Interview: Tony Yazbeck Reflects on His History with GYPSY- 'I Never Wanted It to End'

Richard Ridge of "Backstage with Richard Ridge" recently sat down with 2015 Tony nominee for On The Town, Tony Yazbeck, to discuss how things are going at the Lyric Theatre, what playing this role means to him, and so much more!

Check out a sneak peek of the interview below in which Yazbeck discuss his history with GYPSY. Check back Saturday morning to watch the full interview!

Let's talk about your history with the musical Gypsy.

Gypsy, I was a child actor, I was 11 years old on the stage at the St. James Theatre, and I got the part right away. I was told downstairs in the wardrobe room of the St. James Theatre that I had been cast. Two days later I was starting rehearsal. I was in the show three days after that. It was like really quick, "Bam, bam, bam." The most incredible experience probably still, because it's so heightened as a child. Watching Tyne Daly from the wings every night, watching Bob Lambert do "All I Need is the Girl," and going, "I'd love to do that one day." Just incredible.

The lights and sounds of New York City - for me, Gypsy was New York. Gypsy was Broadway. And then, as an adult, to be able to do it at City Center, which I thought, "That's enough." We did three weeks, and I can't' believe I actually got to play Tulsa with Patti LuPone and Arthur Laurents and you know. And then you get a call that it's going to Broadway, and you just think, "Well I'm the luckiest guy in the world." So ridiculously lucky. And it was one of those jobs that, I have to say, I never ever wanted to end. I never wanted it to end. There have been jobs in my life where six months will go by, and I'm like, "Okay, I'm tired. I'm ready for a break," or "I want it to end," but that job, I could have kept going forever.

I love how it came full circle. You started out as a little kid playing a newsboy and then you ended up the older version, Tulsa.

I think people underestimate children sometimes. I think, as a kid, I was 11 years old, and I took that number in. I watched the direction and I also watched how he performed it. I watched how the choreography - there was something so soulful about the Robbins choreography that I took to. And I remembered it, and I kept remembering it as a kid. Even when I went back to school, I went to the farm for a while, I went back to high school. I was in the middle of nowhere in the Poconos. But you hold onto something all your life and then you get into a room, and someone gives you a chance. And you've got one chance, and you go, "Alright, be vulnerable enough, and remember it all, and give it - give it the way you remember it." And sometimes it works out.

Did Arthur hire you?

He did. He was in the room, I had one audition. I sort of forced my way into this final callback. At the time, they weren't sure about my type and everything. So I made something happen basically, and got in the room. And Arthur was there, and he was told at that time that I was a kid with his other Gypsy, and he found that interesting. And I got the call that night that I'd be doing it at City Center. It just blew my mind, yeah.

Yazbeck's Broadway credits include: Chicago (Billy Flynn), Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Phil Davis), Gypsy w/ Patti LuPone (Tulsa, Outer Critics Circle nom.), A Chorus Line (Al), Oklahoma!, Never Gonna Dance, Gypsy w/ Tyne Daly. Off-Broadway: Fanny Hill (at the York). For City CenterEncores!: Little Me, On The Town, Gypsy, The Apple Tree, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Pardon My English. Regional: Alliance, Barrington, Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Goodman, St. Louis MUNY, Goodspeed (Connecticut Critics Circle Award), Signature (Helen Hayes Award), Trinity Rep., Paper Mill, Old Globe. Starred in Kiss Me Kate at the Royal Albert Hall in London. TV/Film: NBC's "Smash," the feature documentary Every Little Step. Tony also stars in his own song and dance show, The Floor Above Me. tonyyazbeck.net

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