Interview: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Cast and Crew Discuss How They Became Involved in the New Production

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and Broadway World have partnered for filmed Conversations Q&A series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the union actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen. The most recent conversation featured the company of the 12-time Tony nominated An American in Paris of (Christopher Wheeldon, Craig Lucas, Leanne Cope, Max von Essen, Veanne Cox, Brandon Uranowitz and producer Stuart Oken) moderated by BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge, discussing how things are going at the Palace Theatre, how they used their time in Paris to their advantage, and so much more.

Find out how each of the cast and crew members became involved with the production below and check out the full interview on Sunday morning!

---

Richard Ridge: Christopher, how did you get involved? Because I understand it took you a few times to say yes to directing and choreographing this.

Christopher Wheeldon: Yes, my Twitter account has been alive with #PinchMe #I'veGotBeginnersLuck #ICan'tBelieveThis because really, if you'd said to me four or five years ago, "You'll have a hit show on Broadway one day as director and choreographer," I would have laughed. It's unbelievable. Stuart saw one of my ballets, Alice in Wonderland, up in Canada, and he gave me a call, and we had a very nice lunch, and he suggested that I might like to consider directing and choreographing the show. And actually, I was really, obviously honored that he had that sort of confidence in me, but I didn't quite have that confidence in myself. So, it took about eight months for Stuart was very persistent.

Stuart Oken: Do you mind if I interrupt you, because that was not the story exactly? Is it alright if I set it straight?

Christopher Wheeldon: Go ahead.

Stuart Oken: I asked you long before Alice, and that's when you told me that you were not prepared to take this on. It was after Alice when you actually said to me, "Okay, maybe I'm ready." I don't mean to -

Christopher Wheeldon: No, details are important

Stuart Oken: You were right. In other words, you didn't know until after Alice that you felt the confidence, but that's when you knew that you had a shot at this. That's when you said, "Maybe."

Christopher Wheeldon: That story. So really, I think we agreed between us that we would take it at each level and sort of make a decision. We'd do a reading, see how that went. I spent the whole 29 hours pretty much sweating from ear to toe. But we got through it. And I had Craig's support and guidance from the beginning - he's had a lot of experience directing, of course, and working with directors, so he was really by my side for this whole experience. I couldn't have done it without him.

Richard Ridge: And the cast, how did you each get cast in the show? I mean, Leanne, you're making a dazzling Broadway debut as Lise. You come from the world of the Royal Ballet. Did you ever think you'd be starring on Broadway?

Leanne Cope: No. I've loved musicals for as long as I've loved ballet, and I thought it might be something I'd like to try once I retired from - you know, hung up my pointe shoes - and maybe I'd join an amateur dramatic society in Wimbledon or something just along the road from where I live. And then this opportunity came up, and it just kind of fit. Like if a dancer's ever going to make - specifically a ballet dancer's ever going to make a transition, I think this is the perfect role for that. The audition process was long because I was in London and a lot of stuff was happening here, I didn't hear anything. You know, I'd see Chris and I'd sing for him and I'd read some scripts. I'd never read a script before in my life, so I didn't know - I was like, "These bits in brackets, am I supposed to read those?" And they're like, "No, no, no, that's stage directions." I didn't have a clue. And then finally, in September, it was the day after my 30th birthday, my life changed. Literally, I flew to New York, I did my audition, and I got the role. And since then - your thirties are great, I love them. It's been pretty incredible. And the whole journey from workshop to rehearsing for Paris, performing in Paris, rehearsing again for Broadway, opening, and now all this crazy award stuff as well. It's pretty incredible.

Richard Ridge: Max, for you, because this is not a role - with all the dancing, you never considered yourself a traditional dancer, did you?

Max von Essen: No, never. No, I have zero training. I consider myself someone who maybe would have been. I feel like I have a decent amount of rhythm and movement and I've always loved it. As a kid, whatever shoes made the biggest sound, my mom had this trunk in her bedroom, and I'd get on top of it to pretend to tap. I wasn't really tapping, I was just making any sound I could, because I loved watching all those old films and everything. But my first audition, well over a year and a half ago, was for Brandon's part of Adam. And I fell in love with - there wasn't a script yet, it was just a treatment - and I thought, "Oh my God, this is going to be -" Just reading the description of what it would be was enough for me to go, "I have to be a part of this." But I wasn't. It just wasn't the right fit and at the end of my audition -

Brandon Uranowitz: Sorry!

