Barrett Foa: A Class Actor

Much has been made of Barrett Foa's New York roots. Yes, he was born and raised in Manhattan, and attended the prestigious DaltonSchool on Manhattan's Upper East Side. However, the most salient feature of this young actor's career is his uncanny ability to reinvent roles that have been previously originated by other actors. It is often a thankless task, and one that can relegate a lesser actor to the permanent ranks of dependable understudy, but Barrett has clearly avoided that fate by giving consistently outstanding performances with characters as diverse as Princeton/Rod in "Avenue Q" to Leaf Coneybear in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."

Along the way, this vibrant young actor has amassed credits in several notable Off-Broadway productions, and even essayed the role of Claudio in "Much Ado About Nothing" for Hartford Stage--an impressive resume for any actor let alone one with so many years of performing yet to come. Barrett sat down with me for a conversation on what was coincidentally, the fifth anniversary of the Broadway debut of "Mamma Mia!," his first Broadway production and his first original Broadway role. 

Eddie Varley: Now that was your Broadway debut?

Barrett Foa: Yes…and that was exciting because we sort of knew we were going to be a hit.  The show had already been successful in London, Toronto and a National Tour. 

Eddie Varley:  How did it feel in rehearsals?

Barrett Foa: We were the fifth company…and that kind of feeling of "We're opening on Broadway and it's gonna rock!"  And so that was fun. I really don't have anything to compare it to, I guess… 

E:You've been lucky to be a part of shows that have proven themselves, like "Avenue Q."

B:Right. Which is nice.  I get to go in and recreate these wonderful characters.

E:You've made a name for yourself by doing that, which is tough in this business, and you've made it a name that people want to go and see. 

B: Which is really nice and kind of surprising because I'm thinking "But I'm a replacement."

E:They don't see you that way.It's like you're the original actor who created the role.

B:Which is nice.  And also I think these two shows, "Q" and "Spelling Bee", are kind of scrappy and they have this kind of cultish following.  They are kind of intelligent, but also the masses will enjoy them. 

E: The audience adores 'Spelling Bee;' the night I attended the energy was electric!

B: Good.  Good.  It's so much fun to do.  I have to say.  The…just…first of all, coming off "Ave. Q," which was directed within an inch of its life..which is what's so great about it.  It's so succinct.  Every moment is planned out book wise and direction-wise.  And then puppet-wise.  You know, "what am I doing with this puppet?"(laughs) 

E: You've got all of these things going on that have to come together.

B: Exactly.  It's just a specific kind of comedy that's just "Look!" and then you get the laugh. 

E:The punch line is there.  Make sure you're there.

B:Exactly.  And this is so…Bee is so amorphous…an amoeba. Because the audience is another character in the show, and that we're not pretending the audience isn't there.  Because we're at a spelling bee, so there's an audience.

E: Exactly. 

B: And that was one of the things going from rehearsal into the show that I was like there's a major character we haven't added yet, and it's called the audience.

B: And I just have no idea what that's going to be. 

E: Did you relate to that in rehearsal at all?  Are they like, "This might happen, just…"

B: Yeah.  And I watched a few shows, but I couldn't really watch the night shows cause I was doing double duty with "Avenue Q," but that was also a good way to learn a show, because I wasn't watching Jesse too much.  I had seen Jesse in the past when I had seen the show because I had friends in the show. But, so I had an idea of what he was doing, but I wasn't "I'm gonna steal that" or subconsciously steal things, which is good.  I created it kind of organically.  In rehearsals, and not having to go that night, every night, and worry that it's seeping in subconsciously. 

E: That's good.

B:It's like I had created it, then I could go watch…I could have a few shows where I watched. 

E: And you sort of mastered that by doing it with "Ave. Q," too.

B: And it felt like that, which was nice.  So there's that, um, that changing kind of amoeba that is "Bee."  Which is nice, especially coming from "Ave. Q," which is so specific. 

E: Yes

B: And then, on top of that, there's the audience volunteers, which are just, oh, that when you're doing the exact same thing eight times a week, it's nice when there's something that's a little bit different every night.  Just that struggle of having to then stifle the laugh on stage or hide it, or whatever it is because, I'm genuine.  This is genuinely funny.  I've never heard that line before and I didn't know it was coming. 

E: And you can't react like…

B: I can't…and I can… 

E: A little bit of both.

B: It's kind of fun.  It's funny that the audience understands that we're kind of innocent, too.  That we don't know what's going on. 

E: I got that too.  The innocence of all the kids.  And Todd Buonapane was amazing.

