Interview: Happy McPartlin of MOM'S NIGHT OUT: THE CONCERT SERIES at 54 Below October 14th

When her Broadway show, Come From Away, came to an end, Happy McPartlin found herself back in business on the Mom track.  When she began her second Broadway show in the land of Gander, her son was still a wee one, but during the time that Happy was spending her nights on 45th Street telling the story of the Newfoundland town that came to the rescue for a plane full of people on September Eleventh, that babe in the woods grew into a boy in short pants.  Now, that journey finished, Happy was Mommy, once more.

Now, Happy McPartlin is joining some of her fellow Broadway moms in the show MOM’S NIGHT OUT at 54 Below on October 14th.  The Concert Series is an opportunity for some of the theater industry’s mothers to celebrate their favorite role in life, support one another, and tell audiences a few things about themselves and their motherly lives, in song.

As Happy prepares to join the other ladies on the 54 Below stage on Saturday night, she took time out to chat with Broadway World Cabaret about a hit cabaret show she was in a few years back, the balancing act that is the life of an acting mommy, and the personal philosophy born out of being in The World Trade Center on 9/11.

This interview was edited for space and content.

Tickets for MOM’S NIGHT OUT: THE CONCERT SERIES, October 14th, 9:30 pm at 54 Below can be obtained HERE.

Happy McPartlin, welcome to Broadway World!

Well, thank you Stephen Mosher, you delight!

I recently saw you on stage at 54 Below for the Hands on a Hard Body reunion.

Yes, sir. What a trip that was and how delightful to get to do that piece that I never really got to perform, even though I covered it on Broadway.

It was your Broadway debut.

It was my Broadway debut. I like to say that I've been lucky enough to have two of them. One where I actually, on paper, became a Broadway actor and one where I became one on stage.  (Laughing)  We didn't have a long run for Hands On a Hard Body. And it was a heartbreak for all of us, but none of us standbys had to go on and several of the standbys had to do full roles in this reading, which was just so wonderful to see.

And you guys hadn't seen each other in a while, had you?

I think most of us hadn't seen each other, at all, since the closing night of Hands On A Hard Body - maybe one of the record release parties or something like that, but we really hadn't seen each other in a decade, right? It was a 10th-anniversary reunion concert, and it was so wonderful. And it was also like no time has passed, which is crazy what's going on between then and now is a heck of a lot.

There was so much love up on that stage.

Yes. We all loved that piece so much, and we believed in it so much, and I still believe in it. You know, sometimes you don't get the buzz going quickly enough for producers to get their needs met, and things, they don't go. But that doesn't mean it wasn't an incredibly powerful piece. And we all were so invested in it, and our writers, Amanda Green, Doug Wright, and Trey Anastasio - we loved the work so much, so to get to put it on, even for one night, at 54 Below, we'll take it because I know we were all hoping for more of a run than we got.

You've done a few group shows at 54 Below, haven't you?

I've done a duets concert for Megan Minutello, part of her Duet series, I did a Come From Away concert, which did all of the show songs that were cut, that was right before the pandemic hit, so that was kind of wild, another Moms show with the Broadway Baby Mamas that we ended up doing it as a benefit for Ruthie Ann Miles, when she was dealing with her tragic situation with her children - it was a bunch of Broadway moms who got together and did a concert and it was a beautiful thing to be able to do that.

You're coming back to 54 Below with another mom concert on October 14th.

Yeah, it's Mom's Night Out, and Megan Minutillo is our producer. She is a wonderful gal. She produces a lot of these different series to get new writers out there, new voices out there, and this series, she said, is born from her need, and knowing the needs of other moms, and the desire to create a place for community, and showcase the talents of mothers. A lot of time you deal with motherhood, and you definitely take a massive backseat to what's needed at home for your kids. This is an opportunity for those people who've been sweating it out at home to get out there and belt out a tune or two and enjoy community with each other.

And you are one of the Broadway moms.

I am, yes. I'm lucky.

How old is your little boy now?

He's seven. He will be eight in November. 

Is it difficult being a mom and doing a Broadway show?  Because you were with Come From Away for a long time.

