Interview: Sara Jean Ford of North Carolina Theatre's MARY POPPINS

From July 25th-30th, North Carolina Theatre will be presenting MARY POPPINS at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, which is located inside the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts. I had the great pleasure of interviewing actress Sara Jean Ford, who will be taking on the role of Winifred Banks. Some of her previous Broadway credits include THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, FINIAN’S RAINBOW, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, and CATS.

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To start things off, how are rehearsals going?

SJF: So far so good. I actually ended up getting here a day late because of the crazy flight cancellations that were happening all up and down the East coast. I had to play a little bit of catch up, but it wasn't too hard.

How has it been getting to work with your fellow cast members and creative team?

SJF: A dream! I feel like I'm at theater camp. Eric Woodall is an old dear friend of mine and we've worked together now twice in this capacity where he's been my director. Once doing 9 to 5 here at North Carolina Theater about two years ago and another time he directed an adaptation that I wrote of Calamity Jane at 54 Below. Also, Kara Lindsay is a schoolmate of mine. We went to Carnegie Mellon University together. We also were roommates and we also played opposite each other in Little House in the Prairie years ago. She was also in Calamity Jane. So we have a great history as well as Kevin Massey who plays my husband, who is her husband. I watched them fall in love in Little House on the Prairie. I'm also working with some of my past students from Broadway Dreams Foundation, which I work for in Charlotte every year. So it's pretty great.

As you just mentioned, your previous stint at North Carolina Theatre was 9 TO 5 back in the fall of 2021. What have you been enjoying most about working with them?

SJF: Eric Woodall and I laugh literally nonstop. He is always down to laugh. He's also just so collaborative and I never feel like it's his way or the highway. He is always really open and receptive to hearing thoughts about character and backstory and motivation. He’s also always willing to integrate the actual human in front of him into the role as opposed to just sort of trying to fit into this like a carbon copy of a role that's been played hundreds of times now at this point. The collaborative effort is 100% what it should be or what we want it to be, what the dream is at least. There's a lot of talent in North Carolina. Like I said, I come to Charlotte every summer and teach. So I know that there's something in the water here in North Carolina where there's just like nonstop talent. It doesn't feel like I'm necessarily doing a regional job with regional actors. It feels like I'm doing a professional job with professional actors. Then I'm surprised when I'm like, “oh, you're a local. Like wow, you're very good at what you do.” The talent is always overwhelming and I always feel like I'm being met 100% with the same language that I speak by my local castmates.

How familiar were you with MARY POPPINS prior to this?

SJF: Not at all, Jeffrey. I was just talking about this last night. I've seen the movie five or six times I think. As a kid I was like, “oh, Mary Poppins, this is fun. They're integrating animation and live action at the same time. That's cool. I guess it's about a family.” I guess I just never really paid attention to it. I auditioned for the original Broadway production years ago. I mean that must have been like 17 years ago at this point. So I've kind of got familiar with some of the music that Mary Poppins sings and that's kind of the music that I've ever been asked to sing. Now getting to play Winifred Banks, I'm just so grateful that they wrote just a grounded woman. A grounded, former ingénue is kind of what I've been thinking of her as. She was once an ingénue in real life too. She was an actress and now she's a mother and I 100% get that. So it's been kind of fun to like getting to know this new adaptation of it. It's slightly darker, but that's only because it infuses a lot of truth and honesty about the family unit. It's a different Disney show than I've ever seen because it doesn't just live on the surface, it goes a little deeper, which I really appreciate. 

I was about to ask you about how for audiences who’ve been long familiar with the 1964 Walt Disney classic, what can they expect from this stage adaptation. You’ve kind of already alluded to that.

SJF: Yeah, I think they can definitely expect all of the joy and for lack of a better word, the effervescence that is Mary Poppins. Kara Lindsay is just such a dream playing this role and like a word for her would just be delightful. She's just a delightful human and it comes across in every way on stage. So you can definitely expect to be lifted up in a really nice way. The way that you are when you see the movie. But I think you can also expect to be moved by this story of this family. Especially George Banks who I would say is by and large the protagonist of this piece. He has a real character arc. We get to watch a father of that time put his family first above finances and ambition, which is kind of a nonstop theme in this country, in this world.

Would you mind telling us about how Winifred Banks is portrayed in the stage version?

