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Broadway Rewind: HANDS ON A HARDBODY Arrives on Broadway in 2013
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Oct 27, 2022
Today we rewind to 2013, when Hands on a Hardbody opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The cast included Keith Carradine, Hunter Foster, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Keala Settle, Allison Case, and Dale Soules. For ten hard-luck Texans, a new lease on life is so close they can touch it. Under a scorching sun for days on end, armed with nothing but hope, humor and ambition, they'll fight to keep at least one hand on a brand new truck in order to win it. In the hilarious, hard-fought contest that is HANDS ON A HARDBODY only one winner can drive away with the American Dream.
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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The new musical Hands on a Hard Body, which is based on the acclaimed 1997 documentary
0:08
features a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright, a score by Fish's Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green
0:14
and musical staging by Sergio Trujillo. Under the direction of Neil Pepe, it stars Keith Carradine and Hunter Foster
0:21
And I'm here on opening night to celebrate with the company. I feel over the moon
1:00
I don't even know how to describe it It's just thrilled and then a little sad
1:04
probably at the same time You're giving your baby away now to the audience, right
1:08
Yeah, I'm glad to be giving it away but we've been inside of it for so long
1:15
like three years, day after day and you just fall in love with the characters
1:19
and you fall in love with the cast you fall in love with the crew and everybody
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It's a really unique and magical world, a Broadway world. It's just what an honor to have been invited into this
1:35
How did it happen for you? What attracted you to want to write this? I've always been a big musical theater fan
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I take my kids to everything. My mom took me to everything. Her mom took her to everything
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I grew up around a table where I heard stories of John Raitt and Mary Martin
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and, you know, South Pacific. And so in my mind, I always envisioned it as the ultimate creative
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collaborative creative outlet. So when Amanda asked me, I was over the moon, you know
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So did you go back to the documentary to start the whole process of working on this
2:13
Oh, yeah. First thing I did was watch the documentary. And it kind of reminded me, the first thought I had was it reminded me of 12 Angry Men
2:19
Because I thought, oh, this is great. They're locked together. They're going to get exhausted
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Their defenses are going to go down. And I had to hand it to the incredible Doug Wright for thinking of the idea
2:31
I mean, we all know he's brilliant, but this was a really brilliant idea
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Because it seems like the limitations would be too overwhelming. But I found the opposite
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I found that the limitations were leaping off points. You know what I mean? The fact that they had to stay so close together
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If you could sum up the best part of the experience of working on this, what has it been for you
2:52
The family collaborative element. The guy standing next to me right now, Sergio
2:58
who just welcomed me in, even though I was a beginner, who kept pulling me up to the stage and saying
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you know, go ahead, you have an idea, say it. That kind of stuff. I mean, it's just..
3:09
And then getting to know the actors. Just magical people. They work so hard
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These actors, if people only knew how hard actors work. Well, it's opening night
3:19
How do you feel? I'm just beyond exhilarated and excited. It's been such a long dream
3:24
It was surreal standing on stage tonight with the contestants, with my collaborators, with the cast
3:30
It really is an absolute dream come true. Let's talk about collaborating on this
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what it meant to you and what it means to you, collaborating with Trey and with Doug. I love Doug Wright. I love Trey Anastasio
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I would work with him again in a heartbeat. I feel that way about all my collaborators
3:44
but these guys and I have just had such a special journey together, and it's really been joyous and wonderful
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You approached Trey to write this, didn't you? I did, I did. Yes, we'd been looking for somebody to collaborate with me on the music
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and Trey and I had started writing songs together independently and I found out he loved musicals and he said
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we should write a musical together. I said, well, it's funny you should say that. I happen to have this musical I'm working on
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So he came aboard, luckily for us. It's opening night, how do you feel
4:15
I honestly speechless like completely enamored and
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very grateful to be a part of this I've always wanted to originate a musical
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I've always wanted to originate a role and be a part of this one is I don't really have words for it so I feel really grateful really blessed
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and happy and satisfied I mean I'm really excited and looking forward to seeing
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how the world takes to it but I love the fact that all of the cast members
4:42
and for example tonight you do a show and every one of your friends and everybody's here
4:46
but yet there's such a tightness in the story that that's in itself amazing
4:52
because I get to feel like I'm a part of something with nobody there. So I felt really great to be a part of this show on this opening night
4:58
I love this score, but you have one of my all-time favorite numbers. You just blew me away the other night
5:03
Talk about the song that you sang. The song I sing is called Born in Laredo
5:07
It's very Gypsy King friendly, but at the same time like West Coast kind of indie friendly
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because it's kind of like pop rock but very musical theater at the same time. I love it because although it is a specific message for my character
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it is pretty much the American story, let's say. Everyone's immigrated here at some point
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or everyone's been in some sort of type of discrimination. So for me, it's beautiful to sing it
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and to really be able to channel that emotion. And it's a tough song, too, so it's a great journey for me