B: Did you see him as Barfee? 

E: Yes.  He was on in the role that evening.

B:Oh…that's right.  That's right.  He was great! I wish Barfee and I…Barfee and Leaf had more things to do together.  It was great when Celia (Celia Keenan-Bolger who originated Olive and is now starring in "Les Miz" as Eponine) was there, too, cause we were all the stars of "Anything Goes" at the University of Michigan…it's crazy. 

E: And now you guys are…

B: Starring on Broadway. (laughs) It's a dream come true.And also, what's also great about it is that playing Leaf is such a different performance after the physical demands of "Ave. Q," just vocally.  Just having to do those crazy character voices and the musical director screaming at me "No vibrato…No vibrato" and, you know, Princeton's up here (high voice) and Rod is very nasal.  And so, you know, my voice box was in my eyes.

E: Eight shows a week like that. 

B: It just needs to drop a little bit.  So this is nice.  And just also, Princeton/Rod is just a bear of a role.  You never leave the stage. Dripping sweat, there's a winter coat on your arm.  It's just…a lot to think about.  And Leaf is so kind of still.  He's distracted easily, but he's just…

E: Sometimes, all I saw was your hands moving.  Everything else was very still.  Which is good for the character, because he's very centered.

B: Yeah…it's true.  And he has that spacey quality and I'm paid to sit on a bleacher and space out.But seriously, it's an awesome gig, I have to say.  And then I get to…all I have to do is wait for my name to be called up, go up and be funny for three minutes and sit back down again and do it.  But…the secret…I mean…I can't really space out.  I just have to act like I'm spacing out because you actually have to be present.

E: I wanted to touch on your performance of Mordred in "Camelot" at Paper Mill Playhouse a few years back; it was thrilling to watch. You nailed both the laughs and the vile nature of that character. 

B:I loved that experience at Paper Mill.

E:Would you ever want to tackle that role again? 

B:I would…only if it was on Broadway with Liam Neeson. (laughs)

E:Well…there you go.Let's get it started.You know, someone's going to do that.There's a producer going "YES!"

B:(laughing) That's right.  Just because I've played that role three times now.  Twice in summer stock and then…and I'm a little bit like, "I might be done with Mordred.  I think I've got the Mordred down."

E: The reviewers agreed! 

B: It was great to do it with Brent Barrett, and that was really fun.  But it's a long show and it's a long time before Mordred gets to be on stage. The good thing was I shared a dressing room with George S. Irving.

E: Oh, that's a treat! 

B: He's been in every show, including the original Broadway cast of "Oklahoma!"

E: A history lesson.You're not wasting that time.

B: Exactly.  It's one of those things where it's not "Ugh…I'm stuck with the old guy…like what am I going to?"  It was awesome.  We totally loved each other.  He was always like (Irving voice) "Hey, Bar…how ya doin?  I gotta change another costume."  I'm like "Great…heaven." I just did a reading with him.  Two times now, there's this thing called Project Shaw, the director/producer of it, David Staller, saw me in some benefit and was like, "Come be this part" and then he asked me to do the next one too, and George was in it.  So we spent all day together at the Player's club, and he was like, "Bar, we gotta do 'The Dresser'".  And I was like, "I think that is a great idea." 

E: That would be a great idea.

B:And so he was like, "Let's talk to Charlotte Moore, from the Irish Rep, who was there in the reading as well.  And we said, "We want to do 'The Dresser'" and she said "I think that would be amazing." 

E: That's a great idea.

B: So I'm going to put that out there too. I am doing a workshop of a new play at Playwrights.  They asked me to do something there, so that's exciting. 

E: That's great. What is the work about?

B: I have to be drunk…the whole cast has to be drunk for the entire show, like falling down, stumbling drunk.  So I'm a little bit nervous about that. 

E: Which is probably the hardest thing for an actor to do.

B: Yeah…and it's not like it's a scene.  He's just drunk in his one scene.  Everyone is like "I'm Whoo!"  And just actually stumbling to the ground.And that's going to be interesting to see what that is.  I'm not gonna say too much more about it, 'cause it's a workshop. But it's fun that a great playwright and director and Playwrights Horizons were like, "Let's look at some names.  Oh, Barrett Foa, we'll ask him to do it," and no audition.  That makes me feel good that I'm kind of out there and people know who I am, and that it's a play.  More plays please.  More dramatic stuff. 

E: You also just did the "Whorehouse" benefit for The Actors Fund.

