Interview: Laura Benanti Brings MOTHERS KNOW BEST Back to 54 Below

Laura Benanti and her mother started performing together eight years ago. Last year, they came out with a new show called Mothers Know Best. They’ll be reviving a revised version of that show at 54 Below from July 16 to 19, 2025 at 7 pm. BWW's Sharon Ellman called the show "a glorious trip down memory lane" where the mother-daughter duo bring the audience into their "unique world filled with love, laughter and of course, song."

We spoke with Laura (Supergirl, The Gilded Age, Gypsy) about the upcoming show with her Mom, her Edinburgh Fringe run starting later this month in Scotland, and more.

(This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.)

You've been performing with your mother for several years now. Where did the idea to do that come from originally?

Well, my mom had been an actress before I was born. My father’s also an actor. When my parents got divorced, my mom ended up getting remarried, and they moved to New Jersey, and she stopped performing. And she now has a very successful voice studio in New Jersey. So, she transitioned full-time to teaching voice. And I was acutely aware of the sacrifice that she made in order to raise my sister and I in a way that was meaningful to her.

So after I had my first daughter, Ella, I realized that I didn't want to give up performing. I love my daughter so much, but there's a huge piece of me that is this performer, and it made me even more aware of my mom’s sacrifice. And I thought, you know what? It's time for her to get back on stage. She's one of the most talented people I've ever seen.

And so, I basically dragged her out of a 36-year retirement. And it's like she never stepped off the stage. She was just so remarkable immediately. I sit on stage with her–we're both on stage as the other person is doing their solos–and to get to watch the audience watch my mom reveal her full light and artistry is just like a remarkable gift.

What have some of the biggest surprises to you from doing this for the past several years?

I think how quickly she took to it again. It's a very brave thing to do, to come back to something that you had stopped doing, 36 years later.

That's a really hard thing. It takes a lot of courage. And while that doesn't surprise me, I just was so taken by how brave she was and how remarkable her very first performance was. She just blew me away, and everyone away.

Is there anything particular you're looking forward to doing in this upcoming encore of Mothers Know Best? Have you tweaked anything about it since last year?

Yeah. My mom is singing a new song. She swapped out one of the songs for a Judy Garland song, and I'm really excited to hear her sing it, because she just has such an affinity for Judy Garland and such a gift at interpreting her, so I'm really excited about that.

Do you have any specific advice for mothers who are struggling with their own artistic endeavors, as a mom yourself and having seen your mother's journey?

You know, I feel like people are really in the game of giving mothers advice. I feel like motherhood is the sole vocation where people feel emboldened to walk up to a complete stranger and just be like, hey, I have some thoughts. So, I'm not in the advice-giving game – in general, but for moms especially – and I'm acutely aware of the privilege that I have of help. I have a nanny. My husband takes on quite a bit of our parenting responsibility in a way that I'm sure some would consider an unusual gender role. He really, in many ways is their primary [caregiver]. We joke that I'm the dad. Like, I went to a doctor's appointment the other day and they asked me for a bunch of information, and I was like, I have to call my husband.

And the nurse looked at me like, what a monster. So I'm really aware that – you know, not that I'm not incredibly present with my children, but he takes on a lot of the daily responsibility. So I'm very, very lucky in that I have that support and not everybody does.

Do you feel more acutely aware of that balance in your life while you're doing the show, like the sort of multi-generational...?

Yeah, you know what it is. It's like I spend most of my time as a mother. And so when my mom and I are deep in the show, I spend more, you know, I spend a lot of time also as a daughter. And they're really different roles. So sort of balancing that is an interesting thing.

And also, I do this a lot more than my mom. So, I'm just more in practice with it. And so sometimes I feel like it's a reminder to me of slowing down and, allowing space for her to be where she is and feel how she feels. And that's true as a mother and as a daughter.

But they’re different versions of a similar coin.

Have you had any favorite audience interaction moments or feedback that you've received from the show?

Just that people find it really moving. You know, I love looking out and seeing that there's multi gen, you know, generations in the audience that I find that to be quite beautiful.

So it's always been extremely positive. My mom is my voice teacher. She taught me. She made my life literally possible, but also my life as a performer possible. So sharing the stage with her in that way is just a gift. And I think that that resonates with the audience, too.

Are there any other projects coming up that you're excited about working on or that you want to plug?

I'm doing my comedy show, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland for the month of August. I start July 30th and I'm done August 24th And then I'm doing an encore performance of that in London on September 2nd, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

So I'm very, very excited about doing that. And then I'm doing [Rufus Wainwright's] John Cassavetes' Opening Night at Town Hall with some pretty remarkable performers in September, so I'm excited to have those creative projects coming up, for sure.

Is there anything else you want to add about your little show with your mom or anything else?

Just that I think it's a really beautiful evening that people will enjoy. And, again, it's like a "bring your daughter, bring your mother, bring your grandmother" type of vibe. I think it's enjoyable for men too. I'm not trying to say it's ladies only. I just think it's a really enjoyable evening. And I hope people come.

Learn more about Laura Benanti, including where to follow her on social media and see her live, on her website at www.laurabenanti.com