The following interview for Backstage’s on-camera series The Slate was compiled in part by Backstage readers just like you! Follow us on Twitter (@Backstage) and Instagram (@backstagecast) to stay in the loop on upcoming interviews and to submit your questions.
Broadway icon Aaron Tveit embodies the definition of a triple threat. His performances seem effortless, like the characters he plays live and breathe inside of him, and he’s got the résumé—both on and off stage—to show for it. From his breakout role in “Next to Normal” to his recent Tony-nominated performance in “Moulin Rouge!” (which returns to the Great White Way next month), it’s hard to find a role Tveit can’t master. Audiences can now catch him on the new Apple TV+ musical series, “Schmigadoon!,” where he gets to show off his multi-level talent and knack for musical theater. He recently sat down with us Instagram Live to talk about the series, getting back to Broadway, and his latest appearance on “American Horror Stories.”
Aaron Tveit Would Like to Talk to You About His Process In some ways, “Schmigadoon!” fulfilled a years-long desire for Tveit.
“I’ve always wanted to play Billy Bigelow, so I’m really getting to live my Billy Bigelow dreams a bit. I was fascinated when I got this material, because I was only sent a couple scenes because it was under lock and key. But I read it, and halfway through the first scene, I said, ‘This really becomes the bench scene in ‘Carousel.” ’ Just knowing that Cecily [Strong] and [Kegan-Michael Key] were attached, and [after] getting a few clips from some musical pieces, I called my manager, and said, ‘I think this is what they’re trying to do. I think they’re trying to use these takes on these classic musicals, but all set against these two very contemporary sarcastic comics.’ That, to me, was so fascinating. That’s the thing that I’d never been aware of or seen done before.”
Tveit took a big risk in his audition choice for the series.
“I immediately leaned into the ‘Carousel’ upness of it, and in fact, I wasn’t supposed to sing in my audition, but at the end of that first scene, I added ‘If I Loved You,’ a little snip of the song. I like to go big or go home when I audition for stuff, so that was either totally going to crash and burn, or they were gonna say, ‘No, that’s what we’re trying to do.’ Luckily for this, and I later found out from [co-creator Cinco Paul], that’s exactly what they were trying to do. He told me that showed them that I knew what this was.”
In contrast to his more contemporary stage work, Tveit enjoyed tapping back into his classical roots.
“A lot of contemporary musical theater is very high, pop-rock belting, and singing loudly, as high as possible. That’s all well and great and very fun, and I’ve been very fortunate to kind of navigate my way through that, but at the core, I came into singing as a classical voice major. I studied classical voice at a music school for a year before I switched to acting. That is much more the type of singing that I’m actually trained to do. Getting to tap into that background a bit, in a way that I’ve not gotten to do professionally before, it was really refreshing, but challenging. Again, I haven’t been singing that way for a very long time. I have a wonderful voice teacher that I worked with. We had some Zoom lessons while I was quarantining in Vancouver. I had to re-tap into that part of my training.”
The “American Horror Story” ensemble reminded Tveit of a theater community.
“[Acting on ‘AHS’] was wild. You just get to do the most outlandish things. I wasn’t allowed to talk about it for a long time, and in my very specific cameo as it was in that episode, I got to do all the things that exist in the world within four scenes. It was great. I’ve always been a huge fan of the show, and I’ve always admired how they use a lot of the same actors. It’s almost like being a part of a theater company that’s doing a show in rep. They’re all these people who understand the universe and the world, and there are very unique rules.”
For Tveit, getting back to the Broadway community is what he’s looking forward to most after a long time away.
“I’m so grateful that I love so deeply what I get to do every night. That experience with the audience, when you don’t have it, you miss it. When it’s been ripped away the way it’s been, it’s even more so. But, more than anything, to re-feel that sense of community. The Broadway community is such a symbolic thing in New York. There was a lot of chatter around places that New York was gone and that New York was never gonna come back. I can be the first to say, because I was here the whole time, New York never went anywhere.”
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