A Golden Night with the New York Pops: Gala Honoree Rob Marshall on Celebrating 'An Embarrassment of Riches' Alongside Family

By the numbers, Rob Marshall has found a fairly stable foothold atop the Broadway-turned-Hollywood helmer list.

His films have garnered 23 Academy Award nominations, his stage work has landed him five Tony Award nominations. He's had BAFTA, Directors Guild, and Golden Globe nods come his way. He's choreographed or musically staged 10 Broadway productions and directed three. All of which while remaining one of the most humble and genuine guys in the business - as surely as someone with his resume ever possibly hope to be. Forthcoming and honest, Marshall continues to strive to be the master of the modern movie musical, with no true challengers encroaching on the title.

Marshall's been entrusted with the film adaptations of Kander and Ebb's CHICAGO, Stephen Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS, and Maury Yeston's NINE. On stage, Roundabout's 1998 revival of CABARET, and the subsequent production. He's a creative who's proven that with every property he touches, he does so with a delicate hand, paying respect to its origins, while teasing out the best from his performers, and the most poignant points of drama and emotions from a script.

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The New Golden Age with the New York POPS

Alongside his sister, Tony-winning director/choreograper, Kathleen Marshall, the Oscar nominee will be honored at the New York Pops' 32nd Birthday Gala, titled 'The New Golden Age,' on Monday, May 4. Performers including Alan Cumming, Bebe Neuwirth, Laura Benanti and Queen Latifah are on the bill to pay tribute to the stellar siblings. In honor of the big night, Marshall spoke with BroadwayWorld, opening up about who he's most proud to share the evening with, the resurgence of CABARET on Broadway, and why Sally Bowles is the female Hamlet of musical theatre.

"I was thrilled, surprised," Marshall said after receiving the initial notice. "Carnegie Hall is the apex of New York - it's completely overwhelming. It hasn't really quite sunken in yet, I have to say. But as I'm preparing, I always immediately think of my parents. I know this is going to mean so much to them, that the two of us together will be honored. I love sharing things with Kathleen - we have our whole lives. Ever since we were kids."

Marshall's twin sister, Mara, and parents will also be in attendance to root her sibilings on, as Steven Reineke and the Pops play to a sold-out Manhattan crowd.

"[The honor] is a wonderful gift to us and to our parents," he said. "They are amazing, incredible people, who have supported us and given us so much love throughout our lives."

Growing up in an academic household (both parents being professors, their father teaching medieveal history, and mother education,) pushed Kathleen and Rob to strive, study, and focus on what they were innately drawn to.

"Our parents exposed us to so much," he said. "We saw ballet and opera and Shakespeare since we were five."

But there was a balance. The Marshalls didn't spend all of their outings in a theater.

"We're a huge sports household - still to this day!" he said, laughing. "We saw so much, and they allowed us to find out what we naturally gravitated towards. And for whatever reason, it was theatre and dance."

To have his "joyous" colleagues - the best of Broadway and Hollywood, those who have pushed him higher and higher throughout his career - gather for him and his sister, is nothing but humbling, he said.

"It always feels like a bit much. I always feel like, in a way, that I've already gotten this huge gift. That was working with those artists. That's the joy. People have different thrills when working in the theatre, but mine's working the artists. That's what I love."

Despite not having a working relationship with them before, Marshall says Reineke and the Pops have been "nothing but amazing to us."

"They do this all on their own," he added. "And then they put this extraordinary lineup of performers together who have connections to either Kathleen or myself. They're not letting us know much about it, so we'll be surprised on the night of. We have a little sense of things, but not much. I'd rather not know."

Another surprise, for Roundabout, Marshall, Sam Mendes - and pretty much theatre fans in general, was the 2014 remount of the 1998 revival of Kander & Ebb's CABARET, with Cumming returning to reprise his star-making, head-turning role as 'the Emcee.'

"It was thrilling to do it again, I have to say," Marshall said. "It's such a powerful piece. Of the top musicals of all time, CABARET is certainly one of them. It's just brilliant. I loved the chance to work with Sam [Mendes] again. We're very close. Both Sam and I, out of Cabaret, got our first films. His was American Beauty, and mine was Chicago. Cabaret kind of changed our lives."

And it's done so for many others. From fans, to A-list stars, making their Broadway debuts. The role of Sally Bowles, which Marshall describes as "the Hamlet for women in musical theatre," drew big names once again this time around: Michelle Williams, Emma Stone, Sienna Miller. During the revival's original run, the late Natasha Richardson, Molly Ringwald, and others stepped into her kitten heels.

"Sally takes such a big, incredibly tragic journey," he said, on why so many actresses are willing to replace another for a chance to play the part. "But it's a full journey. The role is funny, it's vulnerable, it requires strength. There's singing, dancing - it's enormous. And they just don't write those kind of parts. Sally is very rare. That's why Emma Stone, for instance, decided to come in. She didn't care she was a replacement. She could have walked into any Broadway show at any time - but that's not what she wanted. She wanted to do this role, in this production."

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Out of 'THE WOODS'

With the film adaptation of Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS, boasting a cast including Streep, Corden, Kendrick and many others, wrapped, Marshall looks ahead. Whether there's another film adaptation on the horizon isn't completely clear. On the prospect of bringing another beloved stage piece to the big screen, Marshall says there are only a handful left that he thinks would lend themselves to film. But he's not about to fade away from the movie musical.

Instead, he's intent on taking a less trodden path.

"What I think would be interesting to explore is what they did in the 40s and 50s, during the Arthur Freed unit at MGM," he said. They wrote original musicals for film. They're some of the best musicals out there! Singing in the Rain, Bandwagon, Meet Me in St. Louis. Some of those wonderful musicals didn't come from Broadway, but were written straight for the screen. That's something I think would be fascinating to do."

Months of rumors, and a sly confirmation to BWW earlier this year point to Marshall being interested in bringing FOLLIES, another Sondheim musical, to theaters. The jury's still out on whether it'll be his next conquest, but it's "on the list."

"I believe in the form so much," Marshall said. "But the most important thing is you get that choice right: that you choose to bring the show that would work so well on film."

Regardless of what he brings theatrelovers next, Marshall's happy to be where he is, greatful for the projects that he's been entrusted with.

"I feel so lucky to be able to begin in the theatre, and move into film. I'm constantly very aware of the luck that's been involved. It's an embarrassment of riches."

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In celebration of the POPS' annual gala, honoring Marshall, take a look back at some of his finest works from stage and film below!

Top Photo by Walter McBride; CABARET Photos by Joan Marcus

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Single tickets for the concert range from $65 to $160 and are available at http://www.carnegiehall.org/, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, at 57th Street and 7th Avenue.

To read what Kathleen Marshall had to say about her career, accolades, and sharing the big night with her brother, click here.

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