Interview: Director Extraordinaire Jack O'Brien Previews His 54 Below Show!

On November 7 and 8 (9:30PM), director extraordinaire Jack O'Brien will bring his new show to 54 Below, titled 'I've Still Got My Health, So What Do I Care?' Come join O'Brien for a Diamond Jubilee Celebration of a life lived on and off the stage. Tales from Hamlet to Hairspray. Selections from Cole Porter to James Taylor. Stories, songs with an occasional A flat and a surprise guest or two. Directed by Scott Wittman with Musical Director Dan Lipton. For tickets, visit: http://54below.com.

O'Brien recently chatted with BroadwayWorld about the upcoming show and you can check out what he had to say below!

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I love the title of the show! How did you come up with the concept?

Since Scott Wittman is my muse and my director and my writer, the concept of doing something about being 75 led to the opening number, an old Cole Porter/Bette Midler favorite. I'm still choking on the lyrics, to be honest!

You've reunited with both Dan Lipton and Scott Wittman for this show. What has that experience been like?

Surreal. Scott is so positive, so clever, so quiet, and so compeltely encouraging... he's never not let me think I could actually pull this off, and I believe him, so here I go! And "dazzle" as I call Dan Lipton, has been a brilliant support system since we (with drummer Dean Sharenow) all met on THE FULL MONTY. I was staggered by his skill then, and told him so: and poor Dan... here he is sitting behind me and pushing me uphill.

Can fans expect any special guests?

It just so happens that my oldest and best friend is Bob James, the Grammy-winning great jazz pianist! He and his wife, Judy, and I have been "an unholy trio" since the late '50's, and since Bob and I began our journey writing songs we hoped and believed might be a Broadway musical, when he learned I was doing this gig, he wanted to come and sit in: it doesn't get any better than that! We're "debuting" a song that we think the best we ever wrote, and only one person has ever sung it before: Victor Garber, at a Joe's Club brou-haha they threw for me a couple years ago... Bob will be sitting in for that number, and a tiny trip down "memory lane" between the two of us!

You've had an epic career so far- is there a past show or time in your career that you'd most like to revisit?

You never get the Shakespeares right. It's not possible. So the "Henry IV" double-vision, the "Hamlet," and probably even last summer's "Much Ado About Nothing," all of which have tested me to the limits while bringing me such joy, would qualify.

What are most excited about in bringing this show to 54 Below?

The concept that at the conclusion of this evening, I might still be standing up!! When you face something as daunting as this, this deep into your career, what can I say?... it sort of "gets your attention!" We've been having a wonderful time... and I can only pray it lasts! But I won't be "giving up my day job," I don't imagine!

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O'Brien is currently represented on Broadway with It's Only a Play, which is currently playing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Other Broadway credits include: Macbeth, The Nance, Dead Accounts, Catch Me If You Can, Impressionism, The Coast of Utopia (Tony® Award), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony® nomination), Henry IV (Tony® Award), Hairspray (Tony® Award), Imaginary Friends, The Invention of Love (Tony® nomination, Drama Desk Award), The Full Monty(Tony® nomination), More to Love, Getting Away With Murder, Pride's Crossing, The Little Foxes, Hapgood (Lucille Lortel Award, Best Director), Damn Yankees, Two Shakespearean Actors (Tony® nomination), Porgy and Bess (Tony® nomination). Metropolitan Opera: Il Trittico. Carnegie Hall: Guys and Dolls. Public Theater Central Park: Much Ado About Nothing. London: Love Never Dies, Hairspray (Olivier nomination). National Theatre: His Girl Friday. Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre, 1981-2007. Six movies for PBS's "American Playhouse." Books: Jack Be Nimble, publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux.