Nancy Lemenager
My God, Nancy, you're a theater person! Why are you doing an interview at 10:30am?!
It's just my clock. [Laughs.] I'm up early. But you know, I don't take a long time to unwind after the show. I crash early. Later in the day I take a nap.
For the performance?
Yeah. But it depends if I take class that day or not. Usually if I don't take a class or a yoga, then I get to the theater about 6pm and do a good hour, hour-15 warm-up.
When did you start dancing?
When I was younger I was a gymnast. I started when I was about six. And then I moved away from home when I was nine and did that whole “I'm going to be in the Olympics” thing. But then by 12 I thought, “This is a little too intense for me!” [Laughs.] So I quit that and started dancing. And although I was used to being in the gym five hours a day, I actually hated ballet--standing at the barre doing plies--cause I wanted to jump on the trampoline and swing on the bars! But dancing really opened up my whole world, in terms of the rigidity and competitiveness that drives gymnastics--where you have to turn the emotional stuff off, cause the risk is so great. But with dancing you can open that up, and I began to realize there was a whole different way to express yourself and use your body.
I can really see that gymnastic past in your Movin' Out performance. Growing up, who were your role models?
When I was really young it was the gymnasts. But then it became the older movies with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly. Then later I really did fall in love with Twyla [Tharp]'s Sinatra Suite. And the work of Jerome Robbins. Graciela Daniele. Balanchine. And Chita Rivera!
Have you worked with her?
Briefly. We did a little thing at the Kennedy Center, honoring Kander & Ebb. But more so for me, it's her work ethic. And being the kind of dancer who can come out on stage and just stand there and you go, “Whoa!” You just can't take you eyes off of her.
So you're a fan.
Big fan.
She's an inspiration for a lot of Broadway dancers. Plus she stepped out of the chorus! Now, you've played leading roles regionally [including Lola in Damn Yankees and both Velma and Roxie in Chicago] but you've also stepped out in New York [in Never Gonna Dance?]. Is that difficult for Broadway dancers to do? I mean, do people get pigeonholed in the chorus?
Absolutely.
So how do you step out of that pigeonhole--if you want to? I would imagine that not all dancers actually want to step out.
No, not all do. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to, even as I did it. I was thinking, “Do I really want this?” Cause there's a lot that comes with that. There's something safe about being in the ensemble. It's nice going to work and just getting to do your thing, feeling sort of protected. For me, stepping out started as a challenge to grow and to learn.
When did you say “I want to step out”? Do a solo… Speak?!
[Laughs.] Well, I was always getting these featured dance things along the way. But then I started taking more acting classes. And as you mature you start to feel you have something more to say, and need to express yourself further. That's why Movin' Out is so fulfilling, because I'm able to tap into so many different things emotionally. Even though I'm just using my body in the show, I feel like I say a lot.
The character of Brenda has a tremendous emotional trajectory.
Exactly. And that's why it's such a joy to do, because you're given such so much. As a dancer, it's rare to be given that kind of opportunity. I think that's where the difficulty and frustration of stepping out comes in. Because we are being pigeonholed it takes a lot of discipline and effort to step out. I spent several years teaching and doing regional theater and really sacrificing, making no money. And thinking, “I don't know where this will lead.” You know, so that you can earn a living and not feel that acting is just a hobby!
And it did lead to something, Never Gonna Dance. That must have been a complex experience for you.
Honestly, Never Gonna Dance was an amazing experience. I think because I'd been in the business long enough, I didn't put all my eggs in one basket. You never can. You never can say, “This is my chance!” When you do that, you just shoot yourself in the foot. I was so grateful for the opportunity to work with Michael Greif and Jerry Mitchell. And to do Jerome Kern! It was a first rate company, a first-rate experience; the enormous amount of respect everyone had for one another and the process. But I must say... I felt very vulnerable in that show. And not only because it was my first time stepping out [in New York], but I was in a role where I was not allowed to be nearly as colorful as in Movin' Out. So you're stepping out in something where you're sort of saying, “Well... I can show you three colors” [Laughs.] But the other 800 had to be kept in my back pocket.
So how did you choose to go into Movin' Out so quickly after Never Gonna Dance?
