BWW Interviews: Triple Tony Nominee KELLI O'HARA on O.C. Cabaret Debut, 1/21-1/24

COSTA MESA, CA—In just the span of a few short years, Kelli O'Hara has become one of Broadway's most beloved women of musical theater. With three Tony® Award nominations in a row under her belt (for The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game opposite Harry Connick Jr., and, most recently, the critically-acclaimed revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific), the revered stage star is now getting ready to debut an updated version of her much-lauded cabaret act from New York's Café Carlyle at the Orange County Performing Arts Center's Samueli Theater on January 21-24. The intimate series of concerts will feature not only some familiar Broadway hits but also a few songs close to the singer/actor's heart, some of which can be found on her debut album Wonder of the World. She will also sprinkle the show with a few stories and anecdotes from her life: from her early childhood in Oklahoma to her debut on the Great White Way.

With her tour of duty on South Pacific just completed earlier this month, she is now ever-so-happily immersed in continuing her latest role: as mom to Owen James Naughton, who is just shy of a year old. As she prepares to perform under the unusually rain-drenched skies of Southern California, O'Hara recently sat down for a quick chat with BroadwayWorld correspondent (and admittedly star-struck) Michael Lawrence Quintos to discuss her early influences, her distinguished Broadway roles, and even some of her guilty pleasures.

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BWW: Hi Kelli! I have to say, first of all, that I am a huge fan and that it's such an honor to talk to you! 

Wow, thank you! That's great! That's probably the best way to start any interview! [Laughs]

Well, it's true! And I am incredibly excited about your upcoming cabaret shows here in Orange County. Now, most theater fans like myself know you from your great work on huge Broadway stages. Can you tell us what we can look forward to in this more intimate setting?

Well, you know, although it's only been recently that I've done these—like, that stint I did at the Carlyle—it really showed me what it felt like to perform in a more intimate setting, after doing all these, like you said, huge Broadway shows. But the truth of it is, that's how I started singing. When I was a kid, I would sing in people's living rooms and for different little family things... When I got to the Carlyle, the minute I was doing it, I just fell in love with it! So, with these concerts at The Orange County Performing Arts Center... I'm so excited because I missed [doing] that. The more intimate for me, the better. I know a lot of people would rather be behind the lights than have to see the audience. For me, I love that. I love that engagement, that intimate connection. I actually like to see the people...to sing to them and tell them stories personally rather than kind of looking through the "fourth wall."

What kind of music will you be doing in the show? A similar set to the New York concerts?

Well, yes, very much similar to my Carlyle set because it's a show that I'm very proud of and it's very autobiographical—and I wanted the West Coast people that I haven't met to kind of get to know me: my story through song. It's very eclectic because I'm not a one-note kind of girl! Of course, there's going to be a lot of musical theater, but also music from where I come from...some that have a little bit of a "country" feel to them. I'll also be doing some original music of mine and my husband's [Greg Naughton]. So the different songs all come together and connect so that they tell my story.

Sounds great! Now, I understand you just recently left your role as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. Can you tell me a little bit about that experience?

I have to say that, hands down, this experience in South Pacific has been just the most amazing one that I've had because it kind of brought everything together. I'm a huge Rodgers and Hammerstein fan because I grew up in Oklahoma and that was one of the first musicals I ever listened to and later performed. South Pacific has a definite heaviness that people don't realize. It's got a seriousness and a message. I felt very fulfilled in trying to tell that story. So, not only did I get to have fun singing some really famous songs, I actually felt like I got to dig deep and act a little bit more with this role than some other musicals may have allowed me to. But above all that, I loved the people in the cast—probably one of the best that I've ever had the honor of working with. Along with the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization, I enjoyed working at the Lincoln Center. It felt a little bit like home to me because I did The Light in the Piazza there with the same family of people: the same director [Bartlett Sher], the same musical director... So leaving it both times—first when I left to have my baby, and then when I left again just last week—they were both tear-fests for me. It felt like such an end to a chapter and I hated that.

I'm sure a lot of fans are going to miss you in that role.

Oh, well, maybe they'll be another chance someday... We'll see! Fortunately, that's not a role that I'll be too old to play...yet. [Laughs]

You mentioned growing up in Oklahoma. Did you get to mine a lot from your background in terms of personal experiences or observations to play Nellie? 

Well, you know what's interesting... My mom's side of the family is from Arkansas! So I did a little combination of Oklahoma and Arkansas in order for me to define her. I didn't really realize how much I knew Nellie until I read the script again. The script, like I said, is far deeper than most people think. It was amazing to me to learn about the kind of style Nellie had and the way she lived in that era. She was very much like my grandmother... and I really based the role of Nellie a lot after her. It became very emotional for me... I owe a lot to her for that reason.

You also mentioned that on South Pacific you reunited with the same team you worked with on Piazza... including Matthew Morrison! He's now, of course, on the TV show Glee, which just won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy. Any chance I can break the news about yet another reunion, this time perhaps on the TV show?