Yes. I was lucky enough to be with that show for five years, on Broadway, it's such a gift to be able to know where you're going and not have that, “Do I need a new job today?” everyday kind of feeling that a lot of us actors have most of the time. So that was, for Motherhood and Parenthood, a tremendous gift, but the day-to-day of missing every bedtime that isn't Sunday and Monday, or dropping him off at school at eight o'clock in the morning on a Wednesday or Thursday or Friday, when we might have rehearsals, so you've got, basically, two shows, and you don't see him again until the next morning. It's hard to say, “Have a great day at school, I'll see you tomorrow morning,” (Laughing) but I do like to say: it is a difficult thing, but at least we're not going into danger. We're not soldiers. We're not people who give a huge sacrifice like that, but it still is a sacrifice, mainly for the kids. We do what we can for the love of theater.

Do the Broadway moms have a group Facebook page or something where they share their stories and community with one another?

We do have a private community group and it allows people who are not super famous (and some people who are) to air their concerns or ask other moms if they've dealt with this particular situation. A lot of times it's just regular mom stuff, like, you know, my kid won't sleep, or does anybody deal with their kid not eating anything or that kind of stuff.  Sometimes it really is things like, “Hey, I have to go away on a contract, what have other moms done to deal with childcare” or to have accommodations when your child comes to visit, and that kind of thing. Who else can answer those questions except other Broadway moms and regional theater acting moms and touring moms?  Sometimes those tour moms help set each other up with babysitters in Chicago or Denver or that kind of thing to create a little bit of ease for people going to the same cities they've been to.

In the mom concert, will you be singing songs about motherhood?  Or is this more like a chance to just get up and use your storytelling instruments?

We are singing a lot about motherhood and I think the desire is almost that therapy thing of like the thing about motherhood is that it’s something that you really connect to which shows that side of our humanity, as well, because half the time we're going out there, we're singing some big song because somebody wants to hear a really high note instead of something that is necessarily what's really connected to something big that's going on in your life. I'm, in particular, very happy with the song choice that Megan and I came up with - I really can't wait to debut it there.

You are not a stranger to the world of cabaret. You and I have known each other, full transparency, for some 20-odd years - we met at The Triad in the Nineties.

(Laughter) Yes, sir.

Where you were doing a musical cabaret that was a very big hit at the time.

It was a huge hit and a Bistro Award winner!  Brady Schwind and Kate Jetmore were the two performers. I knew Brady from the brief time that we spent together at NYU - we stayed connected, and he knew I was one of those weird people who liked to imitate all of the Broadway stars that I knew and loved and desired to be. So he had me come in and do guest star appearances as various people like Carol Channing and Patti LuPone and Andrea McArdle - a bunch of really funny bits that he and Kate came up with. It was an awesome experience.

As the years have gone by, have you kept up your impressionism skills?

I definitely keep up my impression skills. I mean, I cannot compete with the Christine Pedis but I still love it.  It's what, when you're a kid, you listen to -  learned how to sing from Andrea McArdle because Annie was the first thing that I listened to on repeat, over and over, and wanted to try to sing, myself. So the imitation, to me, is always an education. When I can't figure out how to sing something, I just try to imitate the person who sings it and the exact sound that they're making. Usually, you figure out how to do that from that education of listening to them or watching a video and watching how they position their mouth or their tongue or whatever so that you can get all of that voice out.

Who's your favorite impression that you do?

Oh, I think my favorite has to be Patti LuPone (Laughing) I love her so much.

Who have you picked up since your days with The Season, when I met you? 

Most modern pop stars… You know, you start singing along with the radio. It's not necessarily that I do it for an impression for a professional instance, but I do it more for my own James Corden Carpool Karaoke… my own personal car karaoke. So, I'll sing along with, Katy Perry or Taylor Swift or Miley Cyrus or any of the people who were definitely not around during the days of The Season. 

My husband is an actor and his voiceover agent frequently sends him submissions where he has to do impressions of people like Martin Scorsese and even some presidents. What about your agent? Do they send you that kind of work as well?

