‘One Man Two Guvnors’ Star Oliver Chris Likes NY’s Cocktail Bars

Oliver is currently quite into the idea of becoming a massive movie star. At least according to his bio in the Playbill for “One Man, Two Guvnors,” a modern retelling of “The Servant of Two Masters.”

Chris stars as Stanley Stubbers, alongside Tony nominee James Corden. Back Stage chatted with Chris at the Lucille Lortel Awards on Sunday night about the differences between working in New York and England.

You did “One Man, Two Guvnors” in the West End before coming to Broadway. What do you enjoy about working in New York?
Oliver Chris: Cocktail bars. Mostly I like the cocktail bars after the shows.

Do they not have cocktail bars in England?
Chris: Not really. Mostly it’s the down and dirty sawdust pubs that we hang out in. But it’s amazing. It’s the greatest thing in the world to be in a hit show in the West End and then to come to Broadway and be welcomed so brilliantly. It’s a wonderful world to be plugged into. It’s just fabulous. It was so outside of my dreams. I never even imagined what it would be like. I mean look behind you, there’s the Chrysler Building over there. It’s incredible. We’re working here. It’s amazing.

Your show has a lot of physical comedy. What advice do you have for actors working in physical comedy?
Chris: Pretty much I have a load of Gatorade and some throat sweets. What you should probably do is warm up, and also the key thing with physical comedy, I would think with this experience, is precision. Everything has to be very precise. You have to make it look easy. And making stuff look easy is not easy. You have to practice and know what you’re doing every moment and know each movement has to be so precise.

Suzy Evans is the Senior Web Editor at Back Stage. Follow her on Twitter: @suzyeevans.