SP: Interview with Kirk McDonald

NR: How did you prepare for your SP audition?

KM: We had to read the carriage scene. I don't know. I was so nervous because I hadn't auditioned in so long. I had been doing Rent for about seven or eight months, and then I was doing Parade. It had been a really long time since I had auditioned for anything so I was really, really, really, really nervous!

NR: What did you sing?

KM: I sang "Wick" from The Secret Garden. It was funny because I went in and Ron Melrose was there. I literally sang four bars and he said, "All right." I said, "You don't want to hear anything else?" and he said, "No."

NR: Did that make you think that you blew it?

KM: No, because they told me there that I was going to come back. So, that was easy. Then I went back in for Bobby (Longbottom). I did the carriage scene and then I sang the end of "Into the Fire" - you know, the upper part. Then in our final call back we were at the Minskoff. We were in microphones and we were on the stage. They set up a bench for Carolee and I and we did the carriage scene. It was more nerve wracking than I expected because it had been so long and I was nervous.

NR: Had you seen the show before?

KM: I had seen it the first week of previews in the original incarnation. My seats in the Minskoff could not have been further away. It seemed that I was forty football fields away. That theater is so huge! The balcony is so far away to begin with and I was almost in the back of the balcony. I wish I had a better seat because it was so hard for me to see.

NR: Is that the only time you saw it?

KM: Yeah.

NR: This version's totally different.

KM: It's hard for me to remember that because it was so long ago and I was so far away.

NR: How did you make Armand your own?

KM: It was nice because we had a rehearsal process. Sometimes when you go into a show that's already running, you sit out and you watch somebody else do it. Your job is really to do what they did in a way. You bring your own stuff to it but...the nice thing about this process was that we had those five weeks of rehearsal and it wasn't about something that somebody else did. We had the freedom. Another good thing about the tour was that it gave us the opportunity for the company to become a whole instead of the "old people" and the "new people." I'm really thankful for that whole process. We got to know everybody, to spend time with them and be out of town with them. That was nice.

NR: You said you're an only child. That surprised me because the scene between you and Carolee when you're leaving for Paris is the closest thing to a real brother and sister that I've seen. It's great.

KM: (laughs) Well, our relationship in real life is similar. I have a good friend of mine who just came to see the show last week. We grew up across the street from each other and she and I have known each other since we were three years old, so I've had relationships that were sort of "brother and sister like."

NR: I love the little fighting that you do because that is so true. The jail scene also looks realistic. Marc (Kudisch) looks like he's really hurting you.

KM: Does he?

NR: I'm sure he's not, but have you had any close calls with that?

KM: I think the last run-through we did in Purchase, I almost hit Marc right in the face, and I felt really bad about that, but I think that was the closest we've gotten.

NR: Do you have to work hard on that? It looks very realistic.

KM: Rick Sordelet, the fight captain, is really good at what he does. It was all his stuff. We just sort of did what he told us to do. It looks OK though?

NR: Oh, yeah. A couple of people wanted me to ask you if you were getting hurt.

KM: Oh, no. Not at all actually. He is big enough to do it though (big smile) - big, brawny Marc Kudisch.