Q&A with Deidre Goodwin

Heather Smith: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me Deidre

 

Deidre Goodwin: I'm happy to!

 

HS: What was it that first sparked your interest in theatre? Was it something you always knew that you wanted to do… did you always know you wanted to be on Broadway, or was there an actual moment when you realized 'hey, that's what I want to do'?

 

DG: I think the whole time when I was a kid I was getting signs, but I didn't know what it meant. I would pretend to tap dance in my grandma's kitchen, I would watch old movie musicals, and I enjoyed seeing shows, but I didn't really realize you could do that for a living. Then when I went to college I finally took a dance class for real and I auditioned for a student production, and I was like 'this is fun!' Then I started getting shows the whole time I was in college, and I was like, 'wait a minute. I was having a great time – I was having a blast doing something I love to do anyway, and people are willing to pay me for it… maybe I'll do this for a living!' And then pretty much after that I was like 'okay, I'll be on Broadway. That's what you're supposed to do' so it was kinda naïve actually, to think 'oh that's what I want to do so that's where I'll have to go.' As opposed to being scared like oh my god, I hope I can do it; I was like 'oh, okay, that's where you go…. To New York.'

 

HS: That's a really great outlook to have on it though. So many people are frightened about what will happen if they audition, and you're just like "That's what I'll do". And I think that's a great way to look at it… Now I heard that in college you played Roxie opposite Michelle Potterf's Velma [in Chicago]… is this correct? What was that like?

 

DG: Well actually, that's not quite right. I played Roxie and Michelle was Annie, and everyone kept saying she should have been Roxie and I should have been Velma. Then after it's all said and done, when I got the first national tour, I played Annie - which is the part she played in school - and covered Velma, and she was a swing but covered Roxie. So it all kinda flipped around – other people saw that same thing, and it's our dream… we hope someday we'll get to go on together. She's still the Roxie cover, and that would be just amazing.

 

HS: I would definitely go see that

 

DG: Yeah, that would be AMAZING if we got to do that.

 

HS: Now, having played both Roxie and Velma – and I know they're two very different roles – which would you say you preferred playing?

DG: Well see, that's hard because I played Roxie in college, which was blahblahblah years ago. They're both hard for different reasons. Velma's hard because she literally does almost everything alone. Like she doesn't get to have contact with people, she sings, er, belts 8 songs, she physically has to do so much, you know. But Roxie... she doesn't really get a break. She's pretty much onstage the whole show. She gets like one song, I think, in the first act and then a little bit in the second act, to get a breather. So it's really hard. I think they're equally hard. Each one has more of something else, but it ends up being all the same. Like the Roxie Monologue… you're out there on your own doing it. But then at the end you get boys to play with, you know, so it's fun and you're not just by yourself and you can give that energy to someone onstage with you. But the way it's structured; to see Velma losing her power then finally getting together with Roxie at the end, she is out there by herself. It's like "okay, here we go!" You feel the weight of it. They're both pretty amazing parts for females, which are rare anyway. They're amazing parts.

 

HS: I recently saw you play Velma [in Chicago] and there was something that was SO vastly different that you brought to the role that I've never seen anybody else bring to Velma. Was there anything in particular that you did to tailor the role to make it your own or did you just kind of run with it?

 

DG: I think to be honest, because I started as an understudy I had to learn it… pretty much just like, do my own thing but NOT do my own thing, if you know what I mean. And I liked to mimic; I could never BE the people, like you know I would mimic Bebe [Neuwirth]… Like what she did. Oh that's the choice she made there and so maybe that works and I'll do it. Or I saw Jasmine [Guy], and that's what I should do there, because that's what they told her to do. And then I finally got to take over the role and I got comfortable with the fact that I had the role… then I started to use things that I knew worked, but also took away things that I knew didn't work on me. Cause not everything works on each actor, or your body, or just from where your life experience brings you into a role. And I think once I was able to mix all of that together from people I respect, plus trusting my own instinct and using it, it was easier to find my own way. And I think at the core of it, knowing that both these women, even though they're tough…and you root for them, but you look at it and they kill people. And it's like, if you would calm down you shouldn't kill people. But making them also aware that every Velma and Roxie they put in have to be real people with real hearts or you don't care about them, so why watch the show? And you have to be conscious of that, which everyone is, but you have to be conscious as an actor to put heart into it and make them more believable and you want to root for them even though they ARE bad guys. I think once I was able to put together the technical part of it and make her real, I put my spin on it…. But it took a while to do that. Cause I was, for a while, like "they told me to do that, so I'll do it," as opposed to "you know I have this idea, can I try this?" But that took a while to do, because you feel if you're an understudy for a while you don't want to rock the boat or mess it up for the person you're going to play opposite that one night every three months. So once I finally got the part and, like I said, got comfortable with the fact that they gave me the part, and then I was able to expand it. And also, just getting older and trusting yourself.