[Laughs] Well, listen... I have no idea! And, you know, that would be great! I'm just waiting to see if I'll get so lucky... because Matt and I would love to work together again... any place, any time! And we talked about it... we're going to sing again together at some point!  As for the show itself, I love it! I love him on the show, and I think it would be a thrill to be on it!

Well, cool! I'm glad we got to throw it out there! Who knows? Someone from the show or maybe their casting agents will read this and...

Absolutely! I think he needs a big sister or something in the show! Or maybe a new love interest! [Laughs] Anytime they're ready, I'm here!

Awesome! So, I must say again... you're a total Broadway MVP! I mean, the last three big shows you've been in, you scored three consecutive Tony nominations! And all three roles were just so diverse. As an actor, is it a difficult process to jump from one drastically different role to another?

I think that's the best part of it. The more different the roles are, the more excitement they have to offer. I mean, no one wants to do the same thing every day of their life. When I was doing The Light in the Piazza, I was so immersed in that character [Clara]. It was so heavy and emotional and I loved it so, so much... but when I moved on to do The Pajama Game—which, for me, was the polar opposite—my heart just sang, because it lightened everything up and gave me a fresh start. It was a scream to do and I had a blast doing the show for all the reasons you can imagine! It was totally different... it was freeing! And then later with South Pacific, I was able to go in the other direction again. It got a little deeper and a little bit more sensitive and emotional. So my next thing that I do, I hope, will be a lot of fun. You know, it's kind of like having sorbet in between courses. It cleanses your palette! I think the more different [roles] can be, the more fulfilled I get from them as a performer.

I see. So, specifically with Nellie on South Pacific, how much of a revisionist departure were you allowed to take, considering the role has been played by so many different actors over the years?

Yeah, you know what? It's interesting because so many people have asked me that on a couple of different projects of mine, especially with my roles in Pajama Game... and then with Nellie on South Pacific. Because, you know, Mary Martin who played her was so iconic and then, later, people like Reba McEntire have played her... the role has always been done kind of brassy. In a way, so was [Babe Williams in] The Pajama Game.

But my way about going into anything is to not concentrate on how it's been done before. I know that sounds cliché, but to me doing that [studying previous performances] would be like shooting myself in the foot. I have to approach it from the only way I know how, which is to read the script and then decide what the role feels like to me, period. And because I'm not kind of a brassy belter, I always tend to take the role and make it, maybe, a little bit more soft. To me, that lets it be more real. That's what I always want to put across, especially when doing revivals. There is such a cliché to certain roles that all I can do is to try to make them realistic and work for the times, and so the audience actually won't see me as a caricature of something, but rather as an actual person.

Growing up, did you know you wanted to be a musical theater actor?

I always loved to sing, but I didn't grow up around the arts at all. I grew up in a very small town in Oklahoma, and I was singing things like country music, jazz, and standards from the American songbook—things that my grandparents listened to. With musical theater, we had some at school, but it wasn't something that seemed like a career to me at the time. I definitely wanted to sing in college, so I went to school [at Oklahoma City University] where I knew the voice teacher, a woman named Florence Birdwell, who had taught people like Susan Powell, who was Miss America [in 1981]. I didn't know Kristin Chenoweth at the time, but she was also a student of Mrs. Birdwell, but years before. So, anyway, I went to that school specifically to learn how to sing, but then I really fell in love with the idea of doing it for my livelihood. By my senior year of college, I was ready to move to New York! I didn't have any prospects, I just packed my bags and moved. It wasn't until I got there that this [career] would be a reality, really.   

You were trained in Opera, correct? What made you decide to make the switch to working in musicals?

Well, it's like you asked earlier... whether I knew if I wanted to be a theater actor? I didn't. I actually went in thinking I would, maybe, teach music... I didn't really know what I wanted to do within music. Then Mrs. Birdwell talked me into becoming an Opera major, which ultimately was the best decision that I've ever made. That's what she excels at... she's an amazing vocal technique teacher and she had me purely doing Opera. Now, I was in some of the musicals in college, and I did take acting and dance classes, but it wasn't until I graduated—after I did some summer stock—that I got the bug for musical theater. So when I moved to New York, I went to the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute to study acting, to get a leg up a little bit. I then kind of fell into doing musical theater full-time because of that. When you're singing and acting, it's natural that you will eventually fall into doing musical theater!

Besides Mrs. Birdwell, who were your other musical influences?

Gosh, as a kid, I was always watching those great movie musicals with Julie Andrews and Shirley Jones. And Doris Day—she is a huge influence on me and on what I do now in my life. Also, as I got into Opera, I was a huge Renée Fleming fan. I also love Maria Callas. I just love the showmanship of certain people. For me—and one of the reasons why I stopped doing Opera—I wanted to act. I wanted to move. I wanted to dance! I didn't want to just stand there and sing.

