BWW Interviews: Tea Time with Mrs. Potts, Emily Jewell

In January, the national tour of Disney's Beauty and the Beast returns to our area after a successful run at Wolf Trap earlier this year. The show will play at the Historic Warner Theatre in Penn Quarter from January 6 - 11.

I had the chance to talk to one of the stars of the show, Emily Jewell, who plays Mrs. Potts, the character immortalized by Angela Lansbury in the movie and gets to sing the Academy Award winning title song.

Keith Tittermary (KT): Tell us about yourself.

Emily Jewell (EJ): I've always been a theater enthusiast since I was a very small child and I studied Music Theater Performance at Viterbo University (La Crosse, Wisconsin), I got my B.F.A. there and had performed regionally. I lived in Chicago, on the west coast and recently moved to New York City.

KT: As I was reading your website, I learned that you co-founded a theatre company, Elements Theatre Collective in Santa Barbara, California. Tell me about that.

EJ: I was living in Santa Barbara, while my husband was going to grad school and I got cast with another company there and I met my friend, Sara Rademacher, who was our director. She and I both just felt like we needed something else to do. We had visions of creating art together so we started having weekly "phone dates" while she was on an internship. And we realized maybe it was more than producing a show; that we really had a vision for a company, so we started Elements Theatre Collective. ETC's mission is to bring free, professional-quality theatre to underserved communities.

We do all our shows in non-traditional venues and we create all of shows as touring productions so we can travel the set, the lights, everything, to venues like a coffee shop, a homeless shelter, or a restaurant. The company just started its 4th season and we passed it off when we left.

KT: What was the audition process like?

EJ: I went to an open call in April in New York City. I think I auditioned seven different times. I was in another tour at the time, but we were on a week-long break so I saw the open casting for Disney's Beauty and the Beast and I thought "I have to do this!" So I auditioned on a Sunday, and they asked if I come back the next day but I was going to West Virginia for the tour, so they let me send in some taped audition material and then I was able to come back about a month and half later.

KT: Have you ever performed in Disney's Beauty and the Beast before?

EJ: This is my first experience with the show. I've seen it before but this is the first time performing in it.

KT: What is it like wearing that great costume?

It is definitely giving me new muscles that I'm challenging every day! We have a wonderful physical therapy team that comes with us and they've given me exercises to do to make myself stronger so I'm not hurting myself.

The costume really informs the character. When I put that costume on for the first time it was like a new life was breathed into her after the weeks of rehearsals. I'm so happy that my costume is the way it is and I feel great in it! I feel like she is very clear as to who she is and what she is. But of course my arm gets sore! But it's really fun.

KT: What has been your favorite city that you've been to so far?

EJ: Oh goodness! I think I would have to say Seattle. I had never been there before and I just loved it! I'm so excited to come to DC because I've never been! I look forward to seeing all the monuments and the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I'm definitely excited we get to be there for an entire week!

We've got a great schedule coming up! We're in Greenville, South Carolina for Christmas, which I'm thrilled about because I was there on my last tour and it is beautiful! I from the Midwest originally so I'll get to see a lot of my family and friends when we play in Chicago and Minneapolis. We're also going to Canada for the entire month of February and I've never been there either so I'm looking forward to that as well!

KT: What has been your favorite role that you've played? Besides Mrs. Potts, of course!

EJ: I would have to say Kate Monster in Avenue Q. She is a blast she is a little spitfire! You know what's funny? The puppet arm that I used for Kate is actually the other arm from Mrs. Potts' spout, so I feel like I getting balance now! I'm glad her spout is my left arm because I'm right handed and it makes the other things I do like pushing Chip's cart much easier!

KT: Does the actors playing Chip travel with you or are they local actors?

EJ: They do travel with us. I've got two really great kids, Ross Nemeth and Logan Sejas. They're homeschooled, so they and their moms travel with us. They're the sweetest little boys and it makes it so wonderful and easy to play their mom every day because they're just so adorable!

KT: I've watched your YouTube videos, "Tea Time With Mrs. Potts", I loved them, especially the outtakes at the end! You end each of your interviews with the question, "What's your favorite type of tea?", So now, I'm asking you the same question.

EJ: My favorite kind of tea is the Caramel Almond Amaretti from Teavana and I blend it with their Honeybush Vanilla. I drink that before the show and it makes me feel warmer and more ready to be this beacon of hope and help convey this message of seeing into the heart of someone. It warms me from the inside out.

KT: One last thing you would like the audience to know?

I get asked a lot: "Is this just a show for kids?" I want everyone to know that this is a show for everybody. Children absolutely love it, of course! You see those girls in their Belle dresses in the audience! But it's a great date night show, especially people in my generation, people in their 20's and 30's who grew up with this movie. It has everything you remember and love from the movie and so much more and to be able to bring it to people across the country, I just feel really fortunate. We're all having a good time and the audience does too!

Disney's Beauty and the Beast plays from January 6 - 11, 2015 at the Warner Theatre, 513 13th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004.

For tickets, call the box office at 202-783-4000 or purchase them on-line.

Photo of Emily Jewell: Phillip Van Nostrand

Beauty and The Beast Photos: Matthew Murphy

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