Andrew Samonsky
Hometown: Ventura, California
Currently: Playing practically perfect Lieutenant Joe Cable in Lincoln Center Theater’s smash-hit Broadway revival of South Pacific.
Finding His Voice: As a kid, Samonsky took singing lessons just for fun—but when he found himself “feeling directionless” at California State University-Northridge, his childhood voice teacher advised him to get serious. “She said, “I never recommend this career to anyone because it’s such a hard life, but I think you have a chance at making it as a singer.” After earning a degree in vocal performance, Samonsky began a master’s program in acting at UC-Irvine, and again experienced a period of uncertainty. This time, it was his parents who urged him to stay the course. “I had a moment of frustration and decided I wanted to be a lawyer like my father,” he recalls. “And both of them said, ‘But Andrew, what about the music?’ I said, ‘Are you guys crazy? We should be having the opposite conversation!’ They’re just the best.”
Onward and Upward: Master’s degree in hand, Samonsky headed east to launch his theater career, then began crisscrossing the country for work, winning great reviews for the L.A. premiere of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…BOOM!, which led to the role of Whizzer in an L.A. Actors’ Fund mounting of Falsettos opposite Jason Alexander and Malcolm Gets, Shenandoah in D.C. with Scott Bakula and the national tour of Disney’s On the Record. “My mom’s an ex-flight attendant, so being on the road has always felt comfortable,” Samonsky says, adding with a laugh, “Something about people making the bed and putting out new towels every day works for me.” A year ago, while in Denver rehearsing the role of Bob Wallace in White Christmas, he came close to blowing off an audition for South Pacific back in New York. Luckily, the timing worked out.
You’re Going On! Cast as Lt. Eustis Carmichael and understudy to Matthew Morrison’s Lt. Cable, Samonsky got his first trial-by-fire even before South Pacific opened. “It was the third week of previews, and Matthew was getting sick,” he recalls, explaining that no understudy rehearsals had been held. “There were scenes in the show I had never seen because I was off doing a costume change. So I said to the stage manager, ‘What happens if Matt calls out?’ and he said, ‘We just throw you up there!’” And that’s exactly what happened, after a 9AM phone call informing Samonsky he would be needed to play Cable at the 2PM Saturday matinee. “I went into a hyperfocused state of mind—I went to the gym, got to the theater around 11, and walked through the show, including my 15-second quick change! I was nervous, but it couldn’t have gone better.”
It Might As Well Be “Spring”: These days, Samonsky adores singing “Younger than Springtime,” but six years ago, he had a different opinion of the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein ballad. “As an undergrad, I had a very low baritone voice,” he says. “When I got to graduate school, my voice teacher became convinced I was a tenor, so we used ‘Younger than Springtime’ to work on my upper register. It became this fearful song for me because I would dread the high notes at the end. Well, fast forward, and my teacher was right—today, the song sits perfectly in my voice. It’s a personal triumph for me to take a song that was a symbol of frustration and sing it on a Broadway stage.” Even less scary? Performing the song shirtless. “I’ve always kept in shape,” he says, “but singing a solo bare-chested definitely motivates you to go to the gym every day.”
Hey, Sailor! He’s a Broadway leading man now, with his very own dressing room, but Samonsky still considers himself just one of the guys. “I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on being onstage with my fellow Seabees every night,” he says of his first nine months in South Pacific. “We had a fraternity downstairs in our big dressing room; I still hang out there all the time.” Heck, Samonsky loves his work so much, he hasn’t missed a single performance since previews began. “And I have no plans to take a vacation,” he says with a chuckle. “Being in this show at Lincoln Center with such a wonderful cast—I honestly feel like it is a vacation.”