Theater People: Lesli Margherita

Patrick and Vonia never disappoint, and this week's episode goes above and beyond any preconceived notions of what the show will be! This week's guest is the fabulous, hilarious, amazingly talented actress, the Queen, Lesli Margherita! She is currently Mrs.Wormwood in Matilda, and she won an Olivier award for her work in the West End's Zorro.

  

Raised on a cattle ranch in Northern California, she was a total tomboy.  After seeing Annie at the age of  8, she attended an open call for a production of the show in the Bay area, and she got the part. From then on she would do shows, took voice lessons and continued dance.  She came to New York City for the first time to do a camp at Hofstede Universtiy for teens and in high school she began working at various theme parks, Great America, Disney, etc. She attended UCLA for Dance so that she could work/perform outside of school (as a theater major one could not work outside of the program), she still however did musical theater and worked with an amazing professor John Hall.  She gives great advice about college and finding your path as an actor especially as a young person trying to make it as an actor.  One of her greatest nuggets of wisdom was to make acting something that you do, but have a life outside of it as well.

Her first major television gig was Fame L.A. directed by Kenny Ortega.  She had gotten Rent in LA as the Maureen cover, but at the same time she had gotten a manager who was sending her out on TV auditions. She got a series part in Fame L.A. so she didn't do Rent and she stayed in LA to do theater, but not for trying.  She flew back and forth to NY for auditions a lot, and was next in line so many times.  LA has a great theater scene which led her to do Zorro on the West End.  Her friend called and said he was doing a workshop for Zorro and they were coming to LA to do auditions and she should try out.

She did the reading and kept workshopping the show over the course of two years.  The show was finally going to tour England and then hoping to head to the West End.  They got her paperwork straight with equity, and she was the only American they brought in.  She did the tour but was getting married on the last day of the tour so she stopped early and went home to get married.  The day before her wedding, she got a call that the show was going to the West End.

She discusses her experience at the Olivier Awards.  Only a few Americans have won Olivier awards, the supporting character category is both male and female in one category, and her show's table was in the very back of the theater were a few reasons that she didn't expect to win and her experience of winning the award is one of the most fantastic stories (and I don't mean in this podcast, I mean ever)!



She owes her part in Matilda to Eden Espinosa.  Eden had an appointment for Mrs. Wormwood in Matilda and called Lesli to tell her that she had the call for this part that wasn't right for her but screamed Lesli which is the most amazing thing any actress could do (if you didn't already love Eden more than life)! She only knew about the appointments because of Eden , and was able to get an appointment. Through the auditions she got the part and made her Broadway debut!

Her experiences in Matilda are awesome stories! The way the kids are so amazing, but still real, true kids, her opening night experience, and many more.   She also discusses her show All Hail the Queen! and not sitting around and waiting for someone else to write your perfect role which is a phenomenal sentiment and goes back to her earlier advice about having a life outside of your work.

Her twitter questions touch on differences across the pond, across the country, her Star Wars wedding, and how one can become queen-like.

Lesli Margherita is a fantastic person! She's grateful, talented, hilarious, and who among us doesn't want to have a drink with her? Do yourself a favor and go see her in Matilda at Shubert Theatre!

Lesli Margherita: Website | Twitter
Theater People: Website | iTunes | Twitter

Movie Review: Begin Again

John Carney, director of Indie sensation Once, tries to duplicate the magic of music in his latest film Begin Again.  The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival a year ago under the title Can a Song Save Your Life?.  The film shares many similarities to the film Once including: a man and woman make music together, the music is a powerful force, and their love and connection to the city.

Begin Again tells the story of a songstress, Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her writing partner and boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) as they move to New York City after Dave has been signed by a major record label. Dave climbs to success on Gretta's songs, cheats on her, subsequently dumps her, and becomes an overnight musical sensation.  Gretta leaves their aparment with her bike and a suitcase to find her street musician friend Steve (James Corden) so that she may stay at his apartment until she can get out of the city and home to London.

Of course, Steve can't let Gretta leave the city without accompanying him to a performance at a bar that same night.  She goes with him to the show where he makes her get onstage and play a song.  A recently fired, and drunk, record executive, Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo), sees her perform and is in awe of her raw talent.  He approaches her after the show, convinces her she is amazingly talented and for the remainder of the movie they make a CD in various locations around the city to convince his old record label that she deserves a record deal.

