Video: Go Inside Opening Night of DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Following a critically acclaimed sold-out run off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater, the new musical Days of Wine and Roses has come to Broadway's Studio 54

and we're here in Open Night to celebrate with the company, led by Kelly O'Hara and Brian Darcy James

It is open night, Michael. It's a big opening. How do you feel tonight? I feel very excited about our big opening

I agree it's a big opening. It's great that this musical has made it to Broadway

and it's a testament to how extraordinary their material is and how the performances, how astonishing the performances

that the company led by Kelly O'Hara and Brian Darcy James are

Well, it's a labor of love that's been kind of in the works for over 20 years

So that is kind of miraculous that it's happening. But also there's a sense, I think, by everybody who's in this company

and is putting their collective heads together and their hearts together to kind of tell this story that it's meaning

meaningful for all of us. And I think we're really excited and proud of the fact that it's having an impact on the people that see it

So that's what I feel like right now in this moment. How long ago did this all start

Well, we closed Sweet Smelt Success June of 2002. And Adam and I started talking about it July of 2002

So that was 21 years ago almost 22 And then Brian and I started we started talking about it with Brian mind So it was always a a collaboration between the two of us to play it And then we really started didn start working on until about 10 years ago

And then we've been working on it ever since. Little bicycle. What is it like sharing the stage together working on this

You know, I shared the stage with him before, and I knew that it was good, but I couldn't have known how much I would gain

from playing opposite this person, learning, being free, safe in his hands, becoming better every day because of him

It is the best single collaboration I've ever had in my life. My heart is pounding

I'm so happy. I love opening nights. This is my six or seventh show on Broadway

and it never gets old, and it never gets normal, and it should never be

And I'm over the side. I'm over the moon. There's nothing more exciting than this

There's nothing that fills me like this. I'm so happy. I feel incredible and just be able to work with Brian and Kelly

and this cast is amazing. I love everything about it and I feel like pumped up and energized and happy

It's so different from what I've done before. The last one I did was Tina before that was once on this island

Sort of happier shows, but this is deep and this is incredible

and it's going to make people think. I feel like this show is so different than any other show

because it really focuses on the human existence. and there flaws everybody has flaws everybody has things that pull them in different directions and to see this incredible group of people come together to create this piece of work is just

it's truly one of a kind. And what's made it so special? Because you've worked on some incredible projects. I know this is a project from the heart

It's a very challenging show to do. It's so rewarding as an audience to watch

What's made it so special for you? Well, thank you for saying that. Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the partnership that I have with Kelly O'Hara

and what we're asked to do and having a partner and a collaborator and a true genuine

breathtaking artist like her, where we can kind of trust each other and really explore

the depths of these characters together and try to figure out what their love story is

and do in a way where we feel completely open and willing to take big, big chances

So I'm in debt to her for that kind of partnership. This musical pushes what musical theater could be, what that means to you

Listen, I'm so grateful that we have a genre crossing, whatever it is, play a musical that makes people talk and think and tries to make sense of something that is hard in human life

And I think that's what art is about. And we need both. We need escape art and we also need thinking art

And I like to do both. And right now I find myself here and I find it the right time for me and I hope it the right time for people who see Collaborations are really special What made this collaboration so special for you I known Adam since he was 15 years old

So we've been on a long journey together, and you can't replace that

Yeah. They've been adding Michael Gryfe into the mix, what it's been like working together as his beautiful creative team

Well, you know, Michael was with us at Sundance in 2002, helping us with the light and the piazza

So we have a history with Michael as well. And he's been friends for almost 40 years, too

And let's talk about this incredible cast you've assembled for this show

What it's like watching your words and music come to life by this beautiful company

specifically Kelly and Brian. Yeah, it isn't watching. It's constantly being in conversation and constantly being in the cauldron of how do we make it

better. How do we make it more specific? How do we make it more truthful? More artful

It's been deeply engaging and also very challenging. You say challenging, but all of you have pushed the art form forward

which you did with Piazza, and you're doing it with this show, which means a lot to us as an audience member, what that means to you

You know, I'm not sure all audiences are happy for that, but it's the thing that I always was interested in

It's where I came from. It's what my teachers, we're fostering and it's why I go to the theater