BWW EXCLUSIVE: Seth Numrich Talks WAR HORSE, MERCHANT OF VENICE & More

Today we are talking to the star of two of the hottest shows of this season - THE MERCHANT OF VENICE and War Horse - none other than the young and talented Seth Numrich. Starring in the new permanent production at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont - the critically hailed National Theatre import of Nick Stafford's War Horse, directed by Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris - is his new gig, but in this extensive conversation we also take a look back at his time spent earlier this year in the rapturously-received Public Theater/Shakespeare In The Park production of William Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE starring Al Pacino and Lily Rabe. Additionally, we discuss his education at Juilliard, working with innovative playwright Charles Mee, his work with the Rising Pheonix Rep., what other Shakespearean roles he would like to take on in the future, his favorite shows currently running, Broadway versus Central Park, and much, much more! Plus, we have the first news about his independent feature film debut, PRIVATE ROMEO, premiering next month.

Pacino, Puppets & A Private

PC: Congratulations on War Horse having an open-ended run at LCT!

SN: Thank you so much. It is so, so exciting. Hopefully we can just keep doing the show as long as we can and on into the future. I think it's a very special piece of theatre. I am just so proud to be a part of this amazing production. Hopefully, we can bring it to as many people as possible. I am just really excited by it all.

PC: Did you see SOUTH PACIFIC, the previous permanent tenant of the Beaumont?

SN: I did see SOUTH PACIFIC. My friend Laura Osnes took over for Kelli O'Hara - and Laura's now in ANYTHING GOES - so I saw it then. I've actually seen a good amount of the shows at Lincoln Center Theater. I went to school right across the street at Juilliard, so some of the first stuff I got to see here in New York was at the Lincoln Center Theater. I've always been inspired by the work that they do. I am so happy to be here.

PC: Do you look back fondly at your Juilliard experience?

SN: It was a wonderful place for me. You know, it's a long four years and it's a love/hate relationship with the building and, you know, being there fourteen, sixteen, eighteen hours a day sometimes (Laughs.). But, you know, the teachers and the faculty there are amazing and the kinds of relationships that I was able to make with my classmates, with other actors, with directors and playwrights - it's so amazing and valuable now that I am out in the real world and trying to make it as an actor. Having gone there is so valuable and I am so glad to have gone there.

PC: Tell me about working with Chuck Mee on IPHIGENIA 2.0 - he's a genius, pure and simple. Did you get to work one-on-one with him?

SN: I did. Actually, that was my first job when I got out of school.

PC: No way! What was that like?

SN: I started rehearsals for that before I even got out of school and graduated. It was so exciting to be a part of that production.

PC: How involved was Chuck in the rehearsals?

SN: Chuck was around with us for a good amount of the rehearsals and really helped us navigate the landscape of that play that he wrote.

PC: What were your impressions of him?

SN: He's such an amazing guy. I don't really get star-struck around people very often, but, for some reason, Chuck is different. He's just so smart - he's one of the smartest people I think I have ever interacted with in my entire life. Just being around him, I would always get tongue-tied and kind of shy because I think he is so brilliant.

PC: What do you think of his plays?

SN: He really writes in such a unique and special way - and in a way that is so visceral - that I feel like, as an actor, I really respond to his work because I can feel it in my body rather than just in my brain.

PC: What about working with Tina Landau?

SN: Yeah, Tina Landau directed that - who I've also worked with a couple of times. Just the whole experience was really special to me - it being the first show I did getting out of school. I'll never forget it.

PC: What do you think of Mee's meta-narratives and the multi-media nature of his plays?

SN: I love it. And, I love the fact that he is not ashamed at all to steal work from other people and to put it into his plays. And, that, in return, he is so generous with his work and opens it up to people and publishes it on the web for free and says, "You can take from me and put it in your production - do whatever you want to do with it."

PC: Very 21st century.

