Interview: Kirsten And Matthew Scott of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS at Overture Center

What could be more romantic than a trip to Paris with the love of your life? Perhaps it's transporting an audience to Paris eight times a week, while touring the country. That is what married couple Kirsten and Matthew Scott are doing in the national tour of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, which dances into Madison on February 28th.

Kirsten (Milo Davenport) and Matthew (Adam Hochberg) are a married couple on a real life adventure. After living in Midtown Manhattan and working on Broadway for the past ten years--most notably Kirsten in Big Fish, and Matthew in Jersey Boys, they made a life changing decision. Through hard work, talent, and a bit of serendipity, the couple was cast in their first national tour. They let go of their apartment and packed their belongings into storage so they could embark on this adventure of traveling the country while living the dream of performing.

Kirsten says, "We get to see a little slice of different parts of the country. There are times when I look at Matt and think we're on vacation and forget this is a job."

While they've marveled at the magnificent Kennedy Center Opera house, the history and food of New Orleans, and the unexpected charm of Albuquerque, most of their tour stops leave little time for sightseeing beyond exploring the local gyms, yoga studios, and coffee shops.

"Downtime is at a premium," Matthew explains. "Most people don't realize that we perform Tuesday through Sunday, and on Monday, which would be our day off in New York, becomes a travel day. Monday is the day we get up early and take two flights or a bus, arriving at a hotel at four or five in the afternoon and unpack. There may be a time to grab dinner, or see a little bit."

Each night they report to one beautiful theatre after another to perform in the Tony Award winning musical. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS begins at the close of World War II in Paris. Inspired by the Academy-Award winning film, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is the romantic story about an American soldier, a mysterious French girl and an indomitable European city, each yearning for a new beginning in the aftermath of war

The dance heavy show features three large ballet numbers, directed and choreographed by 2015 Tony Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon. "AN AMERICAN IN PARIS harkens back to the old school musical like Oklahoma," Kirsten explains. "That show was the first to take a departure from the theatrical singing and acting and blend in a dream ballet that supports the plot."

While the husband-wife team only share a couple of moments on stage, they do sing a duet together, albeit separate as they are singing about other people in other worlds.

A special moment each night for Kirsten, is when the main character Lise sings "The Man I Love." Kirsten recalls fondly how the song brought her and Matthew together in college when they would meet at his apartment and he would help her break down the lyrically beautiful, yet difficult song. "I never felt that connected to a song before."

When asked what their plans are when the couple steps out of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS in July, they are waiting to see where the wind blows them. Matthew says, "We realize how lucky we are on this glorious vacation."

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS won four 2015 Tony Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, four Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Drama League Award for Best Musical, three Fred and Adele Astaire Awards, and two Theatre World Awards.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS runs February 27th through March 4th. Tickets are available at the Overture Center box office (201 State Street), by visiting overture.org, or by calling 608.258.4141.