Video: Chris Renfro Is Bringing the Laughs in OH, MARY!

Are you ready

It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon. Hi, Broadway World. Welcome to The Roundtable

My name is Robert Bannon. You're here. I'm so excited that you're here because I know our next guest

So I host a show called The Roundtable. And last year, two years ago

I don't know, but all I know is I was all about queerest folk reboot

And Chris was on that show. And Chris was so good on that show

And Chris came into this show. And then Chris is just out here hustling, working, hosting podcasts, self-taping, auditioning, acting, working

And I open up Broadwayworld.com, because that's where I get my Broadway news

And Chris Renfro is in O'Mary making their Broadway debut? Excuse me

I had to do a little like happy, like, kind of. Come on, Chris

Dance! They're here. Chris, welcome's back. Hi. Hello. Chris, you're making your Broadway debut

Isn't that crazy? No, because you're so good. You're so talented. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you

For people who have watched you on TV, they may not know that you are a theater baby

Like, you've done the theater. Yeah, that's what I thought I would be doing for a long time and then just kind of like fell into TV through the CBS showcase

They sort of scouted me doing Filipino AF at UCB and LA in 2018 for the 2019 showcase

And then I just sort of shift focus for a while. Wait, you did the showcase

Like, people don't know if they're actors, like they do showcases, networks do showcases to find up

coming stars, and you did the CBS showcase. And that's how it really kind of got the ball rolling

Yeah, yeah. The CBS showcase was great, and I really loved everyone involved. And it's just like

this comedy sketch showcase for at the time, it was like 21 or 22 of us. And I think maybe

it's gotten smaller now and gone digital. But at the time, we built like a brand new one-hour

sketch show and performed it over the course of a week in LA for like agents and managers and

casting directors, et cetera. And your credits like, yeah, I was talking about, you know, I was talking

about queer as folk obviously before and I was, and how much I loved the show and all that it meant

And at that time, I thought we needed queerest folk more than ever. Now we need queerest folk more

than ever than we did even back then. But what I love about it is that all of the shows, if it's

L-word, like the work that you do always seems to matter and has an activism to it or

has representation to it that we need so desperately. How important is that to you with the art

that you make? I think it's so cool. I think I'm on every gay show in the universe

And I don't know, like growing up, I didn't see a lot of that or a lot of Asian people on

TV or stage, but I really tried super actively to not let that determine me from pursuing this

And I'm really glad and really fortunate that I'm growing up in a time where things are opening up

for marginalized communities. And I get to do this cool show. I get to live my dream in such a

brilliantly funny, madcap insane asylum play that is O'Mary by Cola Scola

And I get to do it with really great people. It's really, I don't know, it's just really cool

I'm really fortunate and really grateful for all of this. Well, while we're talking about it, O'Mary is on Broadway

It's a smash, like a smash. Chris is Mary's teacher. started January 21st, so they've been there

They're now old pros up there on the stage. It's old hat now

It's old hat. It's just another day at work. And tickets, if you can grab a ticket, if you can find a ticket

you can get tickets at omariplay.com because it is a sellout. It is a smash hit

What I love about the story, besides it's hysterical and it's fun and it's relevant and all

the things, is that Cole started this people in New York off, off Broadway

It's a little budget. a little show and just exploded So when did you first hear about this show I heard about it sometime like around the time just before they transferred to Broadway because I came into town I think just like to visit

I always make it a point to come out to New York two, three times a year if I can. I have a lot of

friends out here that stayed after college. I did a lot of musical theater in college. So naturally

everyone migrated this way. And I tried to get tickets when it was downtown at the Lucille Lortel

and could not do it. And just kind of figured it was going to be one of those shows that I was never

going to see or I was going to have to hold out until they did like a LA version or something

Then in September, I found myself out here again doing a workshop of a play that my friend

Ryan O'Connell invited me to do the workshop of. and it so happened to be directed by Sam Pickleton

And one of our nights off, I tried to get tickets to the show. And Sam was like, even I can't get tickets to this show, sweetie

But managed to get me like a $200 house seat. And so I spent all the entire workshop stipend on this ticket

And after the show, immediately, I was like, I have to be in this

I think that I'm right for this. So I text Sam and I was like

As soon as you audition for the tour, you have to let me audition

And he was like, yeah, I think that's a good idea. And three weeks later, I got the audition in L.A

because he so happened to be directing La Cajetteau Playhouse at the time

So I auditioned for the show eight minutes from my house in Hollywood. For your Broadway debut, you audition in person

Behind the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Oh, I love the Hollywood Forever Cemetery because that's where Marilyn Monroe is, everybody