So, anyway, anybody who was "emoting" in a big way was an inspiration for me. The first Broadway show I ever saw was Master Class with Audra McDonald. She was a pretty big deal for me because with her, I saw someone who was doing something that was more than just standing there singing.

Yes, she's definitely amazing. Now you yourself have played some iconic women throughout your career. Are there any other roles in other shows you would like to take on someday?

[Laughs] Well, people ask me that all the time, and I have such a hard time with that because my knowledge of musical theater is limited. I'm sure there are wonderful roles out there, but I didn't really study them... so I don't have them all at the tip of my tongue to tell you "oh, this is a great one" or "that's a great one." But, you know, I enjoyed playing Eliza Doolittle [in My Fair Lady] sooo much—more than I can even explain. Everything with that role came together: the acting, the singing... it was in my range. So I would love the chance to do that again!

But, really, for me... what I think is the most key attribute for my next role is to do something that is... new. You know, if Adam Guettel would write another character like Margaret Johnson... as I get older, I will push and shove to get that role! But, yeah, a character that has strength, that goes through a journey, and has something to say. You know, a message. And finding something new is what I really want... because I've been doing a lot of revivals—and I will gladly take another great one and really embrace it again. But, at this point, I would love to find something new.

So with South Pacific behind you, besides these exciting cabaret concerts coming up, care to share any news about some future projects? Perhaps a new album?

Those things are in the works! Basically, not only will I be doing my present concerts in California, but I'm also working on my new show already. I'm hoping to record an album for that. And, also, I'm in talks for a Christmas album!

Oh, cool! I'm sure that will be awesome. Well, before I let you go, I'd like to throw you a few quick questions. Just say the first thing that comes to your mind. What's your favorite song ever?

The first thing that comes to my mind? Oh, gosh... there are just too many songs! [Laughs]

How about a favorite composer?

Adam Guettel!

What song do you like to sing out loud in the shower or when you're all alone?

[Laughs] That's easy... I sing this all the time for warm-ups in the shower... a song called "O luce di quest'anima" from Linda di Chamounix by Donizetti. It's an aria!

Who do you admire the most... living or not?

Probably my paternal grandmother, Marie O'Hara.

What's your guilty pleasure?

Either Oreos with milk or—and I'm not kidding you—HGTV! [Laughs] All day, all the time! Or, the Food Network, actually. And I love Top Chef! I love to cook!

What irritates you the most?

Snacking! [Laughs]. No, actually, what irritates me the most is hypocrisy... with judging others and, you know, when you think you're better than someone. That irritates me a lot.

Now, excuse the tangent but, over the years, it seems unfathomable to me that you would get anything but rave reviews for your stage work. Have there been any that just angered you?

You know, I have to admit—and, again, I know this sounds cliché—but I don't read reviews often, because the first review I've ever gotten as a performer, part of it was negative. And it so stuck with me that I decided I would be better off just not to read. Now, I do get the gist of the reviews...I have my husband and my family relaying "oh, they said thumbs up" or "thumbs down" or whatever, but I don't really read them.

But, I have to say, that the worst thing you can do to yourself is have Google alerts on yourself, which I don't. But, I did at one point because when these alerts first became available, people told me that this was what I should do. And what you got were items from [random] bloggers who weren't even legitimate writers. The first sentence would come up—and I wouldn't even read it. But that first sentence would pop up and it would say something like "oh, I think she's ugly!" or whatever it was that didn't really mean anything... and yet you have to read it about yourself. It's just not the best way to start your day! So, yeah, I try not to read anything, because, as they say, if you believe the good you also have to believe in the bad.

Okay, so no Google alerts for you, then! Well, on the opposite side of what irritates you... what instantly puts a smile on your face?

My baby!

What song do you like to sing to him?

I like to sing to him a song called "All The Pretty Li'l Horses" by Shawn Colvin. It's a lullaby.

Well, thank you so much, Kelli, for taking the time to chat. I'm really elated to see your concert in my neighborhood!

I'm really looking forward to them. I think we're going to have a lot of fun! And thank you... I will read your article, because it's not a review!

Photo by Jimmy Ryan.

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Tickets to see Kelli O’Hara (January 21-24) are $72 and available at OCPAC.org, at the Center’s Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling 714.556.2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 15 or more, call the Group Services office at 714.755.0236. The TTY number is 714.556.2746. $15 student rush tickets are also available for all performances one hour before the show. Student ID required and can only be purchased in person at the box office.

The Center's Cabaret Series combines an array of artists, from entertainment legends to the best, brightest and most exciting performers making their marks on the music world today. Up next is Kelli O'Hara's South Pacific co-star, Tony® winner Paulo Szot (Center Debut, April 8 – 11, 2010).

Visit OCPAC.org for tickets or information. For more information on O'Hara, visit www.kelliohara.com.

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