination?

Cearley: Yes; all of those things are actively in development. We are always going from one gig to the next these days and things keep escalating and getting bigger and better. I keep joking with Lauren that I feel like this MUST be like what it felt to play the old timey Orpheum Circuit. So I feel as though when we are hopping around like we do, instruments in tow, it feels like we are bringing back a modern day Vaudeville.

For someone who has never seen you guys perform before, how would you describe your show in three words each?

Cearley: Fast. Funny. Unexpected.

Molina: Surprising. Comedic. Feel good.

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If you are in (or around) Florida and like smart, funny, sexy music, you can't miss The Skivvies. No matter where you are in the state, you have to check out their show. Have you seen Nick and Lauren on stage before? Let me know how much you love them in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt.

Marsh 24th: McCurdy's Comedy Theatre and Humor Institute | Sarasota, FL
March 25th: The Abbey | Orlando, FL
March 26th & 27th: freeFall Theatre | St. Petersburg

Photo and Video Credit: The Skivvies