Tony Winner Beth Leavel Paints With New Colors in Broadway's Lempicka

There’s an easy way to unleash the positive power of social media: Post a photo of Beth Leavel. “Icon,” “Queen” and, simply, “Mother” flood the comments, along with heart and crown emojis, in tribute to the Tony-winning star of The Drowsy Chaperone and The Prom. Leavel is now back on Broadway giving a rare dramatic performance as the Baroness, an art patron and supporter of the title character, in the new musical Lempicka. It’s a supporting role, but in typical fashion, Leavel turns her big number, “Just This Way,” into the emotional highlight of the evening. Off stage, she’s still the upbeat, effervescent actress Broadway audiences fell in love with more than four decades ago.

How did Lempicka snag you for this small but impactful role?

It was so difficult: They asked. [laughs] I didn’t know anyone involved, but I’ve wanted to work with [director] Rachel Chavkin, so it was just, jump in! I love that I don’t have to drive the train, but I have this wonderful character and this great song, and I get to work with a whole new creative team. We’ve quickly become family, so I feel really lucky.

Had you worked with Eden Espinosa [who plays the title artist] before?

I hadn’t. There’s usually six degrees of separation in our community, but I’ve never been her scene partner, and it makes me so happy that I’m able to do that now. My gosh, the amount of singing that Eden and Andrew [Samonsky, as Lempicka’s husband] and Amber [Iman, as her lover] do? I’m delighted to support them.

Did you know anything about Tamara de Lempicka before being cast in the show?

I was aware of her work. Did I know her name? No. Shame on me. But now everyone is going to appreciate and understand her talent. This show is going to do for Lempicka what Evita did for Eva Peron.

What makes Lempicka a good subject for a musical?

She was born in the Russian Revolution, she went through World War I, she went through World War II, she was bisexual—she just had a fascinating life and journey of discovering who she was as an artist and a woman. If she had been a man with that body of work, she would be in all the museums.

How would you describe the vibe of the show? People may come in expecting to see velvet sofas in drawing rooms.

This is not that! It’s a very modern approach to a historical story. Part of it reflects Lempicka’s imagination and her memory, so we get permission to be tremendously sexy. The set and the costumes are Brechtian in some ways, and then you have me and Nate [Nathaniel Stampley as the Baron] being the grounded Mom and Dad. I love it when people come with no idea what to expect. I just want to say, “Fasten your seatbelts because you’re going to see something you’ve never seen before.”

And then you waltz in and deliver the most moving song in the show.

It’s such a beautiful, emotional song, the antithesis of what I usually get to sing. Thank you, [composer] Matt [Gould] and [lyricist] Carson [Kreitzer] for that privilege. I don’t want to give anything away, but I can feel what the audience is feeling, because we’ve all experienced what I’m singing about in one way or another. I love making that emotional journey every night. And I love getting to show another side of myself. She doesn’t always have to be funny!

You get entrance applause, which is a reflection of your how beloved you are by Broadway fans. Do you feel that?

Oh my gosh, that’s so sweet. I do feel it, and all I can say is thank you. Fourteen Broadway shows? I’m just grateful for the work, and grateful if it touches somebody’s life. And thank you for sharing about the entrance applause, because they keep changing my opening, so I hardly hear it. I’m in my head thinking about new lines, and also about the stairs. Please, dear god, don’t let me fall down these stairs. Backstage, it’s double the stairs because there is no crossover; the set covers the entire stage area, so my butt is going to look great!

Do the young ensemble members ask your advice on navigating the ups and downs of Broadway?

Yes ma’am. “How’d you get started?” “What was it like winning the Tony Award?” “Can you help me with this audition? What should I wear?” I feel like the grandmother at the table. Meemaw! But in turn, I look at them and say, “Please tell me how you dance like that.” So it’s a mutual admiration club.

And now you’re back at the Longacre Theatre, where you starred in The Prom.

We were sitting in rehearsals recently, and I looked down at a metal structure on the proscenium, and in white paint it said “Prom,” like a cue for something to be raised or lowered. I took a picture and sent it to my people.

You keep in touch with your Prom castmates?

Oh yes, we’re very close. It was written for the four of us, Angie [Schworer], Brooks [Ashmanskas], Chris [Sieber] and myself. We were with it seven years before it had a production, and it took another year and a half to come to Broadway. I love the fact that it’s being done everywhere now. I get so many sweet emails from people saying, “I’m playing Dee Dee—can you tell me about it?” I just love that show so much.

You and your husband, Adam Heller, worked together on Broadway in Baby It’s You. How do you deal with the ups and downs of two theatrical careers?

That’s just the norm for us. Some Like It Hot closed, and miraculously Lempicka became available, so it was my turn. He completely understands that I’m losing my mind during previews, so he has dinner waiting for me when I get home. It’s always complicated, this business, so we figure it out show to show.

For now, you can enjoy being in one of the whopping 15 new Broadway musicals that opened this season.

Isn’t that exciting? I would rather have too much to choose from than not enough. When my friends come to town, they see as many shows as they possibly can, and all the new musicals are so singular. Lempicka is nothing like The Outsiders, which is nothing like Suffs. If I wasn’t in a show, I’d be seeing them all!