Interview: Stephanie J. Block on Riffing WITH SETH RUDETSKY & Searching INTO THE WOODS

The Wallis presents Stephanie J. Block With Seth Rudetsky, its second installment of its internationally acclaimed Broadway @ The Wallis concert series, May 4, 2023. The Tony Award-winning actress/ podcaster/ mother/ wife carved out some time from her multiple commitments to give me some insights to her collaboration with Seth, as well as her upcoming Into the Woods stint at the Ahmanson.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Stephanie!

You have done a number of Stars in the House with Seth. Was it a no-brainer to say, 'Yes' to this great pandemic relief/ distraction?

Well, I can't say it was a no-brainer. Being a mom of a young child during the pandemic led to very busy and emotionally complicated days that were filled with juggling all sorts of things. Was it a beautiful distraction? Yes. Did I know that it was important, and we were putting good out into the world? Yes. When it was for something that important, you make the time.

How did you first meet Seth?

I'm not quite sure when I first met Seth. I think I had heard of his name well before I ever met him. Anytime you were speaking with Sutton Foster or Audra McDonald, his name just was always in the conversation. His anecdotal humor, his personality is larger than life and, obviously, his personality precedes him wherever he goes. I think I probably met him at another benefit or charitable function. Maybe it was Bernadette Peters' Broadway Barks when I first met him or Stars in the Alley when they would do that for autograph signing.

I have seen a few of Seth's Evenings with.... The whole program seems very off-the-cuff but very well presented. Do you need less rehearsing with Seth than when you would do your own concert?

Yes, Seth's program is very off-the-cuff. That doesn't mean you need less rehearsing. It almost means you need more rehearsing. You have to be so well prepared of your entire repertoire and go back and chronicle your life in a way that allows you to have every memory right there at your fingertips. You never know what he's going to ask. You want to just make sure that you're ready for whatever he's going to bring to the table that night. Over a 25-year span of professional theater, almost 30 years now, I have to go back, and I have to remind myself because Seth will absolutely go digging to find the most obscure or hilarious or random moment in your career. And you're like, 'Oh, my gosh! How do you even know that?' So you better know your own life better than Seth or you may look the fool. I find myself having to prepare far more for an evening with Seth than a solo concert that I myself curate.

You made your Broadway debut as Liza Minelli in The Boy From Oz in 2003. When did you get to meet Liza? Before Oz? During your run?

Yes, my Broadway debut was playing Liza Minnelli in The Boy From Oz. I can't believe it's almost 20 years ago now. I did meet Liza. I met Liza several times through a dear friend Jim Caruso, who used to know Liza socially and also worked with her touring-wise. She had her Broadway moment with Liza at the Palace. I have attended her birthday parties. I have been able to share backstage moments with her, visit her backstage in her own dressing room. Did I meet her during the run? I met her socially while Boy From Oz was playing but never at the Imperial theater and never sort of in association with The Boy From Oz. I would have liked to have done that. But the story has it that Fred Ebb and maybe John Kanter both attended the show and went back to her and said, 'Look, it's a lovely show. It's a lovely portrayal of you, but it is highly emotional.' I think that they wanted to protect her in that sense that it was all still very real and raw, and so she never came to one of the performances.

What were the challenges of portraying a living celebrity?

The challenge of portraying a living celebrity is that you will always be compared. Period! When you play a fictitious character, you get to make up everything. You get to make up what their voice sounds like, what their walk looks like, what style of clothes they get to wear; and nobody can go back and compare. Nobody in the audience is going to, 'Do you know who, what, what time of life was this?' and then come up with their comparison. So, it's very difficult. You have these boundaries and perimeters with which to create your own version of a living celebrity. But you absolutely have to stay in line and stay true to their look, their gait, their timbre of their voice, their gestures. Then you have the opportunity as an actor to infuse a little bit of your own truth and own person to make sure that you're not just mimicking this living celebrity, but that you are actually breathing truth and life into your portrayal of this living celebrity.

Was it easier embodying your second live celebrity in The Cher Show?

It was not easier to embody Cher in The Cher Show, my second go-round of taking on a living person. Every person is very different. Every nuance to this celebrity is very different. The way in which you go about learning the person's mannerisms and life and voice inflections is very different. Liza's sound is nothing like Cher's sound, Liza's walk and movements of dance are nothing like Cher's movements of dance. It was a completely different approach.

You were nominated twice for a Tony (The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Falsettos) before winning for The Cher Show. What do you remember of moment your name was announced, "And the winner of the Best Actress in a Musical is..."?

Yes, I had been nominated twice before, which was thrilling. But there is nothing like hearing your name being said after the envelope is opened. I will say this though, because I had been part of the Broadway community for over two decades that it felt at home. It felt like I was being embraced by people that I had already loved and fallen in love with, and they in turn had fallen in love with me and known me personally, not just professionally. There was a mutual respect between the community and myself because I had established myself in this community. I didn't feel like a stranger in a strange land. It was a really warm, beautiful, welcoming feeling when they said, 'And the winner of Best Actress in a Musical is Stephanie J. Block.'