SN: Yeah! And, I think it's such a lovely way of carrying on a tradition - as you obviously know, a lot of what he does is taking ancient Greek plays and repurposing them and creating new stories and new versions of them for the 21st century. And, that's what happened in the ancient Greek theatre and in the Homeric times - all of those plays were just retelling of older versions of those stories, written by that generation of playwrights.

PC: Do you think that it is important to reinterpret them for the times?

SN: Well, nowadays we get so precious with, you know, (Snarls.) "Shakespeare has to be exactly as Shakespeare wrote it!" - even though we don't know who Shakespeare was or whether that is how he wrote it.

PC: Right.

SN: Chuck sort of embodies that wonderful spirit of taking those things and re-imagining them and re-offering them in a new way to a new generation - I think that's so cool. So exciting.

PC: Even the title - IPHIGENIA 2.0 - is so au currant.

SN: (Laughs.) Exactly. Exactly.

PC: What was the rehearsal process like working with Kate Mulgrew and the rest of the cast?

SN: It was a wonderful company. Kate is absolutely amazing. We had to do this whole scene where we were dancing together, her and I, to this sexy music. We had such a blast just... (Laughs.) exploring and making it work. It was a lot of fun.

PC: What about the rest of the cast?

SN: The whole company was really an extraordinary group of actors. And, for me, coming straight out of school, and, certainly, I was working with people more experienced and older than me and a few people younger than me - I mean, I was just used to working with my classmates for the last four years. So, that was a really, really interesting way to come onto the scene in New York.

PC: Did the script change a lot in rehearsals and previews?

SN: We didn't... the script didn't change a lot through the production. It was pretty consistent. We had some wonderful dramaturges at the Signature Theater - they have such great people on tap there to help us navigate that text and all the texts that inspired that play. It was a great experience.

PC: Tell me about working on the splendid revival of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE earlier this season.

SN: That was a really amazing experience, too. For me, it was my first Broadway show and I couldn't be more proud than to be making my Broadway debut in something like that. I mean, it was just a dream to me - to be working with such phenomenal actors; and, with Daniel Sullivan, who I think is so brilliant and knows so much and is such an amazing collaborator and resource for a young actor like myself.

PC: How do you feel about the experience, looking back?

SN: I think I got really lucky being able to work on that project - and, also, to be able to work in such a high quality, American production of Shakespeare. Someone told us while we were in the rehearsals for that that it was the first time in almost twenty years that a completely American company doing a Shakespeare play had been on Broadway.

PC: Wow. That's inconceivable - almost.

SN: I think it's such a shame - we can do it so well. And, hopefully, we started the trend of getting more and more Shakespeare on Broadway because I think it's great.

PC: Continuing the Joe Papp tradition, as well.

SN: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah - of course.

PC: What was it like working with one of the greatest actors alive eight times a week - Al Pacino?

SN: Working with Al Pacino was an amazing experience. He's such an amazing guy. He's an incredible performer and actor - and, aside from that, just a generous human being. He'd spend time with us, the younger actors, and just tell us stories about his life and his work and his career and the Actor's Studio - these amazing stories that were just so, so inspiring.

PC: It must have been nearly surreal.

SN: (Laughs.) You know, it's something I am definitely going to tell my grandchildren about - hanging out with Al Pacino doing that play!

PC: What was your one-on-one interaction with him like on MERCHANT?

SN: I don't know if I can think of anything too specific, but I remember him telling us about making his Broadway debut - doing Broadway in the 60s and 70s and how different it was - but, also, just telling us about his start in the theatre being the same kind as some of ours is - some of my friends and I.

PC: Everyone starts the race at the same place.

SN: Yeah, I mean, I work with a great off-off-Broadway theatre company - Rising Phoenix Rep - I've done a bunch of stuff with them.

PC: What are they about?