B: It was nice to be asked. It was like a six line little cameo.  I was this really cheesy sports announcer. …Seth Rudetsky asked me to do it…and they asked me to do it 'cause of Lucy the Slut--I was interviewing one of the cheerleader girls and they cast that as Lucy the Slut from "Ave. Q"--so it was a little "Ave. Q" inside joke.  I was like, "OK, great, whatever."  I had these six lines and I was like (sports announcer voice)  "Hey there, sports fans, this is Chip Brewster…"  Seth told me afterwards, "What I love about you that you have this leading man quality, but you're kind of this character man inside."  I was like, "I love that compliment".  Well, I'm gonna take it as a compliment, first of all, and…

E: It is. 

B: And I would so much rather be that than, like, a brooding, boring male ingénue. 

E: You're like the Johnny Depp of Broadway. 

B: Sure!  Could we say that?  I like that!

E: He started on "21 Jump Street" all those years ago and now he's "Sweeney Todd."

B: Totally. 

E: He has never done what people expected him to do.  He always makes an inspired choice in his acting work. You have followed that example in your own choices, even when you did your Ars Nova solo show a few years back.

B: That's what I tried to do, that it was a little bit different.I mean, everyone says that, "I tried to do a pop song" or whatever.  I had two backup singers and a four piece band and I wanted to make it a little bit more "Rocky" or a little bit…and then I just kind of told crazy stories.  It was fun.  It was a good challenge for myself.  It was a lot to do, and I'm more interested in more character-driven stuff, I'm realizing. 

E: I think that's the right direction.

B:Just, actually, as I said it, I was like, "That interests me" more than "This is me, let me share me with you."  I wanted to make it super-casual, like "Hey, what's up". 

E:More of a party than "Here's my soul"….

B: A party.  My friends.  Here's some songs, and not like "I moved to New York and…" I kind of made fun of that. The beginning of the show was like the vamp of "Corner of the Sky."  And it was like, "This is the story of a boy's humble beginnings...Moving all the way from Park Avenue to Midtown." 

E: You're making the right artistic journey during that "short" trip.

B: Hopefully.

B: And of course your always who you are informs what you do, but the fact that…those actors that you're like, "I couldn't even recognize that that was that person from that movie or that show to that show."I like that I can be Matt in the "Fantasticks" and then I can be Leaf Coneybear or, like, Princeton/Rod or Mordred.  That's fun, and I thinks it's more of the character-driven stuff, and to talk about what I want to do next, I think it is, I don't know if it has been written yet.  You know?  It's that kind of thing.I used to have my stock answers of…well…the one thing I do want to do is "Forum, "I want to do Hero in "Forum" before I'm too old.  The clock's ticking. 

E:That would be a great role for you.

B:Yeah.  Really, it's just the character.I'm realizing this just recently.  It's funny that we are talking about this. 

E:What I love is that you're from the city.  I'm sure you've been asked this before, how does it influence you.  When you walk to work, but it's still your city where you grew up.  It's special.

B: Sure.  I think it is, but it's the same way that people are like, "I can't believe you're from the city.  What's that like?"  And I'm like, "I can't believe you're from the suburbs.  What's that like?  Because that was my reality, so I have nothing to compare it to.  But, now that I realize that all the world did not grow up on the UES of Manhattan, I mean…first of all, just going to Dalton, which is kind of a fancy-shmancy private school on the UES, for better and for worse.  It was really academically minded.  They had a great arts program.They had a great Modern Dance program, and we would like go to the Joyce and wrote a paper.  And I was a part of this choreographer's program and it was a great, creative outlet.

E: Do you like dancing? 

B: I do, and I did more in high school and college.  I also went to Interlochen arts camp.That was a good creative outlet during the summer, for like super academic school year. 

E: You've always had a creative thrust to your life.

B: Yeah. But we always have that kind of grounded.  I did apply to U of M, but it was one of the only BFA programs I applied to.  I was also like, Connecticut College and Brown and Northwestern. 

E: Do you like to do any writing of your own? The answers you wrote to some of our BWW Q&A features in the past are some of our favorites!

B: That's funny, cause I just wrote my brother's toast.  I was Best Man at my brother's wedding and I just wrote the toast, and it was really fun.  It went over really well, and people were like, "Who wrote that speech?"  And I was said, "Me!" (laughs) 

E: You were really proud of that (laughing), more than anything else.

B: (laughing) A little bit...Of course, I don't really put pen to paper unless it's an email or questions or something like that.  Or finger to keyboard.  I'm beginning to realize that I have that knack, which will probably come in handy later.

