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Mearns, Harada, James & More Say 'I Do' in Rehearsals for Encores! I MARRIED AN ANGEL
Oct 31, 2022
Next up at New York City Center is I Married an Angel, the second Encores! production of the City Center 75th Anniversary Season. In addition to Sara Mearns as the Angel of the title, the production will feature Phillip Attmore (Peter Mueller), Max Baker (General Lucash), Mark Evans (Count Willy Palaffi), Ann Harada (Duchess of Holstein-Kuloff), Nikki M. James (Countess Peggy Palaffi), Hayley Podschun (Anna Murphy), and Tom Robbins (Harry Mischka Szigetti).
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0:00
Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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New York City Center continues their 75th anniversary season with Encore's production of Rodgers and Hart's I Married an Angel
0:09
from March 20th through the 24th. It's directed and choreographed by Joshua Bergass
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and we drop by the rehearsal room to bring you a sneak peek and meet the company. It must be so interesting to come from the ballet world
0:31
and now there's sort of a combination of the ballet world and musical theater. Yeah, now that's what's really important to me about this show
0:37
is that because Balanchine, George Balanchine created it on his wife at the time, Vera Serena
0:42
and now it's my husband, Joshua Burgos, creating it on me. That's what's really special
0:47
And because this is the 75th anniversary of City Center, I was part of it in so many other ways this past year
0:53
And so to end it like this is really exciting for me. So what's it like working with your husband on this beautiful musical
1:00
It's actually been really amazing. We've been really good together. I was so scared in the beginning
1:05
I was like, okay, we haven't really worked together on this scale. So I don't know what's going to happen
1:09
But it's been really smooth. And I know that I'm not the only person he has to worry about
1:13
He has to worry about a lot of people. So I'm just very cautious of that
1:17
and I let him have his space, and he sort of has to take over the room the whole time
1:21
So it's kind of, I love watching him do that. It's really awesome
1:26
Oh, it's been so fun. The cast is fantastic, and they're really adapting to this
1:30
It such a period piece and it so specific And they really diving in and understanding the tone and the humor it we finding so much so much comedy in this show that you know when it
1:45
it's you see it on the page but until you see these these characters interact and it's it's
1:51
kind of like joke joke joke joke joke so that's been really fun and they're really taking to it nicely
2:26
I Married an Angel is a 1938 musical. It was done abroad in 1938
2:33
I play Count Willie Palafi, kind of a cynical banker who's been wounded in love
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And he says to his sister, who has discovered a wife for him
2:42
and that becomes a bit of a disappointment, he says, you know, if I ever get married, it'll be to an angel
2:47
And lo and behold, an angel comes down from heaven to rescue Willie. And we realize that she exists only through truth
2:54
Beauty is truth, and truth is beauty. and it's kind of a real education for her to figure out how to fit into the world and for
3:00
Willie to kind of like allow her to be in his world with you know in in the midst of society
3:07
I having a great time so I haven I been working on some TV lately so I haven been on stage for a while I jumped at the chance Doing encores is like Broadway boot camp You just have to get it in your body on your feet make bold choices
3:22
and then throw caution to the wind. And the audiences are always game for that, so it's really exciting
3:27
Who do you play? I play Peggy, the Countess Palafi. So I am Willie's sister, and I'm trying to get him wed
3:35
even though I have spent, I think she's admitted to being married at least four times
3:41
So she's a well-married, a very married lady. I love the way that Josh works
3:45
He's excellent at what he does, and he's also just one of the sweetest men alive
3:50
So it's a blast to be here, and it's inspiring to be working alongside
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just honestly, excellence and greatness. If you say shit, it's the first time
4:01
This is it. Now at last. You bit. You were rich. You got hit by the glass
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Then you must have been stung. Yes, I must have been stung
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Well, the doctor can't help me. Help me, Doc! And you swear that you're cured
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Till another green green lights come. This one is particularly a treat for us
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because it's so different than almost anything we've ever done. I mean, a show written for a ballet star
4:36
a Rodgers and Hart musical, toward the end of their great years
4:40
where they're trying so hard to find a new form for the musical
4:44
and trying everything all at once And it an amazing experience to sort of take it out of the box and look at it With this one because it was originally going to have been a film with Jeanette McDonald
4:56
there were songs written for the film that turned into the ballet music for the stage musical
5:02
because they were doing it in a hurry and Rogers just opened the box when he was going to do the film
5:08
And that material was at the Library of Congress. That was a thrilling day when I discovered that down at the library
5:12
that there are the tunes from the ballets. because as you heard in that, the ballets are full of beautiful Richard Rodgers tunes
5:19
just like the Carousel Waltz. The lyrics are so much fun. They're really playful
5:24
They're super wacky. But it's a real, like, you got to focus
5:28
And Josh has been awesome with pairing the movement with the lyrics for me
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So it's been a lot of homework, but I'm super excited to share it
5:37
Who do you play? I play Anna Murphy. She's a very sassy, very confident American
5:43
That must be a lot of fun, right? It's really fun. She's got a few great one-liners that I love
5:49
I've told a few people I've kind of based her off of one of my favorite characters
5:52
off The Bachelor. She loves to watch drama. She kind of loves to stir the pot
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