 

HS: You most recently appeared in Nine – Which you were fabulous in, and the cd has not left my cd player since I got it.

 

DG: Ooh! Thank you so much!!!

HS: From your standpoint, what was it like to be part of such an acclaimed company? Getting to work with Chita Rivera…

 

DG: Chita. That all by itself. Like if that was the only factor, I would have been already over the edge and on the moon. Watching her every single night, it really just put everything in perspective. And you felt like you were getting a master class every night. And seeing someone do a show 8 times a week and really seeing HOW to do that with finesse. She's a master. And there's no one else like her on the planet. Never will be again. That was amazing. David Levaux the director is brilliant and I felt honored, so honored, that he chose me to be a part of that company. He's just so honest and so into… going back to getting to the heart of the matter. He just doesn't let you lie. You have tricks and you do things as an actor, and you say, "okay I'll just do that cause that works" he's like "that's nice, but strip that away. Strip it away, strip it away, strip it away." He wants to get to the core of it. So that was a great learning lesson. And all the others in the cast, from Mary Stuart to Laura Benanti to Linda Mugleston, women from both the principle standpoint to the ensemble standpoint were so gifted. So gifted, knew their stuff inside and out, and also were incredible women. To be in a room with that many women who knew they were comfortable with themselves, in their own skin, was so empowering… I can't even tell you. And supportive and loving, and you just learned everyday from every single person. I mean, you learned as much from a Linda Mugleston as you did from a Chita Rivera; and that doesn't happen. You know, you learn different things too, obviously, but everything is so valuable you wanna soak it all in with a sponge. And being with Antonio on top of all that! He is just the most amazing, intelligent actor and it was fun to be with someone who is like an international sex symbol. And he's just so cute, you just wanna hug him! I was never like "ooooooh I'm gonna GET to you Antonio!" He was so sweet and generous and he's a wonderful father, and he's such a smart actor. It was just brilliant to watch him work. I feel blessed that I was a part of that. Everything, Maury [Yeston] was there and Kevin was there and he's just genius – it's just every aspect of that show… the stage management, there was not a weak link – everyone was on the top of their particular game. But they were all open to learn more. And usually people who are so gifted and know so much are like "okay, I'm done". They were like "no, no, bring me, teach me and show me" And that was like being in your first year of college. Where everyone was ready and excited to be there and wants to learn, and show what they've learned to this point in life. And you just sucked it all in.

 

HS: That's amazing

 

DG: Yeah! It WAS amazing!

 

HS: When you were in Nine, you became pretty good friends with Melanie [Griffith]. So what's it like now to share the stage with her in Chicago -- to share the stage with a good friend of yours?

 

DG: Well we were friends, but it was more like she'd come in for a few weeks and I'd see her when she came to the show. And we'd always talk and while this whole thing was going on she was like "are you gonna do it? Are you gonna do it?" asking me and I'd talk to her… But I've actually talked to her more since I started here. I didn't ever want to bother her, I mean I'd always talk to her, but I didn't want to bother her just because she was Antonio's wife and bug her. Because I feel like people like that get people talking to them all the time and maybe asking them stupid questions, you know? So I just gave her her space but I'd always talk to her when she was there. Getting to work with her now, and really getting to talk to her for real has been SO great. She's just SO sweet and she's such a hard worker, and she wants to be there. And it's nice to see people that understand that theatre is really hard to do! It's really hard to do 8 times a week, even when you're tired, even when your voice is not so great, you're sick, or you've twisted your ankle or your knee is bothering you…. She is SO excited to be there and to have someone like that understand the magic – not to be cheesy – of theatre... it's SO cool. She's like a little kid. So we're having a great, great time together. We're like "hi sis!" We just have fun and it's been really… really a treat to be with her and get to really know her. Cause it's different from talking to someone on the stairwell when she's in town every two weeks, to really getting to be with her and hang out. It's been SO much fun! So much fun! She's an amazing lady.

 

HS: Melanie's pretty much known for film and TV… did you have any advice for her when she came into the company to make her transition onto the stage smoother, or did you pretty much let her feel her own way?

