BWW Interviews: Michael Winther in NEXT TO NORMAL – From MAMMA MIA! To Maryland

I have to admit that I was very excited when I read that veteran actor Michael Winther would be returning to Center Stage to star in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical NEXT TO NORMAL. It was Director David Schweizer who asked Winther to come to Center Stage for the role of "Dan". Schweizer also directed Winther back in 2007 when he played the role of Dromio in BOYS FROM SYRACUSE along with Manu Narayan and Paolo Montalban. Winther became friends with Narayan when the two both worked on Broadway at the same time, Narayan was the star of BOMBAY DREAMS at the Broadway Theater and Winther was down the street at the Winter Garden in MAMMA MIA! Winther related it was Narayan who called him up last year to take Narayan's place in Sao Paolo, Brazil to perform in the KIezmer musical THE NIGHT IN THE OLD MARKET PLACE. So Winther spent ten days in Brazil along with another actress from the BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, Charlotte Cohn.

Yes, it's true. A lot of roles come to actors from friends they meet in the theater and Winther is no exception.

Winther is a graduate of Williams College and we spoke about how his life in the theater began.

MICHAEL, I READ THAT YOU WERE THE CO-CREATOR OF TONY N' TINA'S WEDDING, THE HIT OFF-BROADWAY SHOW. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

After Williams, I was in an acting class with a bunch of people from Hofstra who decided they wanted to start their own company. We were called Artificial Intelligence and our first show was an improv comedy piece that recreated the taping of a live TV variety show from the late '50s. It was a great acting experience, creating our own work. The next project we created was TONY AND TINA's WEDDING. We have Stephen Holden of the New York Times to thank for its success.. He was very encouraging. He became an advocate for the show and really helped us find an audience with his review. I wore a long, black curly wig as "Donny Dolce", the Italian leader of the wedding band "Fusion". I did the show for a year and a half and the show is still running in NYC and around the country.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST BROADWAY SHOW?

While I was doing TONY 'N' TINA'S, I got a day-job as a reader for auditions and one o fthe projects I worked on was the 1989 production of Tom Stoppard's play ARTIST DESCENDING THE STAIRCASE. One day, the director asked me to audition for one of the parts and I got the role! Unfortunately, the play lasted one month before it closed, but it was an amazing experience and I got to work with Tom Stoppard. Right after that, I got involved in an early production of FOREVER PLAID in NYC and ended up doing it at the Old Globe in San Diego with Gregory Jbara (DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS). Broadway director Jack O'Brien was the artistic director of the Old Globe at the time and Jack, Greg, and I would often play golf together. O'Brien asked us both to do DAMN YANKEES on Broadway that summer. In the meantime, I was cast as "Oswald" in Jack's production of KING LEAR with Hal Holbrook. We started rehearsals for the pre-Broadway production of DAMN YANKEES at the Globe while I was performing in KING LEAR. It was a dream come true. I'd always envisioned being able to do lots of different kinds of parts in the theatre and here I was doing Shakespeare and in the evening and rehearsing as a dancing and singing baseball player during the day!

WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING ON BROADWAY IN 1776?

I initially balked at the role in the revival in 1998 because on paper it seemed to me the role of Congressman James Wilson from Pennsylvania was too small. But the director Scott Ellis convinced me otherwise and of course, he was right...it was a great role. It was a wonderful company and I got the chance to cast the final vote for independence every night. It was a large cast, and the older actors were full of great stories and incredibly generous. I got great advice from them. It was a special experience. Director Scott Ellis hosted a reunion of the cast several years ago and we all got to see our fellow cast member, the great Tom Aldridge (INTO THE WOODS) before he passed a few months later.

HOW DID THE HIT MAMMA MIA! COME ABOUT?

Well, I initially auditioned for the role of English banker Harry Bright in 2001 when it opened. I auditioned about five times but they believed I was too young. Then two years later, I was called back to audition one more time and got the part. It was a lot of fun. Dee Hoty came from the road company to play the leading role of Donna. The two other women were Harriett Foy (Center Stage alumna) and Tamara Bernier. The two other possible Sophie dads were Adam LeFevre as the Aussie "Bill Anderson" and John Hillner as "Sam Carmichael". Both of them were ten years older than me but we had a great time. Adam also went to Williams. The show helped me finance a project I did with David Schweizer. It was a great run for a year. (I just happened to see Winther perform numerous times.)

