It’s been a VERY busy few weeks for me. My cast mates and I over at GODSPELL have been incredibly busy – doing press performances on THE VIEW, and ROSIE (more on that later…) and doing press for our upcoming cast recording on Sh-K-Boom records. It’s going to sound amazing, so GET YOUR COPIES NOW, and start stuffing those stockings! And if you want a little sample, check this out. 

I’m constantly in awe of my GODSPELL cast mates – not only because it’s one of the most talented companies I’ve ever worked with – but also because of the incredible sense of work ethic that inspires me to work harder and harder. Broadway is NOT easy. Broadway is hard. Eight-shows a week is hard. It’s hard on the body. It’s hard on the voice. Your knees hurt. Your back spasms. Your voice gets tired, and you have no idea how you are going to make it on a five-show weekend. But, then they call “places!” and I look at my amazing cast mates on stage with me (who I affectionately call my “broadway bulls”) and we charge ahead, giving 110% of what we got. WE DO OUR BEST – shin splints and all. When I’m down, I count on them to pick me up, and they NEVER fail.

After an 8-show week, the cast left NY on Monday (12/5), our only day-off, at 6 AM to travel to Chicago to tape THE ROSIE SHOW at HARPO studios. An exciting day for sure, but TIRED was an under-statement. We were so exhausted, we were LOOPY!

If you missed us on the show, you can watch the performance here 

What the cameras didn’t catch was how GRACIOUS, INSPIRING, and GENEROUS Rosie O’Donnell is. We were treated like royalty. She has always been Broadway’s biggest fan – and she uses every opportunity she can to show case the many unsung talents on Broadway. She is a big TV star, but she is “one of us.” During the commercial breaks, she turned to us and said: “I know you all want to go and do TV and film, and go to Hollywood, and make a lot of money, but it’s doesn’t get better than this. It doesn’t get better than Broadway. When you are rich and famous in Hollywood, you’re gonna say to yourself: ‘I wanna go back to Broadway, where I make NO money and my body hurts – but I love it.’” – and she is so right. Now, I’m not knocking Hollywood at all. Having dabbled a little bit in that world (with GLEE), I will say that there are definitely plusses (and minuses) working in that world… but at that moment, I felt a deep connection to ROSIE. I understood EXACTLY what she was talking about… Rosie, in her heart, was a “Broadway Bull”… and deep down, so am I. I always will be…

GODSPELL is my 4th big Broadway show (well, 5th – if you count the Chicago cast of WICKED) – and there’s NOTHING like doing a show on Broadway. NOTHING like it. The “plusses” far outweigh the “minuses” and she’s right – when you’re up there, you get this sense that it’s EXACTLY where you want to be, and there’s no place better.

(BTW – The term “Broadway Bull” was created by my buddy Wallace Smith, who plays JUDAS in GODSPELL. Can’t take the credit for that one. Thanks, Wallace.)