E: It seems that things are gelling like that.Like the character work you'd like to do, and you're writing.  You can do all of that. 

B: Hopefully.

E: All the stuff you're doing now and you've worked under great directors and done great composer's works, it can't hurt. 

B:Then I look at…I'm really good friends with Hunter Bell who wrote "[title of show]," and I'm thinking "Ugh…that is amazing!  "I don't know if I have that in me, but maybe it's somewhere in there.

E: Well, you're still discovering your depth as a performer and beyond.  You must have come from a very supportive environment, true?

B:Yes, my parents were super supportive, but they weren't like, "Go to these auditions in high school and get a headshot."

E: They weren't stage parents. 

B: Totally.  It was like I was in an acting class after school, or things like that, or Interlochen, which is a huge, focused placed. 

E: That's serious business.

B:Yeah, I went back there recently and taught the kids, and I had so much fun.  It was great.  Those kids are serious.  They lock themselves in practice rooms for hours on end and you just hear violins and pianos and Shakespeare monologues.  It's crazy.  And they're really focused.

E: It's like a little lab. 

B: It really is.  In beautiful, upstate Michigan.  It's an arts haven. To come back there was nice.I knew I didn't want to live or go to school anywhere near the city.  Like NYU or Sarah Lawrence.  I was just like, "Get me away."

E: It's a really smart move...because you experience something different. 

B: Exactly, what is the Midwest?  What is that thing?  How do the people in the rest of the country live?

E: There are no subways.  How do they survive?

B: Right.  And how did…I love that also, U of M has this amazing musical theatre program, but also the liberal arts courses you take are at the U of M, which is a really great school, as opposed to CCM, where you take your liberal arts courses at the University of Cincinnati.  Maybe, not so great. 

E: There's not a balance, where you're getting a balance of top level.

B:And that was really important to me.  Especially coming from Dalton.  Every one of my classmates went to an Ivy League school. 

E:You wanted to continue the education that inspired you as a youth.

B: Yes.  So I think that informed me.  And I think all those things make you a good actor, and I think just being that well-rounded thing, instead of being just, "I can sing and dance, but I don't know anything about anything else." 

E: I think that's the thing.  Smart actors.  There's talent.  You hope that there's talent.  But I'm always impressed with smart actors. You know the text.  You're able to be a vessel for it.  To get it and it allows you to be free with it.

B: And to let it go a little bit.  I think, more and more, week, by week, like once every two weeks I have a kind of epiphany with 'Spelling Bee,' like, "I think I can do even less there."

E: That is a wonderful epiphany. 

B: And still get across the same thing of just being like, "I'm not that smart."  That's all you need to do and the audience responds…instead of me coming to them. 

E: It's such a big thing to learn.

B: It is.  It is.  It's really helpful and, I mean things like "[title of show]," you watch that and it's like "Hey what's up, how are you?"  And that's all you need to do.  It's just so small.

E: And isn't it freeing when you do it, when you make that choice? Because there's that thing about acting and singing and Broadway… 

B: Especially in musical theatre.

E: Right, especially musically theatre, and I think the best is when it's done as dramatically sound as doing a Shakespeare or a Pinter play or…well…if it's "Forum," then there's a different energy there.

B:Sure. 

E: But still, it could be honest...to have that "less is so more," and it's impossible to learn sometimes, unless you're doing it.  You're eight shows a week, you have these epiphanies and this growth.  And what I saw that night…I mean the whole cast, everybody, was just so free.

B: That's so good to hear.

E: Being free is important when you are playing a child.

B: It's so easy to be "I'm a spazz…I'm a kid.  Whoo!"  But it's not a caricature of six kids, like, "Oh, this is how adults look at kids."  It's not that. 

E: I don't think it would be successful if it was like that.

B: I don't think so at all.I think you're right. 

E: The minute you become precious and start gilding the lily in any way, in anything, I get a little…well.This is a great show for you to be in and experience this.  It's obvious you're in a wonderful transitional stage just for yourself.

B: Yeah.

E: Are you? 

B:I think so.  Yeah.  It's nice to be, hopefully, on the precipice of something.  I'm excited.  And there are possibilities in many directions.  You know, the whole LA thing, and I'm like, do I want to do that.

E: That's what I was going to ask you.What about television and film work? I'm sure you get offers and stuff. 

B: My goal isn't to be famous.  That actually really turns my stomach.  The whole notion of celebrity and people, you know, up in your private life.