BEFORE YOU GOT THE PART IN NEXT TO NORMAL, WERE YOU FAMILIAR WITH IT?

Yes I was. I attended the opening night performance OFF-BROADWAY at Second Stage with Brian d'Arcy James (TITANIC) as "Dan". I then saw a preview performance on Broadway starring J. Robert Spencer (JERSEY BOYS) as "Dan". Brian and Bobby had different takes on the part,but equaly valid and powerful. It was amazing to see the changes that director Michael Greif and the creative team made between Second Stage and opening on Broadway. I knew it would have a rich life in the regional theaters after Broadway. I set my sights on finding an opportunity to play "Dan" one day and that day did come here at Center Stage.

When the director called me out of the blue to be in it, I was incredibly flattered. It's not often that one is offered a role without having to audition. I was familiar with the music, and I had worked with composer Tom Kitt on another project that he was musically directing, so I was already a fan of his and knew of the show. Brian Yorkey's lyrics are so smart and elegant. It's such a great score. It's unusual to work on a piece where each role has great stuff to sing. It's truly an ensemble piece. Everyone counts!

CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW IT IS TO WORK WITH SCHWEIZER?

I've had the pleasure of working with David many times, so he and I know each other well and have sort of a shorthand together. In the beginning of the rehearsal process, he's great about giving actors room to find their own performance but then knows when to step in later in the process to guide and edit an actor's choices. As he has directed lots of opera, he's not shy about making larger visual gestures with the physical production. I think the way the two-level set, the projections and lights all work together in this production is amazing. It was challenging in the rehearsal room because we didn't have the second level, so often you'd be rehearsing a scene and someone who was on a different level would be standing next to you...occupying the same space with you and you'd have to imagine them about or below you. Once we got into the theatre and on the set -- it all came together!

CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW IT IS TO WORK WITH THE MUSICIANS ON STAGE?

It's rare to have the musicians with you onstage. Usually actors and musicians are separated from each other and rarely interact. The band and musical director Darren Cohen are very much part of the show in this production and their visual presence on stage adds a great energy to the experience for the audience and us too. Every night before the show starts, I sit hidden onstage before my first entrance and I check in and banter with our guitarist (Jonathan Rogerson), violinist (Jose Cueto) and cellist (Kirsten Walsh). I would imagine it's more fun for them to be onstage and part of the action as well. We're all in it together!

HOW HAVE THE AUDIENCES BEEN?

Audiences has been great. Sometimes it takes the audience a bit to lock in on the tone of the show. While it deals with serious subject matter, there's a lot of humor in the piece and often, they are afraid to laugh..but after the first couple of numbers, they are always with us. By the second act, they are completely committed to the story and the characters. You can hear the silence. you can feel them listening. It's a certain kind of silence that I've only experienced in the theatre. Towards the end of the show, you can hear the sniffles, can't see the faces, but you can feel that they are with you. Most nights, they all stand up at the end. It's very gratifying. It's been great to be able to talk to audience members after the show in the lobby and see how truly moved they are. They often share their personal stories that relate to the themes of the show. People have had very personal, cathartic reactions to this show and it's extremely rewarding to play a part in enabling that. It's what one strives for in the theatre --to move people in a deeply personal way.

HOW ABOUT THE CAST?

We're very close and fortunately get along well. We are based in New York City, so we have become each other's social life while we are away from home here in Baltimore. I'm also blessed with an extraordinary onstage wife, Ariela Morganstern and we have a very spirited collaberation together -- onstage and off. I will be very sad when we all part ways on November 16!

NEXT TO NORMAL continues at Baltimore's Center Stage until November 16, 2014. Don't miss it. For tickets, call 410-332-0033. Opening November 18 is IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry playing untilDecember 21.

cgshubow@broadwayworld.com

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