SN: We perform in the backroom of a bar on East 7th St. in the East Village. That's where most of the stuff we do goes up. And, hearing Al talk about back in the day working at a Café Chino for no money and passing the hat around after the play and hoping they would have enough to all buy a sandwich on the corner: that's the spirit of the theatre that he started in and, now, you know, he is the most recognizable actor in the world.

PC: Undoubtedly.

SN: It was so cool to feel that parallel with the way that he started out and the way my friends and I get together to create theatre. Just watching him in rehearsal everyday - we shared the stage for a few brief moments during the play, but we really didn't share any scenes together - as I got to sit and watch him rehearse with the other actors, his spontaneity is what I noticed.

PC: Always fresh.

SN: Yeah. Even at the end of the four-month run that we did, every night was different and he always brought his energy of that day into his performance. And, he always surprised the actors around him. As I've started this run of War Horse, I find myself thinking about that and wondering how it was that Al could keep it consistently fresh and interesting every night. And, I am inspired from watching him from backstage and I try to embody that when I do War Horse on stage now every night.

PC: Barry Edelstein has done this column and both he and Lily Rabe pointed out the balance of the Portia and Shylock in this production and how it was so elemental to it working so well. It was so wonderfully rich and nuanced.

SN: Absolutely. I think that the characters Al and Lily were able to create - and that Daniel Sullivan guided us all through to in the creation of those characters - is because I think Daniel really tried to help us make full, well-rounded human beings. And, I think that that serves any play rather than just doing what everyone else has already done.

PC: From Mee to Shakespeare to beyond: Have you played Saturninus in TITUS ANDRONICUS yet? You seem destined to play it.

SN: (Laughs.) I would love to. I have not done that play. But, there are definitely some great Shakespearean roles that I would love to tackle in my career if I get a chance to.

PC: What Shakespeare role is gnawing at you to do next?

SN: Oh, man - that's a good question. (Sighs. Pause.) Well, I've played Romeo a couple of times, so I think I'm OK with that one for a while. (Laughs.)

PC: And?

SN: Well... obviously, HAMLET is up there on my list. I'm not sure if I'm quite ready for that yet - maybe give that a couple more years. Actually, the very first play that I ever saw in New York on Broadway was HENRY IV - both parts - that they did here at Lincoln Center.

PC: Jack O'Brien's masterpiece - besides HAIRSPRAY.

SN: Yeah, it was just amazing. I was so inspired by that. That's a role I'd love to play. And, as you said, TITUS ANRONICUS - there's some great stuff in there, too. So much. (Pause.) I really hope that I can continue to do classical theatre - it's something I am really passionate about and I'd love to explore.

PC: What about more Chuck Mee? Is Broadway even on his radar?

SN: God, I would love to - but, I'm not sure what Chuck thinks. He is such an ambitious artist in so many ways and is constantly working and creating - I don't know if one of his ambitions is to be on Broadway, but, if it ever is, I will be chomping at the bit for an audition.

PC: What was working with Craig Wright like?

SN: We did his play BLIND at the Rattlestick Theater a little over a year ago. It was a really interesting process. I think Rattlestick is one of the few gems left in New York that is really dedicated and committed to developing new work and diving in and exploring a new play. That play we did of his - it had never had a reading or a workshop done!

PC: No way.

SN: Yeah. He just kind of finished writing it and handed it to us and we started rehearsal.

PC: Like the old days Al reminisced about to you.

SN: Yeah! It was a great experience for me, as a young actor, to feel what that feels like to be sort of terrified of the work that you are doing and to just jump in and commit anyway. I learned so much working on that play. It was a challenge - but, it was a wonderful challenge that we all dove head first into. I think I am a better actor for having had worked on that.

PC: SLIPPING certainly was a range-expanding role, as well - would you agree?

SN: Yes. (Laughs.) Absolutely. That was another one at Rattlestick which was produced partially by Pheonix Rising Rep.. For me, it was an incredible experience as an actor and an extremely challenging role for me, as well. But, I felt so supported by the artists I was working with - we really formed a nice, tight little family to sort of explore the dark themes of that play with. (Laughs.) To jump into that role - those few months I was in a pretty dark place.