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I love the lyrics, I love the melody, and I love the strings behind it, the orchestrations
5:50
It's a powerhouse song, and it gives me the opportunity to be very physical, which I am as a person
5:55
So thank you for enjoying the song, because I love doing it. There are stories, I think, that don't get told much
6:03
The story of working class people who are struggling, and what lengths they will go to to try and get a leg up
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And in the course of doing that with the contest, they actually bond with each other
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And that, I don't know if there's a message, maybe that's it
6:25
You know that in taking the step even though it very much like the dance marathons in the 30s it a horrific difficult grueling exhausting experience
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but the people that you go through it with bond, and there's something very uplifting about that aspect of it
6:48
Talk about the great role, the woman you play. Oh, my gosh. Her name is Janice Curtis, or Janice Curtis
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And she and her husband, Don, in real life have three children
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But we took a little dramatic license. They have six kids. They are an imperfect couple who are perfectly in love
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They just stand behind each other no matter what. And you can see that both in the play, in the musical, and in the documentary
7:21
You know, I've done a lot of shows. I don't think I've ever been more proud of a show
7:26
I've had casts that are great, but nothing like this. Whatever happens, I don't read reviews, but whatever happens
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Like when I was a high school kid and I'd get the Samuel French script in the back
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and I'd look at the original cast in New York, I'll be that guy in this show that's done forever
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And that is good. It's a really good feeling. Really good. what has made this so special and talk about the role
7:54
Well, I think there's not one good or bad guy in the whole show
7:59
Everyone has got good and bad. I mean, my guy's got maybe a little more bad. But I don't think he's bad
8:04
I just think he's immature, maybe makes selfish decisions. But even Doug Wright has written him as, you know
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a friend said, you know, I sort of feel bad for you at the end, even though you're an ass, you know
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And I think that's what's great about this show. It's real people. I mean, literally, there are eight of the real people there tonight
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so you can't make fun of them, you can't patronize the audience you've got to be honest
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and people are not all good or all bad I think that in this show is really amazing, pretty special
8:32
Talk about the role and what you love about her Oh, Virginia Drew
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It was so exciting She is a woman at a certain age in her life
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at a certain point where their relationship she and her husband has come to an impasse
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and their storyline is how they get over that and I get to sing a gorgeous song written by Amanda Green
8:57
that I love singing every night. One of many in this beautiful score
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So it's pretty cool. And Virginia, of course, was here tonight, which was amazing
9:08
Did you meet her? She is here. The real Virginia Drew, who also came to La Jolla
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and actually was at the show tonight. It's pretty swell. It's really swell
9:18
So what appealed to you originally to want to write this? I was really struck by Rob Bindler's documentary because I thought he found so many rich metaphors in the truck itself
9:26
The truck as striving, the truck as American opportunity, the truck as a kind of lost American ethos
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And I really thought that the characters were such humane, likable, eccentric and surprising people
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I thought they'd merit time on stage. Talk about collaborating with your co-authors
9:45
It was amazing. I'd never worked as closely with a lyricist before
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Amanda and I would send pages back and forth like crazy, and she produced truly brilliant work
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And Trey has such an encyclopedic knowledge of musical history, he was able to give every character their own musical vocabulary
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but at the same time create a consistent and thrilling score. So sometimes I felt like a student working with the two of them
10:09
You know, I asked Trey, what was the easiest character to write for and what was the most challenging
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What was it for you, Doug? Oh, a great question. I loved writing Benny
10:17
I have such affection for Benny. He's such a wonderful, adorable scoundrel
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And I think I was probably more challenged by Jesus Pena, the Latino kid who wants to go to a vet school
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because it was somewhat outside my own experience in Texas. It was a different world ethnically and socioeconomically than the one I knew
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But books like Domingo Martinez, Boy Kings of Texas, were really useful
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and John Rua, the actor, and Jaime Castaneda, one of our dramaturgs
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So it was thrilling to enter that world. Talk about the man that you play
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Ronald McCowan. Oh, my God. Loving the death. Thick accent. Hard time understanding what he says
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but when you put that ear up there, it's all true. So I love Ronald
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Did you meet the real man you play? Yeah, I met him before. I'm meeting him tonight, hanging out with him, him and his lovely girlfriend
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And so he's great. He's a laugh a minute. Did you meet him in La Jolla
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No, I didn't meet him in La Jolla. I just met him recently here. But we've talked and written and talked to the playwright, Doug Wright
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So, yeah. Tell me what the best part of the experience for you with working on this, what is it for you
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Working with Doug Wright. He's a master. And he takes suggestions from actors, which playwrights don't always do
