BWW Interviews: Debut of Month - PIPPIN's Erik Altemus

Erik Altemus is making his Broadway debut as 'Lewis' in the current revival of PIPPIN, returning to the stage for the first time in 40 years. Directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, with a beloved score by Tony Award nominee Stephen Schwartz , PIPPIN tells the story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence. The captivating production features sizzling choreography in the style of Bob Fosse and breathtaking acrobatics by Les 7 Doigts De La Main.

Altemus appeared in the role of Lewis in A.R.T.'s Pippin. His other stage credits include Matt in off-Broadway's The Fantasticks and Link in Hairspray at Drury Lane. In 2010, he portrayEd Brandon in the HBO pilot Miraculous Year directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

The talented actor revealed to BWW why making his Broadway debut at this point in his career was exactly "the way it was meant to happen."

As hard as I know you are all working, it seems like you are having a ball up on stage every night.

You know it is. There's kind of an element which is inherent in circus performing in general and also I think in Diane's [Paulus] aesthetic to have the performers be present. You have to be there if the trick doesn't land, you have to be aware, and I think that awareness has made it much easier for us to enjoy what we're doing because we're there and we're doing it. So yeah, it's a lot of fun. You know you have those moments where you are looking around on stage and you're like, 'I'm a part of something so exciting right now,' and you can feel it on stage, you can feel it in the audience and so I feed off that energy every night.

How familiar were you with Pippin when you first came on board?

I really didn't know much about it at all. Like most people, I knew some of the popular songs like 'Corner of the Sky,' and was exposed to Fosse's work with the show and the iconic choreography, but I really didn't know anything about the story. So that was the biggest learning experience, kind of getting under the book and going deeper into what Pippin's journey really is and how that actually is such a universal theme and a really relevant one. I think right now it's what a lot of people are going through and will always be going through in life, trying to find your purpose and how you deal with accepting that, no matter what it is, accepting it and owning it. So that was kind of the thing that was the biggest surprise to me, how personally that resonated within me - I wasn't expecting that.

I remember when Diane Paulus was working on HAIR she had asked all the tribe
members to come up with back stories for their characters. Did she have you do something similar with Lewis?

Yeah, we did extensive character work the first week of rehearsal and that was one of the most thrilling moments of rehearsal because it was the first time we got to sit back, almost as an audience, and see each other shine and do what we do. A lot of that work we did in developing who these players were has actually lasted and infiltrated itself into the performance. One of the requirements she gave us for that exercise was to come up with some kind of physical gesture that we repeated at least three times within our little presentations and mine was actually swiping my hand through my hair, which turned into a thing with Lewis which I'm still doing.

You know you have this group of people that have a certain amount of givens but there's still a certain amount of freedom. It's really cool to actually round out these characters within that and it's really important to Diane because she expects nothing less than specificity and real people.

Can you take me through the casting process which brought you to the original A.R.T. production of PIPPIN?

Sure, it was an interesting process for me. I was doing 'Hairspray' at the time in Chicago when my agent told me about Pippin happening and he said, 'we really think you should send a video of yourself to Duncan Stewart [casting]' And at the time, they wanted to see me for the role of Pippin. So on my day off, I got some of my cast members together to help me make a video and sent it in and I think it was two weeks later I got a call from my agent saying that they wanted to see me in person in New York. So I flew out and met Diane and most of the creative team and that audition was so exciting because it was one of the first times I really felt that I was in the right place at the right time. I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but I was really calm, I felt I was where I was supposed to be. And I'll always remember Diane asking me, 'Have you played this role before?' I was like, 'No I just really connect with it. I just really get it.'

Flash forward to two months later, I ended up flying back and fourth from Chicago to New York I think four times, always on my day off, I would leave Chicago at 4 am, get into New York at 9 am, get in a cab and go straight to the studio and kept going through that process until I made it down to the very end, the whole time auditioning for the role of Pippin. The funny thing is, I never once auditioned for Lewis.

