How Christine Ebersole Learned a Starring Broadway Role in Three Days

Christine Ebersole credits her stunning career of blockbuster films, Broadway smashes and hit TV shows to “perseverance and pluck” – and she has just the story to prove it.

After finishing her run as Ado Annie in the 1980 revival of Oklahoma, Ebersole was approached to star as Guenevere in Broadway classic Camelot. The role came with one condition: She had to learn it in three days.

“They had just fired the girl who was going to play Guenevere,” recalls the two-time Tony winner, who will perform at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. on May 18. Ebersole agreed to the tight deadline on the spot.

“The sitzprobe (rehearsal with orchestra) was Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were technical rehearsals, and that’s when I learned it. And then Friday we opened for an audience of 3,000 people.”

To pull it off, Ebersole practiced with costar Robert Fox. “We’d literally sit in a coffee shop all day and learn it,” she says, recalling how Fox helped by mimicking the others actors’ voices.

“Looking back on it now, it’s terrifying,” she laughs. “That’s showbiz.”

That determination, along with Ebersole’s showstopping vocals and effervescent personality, catapulted her to star in more than 20 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, in addition to featured roles in iconic films like Amadeus and Tootsie.

She further gained fandom with her roles in beloved TV shows like Bob Hearts Abishola and Royal Pains.

Alongside longtime friend and music director Billy Stritch on piano, Ebersole will belt beloved tunes from her career and reveal behind-the-scenes anecdotes when she stops at Myron’s on May 18 at 8 p.m.

“We have a lot of songs in the treasure chest that we want to share with everybody,” Ebersole says. “We’re just out to have a great time.”

Conquering Saturday Night

Ebersole has been prepared well for thinking on her feet, having launching her TV career alongside Eddie Murphy as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. After her prior Broadway work, it was like “being flown into another galaxy,” she says.

“(The biggest lesson was) finding that you could do things you never thought you could do, putting on a live, 90-minute show in six days,” she says. “It really was sink or swim, and luckily I know how to swim.”

Although she lacked the stand-up experience of the other cast members, she held her own

“by way of singing,” she says, incorporating her powerhouse vocals into numerous skits.

Naturally, that led to additional Broadway hits, including performing opposite Patti LuPone in acclaimed musical War Paint. Her favorites shows also include Grey Gardens, in which she shouldered the responsibility of playing two different women, earning her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

“It was life changing,” she says of embodying two powerful women. “It was ultimately a compassionate piece.”

A Changing Industry

After decades of treading the boards, Ebersole sees a substantial shift in the theater industry today. “The (Broadway) studio system is definitely breaking up,” she says. “I think that there’s more independent (productions) that are coming up, that aren’t beholden to the studios.”

Although independent projects face more financial challenges, she says artistic vision will conquer all. “There’s always a way for a little palm tree to get through a crack in the cement,” she says. “Truth and beauty can always emerge.”

Friendship also endures, like between Ebersole and Stritch. After meeting decades ago in 42nd Street on Broadway, they have continued to perform together for 20 years.

Sharing a love for laughs and showtunes, they hope to give Smith Center audiences an uplifting show, Ebersole says. “It will be an evening of fun and frivolity,” she promises.

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