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And he's crafted, recrafted things to fit us specifically. that is so rare in a theater, so rare
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And it meant a lot to all of us. You made it to Broadway. How does it feel
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It's been such an incredible journey. It started about two years ago for me
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A year ago, yesterday, we started rehearsals in La Jolla, and now here we are
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And it was just a killer, killer night tonight. It really was amazing
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Talk about this great man that you get to play. You know what's been so incredible about this
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is that I feel like I'm paying tribute to our servicemen and women across the country right now
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that don't have an outlet for their story and for their inner struggle
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And I really think what was prevalent in the show is when Hunter, when Benny Perkins says it tonight
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you made it home, you hang on. So all of you, you made it home, you hang on
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Please do. Talk about the beautiful number you get to do. The number's absolutely incredible
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Anytime you get to say, I like to call it the first act, 11-hour number
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And it's just this incredible power ballad. And I'm hoping that maybe music theater students throughout the years
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will take this incredible journey that this song takes you on and really can study it and break it down, and it will live on in legacy
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That's what I love about this score. There are complete mini stories of all the characters We get to know all of you through these beautiful songs that have been written for you to do Absolutely I think Trey and Amanda have really complete
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stories within each number that then complement the entire piece that we're giving to the audience
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every single night. It's my Broadway debut and I'm just, it's weird to walk through something
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I've been thinking about my whole life and I just felt great. It was exciting and felt like my wedding
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day, kind of. What was today like for you leading up to tonight? Oh, well, I'm last minute Betty over
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here, and I had to get everyone's opening night presents, and then I got my nails done, got a
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little massage, wrote everyone's cards, went to rehearsal, and here I am. That's it. Pretty simple
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So when you took your bow tonight, Broadway debut, what was going through your mind at the theater
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I just couldn't believe it. I'd never been part of something so special. I mean, to do a story
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about real people and their real story. I don't think that really happens in theater very often
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And so to have it be my Broadway debut, to play a real character
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to play something that I think I just love doing every night was priceless, honestly
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What's the most moving for you with working on this show? The best part about the show, ironically, is the truck
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In order for that truck to work, every single one of us has to be on it
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There's not a wink link in the cast. And if there's one person down
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then none of us can continue. And the strength of that is indescribable, and it keeps each of us
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going individually and collectively as a group. Let's talk about working with the truck with
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Sergio and Neil. What that whole process, I watch all of you, how everyone has their own area where
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they have to be at any given time. Right. There are different spikes on the stage, obviously
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for where we need to be. But you always know there's a give and take and a push and a pull
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with each number. And you know who's got the axis of the truck and you know who's got the end and
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you know who's got the front. And each person just kind of glides it in together collectively. So
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it's kind of magical to be a part of. It's got to be quite a workout for you also, right
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Oh, I love it. It's the best thing ever. I don't have to go to the gym. Heck, I got a truck. I got
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act one. It's all fun. Talk about the beautiful number they wrote for you. You know, it scares me
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have to death. I mean, you try and laugh and pull it out of nowhere every night and hope that
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everybody laughs with you. But again, the only way that I can do that is because of everybody else
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that's on the truck. And I pull so much from them and their energy that I know that once I have it
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because they're never not there, they're always there for me, I'm going to just fly right through
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it. You know what? I feel fantastic. You know, this is the first time that I've ever been this
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relaxed for an opening night. And I don't know. I just think that there is this, I think the whole
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this whole experience has been incredibly soothing. And I use the key word the entire time, it's brief
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So, you know, it's been a really, really stress-free. Your musical staging blew me away
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of how you deal with that extra element, of course, which is the truck
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What came first, the steps or the truck for you to work on this? Well, you know, it's like the truck was my dance partner
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So what do you do with a dance partner like that? So, well, you have to treat it kindly