PC: So, you Travis Bickle it to get into character? Method?

SN: (Laughs.) Yeah, it's hard. I find it's the same with War Horse - having to live a few hours every day in the First World War; or, with SLIPPING, to live inside a young teenager who is struggling with sexuality and trying to kill himself - you know, these stories that are difficult to get inside, but I think those are the ones that are the most important to tell, and to tell truthfully and honestly and not just with stereotypes of what that experience is, but to try to figure it out and explore it for an audience every night. It's hard, but I think you learn ways not to bring the work home with you. As a young actor, I am still figuring that out. It's a great challenge, but I really enjoy doing things that have that much weight and meaning and purpose behind them.

PC: How did you first experience War Horse? Did you see it at the National?

SN: I didn't see it there, actually. I was here in New York and I had all these friends who had spent time in London and would come back to New York and just rave to me about this production. Then, we all heard it was coming over and I think we all - as New York actors - assumed that they would be bringing the British cast with them because that is what they so often do when they bring productions over here.

PC: Then they didn't - not this time, at least.

SN: Yeah - then we found out about the auditions. I was excited about the possibility and, then, the day they called to let me know I was cast as Albert, I was just ecstatic!

PC: What has been your experience like working on War Horse since that first audition?

SN: Since the very first audition, I have just been so excited about working on this play. The two directors - Tom Morris and Marianne Elliot - from that very first moment when I walked in the room, I felt so respected by them. It's been a real collaborative process even from the very beginning. I can't really say enough about how amazing the entire company has been - all of the designers, all of the creative team. It's been a dream to work on and it's something that comes along once in a lifetime - I think - in an actor's career, so I am just trying to enjoy it all as much as I possibly can.

PC: Twice - especially coming after MERCHANT earlier this season!

SN: (Big Laugh.) True. True!

PC: What do you think the message of War Horse is?

SN: That's a good question, because I think that everyone that comes to see it will walk away with a different experience of what the play means to them. For me, a lot of it is a story about hope and about how difficult it is to hold on to hope in the world sometimes - and, about how the world can be scary and tragic and, when you are dealing with war, it can be a really awful place. Albert is growing up from boy to man in the midst of that conflict. For him, his relationship with Joey, his best friend, is the thing he holds onto for hope and as his connection to home and family and love - he has to hold tightly onto that. There are moments in the play where he loses it and then finds it again and that's the journey that I go on every night.

PC: What does the message of the play mean to you personally?

SN: It means a lot to me because I feel like we've all been on those journeys - I definitely have, even in my short life thus far.

PC: Totally.

SN: I think it's also really great to remind ourselves, as a world, of this time in our history during the First World War when, suddenly, the world was getting a lot smaller and superpowers were emerging and there were struggles of power and it all culminated in this horrific event where all these millions of people lost their lives. And, looking back at the reasons why, it's really hard to figure out if there were any good reasons for all of it. I think that with the way the world is now, I think it's really great that we remember that and recognize how quickly things can get really scary and hopefully we can make choices that move away from that and are more compassionate and more humane in the future.

PC: Do you think the surrealism of the puppets affects the audience subconsciously - it has an impact you don't realize until you leave the theater?

SN: Yeah, I think so - and, I hope so. I mean, one of the things that I love so much about this production is the theatricality of it - that it is a theatrical event in all ways. And, while, hopefully, the emotional experience of the play is a naturalistic one - you know, we are going through real emotions with real characters - but, everything about the visual storytelling of the play is so theatrical and I love that because I feel like it, first of all, asks the audience to participate in this storytelling process that happens live right there in front of them, and: they have to believe this piece of wood and metal and leather is a horse; or, believe that someone holding a piece of wood is a whole fence; or, you know, all of these things the audience is asked to believe in. When they respond and they go there on the journey with us, I think it creates an even stronger bond and gives the audience ownership of the story because then they are part of telling it. I think that then - when you create that kind of relationship with an audience - the messages and the power behind the story of the play then can get that much deeper into people's subconscious. Hopefully, they walk away thinking about it and talking about it and excited by the experience.

