Photo Source: Peter Coombs
This Denver-born performer says she's delighted to have added a Rodgers and Hammerstein heroine to her résumé: Ensign Nellie Forbush, the cockeyed optimist who learns a valuable lesson about racial tolerance in the 1949 classic "South Pacific." Now in Toronto wrapping up an 18-month gig in the national tour of the musical's Tony-winning Lincoln Center revival, Cusack says she particularly loved having a role that allowed her to "act" as well as sing. In Back Stage, we called her Garland-winning performance "radiant," describing her characterization as one of "passion and intelligence."
Cusack expresses gratitude to director Bartlett Sher for guiding her through the challenging role and finding remarkable contemporary resonance in the vintage material. "Rodgers and Hammerstein were definitely ahead of their time with this show," she says. "A lot of the scenes we were able to embrace this time were so shocking to an audience that they had to be cut in the original production. Now, people can relate to Nellie, from wherever they were brought up. There's still a lot of racism out there."
Cusack first thought of doing this role when she saw a production of "South Pacific" at the National Theatre in London nearly 10 years ago. "It was a fantastic production," she says. "It didn't have the nuances that Bart brought to it, but I fell in love with that character." Cusack got cast in the role after two brief readings for Sher in New York, arranged by casters Telsey + Company.
She recalls becoming frustrated when her boyfriend, actor Paul Telfer, was helping her rehearse. "I was getting mad at myself because I didn't think I was getting it right," she says. "And I remember throwing the script across the room. He told me, 'Take a deep breath, take everything you think it's supposed to be out of your mind, and just read the words with whatever you think you can bring to it. Be a Nellie you've never seen before.' That kind of opened up my mind. It helped me to put it together and make it unique."
Cusack has no immediate jobs firmed up, but she is looking forward to taking time off after the lengthy tour of "South Pacific" ends and joining Telfer, who is in L.A. for pilot season. She mentions possibly doing some concerts or cabaret while in L.A. Having given up their flat in London prior to the tour, the couple are thinking about settling anew in New York or L.A. The future feels promising to her: "I have wanted roles requiring more acting, and I didn't know how I was going to do in this role. But I held my own, and I learned so much from Bart. I regained a new confidence, and I feel stronger in my career."