I didn't really have a lot of time to say, “Well, what comes next?” With Never Gonna Dance we were in previews, then we opened, then we weren't sure what was going to happen, then we were closing. It was a whirlwind. And I was just beginning to process all that when Movin' Out happened. So I moved on pretty quickly. It was helpful in the healing process to be able to put all my energy into another creative endeavor, to feel like, “Oh, there is life after Never Gonna Dance.” I mean, I remember after my first Broadway show, Meet Me in St. Louis, closed. I was nineteen and thought, “I'm never going to do another Broadway show again!”
How did Twyla Tharp put you into Movin' Out?
Well, her assistant Stacy Caddell put me in, and she is just amazing, amazing, amazing. And then Twyla came in towards the end and gave me some fine tuning and some points and some really good insights.
Did you watch performances of the show while rehearsing it?
Yes, I got a lot of insight that way. It was different for me [as a replacement], because I've been in a lot of shows from the beginning. And in Movin' Out--because the dance had been created on someone else first--you sometimes feel, maybe for me this would've been better in a different way. But at the same time Twyla's choreography really lets you bring yourself to it and make it your own. I mean, that's what so great about the Brenda role, cause you can watch five different people do it and you'll get five different things from it. They're all bringing their own personality to it. So watching the show as I was learning it was really a luxury. I was able to distance myself and say--as an audience member—“What am I getting here? What do I want? And what do I need?” As an actor, what is the most effective choice for this moment? Usually when you're in a show and creating it, you have no perspective.
Other than the director and choreographer in the rehearsal room.
Exactly. And you have to give over to that. And trust that. Now that I've been doing the show for a little while there've been times when I've wanted to go back to the mirror and check to make sure something is pretty enough, or see if the line looks right, but I've resisted because the show isn't about that. It's so character-driven that if you just go back to that [acting basis] the movement will come out as it needs to in the moment. Certainly there's grappling with the technical combined with the emotional, but if I connect to where I am emotionally, I always dance it better.
Did Never Gonna Dance help you with being so secure in commanding the stage--and the audience's attention--in the way that Brenda must do in Movin' Out?
Honestly, I think that [strength] came more so from playing Roxie in Chicago, which I did at Music Theatre of Wichita last summer. I mean, doing that monologue... there's really nothing like it. You know, I also think I feel comfortable with that because of my gymnastics. I mean, having that power in my physical energy--just coming out and saying, “Bam! Here I Am!” [Laughs.]
True. But you also must go through a whole multi-dimensional life with Brenda. And build that intensely emotional--and athletically demanding--relationship with Tony.
Oh, scene-partnering is particularly important with this show. With Never Gonna Dance, the dancing pulled me into the moment because it was our job to really mirror each other. But with Movin' Out it's so technically difficult that there's got to be a great amount of trust with your partner. Otherwise, people get hurt. It reminds you that it's imperative to be in the moment: to know where your body's at on every beat, to stay present with your body and stay present with your partner.
You've worked with some of the best dancers and choreographers in the business.
That's true. I've been very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the sort of people I've always wanted to work with.
OK. Free association time!
[Laughs.] Uh oh.
Give me the pull-quotes for their posters. Wayne Cilento?
[Laughs.] Ahh... A little ball of fire. Crazy in the best way. An amazing dancer, so dynamic to watch.
Jerry Mitchell?
Joyous, fun. A little boy with a never-ending amount of ideas pouring from him. He eats a lot of chicken.
Kathleen Marshall?
Lovely, quiet. A lot goes on in her head. There's this intellectual journey she takes, then gives you this playground to play with. And she's not afraid of simplicity, which is great.
Bette Midler?
[Bursts into laughter] One of a kind!
I saw in your bio that you'd choreographed some concert work for her. Does she go where she's told?
Actually, she does like to be told exactly what to do. I mean, that's what she'll say. But then, you know what happens? She ends up going where ever she wants! [Laughs.]
She's another one who stepped out of the chorus!
Really?! I didn't realize that.
Yeah, before she was the daughter in the original Fiddler, Bette was in the chorus.
Well, I can tell you, she's a very hard worker.
When she rehearses, does she wear the t-straps?
Nope. Tiny little Nikes.
Kooky!
Well, it's a kooky business. [Laughs.] But that's why I love it, I guess. Cause you never know what's going to come up. I mean, I never thought I'd be choreographing for Bette Midler--flying on her private plane for a benefit in Chicago?! [Laughs.]
Or playing Roxie in Chicago!
Now that's a role I'd love to play again.
On Broadway?
Well... that would be awesome.
Hey, Barry & Fran! Have you seen Movin' Out?