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and then you have to teach it slowly how to dance. And the great thing about this particular group of actors
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was that they were really, really keen on working as a team
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because everything that happens with, you know, that truck, they've moved that truck around. Nothing's technical about it
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It's on cat. They move it around. So it's their teamwork that allowed me to create the kind of movement
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that I did in terms of how the truck moves. In terms of the vocabulary of the show, you know
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the obstacle of them keeping their hands on the truck actually liberated me in terms of finding vocabulary
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that would be interesting. I mean, you know, when you're stuck, what do you do? You know, you've got to use a lot of different ways of keeping, you know, side
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Anyway, so it was interesting. What was the easiest number to work on
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What was the hardest number to work on for you? Or the most challenging? The easiest number for me to work on was gone
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The number that the two young lovers sing. Because the storytelling is so clear
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and I dreamt of, like, if these two kids were dreaming of traveling across America
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you know, like I saw them, you know, looking at a sunset over the Grand Canyon
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or, you know, they'd be, like, arriving to the Pacific Coast Highway
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and they'd be looking at the ocean and they'd run to it and they'd jump in the water
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I mean, I dreamt of all of these incredible things that the kids would do while they would drive across America
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It's been a long journey getting to Broadway and, like, we're just having the best time
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It's, like, such a family and it's just amazing. So what's made it so special
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Everybody who I've spoken to said they've all done shows before, but there's something extra special about this one
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What is it for you? I think for me, it's real people
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This is a show about real people having real experiences. And, I mean, to have Kelly here tonight, it's extra special
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I think there's, like, a respect that goes with that. I think there's a responsibility that goes with that
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I love our show. I love its messages. I love its music. It's just, we feel like such a family
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And I felt like this in hair, actually, like, you know, years ago
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And I just feel so blessed to have come around full circle and be part of a new tribe, kind of, in a way
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I mean, everybody just, I mean, their heart and soul is in this thing
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And you can feel it every night. I feel it backstage. I feel it on stage. I just feel so grateful to be a part of it
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It's awesome. What's the best part about being back on Broadway for you? Oh, God
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So many things. I'm so thankful to be here. I think the coolest thing about this show is, A, the story
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I'm obsessed with the story and the music. But the people, I mean, our creative team, our cast, our crew
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everybody is so lovely and so welcoming and so passionate. To be a part of this group just really ignites me
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and makes me feel so happy to do the show and to be offstage and everything
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I just, I'm thrilled. It's opening night, Broadway. You guys made it. How do you feel
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It feels incredible, man. I mean, being from Texas, I feel like I'm doing a service to my home state
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So it feels nothing but beautiful. There's nothing like Broadway, is there
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No, nothing at all. Nothing at all in the world. It's what I've grown up loving, and I'm so glad that I'm here
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I feel so lucky. Tell me what it's been like working on this show and what it's meant to you
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Yeah. I mean being from Texas it meant that I gotten to go back and re at who I am and where I from and stepping away from Texas it meant that I gotten to go back and re at who I am and where I from Stepping away from Texas as a 17 I tried to escape it and I guess I just can do that
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you know, because here I am being cast in this role that's so close and near and dear to who I am
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and where I'm from, and so it's been a nice re-look at who I actually am
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Did you get to meet your real-life character? No, I didn't. My character is actually a little bit of a conglomeration of a few of the guys on the truck
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So we didn't actually get to meet the Greg Wilholdy, so I got to make up my own dude a little bit
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You've done such a beautiful job of creating this character. Tell me what it's been like working with Doug Wright's script and with your director
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Doug Wright and Neil Pepe are brilliant, brilliant, brilliant human beings. I mean, they're so collaborative, and they encourage you to follow your instincts
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and they'll let you keep stuff, and sometimes they'll take stuff away, but that's just in the nature of what we do
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It's like a big community. You know, that's what theater is. Everyone plays their part, and you find something beautiful at the very end
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I mean, it's the first time I've directed a Broadway musical, and it's just, it's really, it's thrilling
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I mean, with such a great creative team and incredible cast, and I believe in what the play is
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I really believe in it, what it's saying about America, and that Doug has sort of constructed these amazing characters
