NR: Now, your wife (Andrea Burns) just did the tour of Company.

PF: She did.

NR: Is that hard when she's touring?

PF: (groan) Ugh! Is it hard!

NR: I saw you when you raced up to Hartford in the rain.

PF: Oh my gosh! Yeah, it's pretty tough. Yeah. It's extremely difficult. We got married a little over three years ago and we're still head over heels. It's the best part of life. Really. We just have a great time together. So, it's very difficult being away from each other. We have a standing rule that we don't go more than three weeks apart however we can arrange it.

NR: In that tour they did a week here or there and then they were home.

PF: That's right, they were home for awhile so that worked out perfectly. When I went away when we were out on the road this summer, she had a week off right in the middle of mine so I was able to see her. Somehow we put it out to life that we only want to be three weeks apart and it always works out. But the more we work and the more we live together, the more we realize that it's more about staying together and trying to stay home.

NR: Have you performed together?

PF: We met performing together. We met seven years ago in a European tour of West Side Story playing Tony and Maria. We were both dating other people at the time so we became great friends. Then two years later I finally said, "OK, I think I'm in love with you. Stay with me." Two years after that we got married.

NR: Would you like to work together or do you think that might be too much togetherness?

PF: Oh, yeah. We always look for ways to work together.

NR: You don't feel like you have nothing else to talk about at the end of the day?

PF: Oh no. Not at all. We have so much to talk about! We would LOVE to work together. Actually I've directed her. We've worked together a couple of times performing and I've directed her as well. Either way works terrific. I think she's a incredibly gifted actor.

NR: She was wonderful. We went to see Company because we know Mark (McGrath). That was an extra bonus when you posted on The Scarlet Pimpernel Message Board that your wife was in the cast too.

PF: Yeah. Small world.

NR: (laughing) I will never forget your face when you walked out of the door in Hartford and saw Pimpernel jackets.

PF: Oh, I know! I thought, "Whoa!"

NR: (laughing) Now, did that scare you?

PF: (laughing) No, not at all. Then of course I put it together that you were there to see Mark.

NR: Since you didn't know anything about the show, I suppose you didn't know anything about the League before you got here either.

PF: No, I didn't.

NR: Was that a surprise?

PF: It was, and you know, you are all the talk of the show when you come in. They say, "The League are these people that come." And there are so many different kinds of you. I was told, "There's somebody who has costumes, and there's somebody who always does baked goods, and there's somebody who does interviews." (laughing) It was like student government, like you're going to Pimpernel High and you have to get introduced to the student council.

NR: (laughing) Well, I hope you're not too afraid of us!

PF: Oh, no, not at all. When someone asks me about it, I think it's ultimately great. It's not like we're promoting people to smoke crack. It's such a proponent of live theater. No matter how small the groups are that go, all of a sudden there is this outcropping of people who are wild for live theater again. We've needed that for twenty years.

NR: Plus, because of this, you told us about the reading. I had always wanted to see a reading and I finally got my chance.

PF: Right. Exactly. Hopefully you'll be able to follow the process.

NR: And Jim Hindman told me that when he does Pete `n Keely, hopefully he'll have a little audience that will go see it.

PF: Totally.

NR: It's been wonderful. It's very win-win.

PF: Exactly. It's helpful on both sides. We have an established audience that we can call on.

NR: What do you like to do when you're not working? (laughing) Are you ever not working?

PF: Right now when I'm not performing I'm directing. When I'm not doing that, we love to travel together. Andrea and I love to travel. Her mom's side of the family is from Venezuela. In fact Andrea's first generation stateside on her mom's side of the family, so there's lots of family to travel to. Because we met each other in Europe we'd like to go back and travel there. If we do have a day in which we're both off, we'll get a car and go to a bed and breakfast - just get away. I love to travel.

NR: Do you have any dream roles you'd like to play?

PF: Oh, Lord! A whole slew of them! All of them are still out of my league age-wise, which is a good thing. I'd love to play Sweeney Todd at some point, Juan Peron in Evita.

NR: Not Che?

PF: I've played Che and he was terrific. I would gladly play him again. There are a couple of Sondheim roles - George in Sunday in the Park, mostly older guys. I think since I was eight I've known that I was meant to be older in this business. The older I get, the more I feel like I'm coming into my own. The more I'm in the business, the more I find shows that I'd like to direct as much as I'd like to perform. I'd love to direct A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim. I'm totally turned on by new plays which I didn't know I would be as a director. It's about finding the "Next American Classic." (laughs)

NR: Have you decided if you're doing the tour?

PF: I'm not sure yet. It's still very much up in the air. I've told them that I didn't want to go out as a swing, so it will depend on if there's a place that's appropriate for me on stage, the future of the shows that I'm directing. It's about which strikes first. It's amazing how things can boil down to the next month, what this show does, what these plays do.

NR: Well, good luck.

PF: Thanks.

Peter has since told me that he was offered a role in The Scarlet Pimpernel tour but he turned it down to stay in New York and continue with his directing. Hopefully a lot of people will turn out to see A Wedding Album when it goes up in February. It's a very funny show, and a chance to see how a play develops from one of its early stages. I wish Peter the best with it and all of his other projects.

Questions suggested by:

Jan Combopiano, Amy Lovett, Leona Hoegsberg, Susan Luchey, Jody Uyanik, Lauren Teweles, Lois and Elizabeth Colpo, Laura Cutler, Colleen Rosati

Interview conducted and photographs by Nancy Rosati.