In the end they made a decision to go with someone else for the A.R.T. workshop, but I was pleasantly surprised when they called and said, 'We really want you to be involved in this production, would you consider playing Lewis?' And I had never thought of that before, it was a total adjustment. You know Lewis is Pippin's foil in a sense, so there was a moment where I had to step back from the attachment I had grown to it and I realized, 'Look I already understand what this guy's going through, let me just flip it around here.' And I kind of got that really quickly too and really connected. And I really appreciated the fact that they put that blind trust into me because they never saw me read for the part. And now I get to understudy Pippin which is kind of the best of both worlds.

At what point during the run in Boston did you find out that you'd be transferring to Broadway?

Oh man, that was a really exciting night. It was our Opening Night. We had been hearing all kinds of rumors and obviously people were writing things already about a potential return to Broadway. But the whole time we wanted to focus on what we were doing then and there. But on Opening Night after the show, we got a page on our intercom that basically said, 'Don't get out of costume, don't get off mic, just come straight down to the rehearsal studio, we're going to have a little toast." And I think in that moment, we all kind of got this little jolt of energy and excitement thinking, 'is this it?'

So we all gathered, the cast, our wonderful producers, the creative team, Stephen Schwartz, we were all together and Diane just broke it to us plain and straight saying, 'As of 10:00 tonight, a press release went out and we have a home at the Music Box Theatre in New York.' It was surreal, it felt like I was in a movie. Everyone just collectively sighed and started crying with joy and just excitement. And then to be honest, there was an awkward two weeks after that when we were all like, 'But wait, we have to get official offers.' You know we weren't completely sure. But then it all kind of was confirmed and we all got offers and then it was out there that the entire cast was coming.

In an interview you did several years ago you said you believed everyone has their own personal career path and when things are meant to happen, they'll happen. I'm wondering if you feel that this was indeed the moment you were meant to make your debut on Broadway?

For me personally, it's hard to not see that things happen for a reason in this life. You're meant to do what you're meant to do when you're meant to do it. I went into this experience thinking it would be this one journey, that I would be playing the role of 'Pippin' in Pippin on Broadway, which was always a crazy thought to me. But when it all went down and all was said and done, I was able to take a step back and really feel like it happened the way it was meant to.

I really do think that so many young performers, myself included, can get so easily hung up on the idea that they're supposed to do something at a certain time in their lives, be really successful right away, if you're not in a Broadway show in the first three years that you graduate college you might as well leave New York. There's all these expectations that we put on ourselves and I think when you can take a step back and break that expectation for yourself, you realize that it's going to happen, but it's different for everyone. So just don't worry about that and let it be and you'll be happier. I try to make that my life philosophy in general.

I think that's great advice. You are working with some true Broadway veterans in this cast. What has that experience been like?

Oh gosh, it was kind of terrifying at first! You just don't want to let them down because you respect them so much and admire them. They're all so incredible in their own right and they all have taught me something kind of uniquely different. And I love that about acting, you can always be learning. So to have people like Terry Mann and Rachel Bay Jones and Charlotte [d'Amboise], to have their energy around me every day has already changed me so much as a performer. And that's invaluable, you can't pay for that, you can't take a class for that. It's transformed into less fear and more inspiration. And now camaraderie as well, which is kind of really exciting because I feel like I belong with them now.

What was it like to make your Broadway debut?

It was incredible. You know we open with 'Magic To Do' and when the first chords of the song started and the roar from the audience, it was out of control. I never in my life heard an audience like that. It was kind of the moment when I was like, 'Ok, let's do this!' And I'll never forget the very end of the number, where all of us end up with our heads facing down. And I just remember the audience going nuts for what felt like two minutes, you know it probably was only like 30 seconds, but still it was so out of control that we all kind of started laughing. We all were like, 'Oh my God, this is so cool because they're right there with us and they're supporting us.'

And I still, every night I have a moment in 'Morning Glow' where our focus shifts up to the Mezzanine and every night when I do that, kind of look out, I just remember being a kid and dreaming about being here and doing this. And in that moment it all kind of hits me again and I'm really grateful and excited to keep going and keep learning more and hopefully inspiring someone else in the future.

Tickets for Pippin are available through www.telecharge.com/pippin, by calling 212-239-6200, and in person at the Music Box Theatre box office (239 West 45th Street). Tickets range in price from $142 to $59 (all prices include a $2.00 facility fee). Premium seating is available.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Photo Credit: Evgenia Eliseeva

Photo Credit: Michael J. Lutch