Throughout the process they highlight various things around the city, convince talented musicians to play for free, enlist the help of CeeLo Green (who is playing a hip hop/pop star in the movie), outrun the cops, and eventually make a full CD that the record label finds worthy of a deal.  While the movie is mostly filled with cliché and often unbelievable plot points, the movie goes for a sincere approach to music and relationships. 

Mark Ruffalo played his character with an obvious passion which would have been nice to see in all of the characters.  There were also many funny moments specifically from James Corden and Mark Ruffalo's characters.  The sincere approach to life and music of the film made it's cliched story more realistic and enjoyable in the way that jokes were able to land and the story didn't center on the main characters falling in love and living happily ever after.  

The film is very watchable and you'll find yourself laughing out loud more than once in the theater, but it probably won't make you believe that music is a magical force that will one day change your life forever.

Theater People: Anthony Rapp

Patrick brings us another phenomenal episode! This week’s guest is the amazing Anthony Rapp! Aside from being a phenomenally successful Broadway star, Anthony has starred in many well-known movies (Adventures in Babysitting, Dazed and Confused) and had numerous TV spots (Psych the Musical, Law and Order: SVU).  He is also one of a small number of actors who was able to successfully transition from child star to adult.

One of the best things about this interview is the way that it begins.  Patrick’s passion for theatre is apparent in every interview, but the way he tells the story at the beginning of the podcast, a story of the first time he saw Rent on Broadway and what it meant to him, was moving.  It is such an iconic musical and the way he describes every detail of that night, it is simply phenomenal!

Patrick delves right into the interview, asking Anthony about his current starring role as Lucas in the musical If/Then.  He stars alongside his former Rent co-star Idina Menzel in a musical which he says “can be very moving for people, and it’s also very entertaining.  It is unusual in so many ways, and one of the ways in which it is unusual is the way it feels very personal and relevant to people’s real lives that they really live in the real world in ways that you don’t always feel when you go to see a musical theatre piece.”  They also discuss the ambitious nature of the musical as an original piece and the form it takes in terms of jumping between timelines, and the talented and hardworking creative team and crew who have worked to make it a success. And of course there was discussion of the talent and powerhouse that is Idina Menzel.

A great question posed by Patrick was how the New York presented in each show (Rent and If/Then) felt different to Anthony.  He answers by discussing how New York has changed and evolved from the city that took center stage in Rent to the place that is alive today and serves as the setting of If/Then.

Getting back to basics, Patrick and Anthony discuss how a kid from Joliet, IL was able to make his Broadway debut at ten years old.  His work in community theatre eventually led to his Broadway debut in a show that never officially opened, and then a part in the tour of The King and I.  He did eight shows a week as a kid and even became emancipated in high school so that he could continue to work.

Anthony discusses his experience of doing John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation as an eighteen year old.  He goes on to discuss the shows and movies he completed in his career between Six Degrees and Rent which includes many wonderful productions, some with impressively big names attached to them.

Rent was a huge success and changed the lives of all of the cast members.  Its reputation as a phenomenal piece has stood the test of time and continues to resonate with fans.  As such, Anthony has been asked a multitude of questions over the years about his experience in the show, but Patrick asks a new one: where would Mark be now? Anthony says he hopes that Mark’s film would have been good and that he would have continued to make meaningful pieces.  Further discussion about Rent includes: the formation of the show in the workshop and working with Jonathan Larson, his first encounters with some the songs from the show, his process of writing his book Without You. 

Make the 44 minutes to listen to the podcast; you won’t regret it! It is great and Anthony is a great actor with an amazing career and story!

Go see Anthony (and Idina) in If/Then at the Richard Rogers Theatre!

Follow Anthony on Twitter and Tumblr.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Theater People on iTunes, and check out their Twitter and Facebook!

CMT Awards 2014

The CMT Awards brought together the best artists in country music, and some surprising guests, to honor the best music videos of the year! There were myriad performances and eight big awards were handed out.

The show opened with a performance by ZZ Top, Florida Georgia Line, and Luke Bryan who were joined by Jason Derulo to segue from "La Grange" to "This is How We Roll" to "Talk Dirty."  Highlights of the night's performances included: Kacey Musgraves and Lee Ann Womack paying homage to Alan Jackson with "Livin' On Love" before Carrie Underwood presented him with the first ever CMT Impact Award, Keith Urban singing "Cop Car" in a recreation of the Bluebird Cafe, Little Big Town's performance of "Day Drinkin'" in which the band was doused in paint, and Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood bringing the house down at the end of the show with "Somethin' Bad". Watch the night's performances here.