What was the inspiration for launching Stages Podcast with Marylee G. Fairbanks in August of 2021?

The inspiration for launching Stages Podcast with Marylee was literally in the middle of the pandemic I had found myself not finding enough creative outlets. I wasn't really aware with how much of my inspiration and creativity had been gifted to me by being offered a script or a workshop or a part in a play. A lot of my inspiration before everything shut down was from an outside source. When I had to come up with my sort of own creativity, dig deep and find that sort of self-discipline and inspiration on my own, I was coming up a little dry. My friend Marylee and I recognized that we were both having trouble with this. We then decided to create this podcast, mainly for connecting with other creative individuals and wanting to sit down and have these conversations, deeper conversations than just COVID, isolation, 'What's gonna happen next?' We wanted to know more about how artists and healers and designers and professionals were looking at different parts of their lives through an artistic lens. That's what was the genesis of stages podcast.

How do you juggle podcasting with performing and being a wife and mother?

Juggling podcasting with performing has been something that I've really again had to schedule. We've got to find the time and when I put it down in my calendar, it seems like, 'Oh my goodness! How am I going to get this done?' I've got to homeschool. I've got to get to the theater. I have this interview. But when we do schedule the time and we actually sit down and have these conversations, it really is the best part of my day. It is one hour of complete creativity. We get down to the heart of the matter. There's no sort of talking about the weather. We jump right into very important conversations that fill me up in ways that I can't quite explain.

You will be back in Los Angeles in June performing as The Baker's Wife in Into the Woods at the Ahmanson opposite your husband Sebastian Arcelus. Is this the third production you've acted together?

Coming back to Los Angeles playing the Baker's Wife with my husband, it's gonna be awesome. This isn't the third production we've acted together. It's only the second. He and I have done Wicked together. We did a concert version of Jason Robert Brown's Parade, and I played his wife on Madam Secretary. But as far as a fully realized book musical, this is only our second go-round with Wicked being the first and now this. Of course, we as humans have grown. As husband and wife we've grown. As actors we have grown, so it does feel like a new chapter. And it certainly is very personal to us because our journey to having Vivian was quite challenging and long and had lots of obstacles. This particular storytelling of Into the Woods and being the Baker and the Baker's Wife; of us longing for a child and having to go out into the woods and accumulate these items in order to break the spell to have the child - it is very personal. It is cathartic and it is so beautiful.

What are the perks of acting opposite your husband? Rehearsing at home? Shorthand in communication?

The perks of acting with my husband is that we have this unspoken understanding. We also know that whenever we've shared during the day, whatever complications or joys, highs and lows during the day; we understand that when we step onstage at night, that our performances will be informed by that day. And that unspoken understanding is what fuels the performance. Every night he and I probably will bring a bit of our personal life onto the stage. But we embrace it, and we use it. I think that it only deepens the characters that he and I bring to life.

Do you two arrange to work together? Or just lucky opportunities?

Well, I will say that this particular opportunity I did arrange. They offered me the Baker's Wife and I said, 'Hey, look, you've got the perfect Baker here. If ever Brian d'Arcy James is not available, and then kind of left it with an ellipsis - a dot, dot, dot. And sure enough, they called back and they said, 'Look, Brian d'Arcy James is going off to film a movie for seven weeks while you're performing on Broadway.' And I said, 'Well, Sebastian Arcelus is the perfect Baker.' And James Lapine agreed. Jordan Roth agreed. So did Lear deBessonet and Rob Berman.

Your Into the Woods tour ends with this Los Angeles engagement. What's next on the plate of Stephanie J. Block?

I have lots of concerts coming up here in the States as well as overseas, one of which will be in London October the 29th. I will be going on a cruise with Seth, one of his Big Fat Broadway Vacations. That's in October as well. We're going to hit Spain. Can't wait.

You had already played a plethora of Grand Dames on the stage. Is there another role you would love to sink your teeth into?

I have been lucky enough to play a plethora of Grand Fames of the stage. There are plenty of roles that I can see myself. Now that I'm in my 50s (I can't believe it!) Of course, Mama Rose being one of them. I'd love to play for Mame Dennis in Mame. I certainly would love to bring Norma Desmond to Broadway after such a really satisfying run at the Kennedy Center. It was well reviewed, luckily by both critics and audiences. I completely recognize that it was on Broadway in 2017 with the great Glenn Close, but I do feel that I was able to sink my teeth into Norma in a very different way than Glenn. I would really like to present that version of the piece and that version of the character to New York audiences whenever that deems itself right.

Thank you again, Stephanie! I look forward to your evening with Seth and your stint as The Baker's Wife.

Thank you so much!

For tickets to see Stephanie and Sebastian in Into the Woods at the Ahmanson June 27th through July 30th, go to www.centertheatregroup.org

For tickets to what's to be an intimate evening of Seth's encyclopedia of behind-the-scenes tidbits and incredible vocals from Stephanie May 4, 2023; click on the button below:

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