SJF: In the movie, she is very much at the forefront of women's suffragette. She is fighting for votes for women. While her husband George is semi supportive of it, I think he's kind of like, “oh, poppycock and whatever.” He's just like, “you do your thing.” There's not really a connection between the two of them pretty much at all in the movie. In the play, there's a lot more of a connection between mother and father and a disconnect and then the eventual connection that they make (spoiler). They wrote her to sort of be not necessarily on the forefront of women's suffragette, but even on the forefront of the forefront of women's suffragette. So it's based a little bit earlier in the late 1800s as opposed to like early 1900s. So it's almost as if she's just catching wind of this idea that a woman can be more than just a socialite and a wife can be more than just a socialite and the runner of a household. Like maybe she can choose to stay home with her children, maybe she can choose to go to work. As I said before, Winifred Banks in the play production is a former actress. So perhaps George and her met at the theater and then he has sort of asked her to let go of all of her acting theatrical ways and be the woman of the household. She's sort of struggling with it at the beginning of the play. We get to watch that journey and see where she ends up and what she wants and how she gets it.

So many actresses have played Winifred Banks over the years. Among them are Glynis Johns in the 1964 Walt Disney film, Linzi Hateley in the original London cast, and the late Rebecca Luker in the original Broadway cast. How do you make it your own?

SJF: I never saw it either in the West End or in New York, so I don't have anyone that I'm just thinking of off the top of my head. Of course, Glynis Johns is iconic just in her own way. But I just didn't even think about making her like Glynis Johns because Glynis is just her own person. How do I make it my own? I'm a mom, I am an actor, I am a woman who has definitely looked at my situation and been like, “Hmm, I want more.“ There's a lot I have in common with her, which is actually kind of rare that I have so much physically in common with her. Like physical life as opposed to just like her emotional life. So like physically, I completely understand sort of where she's at. I'm a comedian at heart, so I sort of see a flare of comedy in her. So I can't help but play for some of the joy there that you can find with comedy. I think also she's pitched a lot lower in my voice than I'm used to singing. I'm a very high soprano. So that kind of makes her a little bit more earthy and grounded in a way. So that's kind of fun to play with and it's really just like all the different things that, all the different ways in that you can find into the character and so far and I'm finding them.

Going back to the beginning, how did you first get started in the theatre?

SJF: Well, going back to the beginning, my grandparents were barbershop singers. They sang in barbershop quartets and choruses. My grandfather was always in a comedic quartet. He was the comedian of the family. My grandmother was a classically trained soprano who then eventually was singing in her, not barbershop, it was called the Sweet Adelines Quartet and Chorus. So music was always very much in my life. At the age of 10, I started to work professionally in music studios all over Los Angeles and I was a background vocalist for movies and TV shows and cartoons. So I was working professionally from the age of 10 to 14. Then after that, I started to train. I always knew I wanted to be on Broadway though. So I somehow figured out how to study it in college. With very little money, I was accepted to Carnegie Mellon University, which is a fabulous school. I was lucky enough to get to go there and make that happen. Then pretty much right out of college, I booked Wicked in Chicago. So Wicked was my very first job. For the next eight years after that, I was just kind of constantly working and going from one job to the next. Then I had a baby and things kind of slowed down and I got older. Now I really am finding a nice interesting kind of grounded groove as being an actor, singer, dancer, and writer living in New York City. I guess that's kind of how I got my start.

What were some of the stuff you did background voices for?

SJF: My first job I ever did was for a cartoon called Animaniacs, which was kind of like a big Warner Brothers cartoon. I did two episodes of that and got my Screen Actor's Guild card right away. Then there was a really popular show back then called Picket Fences that I did a couple episodes for. I did about eight episodes of Lamb Chop's Play-Along, which was like a weird children's puppetry show from Shari Lewis. I did Addams Family Values, which was a movie. I worked with Marc Shaiman on all of his recordings or songs that he wrote for that. Then I worked with Michael Jackson and Mötley Crüe. So it was like stuff like that. I've pretty much been in commercials. I did like a Petco commercial. It was sort of a constant job.

You’ve been in and out of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA a few times over the years. That musical recently ended its record-breaking 35 year-long run back in April. How do you look back at your time with the show?

