Meeting Rex was very interesting for me personally. About eight years ago, he was a constant fixture in my home. Well, not him exactly, but his video of The Pirates of Penzance had been adopted by my then 2 1/2 year old son, who played it non-stop throughout the day. Before we began I took a few minutes to tell Rex how I had found my son singing "I Am the Pirate King" at the top of his lungs, using a fireplace poker for a sword! Needless to say, we went out that day to buy a plastic sword.

Rex's wife, Courtney, joined us and posed for a picture with him. They also made an announcement to me at the end.

NR: Can you give me a little background? Where did you grow up?

RS: I was born in Jacksonville, Florida and I grew up between there and Atlanta, Georgia. I went to high school in Atlanta, Georgia, and I went to elementary school in Greenville, South Carolina. I moved up to New York when I was 20 and got signed by Columbia Records. I started out as a hard rock 'n roller. First I was in a band called "Rex" then I was touring with Ted Nugent for two years, opening up for Ted Nugent. At Columbia I had two albums. And then I did a TV movie, Sooner or Later, became a teen idol, and then all that hard rock 'n roll went out the window and at the same time I discovered Broadway. It was probably the smartest move I ever made. I felt that I found a place where I could grow up and mature and have worth, and portray characters, and fill a need for myself and others throughout my life, and every year of my life, no matter how old I became. I think theater's going to be that, and so far it has. It's been a great place to be.

NR: When did you decide to perform? Have you always wanted to sing?

RS: Yeah, pretty much. I really believe that singers and great tennis players are born, not made. You're just born to do it. You can take lessons and you can learn, and you can enjoy a certain level, but to really be world class singers, and a great many athletes and that sort of thing...it's like an athletic endeavor. I think 90% of them have got to be born to do it and the other 10% is really honing your skills.

NR: What convinced you to take the risk of stepping into such an unprecedented redo here? Was that a little scary?

RS: Any Broadway opportunity is something that you look at in a serious vein. In terms of risk, my whole career, and any career really, is based on risk. So, it's already a risk. I don't really gamble. You know, I never go to a casino and gamble because my life is fraught with risk, but with that risk comes the same thrill when you come up a winner, when it works.

NR: Were you nervous about it? No one's ever done this before.

RS: If I have the benefit of five week's rehearsal to investigate and work, which I did, and from scratch, from the ground up with this character, I have pretty much after 20 years of doing this, I have a certain amount of confidence that give me five weeks and I should be able to put together a character that's worth the price of admission.

NR: So you were fine, but no one knew if the show would be fine.

RS: There were times...It was an odd situation with Rachel and I. It was odd working alone, because we worked alone and then they started bringing in the cast, two days a week for four hours a day. It was odd in that respect. But I had every confidence in Bobby Longbottom. He really was the one that convinced me. When I met him and he described to me a bit of what they were trying to do, and the fact that it was historic and it had never been done before, I welcomed that. That's a first in the history of Broadway. That's exciting to be the pathfinder, to be part of that. I think what has occurred here in this show is survival of the theater and it's a good thing. Whatever it takes to keep theater alive and going, and if this is the evolution of the beast, well then I'm glad to be part of it.

NR: Twice I have heard you say that this is the original cast. I was wondering if you could elaborate on that.

RS: What, this cast right here?

NR: Yes.

RS: As far as I am concerned, what other show is there? In my history, there is no other show. I came in, created a character from the ground up, went out, opened it for the New York Times, and to me there is so much new about this that whatever relationship it has to anything else is of no consequence to me. I have no allegiance to anything but this production, the one that I'm involved in. I wouldn't have been interested to come into this show and just be a replacement part. That doesn't interest me. But the fact that I was going to be able to create my own character. This is almost like a car, like Jaguar goes every so many years and they completely change the car and it doesn't share any parts that it used to. It's still got the emblem, but it's a different car. Yeah, it's still a Jag. So, this is completely retooled. It's a new effort. There has been some frustration. It's too bad because I think if this show opened, if it didn't have any prior history, and it opened as it was now, I think this thing would be heading for Tonys and this would be sweeping some Tonys this year. I think this would be the hot show of the year, I really do.

NR: I agree with you, although, actually, I like both versions.

RS: I'm not putting down any other versions. I just have no knowledge of the other thing. I live in California. I am not casting any shadows on any prior stuff. It is of no consequence and it's really of no interest to me. Whatever was, it wasn't my gig. This is my gig. This of course is what I'm interested in. This is where my allegiance is tied to.

NR: Do you think audiences see a bit of themselves in Chauvelin?

RS: You would hope that in any character you play, that you represent something to every man or woman, or audience member, a tangible element within the human condition. There is a responsibility that this character as written is the "crashing reality." Part of this show is as light as a soap bubble. It's just floating on air. A lot of Doug's work is "Danny Kaye-ish" and it's so light and airy. And my responsibility is like an anvil, or a piano crashing down, or like a safe in the cartoons, and I welcome that because it gives the juxtaposition. I think what makes the show run is the counterpoint. If anybody's ever dreamed of being a rock star, not since I was in a rock band have I played a part that was so close to that. That opening number feels like I'm a hard rocker again. It's like a rock number. I feel every time like I'm rocking like Mick Jagger out there. You know those great cartoons they used to have where they would show a man sitting on a park bench and then they would show his shadow, and what his shadow really wanted to be doing, like choking the person he was talking to? I think Chauvelin is very much the dark side of everybody.

NR: What do you enjoy more - playing the villain like Chauvelin or the hero like Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance?

RS: With Frederick, there's a lot of responsibility with playing that sort of thing. Both of them are sort of "straight men" who are surrounded by these "satellites of comedy." I have played a lot of heroes and Chauvelin is just a hero that took a wrong turn. If he had turned all of these energies on the right path... I really believe that, like a great many people in that time, in the Revolution, he began for all the right reasons and it's four years later, and it's just become mired and knee-deep in blood and irresponsibility. In any war or revolution there have been people who were carrying the flag and hoping for a better life and ending up thinking "What have I done?" I think that's what's happened to this man. But, there is a thrill playing villains that can't be beat. When I did As the World Turns I played an evil character, Darryl Crawford. If I had stayed on the show... I left the show and they made me a hero. If I had stayed on the show it was going to be the first time in the history of daytime that I murdered my wife and got away with it. I didn't know that till I left and they said, "This was what we were going to do." They never tell you. But, villains have so much "psychic baggage" they have to carry around with them that it's a lot of fun, because once you open up all the suitcases you've got all those things to dig around and pull out, all those different shades of character.

NR: After you've been doing a role for awhile, how do you keep it fresh?

RS: I don't think that it's something for myself that I really approach. I think it sort of organically renews itself. It's just like nature. You do something this long in this same kind of pattern, it really has almost a Zen quality to it. You almost are meditating at the same time every night. You're getting prepared. Your body is like a flower that blooms at night, you know, you begin to bloom at 8:07. My voice is going to start working in just a matter of an hour or so. I'll be hitting notes and doing things. The vocal memory comes into play. I think it's an endless fascination to me. It's a lot of work and when you're at home prior to the show you think, "Ugh, two shows today" and stuff like that but the mechanics involved in the moment to moment work out there, to me, is fascinating enough that it's like an endless Backgammon game. I'm always curious about the next move. You have to have a memory of what you're going to do next, but the number one thing is to try and erase it so you don't really know what's going to happen next. Therein becomes sort of the tennis match. So you think, "All right, I know what I've got to say next and I know what my response is and what my responsibilities are, but I also want to erase the blackboard and I want to be fresh."

You know, people ask that question but I ask a baker "How do you make those bagels every day?" Go into a bagel shop and just ask the guy, "How do you make those raisin bagels for 25 years?"

NR: But if he's in a bad mood, and he's not making those bagels "nicely," he doesn't have an audience.