 

DG: Um….

 

HS: Uh-oh, I've stumped you!

 

DG: (laughter) Um… I did help her, but also she had so many people around her I didn't want to give her too much of my two cents. Because she had 16 people giving her their two cents, and she needed to process it all. What I was there to help her with was just… well the way I felt I could help her the best was to support her and just hug her. Or if there was a certain step that just didn't make any sense, I would take her hand and say "do it with me" and she'd be like "oooh okay." Or, you know, as she would figure things out that were different stage wise from film or TV, she would bring it up and then I'd go "yeah, it's like this." Or I would just basically tell her "you know what, we all get nervous. It's normal." to make her understand the things she was feeling weren't bizarre. And I think that helped her too. Because sometimes when you have too many people giving you their version of how it should be it becomes more confusing. So I would try to sit back and see if the best way I could help her that day would just be to give her a big ole hug and sit behind her, that's what I would do… As opposed to telling her "well when I had this experience I found that blah blah blah…" because she had 16 people saying the same thing and it was all great information, but I didn't want it to be like too many cooks in the kitchen. So if I'd see her struggling with something in particular and I'd see that she actually wants it, I'd say "here, lemme tell you this story…" She was so upset one day because she forgot the words or switched the words in a song, and I said, "Switched the words? That's NOTHING!" And I told her this story how when I worked on this cruise ship I was singing a song and I started singing it…. I forgot the words. And I just kept singing basically gibberish. But I just kept doing it with a smile on my face so nobody knew. It happens to everybody, it happens all the time, you just have to keep going and not stay stuck in the mistake and keep forward. Because if you live in the mistake, half the time the audience honestly doesn't know… Well, no, they don't know. It's when you start to acknowledge the mistake and don't let it go, then you mess up your whole show for yourself. So I would tell her things like that. And really I think with anybody if you're trying to help them – if you're helping them or not – just to be supportive of people. Be like "good job" or "that was SO great, you did this tonight and that was new and it was great." This is not fun, as far as the business side. There's a lot of crap that comes along with it and you have to stay in the reason why you started doing it in the first place. Otherwise you kinda sometimes don't want to do it. It either becomes tedious or you see things happening and you're like "why is that?" You have to stay in the joy of it. And she helps remind me of the joy – not that I've ever lost the joy by any means, I'm not like a bitter person by any means, but she's like a spark of light that reminds me of when I first discovered this is fun. And to see her, it makes me very excited. It's just very cool. It's very, very cool.

 

HS: That's wonderful

 

DG: She's having such a great time. And what's amazing to me – it's better now – but when she first had to go on she had almost debilitating anxiety about it, to go onstage. But to see someone who really does not have to do this…. Let's say this: she doesn't need the money, she doesn't need the credit, she doesn't need any of this... She wants to do it for herself, not for anybody else. And to see someone overcome such… I don't know if you've ever had anxiety or panic or was so scared about something that you were like "I don't know if I can do this"… to feel that emotion so strongly but still go "you know what? I'm jumping through the fire, I'm gonna do it." It's so brave. And it makes you go "you know what? If you're scared, suck it up and do it. Just do it" And don't do it because someone else told you to do it, do it because you want to do it. And that is a great lesson. Do it because it's something important to you. Not just because your people want you to do it, or because so and so thinks you can't do it; do it for you. And in the end, I think you'll always win, and learn whatever lesson God has meant for you to learn this time around. It's a pretty brave and good lesson to learn.

 

HS: Absolutely… Now, going back to Chicago for a minute, do you think from your stand point - because I don't know how apparent this is to the actors and actresses in the show – do you think it's developed a slight following?

 

