Interview: REBELS! ON BROADWAY's Caroline Innerbichler

I'm not gonna lie people -- I'm a Hamilton nut and I was more than pleased to see three numbers from my new obsession performed live on stage at a Sunday matinee of the current Ordway Broadway Songbook: BEBELS! ON BROADWAY. Along with selections from other recent productions, this Songbook was a younger, hipper version of the respected series. Cast members were youthful, dressed casually and cool (that word probably shows my age is well beyond theirs) and had a lot of energy in the choreography that was more pronounced than other series shows.

Before seeing the show, I had a chance to chat with performer Caroline Innerbichler about this new Songbook, which you can see in two more performances next weekend. Get your tickets now (info below) to see some current Broadway numbers live and in person. You'll likely recognize the pretty red-head with the powerful, yet effortless-sounding voice and on-stage presence from past Songbooks and her stint as a lead at the Chanhassen Dinner Theaters a couple years back. While you're waiting to go to the Ordway this week, read on as Innerbichler gives a little preview and insight into this show and her career, which included a stint as every little girl's dream character, in 6 Questions & a Plug.

What can you tell us about BROADWAY SONGBOOK: REBELS! ON BROADWAY? What is this edition all about?

This edition of Broadway Songbook is a celebration of this generation's voice and contribution to the truly American art form that is musical theater. It's going to include songs from musicals from the last 10 years on Broadway. Specifically, songs that sound like what you hear on the radio today. It includes selections that have edgier subject matter, that ask important questions, and make bold statements. This country has always been a beautiful patchwork of different cultures that bring their own interesting and important stories, and it is only fitting that the art form of musical theater reflects that.

Can you give us a preview of a couple songs that you'll perform and/or any surprises we can watch for?

Get ready to hear some HAMILTON, some SPRING AWAKENING, and some BOOK OF MORMON, among many other recent hits. I get to sing a song from WAITER which is challenging and satisfying all at once. I love to be pushed.

You've become quite a staple in the performing ranks for the Songbook series - what do you enjoy most about doing these shows and how is it different or the same as any other role you take?

My favorite thing about the Songbook series is getting a more directly communal feel while performing... With musicals or plays, there's a fourth wall that you must keep intact for the most part. I love getting to perform right to the audience and feeding off of their energy. I also love having the opportunity to share the stage with the band, and give attention to these killer local musicians. Also, I am incredibly fortunate to share the stage with some of my very best friends. DREAM COME TRUE!

How long do you and the cast rehearse for these performances, and do you usually wish you could do more shows (the runs are so short!)? Talk a little about the process.

I could do these concerts year round and never tire of it! I'm happy that we get two weekends this time around. The rehearsal process is incredibly quick, but the performers that James Rocco selects are always smart, impossibly talented, hardworking people that all share the same intense love for this gig. It's amazing to watch everyone pushing themselves and using their talents to their full capacity, and in so many different styles. Every day is like an amazing show and tell, and the performances will be no different.

You started acting young - can you tell BWW readers when you knew you wanted to be on stage and how you got there?

Growing up, I always loved to sing and put on dorky little plays with my sister, Allison, and all the neighborhood kids. My family attended a lot of musicals in the Twin Cities. When I was 10, I auditioned for a community theater production of ANNIE at Eagan High School, and got in. I fell completely in love! The bug bit me, and I started voice and acting lessons. When I was 12, I got my first professional gig at Children's Theatre Company, and I've been working in the cities ever since.

What has been your favorite role to date and what is your dream role?

It's a toss up... Chrissie in HAIR, because it's my favorite musical. It's always spoken to me. I have a deep love for the music of that time, and a great respect for the counter-culture movement of the late 60s and early 70s. I basically got the chance to embody everything that I believe in artistically and politically with a tribe of like-minded artists.

The other role that helped shape me was Ariel in THE LITTLE MERMAID. It was my first professional lead, and a dream role of mine since I was very small. I fell in love with her compassion, curiosity, and strength. It was such an incredible thing to see so many little girls in the audience, devouring the experience of witnessing theater like I used to when I was a tot. It really blew my mind.

Dream roles... I'd love to take a crack at Roxie Hart in CHICAGO, or Charity in SWEET CHARITY...and oooooh, probably Peter Pan, too. I love to dance and to use physicality to help connect to a character.

I hope you get to do those! You were a terrific Ariel -- you certainly look the part and were great in it. What's next for you on stage or off? Plug your next project!

I get to tap my butt off in the ensemble of Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS at the Ordway this holiday season! Come check us out!!

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More Information:

Written by Jeffrey P. Scott and James A. Rocco
Hosted by James A. Rocco
Musical Director and Arranger Raymond Berg

BROADWAY SONGBOOK will play two more performances on Sept. 29 & 30 in the Ordway concert hall. Tickets are available at http://www.ordway.org/performances/broadway-songbook-rebels

Caroline Innerbichler bio:

ORDWAY: The Sound of Music, The Pirates of Penzance, Broadway Songbook: Kander and ebb / 70s Singer/Songwriters, Broadway Songbook: Rock & Roll on Broadway; The Prince and the Pauper; National tour: Little House on the Prairie: the Musical; Chanhassen Dinner Theatres: The Little Mermaid, Fiddler on the Roof, Bye Bye Birdie; Guthrie Theater: Little House on the Prairie; 7th House Theater: Hair; Theater Latté Da: NEXT: Musicals in the Making: Bessie's Birthday, Passage of Dreams, Parade; Park Square Theatre: Ragtime; Children's Theatre Company: A Class Act, Disney's High School Musical, Hanseland Gretel, Alice in Wonderland, Pippi Longstocking.

Photos:

Caroline Innerbichler, courtesy of Ordway Center for Performing Arts

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