Interview: Actor Etai Benson on Touring, Films and Being AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

Actor Etai Benson sings and dances his way to The Hobby Center this month in Theatre Under the Stars' production of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. The Tony Award-winning musical, inspired by the 1951 Vincente Minnelli film of the same name and set to the music of George and Ira Gershwin, follows three soldiers and one French ballerina in a post-war City of Love.

Today, Benson joins us to talk life on the road, dole out some advice, and explain what it's like playing an American in Paris -- spoiler -- "'S Wonderful"!

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I read that you auditioned for the original Broadway workshop of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS a couple of years ago. How does it feel to have it come around again now that you're touring with the show? How did the time between prepare you for tackling the role now?

Etai Benson: I auditioned for the original Broadway workshop of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS over three years ago. Even in that early stage, I felt a strong connection to the character - his wit, his passion, his authenticity. I got to meet Christopher Wheeldon and the whole creative team, but I was maybe a bit too young and inexperienced to tackle the role at that point. Since then, I had the opportunity to take on more challenging roles, such as the title character in MY NAME IS ASHER LEV at the GableStage in Miami. That experience was a major artistic awakening for me and really prepared me for the kind of work I do as Adam. I'm so thrilled that AN AMERICAN IN PARIS came back into my life, and it's an honor to be sharing this story across the country.

Your character, Adam, is such an important character is this show, both as the narrator and as the composer of the music the audience hears. So, tell us more about him. Adam is pretty much the titular American is Paris, right?

Etai Benson: In many ways, Adam is the heart and soul of the show. He is the audience's way in - they're seeing the story through his eyes. I love Adam's journey; he's longing to find his artistic voice. At the beginning of the play, he's carrying the weight of World War II with him - his injury, his experience of fighting, the darkness of the war. But only when he finds love is he able to create his masterpiece. Essentially, as the late great Carrie Fisher put it, he takes his broken heart and makes it into art.

Adam is also a sort of stand-in for George Gershwin, himself, in that he's the composer of the music the audience is hearing. And just as Gershwin spent time in Paris and was inspired to write his masterful "American in Paris" symphony, so too does Adam. In that way - spoiler alert! - Adam (and therefore Gershwin) is actually the American in Paris.

Relating to your character, there's one important difference between the 1951 film and the stage musical - Adam went from being "Adam Cook" to "Adam Hochberg." How does emphasizing Adam's Jewish identity add depth to this show set in post-war Europe?

Etai Benson: In envisioning our show, our book writer, the great American playwright Craig Lucas, re-conceived the entire story of the film, giving it much more dramatic weight. Part of that meant emphasizing Adam's Jewishness. In the film, Adam is more of a tertiary, comedic sidekick (played by genius Oscar Levant), and though Levant was very "Jewish" in his humor and delivery, his identity was never overt. But in setting our show in 1945 immediately following the war, the Jewish themes could not be ignored. You simply can't talk about post-war Europe and not touch on the Holocaust and the Jewish struggle, and I think our show does it very artfully.

I did a lot of research on Jewish American soldiers in World War II. I read this terrific book, G.I. Jews, which served as a sort of bible for me in building Adam's backstory - what he may have seen and experienced in the war, how it changed and shaped his identity, how he was injured, why he decided to stay in Paris. I think the Jewish experience of the period is essential to the character and really informs his journey.

The Vincente Minnelli film is almost 70 years old, and with something from the fifties, there's always a risk people may find some of the material dated. The film is also essentially a jukebox screen musical, which come with their own criticisms. Yet there's been such a positive response to AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. Why do you think audiences are responding so well to the show?

Etai Benson: The original film AN AMERICAN IN PARIS was groundbreaking for its time. It took home the Best Picture Oscar that year and really set the tone for Hollywood musicals in the 1950s. It was pure Technicolor escapism - gorgeous music, dazzling visuals, and a pretty thin plot. But audiences today expect a bit more from their musicals. They want to be entertained, sure, but they also want to think and be moved emotionally. I think our show succeeds with audiences because it does what a great adaptation should do - it maintains the spirit and the romance of the film and enhances it; it keeps the major dramatic beats and characters from the film and fleshes them out more deeply. And Christopher Wheeldon's choreography bridges the gap between classical dance and theatre so gracefully, not to mention the design. Aesthetically, the show is a wonder to behold. So between the new storyline, the design, the movement and the timeless music, I think our show can speak to just about anyone.

Now a little about you! I understand that you were really interested in film as a kid, before you discovered theatre, so I have to ask - what's your favorite movie? Also, do you think this too might come around again, and you might be interested in making your own movies one day?

Etai Benson: Before I discovered theatre, I fell madly in love with film - and still am! I used to borrow my dad's camera and make my own movies with my friends and edit them on my VCR (that's right ... VCR). Choosing a favorite movie is an impossible task. I've seen A Clockwork Orange more times than I can count - anything by Stanley Kubrick, really. And then there's The Godfather and Network and Annie Hall and Magnolia and There Will Be Blood ... the list goes on. My current obsession is an Iranian filmmaker, Asghar Farhadi - I think he's one of the best directors out there right now. And my guilty pleasure is horror movies.

I can definitely see myself making films in the future. More and more, it's becoming important for artists to create their own work. But I don't know if anything I make will be as good as the movies I made when I was 12 - I think I peaked early!

I believe this is your second national tour, after WICKED. What has your artistic journey been like over the last few years? Is the life of a traveling actor as exciting as it seems?

Etai Benson: I had the pleasure of touring with WICKED for eight months. But it was a very different kind of tour. We would stay in cities for a minimum of three weeks, but usually more like five. We stayed in L.A. for three months! But with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, we are staying in most cities for one or two weeks at a time, so the pace is much more frenetic. It's exhausting, but also thrilling, because I get to see so much of the country. It's an exciting life for sure, if not always as glamorous as people think. Living out of suitcases and in hotels for a whole year takes some getting used to. But the experience of seeing the country, meeting new people in every city, playing glorious historic theaters, and telling our story night after night makes it more than worth it. Not to mention the bonds you create in the cast. They are truly my family on the road, and I know I've made some friends for life in this company.

And finally, what is the best advice anyone has ever given you?

Etai Benson: I studied at the University of Michigan and one of my greatest teachers there was Brent Wagner, the chair of the Musical Theatre Department - who recently retired after over 30 years! One of his key pieces of advice was, "Always look forward, don't look sideways." In this business, it's so easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to everyone around you, to feel like everyone is succeeding and you're failing, to feel like you're falling behind while everyone you know is pulling ahead. But each artist has his or her own journey, and it's important to keep looking forward and working hard and growing. Looking sideways will only slow you down.

And the advice I usually give younger people who are thinking of pursuing this business is: Be a nerd!

Be proud of and own your nerd-dom! But be a nerd about everything. Don't just follow the mainstream. Listen to all the cast albums, sure, but at the same time, read all the plays, watch all the films, read all the books, listen to all types of music, go to opera, go to ballet, geek out at art museums, study Shakespeare, Chekhov, Arthur Miller, August Wilson. The more passionate, informed, and cultured you are, the richer your art will be!

Catch Etai Benson in Theatre Under The Stars' production of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, opening February 21 and continuing through March 5 at The Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-558-8887 or visit tuts.com. $38.50 to $126.

And for more information on Etai Benson, please visit his website at etaibenson.com.

Photo credit: Matthew Murphy