DG: Chicago has? (laughter) Uh… YEAH. A huge, HUGE following. The show itself, it's very funny to me … I was on 5^th Avenue and 18^th and I heard someone singing Cellophane and for two seconds I thought it was someone I knew trying to get me to turn around and look at them. So I turned around and it was this bike messenger with a bald head looked like, all crazy, singing Mr. Cellophane and riding his bike up 5^th Avenue… downtown. I was like "okay, we have crossed EVERYTHING. The whole spectrum." I saw this show on Oxygen, and well Michelle saw it actually and it's called Can You Tell? The question was can you tell who's gay and who's not gay. And they asked one guy "What's your favorite musical?" and he was like "Chicago." And the panel said "well that's hard you know, cause Chicago's not a gay musical." I was like "what?! What does THAT mean?" I think what they meant though, was everyone likes Chicago. I always tell people who say they don't like musicals to see Chicago first and you'll like them. Because they have a preconceived notion as to what a musical is. Then they see it and they're like "ooooh it's not dumb to just start singing a song." They get into it, they love it. Let's face it, that orchestra playing on that stage, live, and the people getting to see them….the trumpet and the trombone and then Ronnie on the drums whacking... And it's so cool that we have Leslie [Stifleman], a female, being the conductor right now… I think it's brilliant. And she's a brilliant conductor on top of it. I think it's amazing. It has an appeal for everybody; young, old, black, white, Asian, Hispanic…. There was a Muslim family in the audience the other night. Every single person likes it. And one of the piano players for a while on the road was Mormon – and you know the line about Mormons ["Not only was he married, oh no, he had SIX wives! One of those Mormons, you know?"]… you know everybody loves Chicago. I don't know specifically what it is, but it's something that makes people happy even though it is, when you really look at it, a very dark, disturbing story. I think it's a combination of music, of people being underdogs and winning, of making fun of the fact that we do make criminals celebrities, you know, laughing at ourselves and at our celebrity obsessions. I think it just appeals to so many people. Even my Granddaddy was like "ooh that's great!" and he doesn't even see shows, and wasn't just cause I was in it… he loved it. It's such a FUN show!

 

HS: I'll bet Chicago and Nine both had their share of pretty famous backstage visitors… is there anybody in particular you were really impressed with meeting?

 

DG: There were a couple… I mean, I've met him before but it was pretty cool when Tommy Tune came backstage at Nine, because Nine was Tommy Tune's show. And to see him be like "Oh my god it's beautiful!" that was in a whole, pretty exciting. Mike Myers came backstage at Nine and that was awesome! That was awesome… Antonio had some cool people there. Oooh! We saw Laurence Fishbourne and I about passed out because he was standing in the stairwell where we had to come up to go back to the dressing rooms. I met him when I did Chicago in DC with Jasmine [Guy] and Charlotte [d'Amboise], and I'm usually kinda shy about stuff like that but then he's standing there, so I went up to him and I said hi, and he was like "hello hello." And I was like "Hi! I actually met you in DC a few years ago" and he was like "I enjoyed you in the movie [Chicago] and I enjoyed you in this." I was like "Oh. My. Gawd." I just about peed in my costume! Um… Hugh Jackman… and he's just dreamy. I met him and he's SO nice. I actually met him when they were auditioning for the movie Chicago. He came to the show cause they were interested in him for Billy Flynn, and he came backstage to meet all us girls. All us girls changed downstairs in two seconds flat cause we wanted to meet him. And he was just ooooh… Who else have I met that was pretty cool? Chicago has had some pretty famous people there too… Like I missed being in the show when Bill Clinton came to the show, and when they sang "We want Billy", from what I understand the audience went wild! I think it was pre-Monica, but to have all of them singing that, it was pretty cool. There's pretty cool people who come by…. Ooh! Tracey Ullman! She came to Nine cause she knows Nell Campbell. So that was pretty exciting. Between Antonio and Chita there was a nice crop of people coming through there. And Antonio, unfortunately, his dressing room was on the other side so if you didn't get over there, you wouldn't get to see the people that were there for him. One night we had Tom Hanks, Rita [Wilson] his wife, I think Stephen Spielberg was there as well, somebody else, and Don Rickles. The big joke was all these big stars… and Don Rickles! But they had huge, huge people there.

 

HS: I don't think I would have survived doing that show!

 

DG: The thing that's a blessing for me is that I'm literally like, blind. Can't see. You can tell me "oh so and so is here" but I can't see them. I can see when the lights go up and then if you tell me where they're sitting I can then focus in that direction. But I really have a problem seeing people. It's good – otherwise I'd be too nervous. I just pretend they're not there! It's better. But it's fun, you know, getting to meet people.

 

HS: You've got some pretty impressive credits under your belt actually. Jesus Christ Superstar, Dreamgirls in Concert, Boys from Syracuse, Rocky Horror – which I loved you in…. do you have any favorite moments performing? Anything that was awe-inspiring, or a wonderful moment for you to be in?