PC: The Tinker Bell Principle - cheering a character alive.

SN: Exactly! They are responsible for making Joey in a lot of ways and believing that he is real - and, we can feel it when they are there with us. It's a really exciting feeling.

PC: That's really the essence of the magic of this production.

SN: Absolutely.

PC: So, tell me about working with the puppeteers.

SN: First of all, I think a lot of credit should go to Tom and Marianne and the casting people here at Lincoln Center. They were able to put together a company of thirty-five actors - the largest ensemble I've ever worked with by far - and, to a person, every single one is an amazing, astounding performer so committed and dedicated to this work. We all work incredibly hard. The directors said on the first day of rehearsal, "If anyone is the star of this play, it is Joey - and he is a puppet! The rest of us work together as an ensemble to tell this story." And I feel that way every night from all of my costars down to everybody involved in the play. I think we have a really special thing - having an ensemble working together with so much passion and support. I could name each one by name and say why they are amazing.

PC: Do you feel privileged to be a part of two of the best productions in this unusually strong season for plays?

SN: I am already a huge winner as far as I am concerned. I got to watch Al Pacino from backstage every night, so, (Laughs.) believe me, I know better than anyone how much he deserves an award. It's been an incredible season of amazing plays - new plays and revivals - and it's been a really exciting season, too. I hope I can continue to be a part of this community and continue to do more plays.

PC: What have been your favorite recent performances that you've seen?

SN: Gosh, I only had a week off between closing MERCHANT and starting rehearsals for War Horse, but since we have been up, a few of us from the cast went to see BOOK OF MORMON.

PC: What did you think of it?

SN: It was absolutely hysterical. An amazing time.

PC: "F*ck You, God"?

SN: Oh, my God. (Laughs.) So, so funny. I just loved it.

PC: What else?

SN: I got to see KIN down at Playwrights' Horizons. It was an off-Broadway show with really, really great performances all around in a great production with great direction.

PC: Top 3 songs on your iPod right now?

SN: I recently downloaded the new Lupe Fiasco album.

PC: LASERS?

SN: Yes! I love him - he's one of my favorite emcees on the hip-hop scene right now. I love his style and, also, his positive message. I work with kids a lot and I do some teaching as a teaching artist, and I always try to bust out some Lupe Fiasco because they get with the beat, but he is also talking about really interesting, inspiring things.

PC: That album is really impressive. What else?

SN: I also recently got THE ROOTS album from last year which is just amazing, amazing.

PC: First cast album?

SN: I think my parents had the original cast recording of LES MIZ on cassette and I used to listen to that in the basement of our house where I grew up. I remember seeing a touring production of it in Minneapolis, where I grew up.

PC: What was the first show you saw?

SN: Well, theatre has been a part of my life since before I can remember - my dad is also an actor and a director and a storyteller who lives and works in the Twin Cities; my mom is a nurse practitioner, but she also grew up doing theatre - so, it has always been a part of my experience.

PC: What was the first production you remember seeing?

SN: Patrick Stewart and Mercedes Ruehl in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRIGINIA WOOLF?

PC: Baptism by fire.

SN: (Laughs.) Right? I know. Seeing those two in that play - I almost died!

PC: I bet! How was the production in general?

SN: It was so amazing - and, it was really one of the big things that inspired me to do theatre. I was really affected by that.

PC: What do you think of Albee?

SN: I actually got to meet him - actually, it was at the Signature season when we did the Chuck Mee play.

PC: What is he like? Would you consider doing on of his plays?

SN: He is just an incredible, interesting guy. Anything he'd have me for, I'd definitely do.