Max von Essen: At the end of my audition, Chris looked at me and he said, "Do you tap?" And I said "No, never." And that was it - never heard from them again until months later. And I don't know what changed, but they agreed to see me as Henri, and went through the long process acting, singing. I would sing the song and I was getting laughs, and I didn't know why, and I thought, "I think they're laughing with me. I don't think they're laughing at me." So I thought maybe I was bringing something kind of fun. And they agreed to have me come into a dance call, and I was dancing with some of Broadway and the ballet world's best dancers, and it was not pretty. I mean, I was really struggling.

Christopher Wheeldon: You went for it.

Max von Essen: I went for it, I did, and I still had fun somehow. And I just tried to crack some jokes, because what else could I do? I mean, I couldn't do it, so what am I going to do - you don't want to be in dance clothes living as if you're really doing it well, but you're awful. So you have to acknowledge that you're awful. I knew maybe it's the kind of thing - because I've had to dance in other shows, and after a couple months or years, you feel like you start to get it. But I think maybe something clicked in there, or Rachel, one of the casting directors, toward the end of the session, she just went, "Max, come here. I think we've put you through enough. And so they let me go.

Veanne Cox: I'm pretty sure that after being in the business for 300 years - 400 because I worked with Shakespeare - I'm pretty sure that Craig Lucas got me the job. I'm not positive of that, but I think that he knew who I was, because we've been around a long time, and I think that's right. I don't know, you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know how I got the job. Let's just put it that way. But 400 years in the business counts for something. So, I was just offered the job. I didn't have to audition. I'm just lucky they've kept me through the process. Because I did do the workshop and then Paris, and now New York, and I feel very lucky that somebody liked me out there and knew that I was capable of something. And it's been a joy and very hard work - never easy. It never is - never should be. Art is hard. But it's all a wonderful thing - a gift that I have been given ,personally, to be part of this show. And whoever I'm grateful to will have to let me know someday, for sure.

Brandon Uranowitz: Sorry, Max. I got involved

Max von Essen: It worked out.

Brandon Uranowitz: It worked out. I got involved a couple of years ago when they first were doing the 29 hour reading. Like Max said, there was no script, there was no dialogue, it was just this 20-page treatment, which was just sort of a description and just brought you through exactly what the show would feel like. And the first page just said, "Curtain up. Concerto in F." And I was like, "Oh, my God." Because I grew up listening to Gershwin. I went on a family vacation when I was nine years old to Wyoming, and my dad forced us to go listen to the Wyoming Symphony play a night of Gershwin when all I wanted to do was go look at bears and moose tracks. So I grew up listening to it, and hearing this music, and to just know that all of this orchestral music was going to get as much respect and time and stuff on stage , I was like, "I have to be a part of this. It sounds like the most magical, truly Gershwin musical to come around." And I knew nothing about Chris, and then I looked him up, and I was like, "Oh, he's, like, kind of a big deal. I guess I should go in for this." And I went in, and I just fell in love. And I knew Craig's work very well, and I just love his - I think he's such a wordsmith and he's so good at what he does. And I loved the scenes that they gave me. And I just really tried to sink my teeth into it. It's the most delicious thing you can do as an actor. And, like I said, this is sort of the culmination of everything I've wanted to do and dreamed of doing as a kid. And I just can't believe that it's all still going as well as it is.

---

The new Broadway musical An American in Paris opened on Sunday, April 12, 2015 at the Palace Theatre (Broadway at 47th Street). Directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, it is inspired by the Academy-Award winning film. An American In Paris brings this classic tale to Broadway for the first time with music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and a book by Tony nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Lucas.

An American In Paris is the romantic story of a young American soldier, a beautiful French girl and an indomitable European city, each yearning for a new beginning in the aftermath of war.

The cast of An American In Paris includes Robert Fairchild as Jerry Mulligan, Leanne Cope as Lise Dassin, Veanne Cox as Madame Baurel, Jill Paice as Milo Davenport, Brandon Uranowitz as Adam Hochberg, and Max von Essen as Henri Baurel.

The score of An American In Paris includes the songs "I Got Rhythm," "Liza," "'S Wonderful," "But Not For Me," "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," and orchestral music including "Concerto in F," "Second Prelude," "Second Rhapsody/Cuban Overture" and "An American In Paris."