Interview: Tony Yazbeck on ON THE TOWN- 'It's a Nice, Beautiful Surprise'

Richard Ridge of "Backstage with Richard Ridge" recently sat down with 2015 Tony nominee for On The Town, Tony Yazbeck, to discuss how things are going at the Lyric Theatre, what playing this role means to him, and so much more!

Check out a sneak peek of the interview below in which Yazbeck discuss his connection with the role of Gabey and what it has been like to be a part of this incredible revival. Check back Saturday morning to watch the full interview!

You inhabit the role of Gabey so wholeheartedly. Why do you connect so well with the role?

I think I connect to a lot of characters that have to be open-hearted and vulnerable in a very, sort of maybe naive way, but the ability to express fully what he's feeling at any moment. I've done some characters like that, and to be able to have Gabey, who does that at a moment's notice, and sing and dance his expression - that's just icing on the cake to be able to be in a musical like that. To be able to sing, dance, and act a role that has to completely give up his entire heart on a stage, that's always been my dream to do something like that.

Even as a kid, watching Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, and watching what they do, seeing their style, and going, "How do I put that into who I am and make it my style and say something really important on the stage that people can connect to?" So I guess it's something I'm passionate about and I want to connect to an audience with it.

What's it like living in the world of Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green and the world of On The Town?

It's sort of a nice, beautiful surprise. I wasn't totally aware of how beautiful this show was until I did it at City Center a while back, and when I discovered it, and I discovered how beautiful the score was, all the lengthy ballets - just listening to the Lonely Town pas de deux every night. I literally can hear the clarinet, just the way he wrote each bar in the music, it's so haunting to me. Probably one of my favorite parts of the show is listening to that orchestra either while I'm dancing or while I'm watching my fellow actors on the stage do their beautiful thing. For me, I get lost in this music.

When I discovered this show and discovered this role, and I was able to be part of it, I felt very lucky to do that because I didn't realize how gorgeous a score could be until I realized "Wow, this is like this." Now, I knew West Side Story, so I knew he could write, but then you go into these ballets, especially the second act dream ballet, and you realize, "Wow, what a lush score this is." And how you can just give your whole heart and soul into the dance. And that for me - it was exciting because it was so much to explore, especially in rehearsal. You could really do a lot.

Let's talk about working with director John Rando and choreographer Josh Bergasse.

John is basically our fearless leader in the most heartfelt spiritual way, I would say. This man inspires all of us. He came over to the theatre and he spoke to us again the other day, and we were all just so uplifted and we felt an overwhelming sense of not only pride for our show, but love for the creators again. He has this way of helping us understand that this show is important. It's important not only for the theatre community, but it's also important for us to give back to the audience because of what the original creators wanted to say. Being in wartime and having love be so important and wanting to not miss a beat. "Some Other Time," that song, it really resonates as almost an anthem for the entire show. So this man sort of led our whole company - everybody from behind the scenes, the orchestra, the cast - he was an incredible glue for us and he basically just trusted us.

As far as Josh goes, Josh has just become the best collaborator I could ever imagine. First of all, the way he moves his body is amazing, but he has a vision, and he sees is, and then he goes, "Here's a step. What do you think?" And then I take it, and then he goes, "Yes, and..." That's an incredible collaborator to have - a choreographer that takes who you are and molds who you are on the stage to make it move. You can't ask for anything better than that.

Yazbeck's Broadway credits include: Chicago (Billy Flynn), Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Phil Davis), Gypsy w/ Patti LuPone (Tulsa, Outer Critics Circle nom.), A Chorus Line (Al), Oklahoma!, Never Gonna Dance, Gypsy w/ Tyne Daly. Off-Broadway: Fanny Hill (at the York). For City Center Encores!: Little Me, On The Town, Gypsy, The Apple Tree, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Pardon My English. Regional: Alliance, Barrington, Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Goodman, St. Louis MUNY, Goodspeed (Connecticut Critics Circle Award), Signature (Helen Hayes Award), Trinity Rep., Paper Mill, Old Globe. Starred in Kiss Me Kate at the Royal Albert Hall in London. TV/Film: NBC's "Smash," the feature documentary Every Little Step. Tony also stars in his own song and dance show, The Floor Above Me. tonyyazbeck.net.