PC: ME, MYSELF & I is pretty excellent - his newest piece.

SN: He's so prolific - it's amazing he's still churning them out and they're of such high quality. THE GOAT was just....

PC: Beyond words. Moving to movies for a moment: tell me about your indie PRIVATE ROMEO. Is it really a musical?

SN: It's not exactly a musical - there are a few musical interludes. It's a straightforward, low-budget, independent feature that we shot with a lot of wonderful young actors - Matt Doyle included. Alan Brown is the filmmaker. We shot it over the summer.

PC: What's it about?

SN: It's set at an all-male military boarding school. It's about these eight guys who are there studying and start reading ROMEO & JULIET as part of their class-work. Then, they eventually sort of start speaking the lines to each other and it kind of takes over their lives and they become the characters from ROMEO & JULIET. It's sort of exploration of discovering your sexuality in a rigid environment where that is taboo - or, at least, a challenging thing to deal with. It was Alan's concept to bring that language into a modern context and a military context and just sort of see what happened and see whether we could believably speak those words.

PC: Baz Luhrmann made it work. Does PRIVATE ROMEO work?

SN: I actually haven't even seen a final cut of the film yet. But, I have seen some of the footage and I think it looked really good and really interesting.

PC: What's the future of the film? Festivals?

SN: Yeah, I know they are trying to find a place for it at festivals and things like that.

PC: Did you enjoy working on it?

SN: It was my first film and an amazing experience for me - just to learn about what it is to act on film and to work with a really great director like Alan. And, to work with great actors like Alan and the other guys in the film. I learned a lot. It's definitely a medium I am interested in and will be looking into more if I have the opportunity to do that.

PC: Has Steven Spielberg come to see War Horse yet?

SN: He hasn't been around - yet! We had a gala the week before we opened that was thrown by him and the National and all of us in the cast were hoping he'd be there so we could assault him with our headshots and so on. (Laughs.) He couldn't make it, though. But, we've heard that he's coming to see the play, so we hope he is coming soon.

PC: What's next for you? How long are you contracted to do War Horse?

SN: I am settling in to be with this production for as long as it takes. So, that's what's on the horizon for me - to figure out how to keep doing this play and keeping it fresh and alive. For now, I am dedicated to War Horse and to this family and this production that we've created and I am excited to see where it takes all of us.

PC: Define collaboration.

SN: Well, for me, this process has defined collaboration! (Laughs.)

PC: (Laughs.) Good answer! Now, elaborate.

SN: You know, I haven't done a lot of work yet in my short career, but I recognize that it is rare to find true artistic collaboration in a creative process. I really believe that we found it and that we had that in this process. And, I am even more amazed by that doing it now because this is a play that has had lives before this production, obviously - it's still running in London - but, somehow, our directors made it feel as if we were discovering and creating it for the first time. You never heard, "This is how we did it in London," or, "This is how this actor did this," - everyone came in with that willingness to work together. We had a long rehearsal process, so we had the luxury of doing things you don't normally get to do - play games and improv and exercises; it kind of felt like being in grad school again - and I feel like that contributed to the building of this strong ensemble where we feel free to play with each other and collaborate with each other and throw out ideas and to really not be afraid to fail or look stupid in front of each other; I feel like all of those things are so necessary when you are trying to build something that is a work of art. I feel really proud of the work that we have done as an ensemble towards that end and I hope that I can hold this process as the standard for myself as I move forward. As long as I can bring my own self and bring the same kind of work in what I have witnessed the other people on this play bring into the process - I think I will be happy if I can do that as I move forward in my career.

PC: Plus, if you can do Shakespeare well, you do can do anything.

SN: That's what they say at Juilliard! (Laughs.)

PC: What an astounding career it is already shaping up to be! Thanks so much for this today, Seth.

SN: Thank you so much, Pat. I really, really appreciate it. Have a great day! Bye.

 

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!