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and the fact that real characters that they were based on were there tonight made the whole thing, you know, unified
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How did this all come about for you originally, and why did you want to do it? Doug and Amanda approached me
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Doug and I had known each other for a while, and I think they wanted somebody, you know, I come from the theater
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and I sort of was a rock and roll musician for a while, so I think they wanted a slightly different take on the material
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and they definitely didn't want to patronize the characters. They wanted to make sure that we really honored these very real Texans
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And so I love that. Doug's an amazing playwright. Amanda's an incredible lyricist, his composer
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And then when they brought Trey and then to have Sergio on as well, it's just incredible
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So what were the challenges for you as the director with the truck? Well, I mean, the essential dramatic action of this play
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some would say it's static because it's waiting. But what I keep saying is, look, waiting's a verb
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and it's an endurance contest. And like, you know, like great films, like they shoot horses, don't they
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About marathon dancing, it has that quality. So it's both an event, an athletic event, and, you know, perhaps like Chorus Line
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it's about people talking about why they need this truck or this amount of money
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if they're going to sell the truck to go to school or to work or whatever they do
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So in that way, it's really a slice of life about working class America. Well, here we are. It's opening night. You guys made it. How do you feel tonight
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Great. I feel fantastic. I mean, anytime you open a Broadway show, it's just thrilling, no matter what you're doing
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And this being something that we care about so much as a cast, it makes it even more special
22:27
What has made this so special? Because everybody who's talked to me, from Trey to Amanda to Doug to the cast
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everybody said they've worked on many other shows, but there's something special about this one
22:37
What is it? You know, I was saying this the other day because people asked me, like, you know, what is your favorite experience, Volta
22:42
And I'm like, it has to be hands on the heart. God, I can't even speak
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hands on a hard body, because it's about real people. And not that other shows aren't about real people
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but, you know, these are just real, honest, hard-wricking Americans. And we were portraying real people as we brought them on stage tonight
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And that's why we all got emotional on stage, is because these people are real, and they exist in the world
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and you're bringing them to life. And there's something very special about that
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and I can't put my finger on it. And it's also a musical about people that we don't do musicals about
23:12
You know, it's kind of the heartland of America, It's a red state musical
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It's about people who work hard in life and don't get a lot for their hard work
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And so it's very, I don't know. And I grew up in a small town in Georgia, and I kind of relate to these people
23:31
And so I don't know. It's been very special to be a part of it. You've gotten to know the real man that you played, haven't you
23:37
Yeah, he's here tonight. Yeah, it's been great. I mean, to know that he exists and he came tonight
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I saw him when he came to La Jolla, and to be able to talk to him and actually listen to what he had to say about the competition was amazing
23:49
How did this all come about for you, and why did you want to do it? Well, they first came to me over three years ago, and they gave me the material and some of the songs
23:59
one in particular that I knew they wanted me to sing. Amanda Green, Adolph Green's daughter
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I worked with Adolph and Betty Comden when I did Will Rogers' Follies
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And I remember meeting Amanda back in those days, and apparently when she wrote this song, Used To Be
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she had my voice in mind. So I was so honored by that
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Needless to say, that made me look at this in a very special way
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And then when I saw what the material was and what the whole thing was
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I said, oh, I have to be a part of this. Talk about this company of actors you get to work with
24:34
It's one of the most extraordinary ensembles I think has ever been put together in the theater
24:38
I can't imagine anyone being better in their role than all of these actors are in theirs
24:43
You have that extra partner, which of course is the truck, and you all dance with it so beautifully
24:49
Was that a challenge for you? Well, teaching the truck the dance move was really difficult
24:53
but once the truck learned its moves, it was a piece of cake after that. Talk a little bit about the man you play and what you love about him
25:00
Did you meet the real man? Yeah, J.D. Drew. He is, you know, they came and saw the show in La Jolla
25:06
And when I got a chance to meet him and speak with him, I mean, these are salt-of-the-earth people
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These are deeply American people. They're so representative of who we are as a people, as a society, as a country
25:22
And getting a chance to meet J.D. and talk with him, it gave me a lot of insight in terms of his own character
25:29
It added a lot of layers to what I bring to the show. The night I was there, the audience was on their feet
25:35
What do you want the audience to take away from after leaving a performance of this
25:40
It's an affirmation, this show. It's an affirmation of the American spirit
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And that, you know, we are, as a people, as a country
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we may get knocked sideways, but we never get knocked down. And we get back up pretty quick
25:59
And I think that's what this show speaks to. And I think it speaks to all of us as a people
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