 

DG: I don't know about awe-inspiring, but just plain fun to do? I loved Rocky Horror – several moments in the show – cause they were just fun. And I loved that we could do whatever we wanted, kinda; there were no rules. You could be as wild and crazy as you wanted. The music was great – I loved climbing up on that wall. You felt like a super hero, you know? I loved hearing Alice Ripley friggen sing every single night, and seeing Daphne [Rubin-Vega]… Daphne, I think she is a real life goddess. So things like that are really cool. [Jesus Christ] Superstar, that I think is my second favorite score, and my favorite overture next to Chicago's overture. To hear an orchestra that big play (demonstrates JCS overture) every night, oh my god. Even though that show, personally I thought…. cause I had hurt my knee and I ended up watching the show and I thought "what the hell?" It was misguided I think. It started off with good intentions and they tried to make it something that it's not. And they should have focused on the music and let the people sing it. Sing it. Cause they had people in the cast who could have sung the shit out of it. But they're like "Noooo just sing it straight." Why? It's a rock musical. Let it wail, let it out. I wanna see blood off you chords. I wanna hear it, and I think they tried to make it a Shakespearean piece and it's not. Sing the songs, get off the stage. They tried to make the boys contemporary like they were walking around in Chelsea. It was just a weird mixture of ideas and fantasies. With that being said, it was one of the best companies I was ever in. We had the best time I think I've had in a long time with such a large group of people. We had fun. We knew the show was not what it was supposed to be, but we didn't care because we loved the music, we had fun with each other… We found out we were closing, but we found out ten weeks in advance so we weren't sad, we were like "well, let's have a good summer:" That was great. We were backstage dancing, having the best time and that was a really fun show to do – it was so much fun. Dreamgirls….There were several moments in that where I was just in awe. That was awestruck. Listening to Heather [Headley], the whole fight scene…. Norm Lewis and that velvet voice of his… and also seeing people backstage that had worked on the original and had lost several people since the show had come about. Cause you know, we lost a huge chunk of people through AIDS. And I think there's a part of theatre that will never get back on track again because of that. Because we lost the next cycle of people and they were just weeping because they loved the show so much and it reminded them of their friends that they had lost, and things like that. It was just too much…. It was overwhelming. I don't know, I've been very, very blessed that I've gotten to see and stand next to a lot of amazing people. And even if I don't get to do this anymore I've been blessed, I've got my scrapbook, I'm happy. I don't feel cheated in any way, shape or form. I feel so, so lucky.

 

HS: Do you have any idea at this point and time what's next for you? Is there a role that you're eyeing or have you been offered anything?

 

DG: I'm not really sure what's next. I have some things going on but I'm not sure what's going on with them. I'm content to see what happens, I'm no anxious about it. I kinda feel like life goes the way it's gonna go and all you can do is just be prepared for what it's gonna bring you. So I try to just stay focused in being prepared. And hopefully when opportunities are given to me, making the right choice as to which one to do. Just hope I'm ready when the things come, that's what I like to do. Cause I think, one reason why I've been able to work so much is I try not to get stressed about what my next job is. So I'm open when I go into a random audition for something I think I'm not gonna get and then I end up getting it. It's not like I'm stressed out that I have to get this job. I think Chicago was the only job where I was like "no, I'm gonna be in it. I will be in Chicago. Period." And I knew it. And I wasn't doing it in a cocky way or like I was owed something, I just knew I fit that style of show. I loved the show, so it's only logical that I should be in it. So I made sure I was prepared when the auditions came up and just was focused. And it just worked out.

 

HS: There are many people who want to be involved in theatre or perform on Broadway – what kind of advice do you have for them?

 

DG: Never let the people telling you no make you quit. Cause you're going to get told no all the time; "Thanks, no thanks" or "you're not the right type" or "no, no." Don't let that stop you. And if there's things that you're not great at work on those aspects. Say you are a great amazing singer, but you can't act your way out of a paper box, get an acting class. Because that will only help your music. Or say you're an amazing dancer but can't sing a note, that's going to get you more jobs if you can sing. You don't have to be Audra McDonald or Michele Pawk but you have to be able to carry a tune because it's not like the old days where they had a dancing ensemble and a singing ensemble, you have to do both. So work on the things that will help you and expand your resume. But don't settle for the fact that you are an amazing dancer, cause no one can take that away from you. You stay the amazing dancer but add either the acting or the singing, and make sure you're well rounded. And also understand the business part of it, what you need to do as far as getting seen for things. And don't let anyone tell you no. If they say no, say "okay, fine" but don't let it break your spirit.

 

HS: That's really great advice! Thank you so much! You've been great to talk to and it's been a pleasure to interview you!

 

DG: Oh no problem, you're welcome!

To learn more about Ms. Goodwin, including her upcoming projects, please visit her website:

http://www.geocities.com/deidregoodwin