RS: He DOES have an audience, because they come in and they go, "What are you doing with these bagels? I can't eat this." I am proud to be in, it seems like the more I look in the world, one of the last places where I do the BEST job I can every time I do it. And I can't find that on airlines, I can't find that where I go to eat, I can't find it at the dry cleaners. It's falling apart all over the world of people just not taking responsibility for their work, and they don't care because they're going to quit in four days anyway and I feel proud to live and work in a world where these people are professional. It's like working for the fire department in terms that this whole crew is going to jump into action. There are so many mechanical things going on around me, unsung heroes. I'm the tip of the iceberg. There are guys behind stage that have awesome responsibilities to make sure that every nut and bolt is tight, and that nothing falls on anybody, and curtains rise and everything moves safely. It's amazing just to think of all of us working in unison. I don't even know what all of them do. Sometimes when a show's being put together I see stacks of blueprints and guys designing, and it's fascinating that the way a set's setup, as I make an entrance, they have the set built so you can't see me. I'm totally obscured on any angle I walk. Some architect designed it so that I'm blocked as I make an entrance. It's fascinating to me. I'm probably the least of the schooled and learned men or women working in this organization. The guy who's calling the show, I have no idea how he sits there and he goes, "Q46, get ready for sound." How do you do that?

NR: Where and when did you learn to fence?

RS: I did a bit in Pirates but that was a long time ago. Rick Sordelet designed all of the fights, and a great deal like the "Rescue" sequence, which I think is really fun to watch. I was working about 3 hours a day for 5 weeks. I began with just basic instruction, working through and then I reached a point where I took all of the foundation and the basics and then made it into my own style, which I believe is probably historically what any person did. You have that foundation. It's just like a pianist where they add their own intuition and style to it. I don't fight like Doug fights. Doug fights in a more classical style. I fight more like a street brawler, but I think that's the way I would end up fighting in real life. I think it would be too stagy to think that in real life, that in a fight, you would constantly be doing it like you learned in school. Because once you were cut open, or you saw some blood, or you were injured, I'm sure they got down to pretty much just gasping for air and slinging things at each other. And what's saving you or carrying the day is that basic foundation.

NR: Aren't you exhausted at that point in the show? It's a long fight.

RS: It gets better but it always is a bit of work. Douglas can be an intimidating guy. He's a big guy and he's strong and it's good. I like that. We are very comfortable with those swords now and safe. But it's like race car drivers. We know how to take it just far enough. When I work with somebody else, like a cover, that's a completely different thing because it's mainly just trying to get them through without anything happening. Whereas with him, I can really throw myself into the fight because I know he knows how to defend himself, and vice versa.

NR: What is your favorite song in the show to sing?

RS: You know, "Falcon in the Dive," coming off of that last moment, it's like being in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. There's the light hitting you and you see your hands, and you know you're standing by a guillotine and it's an odd thing. It's physical work. Coming off of that thing when I've really delivered it I really feel ...I give thanks that I have the physical strength to pull it off because it requires a lot of work. And "Where's the Girl" is lovely. I've worked real hard to hone that and make that as simple as "arts and craft furniture." Just real simple lines. First Frank (Wildhorn) wanted me to do it in a really pop style and then from that point I started pulling as much stuff out as I could. I'm proud of that song in terms of its simplicity, trying to keep it so simple and not stagy and get the point across. It is the only opportunity in the show to show the humane side and the feeling side of this man. I really am glad that that song is there to accomplish that task and show he's not just a one dimensional character "waxing his mustache."

NR: Any chance there's going to be a cast album or have we lost that?

RS: I've never heard anything. I don't know. I think we're talking profit margins from here on in with this thing, much as I would like artistically to do that. I would love to have the record of this because I think this is a great sounding cast.

NR: And the orchestrations are wonderful. I have the first CD and I love it, but there are a lot of new things I would love to have also.

RS: Well, what a great opportunity. How many times can a composer go back in and tweak and do things and say, "I always wanted to do this" and have the opportunity to do it? And I think that Rachel and Doug...I think our three voices are very complementary to each other. They're all distinctive. They're real strong and they each have a unique personality.

