Interview: Kelli O'Hara Promises Some Surprises in Concert at Groton Hill Music Center

Kelli O’Hara says there’ll be some surprises in store when she plays Groton Hill Music Center on November 2.

“My music director and pianist, Dan Lipton, and I won’t finalize the set list until we get there. We like to arrive at a venue, get a feel for the space, and then set the list. I always include my favorite pieces, but I might change the order or make additions or subtractions based on the feeling I get. I like to include personal stories, and songs that are known to an audience, but then I add some new ones as well,” explained the singer by telephone recently from her car while dropping off her children at school in Connecticut.

“I always think of singing as an offering. The music will be familiar, though, because it’s not like I’ll be singing rock ’n’ roll or rap,” says O’Hara with a laugh.

With seven Tony nominations to date, and a 2015 win as Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Anna in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of “The King and I,” the Tulsa, Oklahoma, native has a lot to offer thanks to an impressive array of leading roles in musical adaptations of film dramas, including “Days of Wine and Roses,” with music and lyrics by Adam Guettel and book by Craig Lucas, which had its world premiere off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company in the spring of 2023 before transferring to Broadway’s Studio 54 for a limited run earlier this year.

O’Hara’s haunting portrayal of a woman whose alcoholism sends her into a downward spiral earned her a 2024 Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. It also reunited her with Guettel and Lucas, with whom she had worked on 2005’s “The Light in the Piazza,” and also actor and singer Brian D’Arcy James, her co-star in 2002’s “Sweet Smell of Success.”

“I’m always going to go for crunchy, challenging music that doesn’t go exactly where you think it will, but instead goes exactly where it needs to go. That’s why my career has been primarily a combination of shows by not only Adam but also Jason Robert Brown. The magic of any great composition is that the composer makes you earn the moment,” says O’Hara. “With Adam, every single note, every single moment is brilliant, because it matches the character so perfectly.”

When it comes to “Days of Wine and Roses,” O’Hara says she knew the challenges and rewards of playing a character like Kirsten Arnesen Clay – originated by Piper Laurie in a 1958 teleplay and played by Lee Remick in a 1962 feature film, both based on screenplays by JP Miller.

“Sobriety has an underlying feeling of being vulnerable. And one of the things that was most satisfying about ‘Days’ was that it was asking everything of me,” she recalls. “What a gift a score like that is.”

The soprano’s own gifts were also on display in other musicals adapted from movies, including “Far from Heaven” (2013) and “The Bridges of Madison County” (2014). These, of course, stand alongside O’Hara’s acclaimed work in 2012’s “Nice Work if You Can Get It,” as well as the Broadway revivals of “Kiss Me Kate” (2019), “South Pacific” (2008), “The Pajama Game” (2006), and “Follies” (2001).

O’Hara acknowledges that while revivals have been good to her, it would take certain specific elements to lure her to another one.

“When I was approached to play Anna in ‘The King & I,’ it was totally unexpected. I always thought I’d do ‘My Fair Lady,’ but I aged out of the Eliza Doolittle role before that could happen. There’s not another part like that in my mind, except maybe in a Stephen Sondheim show.

“I’ve never been one to say, ‘I want to play Momma Rose.’ But I would also love a chance to play Margaret, the part originated by Victoria Clark, in a revival of ‘The Light in the Piazza,’ but I’m not holding my breath for that one,” says O’Hara.  

The in-demand artist – whose husband, Greg Naughton, is a singer-songwriter and co-founder of the folk-rock band The Sweet Remains – is considering her next role, even if it is too early to reveal much about it.

“All I’ll say is that I’m thinking about a project that scares the pants off me, but that’s the fun of it,” she says.  

With a degree in vocal performance and opera from Oklahoma City University, O’Hara has branched beyond musical theater. In 2015, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Lehar's “The Merry Widow,” opposite Renée Fleming, and in 2018 returned as Despina in Mozart's “Cosi Fan Tutte.” She was last seen at the Metropolitan Opera in the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ “The Hours.”

“I needed to put some closure on opera, because I’d studied it in college. And doing ‘The Hours’ was great, because it was brand new,” points out O’Hara. “Opera is just not in my repertoire anymore, though, because I haven’t kept up with the languages, so I very likely won’t be doing it again.”

What the Broadway luminary does plan to do more of is acting in films and television, where her credits include “Sex & the City 2,” NBC-TV’s “Peter Pan Live!” and the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why.” She is currently featured as Aurora Fane on the hit HBO series “The Gilded Age.”

“We’re shooting season three now and the writing, by Julian Fellowes and Sonja Warfield, is so good,” says O’Hara. “Aurora’s journey is very different in season three. It’s a different type of reality for her.”

With some great company along for the ride.

“The cast is like the best summer stock ever – it’s extraordinary. There’s Audra McDonald, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Cynthia Nixon, and Christine Baranski, to name just a few. I love being around these heroes and friends of mine. Even if all I had to say was ‘Would you like some more tea?’ it would still be a great experience.”

In concert, O’Hara says she plans to recall friends who’ve passed away, but will never be forgotten.

“It was profoundly sad to lose Gavin Creel last month. What was beautiful, however, was that we were all feeling the same thing – deep love for him and a great sense of loss at his passing. Gavin and I did a concert version of ‘She Loves Me’ together in 2011, so I sing ‘He Loves Me’ for him in concert now. I also have another song I do for Gavin, Marin Mazzie, and Rebecca Luker, as a way of acknowledging the importance of these and other immensely talented, giving  and wonderful people that we’ve lost.”

While her late friends and fellow performers are never far from her thoughts, O’Hara says that today’s fraught times are also on her mind.

“Every step I take, as a parent and a performer, and every emotion is filtered through that these days. I want to be a representative of sanity and the music I choose to perform reflects that,” she says. “I want to feel joy and relief when I sing and I want to give the audience that, too.

Photo captions: Kelli O’Hara is seen in concert at Tanglewood in Lenox on August 22, 2023. Photo by Hilary Scott. Head shot by David Noles.

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