E:You have a taste of it now, in a way.  Personal success on Broadway. You are a known personality in the theatrical community. 

B: Sure, but it's in certain circles, in circles I respect.

E: Right, you're free to walk around.

B:Right, I can go to the supermarket.  I don't think I'm anywhere near not being able to go to the supermarket, but, um, it's something that is not any kind of goal of mine...that whole notion of celebrity and that crazed fanaticism that's going on in our country.

E: Well the culture is now, every magazine, "why are they breaking up?" 

B: It's insane.I don't want to know anything about it.  I just don't care about Brad or Jennifer.

E: I was just going to say, Brad still loves Jen.  Who cares, truly?

B: First of all, "how do you know?" 

E: It's so true...You're not searching it out.  You're just going for the work and they might say "We have this great show for you." 

B: Yes.  Yes.

E: Then how you deal with that will be interesting.

B:It will be...I'm looking at people from the theatre, who transferred over, and I was really good friends with TR Knight, who's on "Grey's Anatomy." And Jesse (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who originated Leaf Coneybear in "Spelling Bee") now is a complete, crazy standout in THE CLASS. 

E: He's THE standout.Not just cause we're talking…

B: No, seriously…not at all.  He's great.

E: He's bringing something really different and special.  The good thing about that is I think people are looking at performers in Broadway shows… 

B: Hopefully.

E: One of the things I like most about your work is how informed and intelligent it is, any chance of you doing more Shakespeare?  Essaying Claudio in "Much Ado About Nothing" was a real passionate triumph for you as an actor, wasn't it? 

B: I was so grateful for that challenge, the fact that Mark Lamos took this risk on a "Mamma Mia!" chorus boy, meanwhile seeing MFA's from NYU and like Yale and Julliard kids, and I was like, literally a "Mamma Mia!" chorus boy.

E: But you were ideally set up for Shakespeare in many ways after your theatrical education and your vocal gifts. 

B: Yes.  And I was like, "Wow, this is really cool."  And we're going to Hartford Stage Co. and the Shakespeare theatre in DC and it's like totally legit and we were with all the other people in the cast were muckity-mucks, with fancy MFA degrees, and there's Karen Ziemba and I who were…she was Beatrice and I was Claudio and we were these two leads and we like (whispers) "I've never done Shakespeare before".  I mean, I did it in college, and like I went away to London for a semester and studied Shakespeare and acting there and dropped the musical theatre for a semester, which was nice.  But that was funny because we were like, "what are we doing?"  And Mark Lamos definitely made it accessible to us.

E: He made you feel safe and how to deal with it.

B: Yes.  Yes.  We were like, "Oh, we kinda got this."Because we're used to speaking in heightened situations. 

E: It's musical.

B:It's so musical.  There's the tempo, there's the lilt of the line and the musicality of the line.  And we really took to it like a fish to water.It was really fun and it was great to be up there and be like, "I don't really know what I'm doing.  Is someone going to blow the whistle on me?  A be like what are you doing? 

E: "Excuse me!  What is Barrett doing in Shakespeare?"

B: Exactly.  It was great to be a part of that.  And I hope that there would be more of that too, a little bit. 

E: Yeah…well vocally, too, I would think that you would be ideal for Shakespeare.

B: I'd love to take on another crack at it.  Considering the last time was 2002. 

E: Well that might be fun, you might even have a chance to go and do a season of Shakespeare somewhere.

B: Totally.T  hat would be amazing.  Sharpen those chops. 

E: What roles would you be interested in regarding his work?

B: I would love to do a little…one of the boys in "Midsummer." 

E: OK…that's a smart choice.  Get 'em out there.  Let's make a list!

B: Sure.  Lysander, Demetrius. 

E:OK, so you've got the Broadway role, maybe some great character found in a television or film project and some Shakespeare work …we're doing your five-year plan today.

B: I like this.  This five-year plan.  I think maybe…I think I could take a crack at Romeo. 

E: I would think so.

B: That would be fun.  Let's see.I   don't know.Sebastian in "Twelfth Night?" 

E: Romeo is a good choice, because it's…

B: It's a big choice, though. 

E: It is a big choice.  It's a choice you just jump in and everybody knows.  I would also say, you know…Hamlet!

B: Sure.  I always think of myself as too young for it.  Maybe…

E: I think sometimes it's done too old; Ralph Fiennes was amazing in it on Broadway. 

B: I wish I had seen that.

E: Let's get that done.  Let's get Hamlet done. 

B: I'll do it! (laughs)