You got to go, check it out. But that's a whole other story. But you, you audition for this

Because I was going to say to you, what was your journey to this? So you audition. Do they give you sides

Is it a model? Like, what do you do in an audition for this? Yeah, they gave me cuts of two of the scenes from the show that Mary's teachers involved in

And kind of, they gave me the weekend to prepare for it

I think I got it like late Thursday night and then Monday afternoon

I met with Sam, the director, and Henry Russell Bergstein, the casting director

And we just kind of like played for 40-ish minutes. And then it's that whole sitting and waiting game for a couple weeks

So how did you, how do you not go in for the up-and-coming actress here? I mean, I'm in school and we teach acting here

And how do you not get nervous in the room with the director and the casting director

and just be Chris and just be who you are and see if you're right for this part

I, for me, it's just like audition specifically. It's just knowing it backwards and forwards

So I don't have to worry about like knowing it or feeling uncomfortable

So I went in having memorized not only my lines, but I knew most of marriage

Mary's lines too. So I was super solid in that and I could just be there, be present, be ready to play

So I did, I spent a ton of time and I'm still there at UCB theater

I have a lot of improv sketch training. And I think I just treat everything like it's like an improv show or a sketch rehearsal

And that helps my brain. See, the comedy, you've got that comedy training

and this show is so funny, everybody. Like, it is a laugh a second. Like, you need to see this show

When you booked this show, what is it like? What's the, from when you booked to now moving to New York City to then doing rehearsal

which you're now being put in a show that's running, so the rehearsal process is different

What was it like for you to get ready to be? And this is your Broadway debut

This isn't, you know, a garage somewhere in the back doing community theater

Like, this is Broadway. It was crazy fast. It was really, really fast. I've never been a replacement before, so understanding this process was kind of on the job training. I found, oh, so I was at the time in L.A., when I found out I booked this, I was walking into a tech rehearsal for my solo show that I was putting up that night. And so I just kind of got to enjoy that performance. And, you know

Henry and Sam ended up coming to the show. So that felt really cool And by that point I only had I think three weeks before I had to be in New York So in those three weeks I spent memorizing the script I spent time looking for a place to live

trying to find someone to take over my apartment in L.A. I, so that was December 3rd. And then

December 28th, I moved here to New York, got my keys, and we started rehearsals on January 6th

And we had eight rehearsals to get us into the show. Betty and Philip and myself are new to the show with our new understudy Julian

And one of those rehearsals was a table read. So we had seven actual rehearsals

And by the time we debuted, I think our debut was the fourth time we'd run the show

I'm done. I have nothing to say. It's crazy. That is insane

That is insane. We have Bianca on, and we chatted with her in the early days of the shows run

and we have seen the rise of this cast. How do you go into this with seven rehearsals and not feel the pressure of that opening night

It's your Broadway debut. You're in New York City. You're in a show that's doing millions of dollars a week, literally sold out with this word of mouth

and then you're coming in and bringing the continuity of the character

but then you're bringing Chris and what you bring to the piece. So how do you go

is there a preparation? Is there a different feeling? Do you handle it like just another job? How do you survive? The pressure of the moment

Baby, I don't know. It was so, so nice to have Philip and Betty and Julian there to like walk this path with because if I did it alone, I probably would have gone crazy. Plus I have like a really good support system of best friends that I can turn to that are also in the industry

So they get it and they can talk to me and they know me well enough that they can anticipate my anxieties and insecurities

So I think I built a beautiful network around me. And I'm not really one to be quiet when I'm feeling a kind of way

So also not internalizing any of my fears and anxieties for too long before I speak up and work them out was really helpful

because like the job itself I knew I was going to be good at

That's why I asked to audition for it. It's kind of everything that I love to do, this play, this part

But yeah, it was the process that was cookie, wild, cackary, caca

Well, what I love so much about it, you mentioned it. And we're going to follow Chris on Instagram, everybody

And we're going to get tickets if you're coming to New York or if you're in the neighborhood or if you live here and you have not seen

yet now is the time to get a ticket, oh, maryplay.com. And if you're watching this on

Broadway world, and if you're watching this on Broadway World, why have you not seen it? And now you should see it again. So, Chris, you're, you talked about before about being in shows that you feel like you've been in every

every gay television show. And now this is a very queer, fun, worldly piece, you know

it's a piece that is for everyone, but it is, it is a, it is a, this is a high camp queer extravaganza

Why, why do these pieces speak, speak to you like nowadays, The world's on fire

Politics is crazy. And why should we spend the night and go see O'Mary

Why is it as important now as it has ever been? Well, number one, being gay is fun

I'm having fun. Yeah, I'm having a great time. You know, so it's nice to be able to work on stuff where I can, in a way, just like, be a version of myself

And just go out there, be unabashedly me, represent the community. and not have to second guess myself if I'm doing it right or whatever

But also, like, the opportunity to show queer characters or queer art on such a large platform feels really special

there are so many people across the states that don't have the same opportunity and it's not lost on me

that I'm so fortunate to be able to express myself in such a way and feel safe doing it because of the community

because of my collaborators, because of the people that trust me to do this work

It feels really special. It feels really cool. and I do it because I love it

And you're so good at it. And that's what I, people have to see, they have to see you do this

Everyone has to see this show. I was really moved you know I grew up in New Jersey and I took Broadway for granted and I spent a lot of time in L And now that I live in Michigan You in Michigan now

I'm in Michigan now. So I'm in Detroit as we speak. So I'm in Detroit

So while I'm in Detroit, I take for, we don't get that people don't have the access

around this country to see things like, oh, Mary, or see themselves represented, their race, their gender, their sexuality on a stage

So when you come to New York City, there's people that come every night, Chris, who are getting to see things that matter to them

that they don't get to see where they're from. And that is the biggest gift you can give people as an artist

is they see themselves. You're showing representation. Exactly. It feels so cool

And there were so many of those people for me growing up, and it feels almost like a baton pass

I grew up watching Will & Grace and queer as folk and watching the Tony Awards with my mom

that even if the communities and neighborhoods that I grew up in, like, if it wasn't, if I wasn't

being celebrated there for who I was, there was a place somewhere out there that was being

transmitted directly into my home or wasn't too far away. It always felt like there was a better

place within reach. And there is. And people will find their community and you'll find chosen

and family and you will find your place and you're getting to give them a piece of that

If that's through art or through business or through family and friends, whatever school, it gets better

I promise. You'll find your people out. Yeah, I'm the happiest I've been in a really long time here

I'm having some of the best days in my whole life. And the best is yet to come because I'm going to ask you

you have, now you're a Broadway star. Now you're a television star

So like, what are we doing? Let's keep working, Chris. Let's get the work

Let's do Broadway. Let's do tours. Let's do TV. Let's do films. Let's do everything

I hope so. I really love acting. I love acting so much

It's fun. It's cathartic. I love the collaboration. I love the built-in nature of joining a new show or going on set and just being like, oh, I'm going to make a bunch of new friends today

Like in that sense, I'm like, I'm perpetually a fifth grade. You know

And that's what's so great about art and then people get to see it and enjoy it. I have to come back to O'Mary because I have to see this cast

I have to see Betty. I'm back. I'm back in New York for a whole big old chunk of time next in this month in February

I'll see you. My birthday is February 23rd. Oh my gosh. You're a Pisces like my mom and my dad

Both of them are Pisces? Yeah, that's crazy. Are they crying all the things

time. Yes, my dad will call me up and say, I saw a kid riding a bike by himself and I hope he has

friends. I love that. Please get your life together. That kid is probably fine. So, you know

if he sees one, one, one goose out here, he'll be like, they've made for life and he's missing

its mate. I'm like, oh, the water signs of it all here, Chris. Oh, truly, truly. Are you very

makes you a good actor, though, if you're emotional in that way. But the debut. The debut

few day alone. I cried seven times before I walked on stage. It just like out of pure joy

And every once in a while, I'll just like walk around the city and cry. I'm crying all the time

I love it. But that's gratitude and joy and all the best things. I'm rather you be crying because

you're on Broadway and living your best life than this is good. I'm so happy for you. I'm so happy

people. We need to follow Chris. Follow them right there on the Instagram so you could say up to date on all the

things that's to come because they're just getting started. And then we're going to all get our tickets to see omariplay.com because they're going to be here

for a minute and you got to check it out and get a ticket. You may have to book it in advance because these shows sell out

They are. There is not a seat to be had. Yeah, we've had incredibly full crowds and everyone just has the dang time of their life

It's such a fun show. Spoiler alert. It's not a drama. It is not a drama

It's not the brutalist. It's not four hours long. Because I can't, I don't, Chris, I have my ADD kicks in

I can't sit there that long. This show is perfect for me. I think you can watch O'Mary three times before the end of the Brutelist

That fact. And I think they should put that on the board outside because that's going to sell more tickets

For me, at least. Thank you. I'm so happy to get to see you and spend time with you

Thank you so much for, and break legs. I can't wait to see you in New York

Thank you. Truly, hit me up when you get here. I'm ready. It's been so nice to have these check-ins with you

Let's do it again. Let's do it again