SJF: So fondly. I made my Broadway debut with Phantom in 2007 or 2008. Then I went on to play Christine on tour. Then I left, and they were shocked that I left. I was like, “well, I'm not gonna do this forever. I can't be on tour forever.” I was so young, I was like 26 or something like that. So I think then I had done a couple other Broadway shows and a couple other things. One day, I ran into the music director at the equity building and I was like, “Hey, I'd love to come back into the show. I wanna be Christine on Broadway.” He was like, “I don't think they know that.” So I realized that by leaving the tour sort of willingly and not being kicked outta my contract, that they thought that maybe I didn't wanna be a part of the production anymore. They're so used to people just staying in and then getting moved up and moved around. So I re-auditioned for the show in 2010 or 2011. I went back in and played Christine for a little under two years on Broadway. To be honest, like at the time I didn't really appreciate what I had and personally I was going through some stuff. So I think like I just didn't necessarily like, I kind of downplayed it. I downplayed playing Christine in Phantom to sort of make those around me more comfortable with the fact that I was experiencing such an incredible opportunity because I think it was making them uncomfortable. I went through a divorce in 2015 and I asked Phantom if I could come back into the show. They said “Yes, but you can't be Christine because you're too old.” I said, “I don't care, I need a job.” It was then when I went back in that I suddenly really understood like what all my time there was for and like how just grateful I was to have that family to take care of me in such a precious time in my life. Then of course when it closed, I went to the closing and they showed these pictures of all the Christines and all the Phantoms that have ever been on Broadway. I was like, “oh my God, they're gonna show my picture.” Then they did and I was like, “oh my God, I was a part of this really cool thing and like I totally downplayed it at the time to make people around me comfortable, but I don't have to do that anymore.” It was a really cool full circle moment where I was like, “right. I was a part of history and I worked with Hal Prince and he loved me.” It was a very cool moment. So I'm very grateful to have had that be a part of my journey. I couldn't be more grateful, truly.

You’ve been fortunate enough to have done a couple Broadway musical revivals with some high profile stars. You got to spend almost two months appearing in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC with Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch.

SJF: Yeah, I went in with them. So they had sort of put everybody on a leave of absence. They closed down the show for three weeks and I was cast to come in and replace one of the Liebeslieder. There's only like five of them. So I was Mrs. Anderson and it was me and Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch in the rehearsal room every day. When people say, “well if I could be a fly on the wall,” I was truly a fly on the wall and I was able to sit and watch them and watch how they worked together and separately. I was also understudying Petra and Anne, and they sort of told me to concentrate on Petra. Then we went back into the theater, I had like one rehearsal for Petra. We never got even to my song, which is like the 11 o'clock number, ‘The Miller’s Son,’ and that was it. Then I left, I got Phantom of the Opera while I was in A Little Night Music. So I was really only in it for like three months. Four months later when I was in Phantom of the Opera, I got a call while I was on jury duty and they said they're having an emergency over A Little Night Music, “which part do you know?” I was like, “um, Petra.” They said, “okay, well if Phantom lets you out, you're gonna go on tonight.” I ended up going on that night and the next two performances the next day for Petra. A role I had never played, never had a put in for, never even did a full rehearsal for. It was amazing. Elaine Strich would sit in the wings and try to get me out of my head and I was like, “Elaine, I have to be in my head. I don't know my lines.” Yeah, it was pretty great. Then they did like a Broadway Cares speech that night and they both just sang my praises. There’s nothing like Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stretch singing your praises. It was a very cool gift from the theater Gods.

You also got to close out the most recent revival of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING with Nick Jonas and Beau Bridges.

SJF: Yeah, I did. That was such a fun show. Such a fun little moment. I had left Phantom and all I was saying was, “I just wanna do a comedy, I just wanna do a comedy, I just wanna do a comedy.” Then I was cast as the little wiley secretary in that. Yeah, I was able to get to play with Nick Jonas, Beau Bridges, and Michael Urie. I used to scare Beau Bridges every day at one of his entrances. One time I think I nearly gave him a heart attack, but it was very fun. We had a good time.

For those who’d like to have a career in the theatre, where do you think would be a good place to start?

SJF: Some people would say they like to train. Of course, I do think training is wonderful. I think your community is really important and finding a community is just so important because you just can't do it alone. I think looking at yourself and knowing who you are. Looking at all of those weird, disgusting parts of yourself that you don't want anybody to see, those are the things that make you unique and special and different and wonderful. Those are the things that will make you shine up on stage in any character. As I say to my students all the time, I think everybody can sing. I think everybody's a good singer. I really do, I think there's so many good singers out there. But not everybody knows themselves and not everybody can bring themselves to the character and really breathe life into a character without knowing themselves. So I think that the most important thing is to like yourself.

Before we go, do you have any other upcoming projects that you’d like to share with us?

SJF: Oh yeah. Last year, I wrote and I starred in a web series called The Aging Ingénue, which was actually on BroadwayWorld.com. I am doing a one night only concert of An Evening with The Aging Ingénue at Green Room 42 on September 22nd at 7:00 PM. It is actually not me doing it, it's her, my character that I created, Claire Cook. It's her cabaret. So come and watch Claire/me do An Evening with The Aging Ingénue.

Sara, I thank you very much for devoting your time to this interview. It was great getting to talk to you.

SJF: Thank you. Great talking to you too, Jeffrey. Thank you for all the questions.

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Be sure to catch North Carolina Theatre’s production of MARY POPPINS from July 25th-30th. For more information, please visit: www.nctheatre.com/shows/mary-poppins

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