Underwood and Lambert sing "Somethin' Bad" | Getty Images

The night's big winner was Carrie Underwood who took home Video of the Year for the third year in a row for her "See You Again" video.  Florida Georgia line took home Duo of the Year and Collaborative video of the year for "Round Here"and "This is How We Roll" respectively. Miranda Lambert won Female Video of the Year for "Automatic" and Blake Shelton won Male Video of the Year for "Doin' What She Likes".  See a full list of winners here.

Fashion

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Carrie Underwood looked stunning in an floral keyhole Roberto Cavalli gown.  Her duet with Miranda Lambert was "Somethin' Bad", but her red carpet look was something very good! 

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The night's host, Kristen Bell, sparkled in a beaded Zuhair Murad gown and Brian Atwood heels. 

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Mirana Lambert showed off her gorgeous figure in a Celia Kritharioti sequined mini dress with a plunging neckline.  

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Nicole Kidman, Oscar winning actress and wife of country crooner Keith Urban, graced the carpet in a Giambattista Valli embroidered silk dress.

Questions Answered: George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin was the guest of honor at  Con Carolinas in Charlotte, NC.  He met many adoring fans, read from his upcoming book The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros, and answered many stirring questions.

George R.R. Martin has been a full-time writer for more than 30 years and has worked in television as a Story Editor, Executive Story Consultant, Producer, and Co-Supervising Producer among other roles.  He is a New York Times Bestselling author and his work has garnered a multitude of awards and honors.  With all his success, one may think he would take to being reclusive and distant from his fans, but quite the opposite is true.  In the autograph signings he was personable and funny, on one instance a family set their child on the table to keep from having to hold him and jokingly Martin responded "Whoa, I don't sign babies!"


In the reading he was able to bring the story to life and hold the audience's attention for a full hour and a half which is doubly impressive considering that he was reading from a history book, albeit a fictional one, as opposed to a novel.  You can read the sample chapter from his upcoming book, The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros, here.

As a part of the question and answer event, Martin answered fan questions which ranged from why he wrote a character the way he did to what we can expect in the future. Many questions he could not fully answer because he can't give away anything that is in the books or will be in future books, but the questions he did answer gave insight into his process, writing decisions, and other aspects of the world of Westeros.

When asked about the way we are supposed to view or feel about Elia Martell (is there more to her than we have seen so far), Martin responded "One of the things I learned from Jack Vance, he made his secondary and tertiary characters come to life and actual people of realm, I try to keep that in mind when writing my character.  I try to give all of my characters an internal life even if they only appear in a few scenes, and try to see the world through their eyes for that period of time." He also tried to explain that he cannot control what happens on the television show, and therefore cannot explain what will come next as it often differs, at least partially, from what is in the books.

He was asked why he chooses to use songs and bards so prominently in his books, and if we can expect to see more of them in the future.  His answer was that Tolkien used songs and bards in his works, and he enjoyed the way that they fit the story.  He also added that "they don't have television in Westeros... and bards fulfilled a function in society.  They are the source of legends and myths.  They spread tales from castle to castle and realm to realm, and they help to unite people together." He also spoke to his poor treatement of bards in the book and the power they carry in their role as bards and singers.  He goes on to mention that he enjoys hearing the words that we wrote set to music and sung in the television show and at conventions because having only written the lyrics it would be possible that they would not work set to music.

Some of the questions were more comical including one from a teenage girl asking why he made Joffrey "such a hateable character" to which he responded "He's a thirteen year old boy! Do you know any thirteen year old boys?"

A very interesting question was how he is able to keep track of his world building, as they are very extensive and ever expanding worlds that he has created.  In response he said: "I use my brain.  My brain is rapidly being filled though.  I do have to refresh myself from time to time if I am away from it for awhile... The hardest thing to keep track of is that by now every character is separate and has their own cast of secondary and tertiary characters.  A lot of it I know and sometimes I think there's something wrong with me because what I don't know is all of your names.  I'm using brain synapses that other people use for real people for made up people."

He is an eloquent and entertaining speaker, and as such an accomplished writer he has a lot to offer.  If you ever have the chance to see him speak or meet him you should not hesitate to take the opportunity.

George R.R. Martin's Website | Blog

Update: Another example of Martin's dedication to his fans, and to causes that he cares about, is his recent Prizeo campaign which fans flocked to in droves! You can donate today and get a reward for your donation while also entering to win a trip to go with George RR Martin to a wolf sanctuary! Check out the campaign here.