BWW Interviews: Cabaret Comedy Legend Steve Hayes Plays Summer Rep in Connecticut

If Steve Hayes isn't already the current holder of the "hardest-working person in show biz" title, he's aiming for it. A nine-time MAC nominee for Outstanding Comedian and Characterization, and three-time winner, a teacher of cabaret performance, a former professor of film and theatre arts at Cazenovia, and perennial star of YouTube hit series TIRED OLD QUEEN AT THE MOVIES, all of that is not enough to keep Steve's calendar full.

Somewhere along the way, while winning the Backstage Bistro award for comedy performer of the year, and six ASCAP Popular Music Awards, Steve's squeezed in both film - THE BIG GAY MUSICAL and TRICK - while also keeping busy on stage and in clubs. On the one hand, he's revived Charle's Ludlum's CAMILLE, and on the other, he's been doing Steve Hayes' HOLLYWOOD REUNION, his one-person show, wherever there's space for him to attract notice. But he's also been spending time in musical theatre of late, having recently done HAIRSPRAY at Redhouse Arts Center in his native Syracuse. Last year he was in MAN OF LA MANCHA and was the Major General in THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE at Connecticut Repertory Theatre (the former with, and the latter directed by, Terrence Mann), and this year he is back at Connecticut Rep's Nutmeg Summer Season, having just finished playing Pseudolus in A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM and just beginning a run as Mayor Shinn in Meredith Willson's classic, THE MUSIC MAN.

We caught up with cabaret star Steve for a few breaths in between darting here, there, and everywhere, at UConn, home of Connecticut Rep, just before his next-to-last performance in FORUM.

BW: All right, Steve, what's a nice girl like you doing in a show like this?

SH: Vince [playwright Vincent J. Cardinal, Artistic Director at Connecticut Repertory Theatre] had directed me in my first Off-Broadway play; we're friends, we've worked together since then. He said he wanted me to do musicals here with him - so here we are! These are just classic shows we've been doing - SEUSSICAL, LA MANCHA, PIRATES, and now this. Everyone loves them and they're such fun to do. And I know Bradford Scobie and it's such a pleasure to work with him as Hysterium, and Vince is such a fabulous director.

BW: There's a huge difference between stand-up comedy, which you do in cabaret, and musical comedy. Some comedians can do one or the other but not both. You do both - what's your take?

SH: It's funny. This is a dream come true; it's like coming home. I did musicals beginning in high school, but when I went to New York I was going to be this Serious Actor, no musicals for me! I love them; it's great - this is home for me. And doing shows written by Larry Gelbart? [Gelbart wrote the book of FORUM.] It's great! I was a huge fan of M*A*S*H*.

Doing stand-up is very different. You develop a rapport with the audience. You have to. I try to bring that to stage work. That's so easy in FORUM. In some shows you break a fourth wall, but FORUM, for Pseudolus, has no fourth wall in the first place.

BW: You're also semi-legendary as video's TIRED OLD QUEEN AT THE MOVIES. Do you view that at all as an extension of your comedy, or is it mostly out of your love for old movies?

SH: It's my comedy AND my love for cinema. I have a passion for classic cinema. It's one of the great joys of my life. I'm so glad I can use my comic abilities to get people to watch these movies. It's so rewarding to make that happen. Because of FORUM, the one that I did for this run was JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS. I thought we needed gladiators! I love that so many people know me from it. This huge hulking guy came up on me on 18th Street one day, and I was scared out of my wits, I didn't know what was going to happen, and he comes over and he's all, "Are you the Tired Old Queen At the Movies?"

Someone told me recently I looked like Jack Carson. I was thrilled. I love the old actors, too. The ones I've met are wonderful. We just don't have the sort of character actors we used to. The Brits still have them, but we've lost it.

I remember seeing MILDREd Pierce in the 70's in a cinema, and Butterfly McQueen was there. I asked her for her autograph afterwards - she'd already signed slips of paper and was carrying them with her in a bag! You know, she's such a huge part of that movie and she doesn't even have a screen credit in it. She was in GONE WITH THE WIND!

BW: Cabaret, musical comedy, reviewing. If you could do only one, which would it be, and why?

SH: That's impossible! That's been a problem for my whole career. I won't be pigeonholed. I've always looked at myself as an artist, not just one thing. What's nice about musical theatre, though? Not having to write my own material!

BW: You've won three MAC Awards for your comedy. What appeals to you about cabaret format or cabaret venues - is it the immediacy?

SH: Cabaret was always a place for me to be experimental. I started out doing original characters. Cabaret lets you make your own form. It opened its arms to me and let me create, even when nobody knew how to cast me. It's immediate, and it's also very intimate.

Erv Raible kind of discovered me. He started Don't Tell Mama. I was one of the four original acts that opened Don't Tell Mama.

BW: Here at Connecticut Rep, last year you were quite spectacular as the Major General, and this year you're Pseudolus. You couldn't do two more different plays. Does one type of theatrical comedy appeal to you more than the other?

SH: I love 'em all, and I learn from all of them. Being directed by Terrence Mann last year was a huge thrill. I learn from everything. You have to be open to new things in all areas. Technology, too - I'm looking at doing a YouTube TV show now.

BW: FORUM is a musical farce, and you've done other musical comedy as well - is there any straightforward non-musical comic theatre coming up for you?

SH: Yes! In fact, I'm going into a new play called THE MORONS - a new play by Dan McCormick. It's going to be showing in September - it's a black comedy about a family that will do anything to get on a reality show!

BW: You're a Syracuse boy. How much of your humor comes from growing up in Syracuse?

SH: You know, I just did HAIRSPRAY up there. And I've done other performances there as well. Most of my humor comes from funny women. The women in my family were hysterically funny - I've spent entire family reunions in the kitchen listening to them. I'm from a small town outside Syracuse, and everyone turned out to see me in HAIRSPRAY - it's just wonderful.

BW: And of course you've recently done the revival of Charles Ludlam's CAMILLE. What are your insights on Marguerite?

SH: God, did I have fun with that! You know, I never saw Charles Ludlam do it, so I wasn't influenced by his performances. I made her flirtatious and silly and tragic. And everyone treats her like she's the most beautiful woman in Paris! I worked with such great people on that. And I love Charles Ludlam's writing.

Now I want to do IRMA VEP somewhere!

BW: And we want to see you in that, trust me!

Steve may not yet be playing in IRMA VEP and may not yet be back at Don't Tell Mama, but he can be seen in THE MUSIC MAN at Connecticut Repertory Theatre at University of Connecticut from July 11 - July 21. He'll be playing Mayor Shinn to Barrett Foa's (NCIS: LOS ANGELES) Harold Hill. Visit crt.uconn.edu for details on dates, times, and tickets.

Photo courtesy of Steve Hayes

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