Daniel Evans: Joining the Broadway Family
Awards season in New York always comes as a surprise to theatrical newcomers: so many events packed into such a compressed schedule. We figured that Daniel Evans, the British actor who has won acclaim and a 2008 Tony nomination for his dual roles as Georges Seurat and the painter's great-grandson in the Roundabout Theatre Company's hit revival of Sunday in the Park with George, could give us an overview of this busy time from a Broadway rookie's point of view. But Evans did more than that: In an appealingly unpretentious essay, he conveys a sense of what it's like to become part of the warm and welcoming Broadway community, from taking part in fund-raising events to attending awards shows to playing softball in Central Park. No wonder Evans and his co-star, Jenna Russell, have been embraced for both their talent and their generosity.
In London, we often hear about "The Broadway Community" and wonder what it must be like to be a part of it. This season, I got to join that community, and it's an experience I will always remember.
I think geography helps. The fact that most Broadway theaters are within 12 blocks of one another means that I can often bump into In the Heights' Robin De Jesus on Eighth Avenue on my way home after a show or into Xanadu's Marty Thomas on my way into work before a matinee.
Moreover, everyone seems so supportive of one another's work. At a Monday night preview of Gypsy, I was sat across from A Chorus Line's James T. Lane and Wicked's Miriam Margolyes. It always surprises me when I meet people from other shows who tell me they enjoyed Sunday in the Park. In one case, someone even confessed to calling in sick to her own show so that she could come incognito to see our show. That person's identity shall remain anonymous!
Presenting at Broadway Cares' Easter Bonnet Competition was a blast, not least because our show's presentation won. Witnessing the time and effort each company had put into their presentations and seeing the final tally of fundraising almost $4 million brought home an overwhelming sense of community—the Broadway Community —at its absolute best. Seeing how actors, crew, stage management, wardrobe and wigs come together to make a practical difference to other people's lives…it takes your breath away.
Of course, there's also the chance to meet some famous people, some of them personal heroes. Sharing a dressing room at the Easter Bonnet with Roger Bart, Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane was just slightly intimidating. I'll never forget waltzing down the aisle of the Drama League Awards alongside Harvey Fierstein while "There's No Business Like Show Business" was played. Or sitting in front of Frances McDormand at the Drama Desk Awards, discussing a place to get good, cheap chicken on 43rd Street. One night after the show, there was a knock on my dressing room door. I asked, "Who is it?" and heard a voice saying, "Mandy Patinkin." In utter disbelief, I opened the door and there was the original George with tears in his eyes.
I got to see Chita Rivera and the original cast of West Side Story at Gypsy of the Year, to hear Barbara Cook with the New York Philharmonic and again at the Carlyle, Chita again at Birdland and Bach's St Matthew's Passion conducted by Kurt Masur! I got to do an album signing at Barnes & Noble, to party at Sondheim's, to be a radio disc-jockey for an hour; and, hopefully, I'll get to sing at Radio City Music Hall with my leading lady Jenna Russell during the Tonys! How about that for a Broadway experience?
We started working on Sunday in the Park with George during the autumn of 2005 at a London fringe venue the equivalent of an off-off-Broadway space with just 150 seats, a concrete warehouse called the Menier Chocolate Factory. They paid very little, there was only one dressing room and rarely any toilet paper in the bathrooms and, every weekend, the techno beats from the gay club next door would be pounding through the walls during "Children and Art" possibly the show's most intimate number.
Thinking about these humble beginnings and, now, our show's nine Tony nominations, makes me feel lucky. After all, we got to bring the piece home.