Interview: PIPPIN's New Heir to the Throne Josh Kaufman Dishes on Life After THE VOICE, Making His Broadway Debut & More!

Josh Kaufman, who in May of 2014 was announced as the winner of Season 6 of NBC's hit show "The Voice" as a member of Usher's team, just made his Broadway debut playing the title role in the Tony Award winning Pippin through Sunday, January 4, 2015, when the musical closes at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street).

Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz's Tony Award winning musical comedyPIPPIN is directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulusand features choreography by Tony Award nominee Chet Walker in the style of Bob Fosse and circus creation byGypsy Snider of the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main (also known as 7 Fingers).

Kaufman chatted with BroadwayWorld during his first week in the show about joining the company, moving from TV to the stage, making his Broadway debut and more. Check out the full interview below!

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How have things been going at the Music Box so far?

Good! Obviously the more I do it, the more comfortable I get with it and the less I have to think about it! [Laughs] It's been great.

Was your first show overwhelming?

In a way it was. It was a lot all at once. Initially the plan was for me to do my put-in on Friday and then do my actual first show on Tuesday. But the good thing about it was that I was actually able to do them both on the same day. So I had JUST been through it all, and then I got to do the real show that night. It was really helpful. But there was definitely a little bit of, "Wow! This is actually happening!" It was crazy.

How did Pippin come about for you? Did you have to audition or were you approached?

The casting company actually contacted me through my website. The guy who runs my website contacted me over the summer, while I was on THE VOICE tour, he said, "Hey! So you just got this message through your website about being in a Broadway show and I looked it up and it looks like it's for real... so we might wanna contact them." And then it just went from there. They had me come out and do a work session at the casting company and then I went to see the show. Then they had me come back out and do another work session with Diane Paulus and some of the producers. Then soon after that they called me again and said that they'd love to have me do the show. I just came out a few weeks ago to get going!

Did you get to work directly with Diane Paulus at all as a part of your rehearsal process?

Yes! I was able to get notes directly from her. Actually the day before I went into the show I did scene work with all of the other principal actors and she was there to run through things with me and say, "Hey, try this." or "Don't do that." It was really great to hear straight from her.

Did you get any advice from Kyle Dean Massey or any of the previous cast at what it would like stepping into this show?

Not so much advice. The great thing is that I pretty much watched the show every night while I was getting ready. When you see it that many times you start to see different layers and you see it in different ways or different directions that you could go with it. And of course just to watch Kyle Dean do it was great. He's unbelievable.

Is there anything that you think you've learned from THE VOICE that you're using on Broadway?

I think so. I don't know that I'm doing it consciously though. Nothing like, "Oh, I'm gonna take this and apply it to this!" I think that just having done it helped me. I've been performing and doing music my entire life. I don't normally get very nervous before I perform, but THE VOICE really threw me into that. I ALWAYS felt nerves. Always. It was a very stressful situation to be in, honestly. It was so much fun, but you feel this constant pressure, even when you're not performing because you're preparing and you're thinking: "Have I chosen the right song?" "Is this gonna work?" and "How should I phrase this?" There's so much running through your head.

I think that whole experience helped to prepare me for anything that comes along. It helped me to handle that type of pressure and to get into different situations, where maybe I'm not 100% comfortable, but to learn how to handle them and stay calm.

Did you do theatre at all when you were younger or is this first?

It's something that I've done, but obviously on a much smaller scale. I did some in school. For me, a lot of the experience that I have that relates to this is through growing up in church. I don't know if all churches do this, but for me we did a lot of musical productions that involved acting. They were the same kinda thing. So I did have some experience, but not anything on this level. I do enjoy it though, and I have done some before!

How is your new life living in NYC?

Oh, I love it! I'm in Indianapolis- that's where my family is and it's where I've been for quite a while. After THE VOICE we talked and tried to figure out if we needed to move to one of the coasts, either LA or New York. And I just go where I need to, when I need to, and they can come with me whenever it's possible. I love it here though. My wife and I have always said that if we had done things differently, we'd love to be here. We love New York and we've been here multiple times. This is the first time that I've lived here over a decent amount of time though. I love it though!

Have you gotten to see anything outside of Pippin since you got here?

[Laughs] Yeah, well to this point it's pretty much been focused on getting ready for the show. Naturally, I'm still gonna have a very busy schedule doing eight shows a week, but I think that as I go forward I might have a little more free time. I do have the one day off a week and I'd love to get out and see some things for sure.

Do you have a favorite part of the show yet or does it change from night to night?

That's tough. One of my favorite things musically about the show is the variety of Stephen Schwartz's songs. He goes so many different places musically. There are so many different feels and moods. "Corner of the Sky" is obviously a great, well-known one. I love the big, boldness of "Morning Glow." It's just so strong and powerful. And then you get to a song like "Love Song," which starts out as sort of a silly love song, but turns into something very emotional and intimate. It's hard for me to pick!

To say that you've had a big year is an understatement- you started it winning THE VOICE, and you're ending it leading a Broadway company... How do you wrap your head around that?

Obviously it's been a crazy year. There's no way that I could have looked forward a year and a half ago and said, "This is what next year is gonna look like!" At the same time there is sort of a feeling that no matter what I do, I just say, "Ok, this is what I'm doing now, let's see how it goes." It hasn't felt overwhelming...maybe a new reality. There has been a lot of figuring things out in terms of how to go about all of this. Especially in terms of having a family and trying to figure things out within that context.

Mostly it's all been really fun and I feel very grateful to have had these experiences. I feel fortunate. There are so many people who would love to be in my shoes and to have had a year like this. I'm just happy, grateful, and looking forward to finding out what this can turn into and seeing how much further I can go with it.

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Winner of NBC's "The Voice" - Season 6, Josh is from Indianapolis, IN where he has been a regular in the music scene for over 15 years. His first major label single will be released by Republic Records in early 2015.

Royal heir Pippin is spurred on by a mysterious group of performers to embark on a death-defying journey to find his "corner of the sky." The original production of Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse, premiered on Broadway in 1972. It won five TONY AWARDS and five Drama Desk Awards, and ran for close to 2000 performances before closing in 1977. This production of Pippin made its debut at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, MA, where Diane Paulusserves as Artistic Director; December 5, 2012 to January 20, 2013.PIPPIN is noted for many Broadway standards including "Corner of the Sky," "Magic To Do," "Glory," "No Time at All," "Morning Glow," and "Love Song."

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus