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Video: Donna McKechnie Is Making Good in Her Broadway Return
Aug 27, 2024
Over 60 years after making her Broadway debut in the original cast of How to Succeed... the great Donna McKechnie is back on the stage this summer playing 'Madame Morrible' in Wicked. Watch this video as Donna reflects on some of her greatest roles of Broadway past, explains why she's crazy about her new gig, and so much more.
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Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge. Tony Award winning legend Donna McKechnie is back
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on Broadway as Madame Marable in the smash hit musical Wicked and I'm here in her dressing
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room here at the Gershwin Theatre. How are you? This is fantastic, huh? In a dressing
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room, we're having an interview. So romantic. Yeah, this is what a great dressing room we
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have here. I love it. Yeah, I have a little space. I can even warm up. First of all, welcome
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home to Broadway. Thank you. What a pleasure. How does it feel? It's fantastic. I mean
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I never thought this would ever happen. And because it's just, it's hard. And eight shows
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a week and women of a certain age, a musical, and I thought, so when this call came, I just
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went, Oh, I have to see it, see if I can do it. And I saw it and I went, I would be
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so proud to be up there. Because the show was so thrilling and gorgeous. The score
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I mean, in the message, especially the story of love and friendship and acceptance, you
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know, I just, it just won me. Yeah. Why do you think this show is so beloved? People
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fly in from all over the world to see Wicked. Time and time again, they do too. And well
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I think there's a fundamental human condition that's in this show that's very beautiful
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and personal and people can relate to it, all of these relationships, because it's written
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so well, I think, by Winnie Holtzman. And all of the creative people have worked so
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well. Joe Mantello, the director, Wayne Cilento, you know, my buddy, and they focus this story
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so beautifully. And just the production is just gorgeous and very exciting. Yeah. I mean
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I could go on and on about this. Oh, yeah. But I mean, I'm very taken by the, and everybody
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works so hard here. I mean, everybody works hard in every Broadway show, right? But I've
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never been in a show where there's so much going on behind the scenes. The stagehands
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and the dressers have a whole choreographed show. Everything's moving all the time, off
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stage and on stage. You know, things are moving, going up, going down, going on. And people
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are running and with baskets. And everybody's, because it's been here for over 20 years
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everybody's in train. I mean, everybody has to train other people to take over at certain
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times. So there's always someone, an assistant or new sub or, it's just wild. Now, the nice
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thing is, you went into the show with a few other cast members, right? Which was the nucleus
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of the principles. And yes, it was fantastic to be able to do that together, like a little
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unit. So when we had an opening night, you know, it was terrifying at first for me. It
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was less terrifying because, you know, I'm up there with my friends who were telling
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this beautiful story together. Yeah. Does it make it a little easier when you get to
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go in with other people? Like, oh, we're going through this together and we're going to have the same opening night. Oh, yes. I mean, Jordan Litz had been with the show, but he came in the rehearsals
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So he was working day and night. And Alexandra Schlosser, she had not done this show before
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I don't think. I hope I'm right about that. Mary Kate Morrissey, Elphaba, she had done
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it before. But this was all a new step up for her, you know, and on Broadway, I think
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that's correct. And Brad Oster, it was new to the show. And we have some wonderful fun
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together. So it was just a great way to come into the show. And it's something, I think
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that's what they do. They have learned, they know what to do with this show to keep it
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running and keep it fresh. And yeah. Well, let's talk about Madame Marable. The first
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time you saw the show first, I mean, you looked at the costumes and the wigs and everything
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you know, Madame Marable gets to wear whatever. So the first time you saw yourself like done
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up as Marable with the makeup and the hair and the outfit, what went through your mind
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the first time you saw it? I didn't recognize myself. And it was thrilling. When you, the
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production value and the costumes and the design of even the makeup, it's just so phenomenal
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And that's what Broadway is. That's how people bring, you know, great entertainment and great
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stories to bear, you know, with the production values. The detail on these costumes, Susan
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Hilferty, the designer, I'm still looking on stage at everyone's costume because they're
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all different. They cross over from all eras and design. So there's every area you can
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think of. And everything, all the hand beading is done. It's just the fabrics, they've spared
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no expense with these beautiful fabrics. Okay. It's a little heavy sometimes with the bustle
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It throws me off on the rake stage, but it's wonderful. And over time I got very, you know
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adjusted. I mean, my body, you know, the, I didn't, you know, the first week I thought
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oh my God, I'm going to fall over because you're on a rake and you're, but you know
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that's the fun of it too. That's the joy of the challenge of it. And when you make it work
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it's, it's fantastic. You know, I had a conversation, I saw the show the other night
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you are sensational. And I think I told you that night, you bring this beautiful reality to your
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marble. And I wanted to ask you what's really great about when they put people into Wicked
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you can bring your own take on, on roles. Well, you have to be precise. It's wonderful
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because they're very, excuse me, they're very specific about, because sometimes you have to
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go in without rehearsal. So everybody has to know where everybody is going, which number
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you know, what the staging is. But within that, within that discipline, you, that's when you can
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be really creative with it. Your, your, your point of view, you play the same and, you know
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the, the director's intention, you know, but you can find your own intention too. And within that
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create a human being, you know, that it can be complicated, which is why I love the role so much
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because it's not one thing. It's a very complicated thing. And it's not always in the writing. The
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writing is there to, to really help me, but it's not, there's a lot of backstory. And so that's the
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fun of it too, you know, to find, finding that out and, you know, to play someone that complicated
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with, with all of the unresolved conflict that someone like that in a human way must have to be
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that hurt, then angry, then full of rage to do what she, you know, the, the desire for that power
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ambition, all of those things are in our human condition, you know, and, and all of us. And so
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that, that is the great part for me to, to sort that out and apply it. That's what you want. I
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could go on. No, I know, seriously, that's what you brought to your bar. So that, so that everyone can connect, connect, that's the operative word, connect with that on a human level. And that's
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very important. And then you can go as far as you want to go with it, you know, be farcical
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or what, but, but as long as there's that connection with the, what, what is this about
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What's really going on? What are you doing? And make it as real and personal as you can with
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your imagination too, you know? Yeah. How early do you like to get to the theater? About two hours
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before showtime. Yeah. Yeah. And what's your plan? Because there's a lot, because we, we have the
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hair at a half an hour, you know, at half hour, the hair and they're all scheduled because they
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have to go around and then we do makeup, you know, half an hour before that. And then I like
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to come and vocalize. And so I have a whole structure, you know, like, like most of us do
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you know, we're all on our own schedule. What's a two show day like for you? Matinee days? Well
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I'm really tired when I, when I come in the morning, but as long as I get here and I can
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get here and everything is, is, is fine after that. I'm, you know, once I wake up, but it's
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it's a, it's something I've gotten used to and I love it. But in the beginning I had to, you know
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eight shows a week by the end of the week, I was, I was going, yes, this is what it's like. Yeah
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But I was like that in, when I, in my thirties, I felt tired at the end of the week too. But this
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is all to say, it's just wonderful to be here. I mean, it's wonderful to be in such a great show
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with great people. And that's the half of it for me. I'm working with people who I really admire
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and I respect and I love them. They're, they're just great people. We're all working together
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and it's really magnificent. Is that what you're enjoying the most about being back? I think that
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is a big part of it. Yeah. Working with other people, you mean? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Doing it
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together. That's, that's how I started, you know, with How to Succeed. I thought, oh, this is amazing
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You're in a room and you all kind of put it all together and then you perform it and everybody
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you know, I mean, when I was a kid in my teens, I, that's, that's my, was my first show, as you
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know. And I just thought, this is great. What's better than this? Singing and dancing and telling
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a story and we're doing it all together. And I, I get that feeling here. Everyone really appreciates
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that. Because when you look at your career, your first show, you said was How to Succeed. Right
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And the choreographer was Bob Fosse. Yeah. Your dance captain was Gwen Verdon. Yes. Well, she was
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between jobs then. She was a great star. Right. What was that like? You came out, you were a
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dancer. Yeah. You came to audition for your first Broadway show and then you get it. Well, Hugh
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Lambert. Yeah. Was the, and I got it, you know, because of the producers, Cypher, because I did
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it industrial. So, and then, you know, Hugh, they kind of said, we want, we don't like where this is
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going. So, and you know, the story, I think, and, and Bob Fosse came in without any pre-production
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So Gwen had to be there to help him because she loved, you know, working like that with Jack Cole
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all of that. She loved that. The work, it's like, let's get the work up. And so they had
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they would go home at night and rehearse the next day. They'd come in with all their work
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you know, and it was fantastic, you know, to work with her. I mean, I could just go on for days
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about everything I learned. It was like going to university. The two years I was in that show
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you know, I thought, now I have to learn how to sing and act and then maybe I can do another show
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I want to get into a chorus line because that was life-changing for you, wasn't it? The role of Cassie
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working with Michael. Oh, yes. Oh my gosh. You must have so many incredible memories of that
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Well, what it means, yes, of course. What was one of your favorites? Well, the thing, you know, everything that Michael wanted to do in a musical theater
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to make it his own, to the seamlessness of text, music, movement, and telling a poignant
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powerful, dramatic story, he achieved through a lot of different, you know, stepping stones
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you know, the workshops, the two workshops, and with the help from so many people like Joe Papp
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and the Western Mertz and, you know, there's like, I just, it was my ideal and I kind of thought
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well, you know, this is everything I wanted. And he, you know, we were all friends, we're all dancers
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together, you know, and he had this dream and this show came about and I can't tell you if there's
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one thing, it was just the whole process to me was one of the greatest things because I knew that
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the show would be a wonderful show. Nobody knew how far-reaching the success would be or how
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commercial it would be or how people, it's still running somewhere in the world, always, and, you
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know, thanks to Bayard Lee, you know, she keeps, but she keeps training people with Michael's
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choreography, so they, you know, it's just a great gift. Yeah, it was a great gift
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In a full circle moment, you started with Bob Fosse and you, you sort of ended with Bob Fosse
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because Bob asked you to play his Sweet Charity. Yes, yeah, 25 years later, yeah, and, and I thought
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he was asking me to come in and audition and so, you know, because everybody auditions all the time
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and, and he, and I said, well, you know, I'll come in and he goes, no, you got it, you have it
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And I, I just, it was thrilling and then we're back in the room again. There's Gwen
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and teach, you know, teaching me again the, the numbers, you know, every step, every move
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every thought, you know, she would give me all of this great information and it was like gold
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and I knew it even then, you know, I really appreciated it and, you know, it was, and then
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he would come in, he goes, I'm not going to be working, you know, I'm just next door working
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on this other show and, and he would come in and sit on the side and then he would slowly
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move his way to the front and then he started directing and, you know, they were there together
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in the room and I just went, wow, a full circle. Yeah, big full circle moment. Finally, what's the
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last thing you do before you hit the stage at Wicked? Oh, Brad and I chat, he comes in, you
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know, because he doesn't, doesn't go up for 45 minutes, so he comes around and we just have a
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little chat and, you know, and yeah, that's it. I might sing a high C or something just to get
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make sure everything's up front. So that's what we hear in the house before the show starts
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your high C. I hope not. Listen, welcome home to Broadway. It's always a pleasure. Thank you
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I know you're going into a weekend here, it's Friday night. Thank you for sitting with me. Oh, my pleasure. I love you. I love you
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