Back On Broadway: Nik Dodani Talks Making His Broadway Debut in WAITRESS

BroadwayWorld's new interview series Back on Broadway is taking readers on the exciting journey of Broadway's return to the stage! Featuring interviews with cast and creative team members of Broadway's returning shows, Back on Broadway will highlight how members of Broadway shows are preparing for live performances, what they've learned from the last year and half, what is most exciting to them about Broadway's long-awaited return, and much more!

Next up in the series is Nik Dodani, making his Broadway debut as Ogie in Waitress!

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How does it feel to be making your Broadway debut in Waitress?

It is surreal. I did theater when I was a kid, and it was always something that I was in awe of, especially folks on Broadway. I've been a fan and a theatergoer for so long I honestly never imagined myself being on a Broadway stage. I felt that it was out of reach, that it was this other world and other echelon of performers that I would always enjoy from the audience. So to be on stage with such incredible people is honestly such a surreal experience.

Tell me what it's like working with this cast!

It is electric. This cast, a lot of people have been a part of the company for years, and they're so wildly talented, and so incredibly kind. I think I had this idea of Broadway that it was very cliquey or insular, and I was nervous being a TV/Film actor coming in from LA, and I was anxious, but that was all completely in my head and for no reason. Everyone has been so wildly supportive and kind, and it sounds cheesy, but it really is a family at the Diner. And to be able to be on at the same time as Jennifer Nettles and be a part of her run has just been really special. And to work with Ashley Blanchet who is playing Dawn has been a masterclass. She's done so many incredible shows, and to see her so easily slip into the character and ride the waves, and navigate the nightly changes that happen, and are a part of live theater, has been really cool to be a part of.

You just mentioned that your history is more in TV and film. What's the biggest difference for between TV and film and live performance?

There's so much that's different! I always say if you can do theater you can do TV and film, but I think if you do TV and film it's not necessarily true that you can do theater. I was so nervous because it really does require a different muscle, it requires a different level of stamina that I think a lot of people who go to see shows take for granted. To do 8 shows a week where you're singing, you're acting, and dancing as well, it really is a full-body, all-encompassing experience. To be able to stay sharp and to keep it fresh every night, day after day is such a difficult skill set. And for me, I'm not a singer, before the Dear Evan Hansen movie I'd never sang a day in my life, and even in the film I sang for a few seconds, but it was a film, so it was prerecorded, it wasn't live. So, to be singing two songs every night on stage in front of a thousand-plus people is incredibly new, and was truly the most terrifying thing I've ever done. I went through a crash course with a couple of vocal coaches and the music team at Waitress to get to be Broadway-ready.

I will say the first week, week and a half of shows, I was just having a panic attack pretty much every day before the show, just because it was so nerve-wracking! But now I do feel like I've settled in, I've gotten mistakes out of the way, and I feel a lot more comfortable and confident. I feel like I can drop into it, but that took a minute. And it took a lot of reassurance and validation from my friends and family and castmates and from my therapist. It was cool to talk to the other cast members who had been doing this for years, whether on this show or other shows, and they still get nervous, and they still obsess over the moment that they messed up three weeks ago, or the entrance that they missed two years ago. So, that does make me feel a little better and less alone. Even these pros that are flawless from the perspective of the audience are still just people and going through a lot of the same anxiety and nerves and fears that us newbies go through.

What is your favorite part about playing this role?

I just love how much fun I get to have onstage every night. Ogie really is the embodiment of joy and manic energy. So I really get to just be at 150% every time I walk onto that stage. And it's so fun. To be able to make audiences laugh is like a drug. I've done stand-up for many years and had the experience of being in front of a live audience in that setting, but this is so different. To be able to make people laugh and make people sit back in their seat and be like, "Oh my god, what is happening right now with this person?!" is really exciting and really special. There's truly nothing like it.

You're making your Broadway debut during an historic moment in time, so you don't have a prior reference point as to what audience reactions are normally like. What has your experience with the audiences felt like?

People are just so excited to be back. Before I booked this I was in New York a couple of months ago when Broadway reopened, and I saw Waitress coincidentally, and I was so thrilled to be back in the crowd, the electricity in the room is just wild. People are so excited to be able to be back in a theater together, and I haven't seen anyone who is complaining about the masking or the vaccine requirement, everyone is just so excited that it's safe to return and that we get to witness these shows every night. Especially with Waitress because there is so much laughter and there's also a lot of tears. People are excited to heal again with strangers, to talk about the show at intermission with someone you just met that you're sitting next to. I have a big smile on my face right now because it's just so fun. All our ushers, every time they say, "Welcome back to Broadway," I get chills. It's like, damn, it's so special. I feel so wildly lucky to get to do this right now.

Talking about what an interesting time it's been, what would you say that you've learned about yourself during the pandemic that you're taking with you going forward?

I will say during the pandemic I've gotten a lot better at managing anxiety and stress and depression, and I think I've gotten a lot more comfortable talking about it. A lot of us have always struggled with mental health issues, but I think over this past year and a half it's just come to the forefront. Especially getting ready to be on Broadway, it's a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, I think I was better able to cope with it. And I hope that other people feel similarly. I know it's been a really tough time.

Final question, would you like to do more Broadway in the future?

Oh, absolutely! Yeah, I would love to. There's truly nothing like live theater. And it's also really exciting to be back now because there are more black and brown actors on stage than ever before, it feels like. And it feels like there is a shift in both the TV and film industries, but also the theater world, in terms of on stage representation. The fact that I am a queer, Indian actor playing Ogie on Broadway, it's not lost on me that that is not common. Historically that hasn't been something that could happen, necessarily. And so, it's just really exciting to be a part of that. After I leave the show, the cast of Waitress is going to be almost an all-black cast, and it's amazing. To be a part of that, to be a witness to that is really cool. I definitely want to do more Broadway.