Tom was actually the third Chauvelin that I've interviewed and it happened that we spoke on a night that he was going on for Rex Smith. My first impressions of Tom were that he's very quiet and shy but that turned out not to be the case. Actually, he has some very valid reasons for keeping a low profile at the stage door which he explained to me.

NR: Can you tell me a little bit about your background, like where you grew up?

TZ: Sure. I grew up in Hartford, Connecticut - just outside Hartford. I went to grade school and high school there and I actually continued my education there. I went to Hartt School of Music which is an opera conservatory but I majored in musical theater. I started working with the Hartford Stage Company and some other groups.

NR: When did you decide you wanted to perform?

TZ: As a kid. It was just sort of the way I found my peer group. I think kids join different activities and that was what I joined.

NR: So I guess you did a lot of shows in school?

TZ: Yeah, I did all of them.

NR: What was your experience like when you came here, since you came with the "new group" in October? At that time, half of the cast was still doing the old show and rehearsing with the new group. What was that like?

TZ: For me it was just a new show. I think it was really taxing for the people that were in it. Especially, I can't imagine what it was like for Douglas (Sills) to have done the old show at the same time. Isn't he amazing?

NR: You mean because there were differences in his character?

TZ: Yeah, both huge differences and subtle ones.

NR: Were the "old" ones just dropping dead, while the "new" ones were awake?

TZ: It was taxing for the people that were in it. It was a lot to do, especially for somebody like Douglas. But, as far as I was concerned, I was just coming in and rehearsing a new show. It was fine. It was fairly unremarkable.

NR: Really?

TZ: Yeah, it was just a normal show. I thought what Bobby (Longbottom) did with it was good. I thought the changes Bobby made were real good and smart. I don't have anything very shocking to say about that. I agree that he in fact cleared the story up and told the story better. I liked every change he made. I thought it was great.

NR: I was just curious if it was strange in October because half of the cast was the "old" group and half were the newcomers. It wasn't just like there was one person being added to the cast. Didn't that seem strange at all?

TZ: Well, I knew some of the people already. I knew Craig Rubano. I knew a couple of other people. I knew a guy named Darrin (Baker). He's not with the show anymore. I knew Doug Storm so there were a few friendly faces around. Also, it wasn't my first Broadway show so it wasn't...It was really fairly unremarkable and Bobby is such a taskmaster and such an efficiency guru and he knew exactly what he wanted to do and how to do it. The other thing is because the show had already been done, it was sort of a known commodity in a way. We knew it was going to be better than it was. We didn't know if it was going to be a big hit, but we knew it would be improved.

NR: How do you compare your experience with Les Miz and this show?

TZ: Oh, I don't know.

NR: How long were you in Les Miz?

TZ: A LONG time. I did three and a half years of Les Miz, then I left for three years, and then I went back for three years.

NR: Wow. How did you keep that fresh, being in a show that long?

TZ: I had a couple of great parts. I played the drunk student for most of my time there. It's a marvelous character, completely underrated character called Grantaire. It's just a great part and there's all sorts of cynicism and colors and depth that don't exist...When all the other students are cheering the insurrection, Grantaire has got a completely different take on it. There's a lot to explore there and it was sort of endlessly fun to do the opposite of what everybody else was doing.

NR: When did you do Javert?

TZ: I did Javert toward the end and not for very long. I was just doing that for a couple months before I left.

NR: How do you compare him to Chauvelin, because people compare them all the time?

TZ: I know they do. There are similarities, but the main difference is that Javert is completely void of any sexuality. He's got a relationship with God. Chauvelin is a horny little devil. Chauvelin is all about his crotch. Chauvelin is a sadist. Javert is just really interested in being pure and correct. There are similarities...

NR: They're both French and they're both the bad guy.

TZ: Well, yeah, but there's the old thing that when you're playing a villain, you never play him like a bad guy. You play him for his truth. He doesn't think he's being a bad guy, he just has his point of view. Chauvelin just wants to get Marguerite back and he just wants the bourgeois to come down. He just wants what he wants. It's not popular opinion, but history is always written by the winners, you have to remember that. If the French revolution had not been successful, we would have a very different idea of what was appropriate. This show doesn't take the whole historical value of the thing as seriously as Les Miz either. This show is more of an entertainment. Les Miz, to me, concerns itself a bit more with the accuracy of it. In this show, when the guards come out, half of them hold the guns on the wrong side because there's supposed to be a balanced stage picture. In Les Miz, that would have never happened.

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.

NR: Do you have a dream role you haven't played yet?

TZ: I've got to tell you. Chauvelin is pretty much my shtick. That's sort of my thing. The crazy bad boy, power hungry bad boy. I just did Elmer Gantry and I really enjoyed that. That was a great role. I would love to do Sweeney Todd. I would love to do a musical version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

NR: All the nuts. You like playing nuts?