NR: How do you compare performing a character in a musical vs. your pop or rock career?

RS: In Pirates, they welcomed my style of singing, but Frank was the first time that a guy said, "This is exactly the way I want to hear this kind of music." Frank makes no apologies about it. He writes in a pop style and that's what he believes in. He believes that's the future of musical theater in a sense of how it's going to succeed in the next millennium and when I sang for him the first time he said, "Man, that's what I'm looking for. You just sing it with style." And I said, "You don't know how long I've been waiting for somebody to say that to me. And not say, `Could you sort of adapt and make it sound like...?'" I think one of my strengths that's carried me for 20 years on Broadway is the fact that I don't sing in a "conservatory" style, which is wonderful and admirable, but I'm not interested in singing that way. If Frank is opening a door that I can continue to travel in singing... I've always put my own style into how I sing a song. I'm hoping that this is a good warm association with him with a bright future for some other projects.

NR: When did you first learn about the League and what has been your reaction?

RS: My wife and I were talking about it on the way here. This interview that I'm doing here is a unique thing now with the Internet. For example, if you do an interview for the Daily News, it will be scanned over by a whole spectrum of people. But this interview is specifically for people who are really, truly interested in this absolute moment, and know it well. This is like concentrated orange juice now. This is the real thing. It's not diluted at all. So this is a very important thing. One thing that I know is there are probably very strong opinions running in the League. I'm sure they run very strong. When I first came here I had the Internet setup and I thought, "Let me take a look at that thing." And there are such opinions in the thing that I said, "I have to stay clear of that thing, because it's kind of like Superman saying `Let's go look at some Kryptonite.'" because people are so strongly opinionated and I don't know if people like me or not but I've got to go out there and do my job every night and that's getting too personal for me. Because I can't cloud my judgement on calls that I make as a performer, and all I'm doing is making my calls as a performer, and some people seem to take it a little personally. You know, it's a personal business but it's very impersonal too. I approach it with all my passion and everything, but as soon as I'm done, as soon as that wig comes off, I'm walking my dog and going home and renting a movie or whatever. I can't take it with me. It does travel with me. It's in a lot of conversations about this stuff, about the future of the show and that sort of thing, but I don't beat myself up too much about Chauvelin.

NR: Actually, if you were reading things originally, everybody was very thrown. There was a new director coming in and there was going to be a new script and everybody wondered, "What are they going to do to our show?" It really didn't take long for people to say, "Oh, I really like that."

RS: But you have to understand "It's our show." We embrace everybody who helps us do it, but it's ... you know what? It's not even my show, it's transitory. It's like being in a piece of furniture. I'm Chauvelin for now, but there'll be another Chauvelin sitting here in the life of this show. Who knows what the future is? There'll be another Chauvelin saying, "Well I see it this way. That Rex had it all wrong." It's not mine. It's just mine for now.

NR: You just had a caricature at Sardi's. How did that feel?

RS: Really neat, really neat. We did it very quietly. We're going to do a bigger one, because it was just my wife and I and Doug joined us. It was just the three of us because we just got over a terrible flu. We went on our vacation and both of us got sick as dogs and we're expecting a child, by the way.

NR: Oh, I didn't know that. Congratulations. Do you want me to announce that?

RS: It doesn't matter. Courtney's 12 weeks along. Sure, you can tell people.

NR: What do you wish you had more time for in your life?

RS: My children.

NR: And what do you want to do in the future?

RS: I'd like to do everything I've done again and do it better. Not to go back, but as my life keeps going, and your days kind of repeat themselves, being a better husband, being a better father, being a better actor, being just better. That's it, just to improve.

NR: That's great. Thank you very much.

RS: All right.

Rex is thrilled to be back on Broadway and a part of this historically revamped version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. I wish him a long and successful run as Chauvelin and the best to him and Courtney with the impending birth of their child.

Questions suggested by:

Andrew, Tom Robson, Kathy, Peter Williams, Meredith, Suzanne, Mary Helfrick, Susan Cassidy, James