I don't have a voiceover agent right now. It's something that I would really like to explore.  I would say that I've always been a little bit older than my age, and my voice always has been like that too. I have more of a Lifetime movie voice than some sort of a cartoon voice. I was never good for those because they wanted these high forward-pitched voices that sounded like school characters. So I haven't really gotten into that, but it's something I'm really interested in.

What I'm really interested in is the Happy McPartlin solo show. Is there any chance that we can finally get you up on a cabaret stage with your name above the title?

I do hope so. I had one show a while ago, and I loved doing it so much. It's such a challenge to have the time and energy to put towards that and trying to be a mom, so I've been a bit delayed in getting back to the stage, that's for sure. But I do have something in the works, and, depending on how my professional schedule goes, I hope that I'll be able to get it out in the near future.

Speaking of your professional schedule, I've been curious about this - we know each other in real life, and I should have asked you this, anyway.  When you were doing Come From Away, did they put together press about the fact that you were in the World Trade Center, and then you ended up in that amazing play about that day?

No, we never really talked about that. I know that the original cast from La Jolla all, at the very outset, sort of went through their own personal 9/11 stories, and a lot of the company knew my personal story. But no, no one asked about that. And I didn't volunteer it.  Because the show is about the response to 9/11, not what I went through on 9/11.  I do have to say that I have been working on some writing for a book about the full circle-ness, of the nature of where I was on 9/11, and how I got to go to Broadway to heal that wound a little bit. Everybody in New York needs that kind of healing, and I was given such a gift to be able to face that every day and get some sort of healing from the beautiful things that happened in Gander.

 

It's been quite a journey for you because I remember that you were doing your day job and not acting, and the September 11th experience sent you headlong back into your artistry. And you have been a working actor ever since

Yes. I have to say that I certainly was, at the time, working a day job and hoping to be doing some acting. But my early career was a bit of a rough start, so I took a little time off. I was like, “I'll just work a day job for a little bit and kind of regroup and see where I'm gonna go 'cause that's safe, you know, to make money and just sit here and maybe have life a little bit, without the hustle of trying to be super active auditioning.”  I certainly learned, that day, that life is short and I learned that there is no safety, really, anywhere in life, so you might as well be going for it all the time, and live every day as if you never know what's gonna happen. And we got another schooling on that with Covid, too. So I really try to live in the present and go future forward instead of waiting. I did a lot of waiting.  I try to live in the now instead of waiting for the future.

Well, Mommy McPartlin, you are married to an actor, Brad Nacht, and you guys have this beautiful little boy; he's only six, but are there any signs that he's going to be a performer as well?

My husband is no longer an actor. That's what he would say: he's no longer an actor. He really loved it when he did it and now he says, “I'm officially retired.”  But the genes are there.  We always used to joke, Brad and I, that we hoped that our kid would have recessive genes and not wanna do what we do (Laughing) because we know how challenging it can be. And you want your kid to have an easier path than you did. He hasn't expressed a lot of interest in stage performing. But he does take dance class. He's a really great singer and he asked for a dance class. He's a really great singer. His pitch is amazing, and he could sing the highest Katy Perry, which is crazy (Laughing), and he definitely has the wide range of emotions of two parents who became actors, at least for some portion of their adult life.

Alright, my darling, thank you for chatting with me today. I'm really looking forward to seeing the show. I am your reviewer for the night.

Oh, I can't wait. I'm so glad you're gonna be there. I think you'll really enjoy this selection.

I never miss it when you go on the stage.

I thank you.  (Laughing)

I think that I have even traveled out of town to see you act.

That is correct. And you are one of the few people… I mean, I know people are friends, you know… but to really travel like that is some real friendship.

Well, you know, that was in the old days. I don't do that anymore.

(Laughing)  Does anybody travel anymore?

Heck, I don't even wanna get on the train to go downtown to Joe's Pub.  But I do.

(Laughing)  It's hard!

All right, my darling, thanks for chatting with me.

Thank you!

MOM’S NIGHT OUT: THE CONCERT SERIES plays 54 Below October 14th, 9:30 pm - reservations can be obtained HERE.

Follow Happy McPartlin on Instagram HERE.

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