Brian d’Arcy James – Something Rotten!

By starrymag | June 5, 2015

By: Jamie  Steinberg

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) Right now I’m working on a big Broadway musical called Something Rotten! and we’ve been nominated for ten Tony Awards. Myself, Brad Oscar, Christian Borle and the writers have been singled out, which is a joy and quite an honor.

Q) Please tell us the premise for Something Rotten! and about your character Nigel Bottom.

A) It’s set in the Renaissance Era in Elizabethan England. I play a character named Nick Bottom, who along with my brother Nigel Bottom (John Cariani), try to succeed in the world of the theatre despite the fact that William Shakespeare is the end-all-be-all. So, it’s hard for us to get a break because he is kind of making it very difficult for anyone else to succeed. In a desperate attempt to get one step ahead of Shakespeare, I go to a soothsayer and ask him what the next best thing in the theater will be. He tells me it is this thing called “musicals.” So, I go about trying to create the very first musical in order to be successful. That’s where the story takes off and becomes very, very funny because the soothsayer’s vision is not very clear, but clear enough to give you the sense of what a musical could be. For Nick, the road is littered with all kinds of references and attempts to be the best, but he misses the mark a little bit, which is very funny though.

Q) What made you want to be a part of the show?

A) The fact that it is a comedy and big musical comedy is the form that I grew up loving in terms of my theatre desires. The things that I was exposed to early on were those big musical comedies. So, I love laughter and love to laugh. I love making people laugh. This musical is doing just that, which is such a gift. That is the thing that drew me mostly, the idea that it is a very splashy funny show could be on Broadway and, hopefully, lighten everyone’s load for two and a half hours.

Q) What have you found challenging about the show?

A) With any musical, it takes a lot of effort, energy wise, to do eight shows a week. That’s always the challenge. I think the physical challenge you don’t want the audience to see, but it is a lot of running around. It’s a very physical show in terms of the dancing, singing, movement and energy you need to put out there. My main objective during the week to try and be healthy, eat right and exercise to have the energy to do the shows. That’s always the biggest challenge of doing a musical.

Q) What have you maybe added to your role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) Most everything was written; I would say 98% of it. I will say that everyone was collaborative. Our director Casey Nicholaw was always eager and willing to hear our ideas. John O’Farrell and Wayne Kirkpatrick, the writers, always had an open door policy to find the best thing that worked. They are brilliant writers so they had twenty-five ideas to my one. Occasionally, there would be something I might add or discuss in terms of a moment or idea. In terms of my contribution, it was more of a collaborative nature figuring it out as opposed to contributing anything concrete.

Q) You play brothers with John Cariani in the show. Was there instant chemistry when you began working together or did you take some time together to work on establishing a bond?

A) We had time to get to know each other. I’m a fan of his as an actor and a writer. He’s a playwright and I saw a play he wrote called Almost, Maine. I got to share my happiness of seeing it with him and getting to know him with other readings that we’ve done. So, we’ve worked together in the past. He’s a great guy. He’s a very kind, funny and charming person. I always like being around of him. When we started on day one of Something Rotten! we were on familiar territory.

Q) You have great comedic timing. Is that something that has always been a natural ability or have you worked to hone it?

A) I think it is a little bit of both. When you are doing a comedy like this rhythm is very important. Of course, that is dictated primarily by what is written. That’s not to say that an actor can’t screw that up. You do actually have to be mindful of what is required in terms of timing and rhythm. I think any kind of contribution I can give, in terms of my timing, comes from my sheer joy of trying to watch and learn from all of the comedians I watch and admire that I’ve watched and consumed over the years. I am a big fan of “Saturday Night Live.” I grew up listening to albums by George Carlin and Steve Martin. I really respect and have great admiration and awe actually. I’m in awe of anyone who is dedicated in any way to be comedic. So, if I’m successful in any way in terms of my timing it is because the joy I have spent learning and trying to steal from others.

Q) What is it about theatre that continues to keep drawing you back to Broadway?

A) It’s what I started doing. It is what captured my imagination at a very young age. It’s what I went to school and studied. I made a concerted effort to understand the craft and technique of acting on stage. It’s my job. I love what I get to do so that’s what I know how to do and something I’m drawn to do. Having said that, an actor’s life can be all different types of experiences, whether it is on stage, on television or film. I love getting opportunities to do the latter. I love doing film and TV, but theatre is always going to be something of the profile of what I do and what I want to do.

Q) What do you think it is about Something Rotten! that has made it such a popular show?

A) I think it is that people leave laughing and feeling joyful.  It really is a two and a half hour romp of laughing. You’re having a great time with extraordinary music and great dance numbers. It is very well executed, well written and very fun. I think at the end of the show people think, “Well, that was exactly what I was hoping to experience and I experienced it and then some.” I think that is what is driving the great word of mouth. If you know what it is you are going into, that it is a comedy, you want to laugh and you want to feel good. I think we (the creative people of our show) try to deliver that every night and I think we achieve it.

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy the fan feedback you receive after performances?

A) It’s a double edged sword, isn’t it? Social media can be a very nice thing, but with the good comes the bad. So, I try to not spend too much time devouring what is being said on social media sites. I’m very thankful that people have good experiences. I’m not so interested in if people have bad experiences.

Q) We will get to see you performing on the Tony Awards. Talk a little bit about what fans can expect when they tune in to see it.

A) It’s been announced that we are going to be doing the number from our show called “It’s A Musical!” Nostradamus is the soothsayer and he spells out what a musical can be. It’s a show stopping number that literally has people standing up in the middle of the show, which I’ve never experienced before. I’m really excited about it because it is such a fun, fun number. I’m looking forward to a wide audience getting a taste of our show.

Q) What can you tease from your Actors Fund Benefit performance in Bombshell the next day?

A) For “Smash,” I feel very grateful to have been asked to be a part of it because my character wasn’t originally a part of it on the show. I’m going to be singing a song called “The Right Regrets,” which was sung by Debra Messing’s character and Christian Borle’s character in the show.

Q) With this being your third Tony nomination, how does that make you feel?

A) I feel very grateful and very excited to have been honored with this nomination. It doesn’t get any less exciting having done it a couple times before. If anything, it makes you appreciate it more because it is threading the needle in a way that you don’t always get to do. So, I feel very lucky that I have a point of reference on this, but I also feel very happy that the thing I am very proud of right now (Something Rotten!) is something I love to do and is giving me great joy. The fact that myself and the show has been singled out in this way really makes you feel grateful to be a part of a community that I so admire and is kind of shining a little light on us, which is nice.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) I’m flattered that anyone takes notice in what I’m doing. So, I thank anybody who is interested. I know there are a lot of people, personally, that have supported me and encouraged me from my family to my wife to my daughter to my mom to my brothers and sisters. But I do know there are a lot of people out there on social media who say, “Good job! Really wonderful work!” The people I meet after work I can tell are genuinely excited to have seen the show. It always touches me and I feel a great debt of gratitude to those folks. Without them, it’s like screaming into a canyon. You’re not really going to hear an echo. It’s very important that we get a chance to have an audience and if the audience likes it and says, “Keep doing that,” it means a great deal to me and I’m thankful for it.