NR: Which is more difficult to play? Javert or Chauvelin?

TZ: Neither is more difficult than the other. I don't know. Chauvelin has to sing some higher notes, especially thanks to Rex having bumped up the keys of everything. It's now a tenor role because Mr. Smith had it transposed.

NR: I guess they don't knock it down for the understudies, do they?

TZ: No they don't. And, they had everything re-orchestrated so even things like "Where's the Girl?" which were in a lower key before, the orchestration is different so I can't even use the old music. So, "Where's the Girl" is largely a falsetto endeavor for me at this point, which is OK.

NR: I was asked to have you clear up the confusion on this. When you step in for Rex, as you're doing tonight, somebody steps in for you. If it's a swing, that's pretty simple - they just step in for you. But if it's somebody like Jim Hindman, somebody has to step in for his part. How many layers can we go here? How complicated can it get?

TZ: I think that's why they haven't bothered with that. Jim is officially my understudy but I think it just gets so complicated that they use the swings.

NR: When you're standing on stage with someone else playing Farleigh, does that bother you? Does that feel strange?

TZ: No. I'll occasionally hear my lines over the monitor.

NR: That's true. You're not really on stage together much.

TZ: We're really not. Chauvelin and Farleigh barely ever see each other.

NR: But would that be weird do you think, if you were standing opposite him?

TZ: I actually ran into it a lot at Les Miz and it would always occur to me. But, like you said, there's so little time on stage together. And when I am on stage with them, there's a line of guys, so it's not so character specific.

NR: But you don't stand there and think, "I wouldn't say it that way?" (laughs)

TZ: No. There's a lot of leeway. Everybody plays a part differently. One is not right and one is not wrong.

NR: How does it feel to be the one serious Bounder with all of these crazy characters around you?

TZ: Well, a lot of that is what Bobby and I sort of agreed on. I don't know that Farleigh is necessarily serious.

NR: How has being a part of this show affected your life? Has it made any difference or is this just another job?

TZ: I'll tell you one thing. Working at Les Miz...the backstage was filthy. There were mice. It was horribly crowded. It's such a serious subject matter and it was so crowded and filthy and everybody was always in a surly mood.

NR: Really?

TZ: Oh, yeah. The joke about Les Miz is that it's the unhappiest cast on Broadway. It's gotten better over the past few years with the cleaning house and all that, because I was there when that whole firing went on. This theater - the production staff could not be more accommodating. The backstage area is vast and spotless. It's an incredibly pleasant working environment. It's been a pleasure, it really has.

NR: Do you find that you're recognized more for your commercial (for Propecia) than you are for the show?

TZ: I'm not recognized for the commercial. I'm recognized by people that know me. If someone sees the show and is focusing on who the actors are in the show, they might recognize me from the commercial. But, people don't come up to me on the subway and say, "Hey, are you the...?" I got phone calls from people I went to high school with when that commercial came out, but it's funny too, because I've done other commercials. I've been pretty lucky with that. It is a riot. You can spend years working on a role like Javert, or spend months preparing your Chauvelin and how many people actually see it? Then you spend a DAY filming a commercial, where you walk into a bathroom in your underwear and you're getting phone calls from Tennessee the next day. Everybody's very excited `CAUSE IT WAS ON TV. It's funny.

NR: I was going to ask you about commercials. Other than the obvious, the financial reason, are there other reasons to do them like exposure, or is there any kind of a stigma to doing them?

TZ: Financial is the reason to do it. Years ago there was the idea that serious actors didn't do commercials because it compromised their artistic integrity. But that's sort of out the window. Everybody does them now. That's sort of a thing from the early ages of television. I like to think that any exposure is helpful. The particular commercial you're talking about, I obviously have a couple of looks going on there so there's a couple to choose from if somebody is interested in one of those looks for something. But, that's been a very lucrative commercial for me.

NR: It's on all the time.

TZ: It is on a lot. I just saw it today. I was watching a movie on Bravo while I was getting ready and I said, "Oh, good, it's another cycle" because the last cycle just started April 5th. It goes in thirteen week cycles.

Interview conducted and photographs by Nancy Rosati.