TZ: LOVE the nuts.

NR: Do you like having a singing role, or would you prefer to do one that's just dramatic?

TZ: I would love just to do a dramatic role because the singing is a lot of responsibility. You can do all your homework and everything else, but you can't smoke any cigars and you can't stay up late and you must take immaculate care of yourself or else those high notes aren't going to be there - for me anyway. Other people can do whatever the hell they want and the voice is there. I have to be disciplined which is too bad because I like not being disciplined. It's a tradeoff.

I've been taking good care of myself lately. I had an audition today and it went well and I walked out of the audition and I thought, "Yeah, I guess it went well because I've been taking good care of myself and not having much fun. I sang good. I guess that's my reward for not having any fun."

NR: A lot of people say the same thing. Stephanie (Bast) told me that she's "such a nerd." That's why she has high notes because she just goes home.

TZ: Yeah, well, I've got a pretty checkered past so I have some experience to draw on. In between musical roles I go out and raise some hell.

NR: Have you had any interaction with the League since you've been here, and what has that been like?

TZ: You know, not really. I had bad experiences at Les Miz with getting involved with anything. I had people following me home. I had people calling me. So, I've really got sort of a paranoid attitude about it. Even with this show I've had people call me at home. I don't know what it is. I think what it is - I look a little crazy. I've got a little crazy thing going on and I think people that are crazy decide that I'm their kindred spirit and that I'm going to understand them. But, there was this girl at Les Miz and she would come to the theater every day, whether she saw the show or not, and she would follow me.

NR: Oh, that's scary.

TZ: I've sort of kept arm's distance.

NR: Well, the League members that I know would never do anything like that. In fact, they would jump on anyone who did it.

TZ: You know, it seems to me that they don't. It seems like a nice group and I've made eye contact and said, "Hello" but I'm just terrified of the whole thing. When they would call me, I would tell them that if they want to contact me, they should write to the theater. It's not appropriate to call people at home. I had to tell this one girl not to come to Chicago when I went to do Elmer Gantry.

So, there's a lady named Sue, and she comes to the show a lot. She seems very nice and I just saw her on the way in tonight. She seems very nice and I have no problem with that. It's just that I have, not a ton of them, but a few bad experiences and also because I think I play the characters like Grantaire - he's sort of the outcast, he sees things differently. These are the characters that I tend to do well so I think the people that feel that way sort of relate to me somehow.

NR: What's the best advice that you were given about your career?

TZ: The advice that I was given was by my dad, my foster dad actually. I said this is what I want to do and he said, "If you don't try it, you'll regret it the rest of your life." I would say I think that's true about everything.

NR: So he didn't discourage you? He didn't say, "It's a horrible field. Don't do that?"

TZ: It IS a horrible field. (laughs) It's a horrible field and you end up doing things you don't want to do. You end up taking jobs you don't want to take. You're very lucky if you eke your way through and you're gloriously lucky if you have a little artistic satisfaction, but what's the point if you're not going to try to achieve what you want?

NR: So, other than raising hell, what else do you wish you had more time for?

TZ: I love building stuff. You saw the picture of the bed I made. They're going to sell it for fifteen hundred bucks. I love building furniture. I've actually supported myself with that little bit in between jobs. That's sort of my hobby.

NR: What's ahead for the future?

TZ: Well, I guess we'll know in a couple of weeks what's going on with this place.

NR: What about long term? Where do you see yourself five years from now?

TZ: I think that I'm starting to move...my type has always been leading man. I'm finally at a point with my age that I can start playing these roles, which is why I think I'm starting to get the roles like Elmer Gantry. Prior to then, I was a leading man who was 25 years old. There's a difference between a young leading man - the kind of guy that's going to get cast as Marius. I'm not a Marius. I'm a man who is just getting old enough to play men. Hopefully, my career will continue. I feel like I'm in a great place and everything's good.

NR: Great. Thanks.

TZ: You're welcome.

Tom plays a rather fierce, smouldering Chauvelin which is fascinating to watch. Considering the fact that he claims Chauvelin's keys are now a bit high for him, he does such a beautiful job that I would love to hear him sing the songs in keys that are more comfortable for him. He was very interesting to speak with and I wish him the best of luck in the future.

Questions suggested by:

Stephanie Henkin, Naomi Solomon, Josie, Emily, Renee Girard, Pat Wafer, Susan Luchey, Meg Deans, Bettina Pagalilauan, Lois and Elizabeth Colpo, Nesha Sellers, Mandy Shekleton, Anne Teitelbaum, Chauvelinrex