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Cuba Takes Broadway! Meet CHICAGO's New Billy Flynn, Cuba Gooding Jr.
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Nov 2, 2022
All Cuba Gooding Jr. cares about is love... at least through November 18. That's because the Academy Award winner and Emmy nominee will step into the role of Billy Flynn, beginning Saturday, October 6, 2018 in Broadway's Chicago. He reprises his role as Billy Flynn after originating the part and making his West End stage debut earlier this year in the new 2018 London production of Chicago, currently playing at The Phoenix Theatre.
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0:00
Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World. Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. is stepping into the role of razzle-dazzle lawyer Billy Flynn in Broadway's record-breaking Tony Award-winning musical Chicago from October 6th through November 18th
0:15
And I caught up with Cuba here at the Lambs Club to chat about Chicago and his latest film, Bayou Caviar
0:22
So you're about to return to Broadway and you're coming as Billy Flynn in Chicago. How excited are you
0:27
Too excited. Over the moon excited. I mean, the last time I was on Broadway for the first time was 2013 with Cecily Tyson and Vanessa Williams
0:34
And now I'm doing a musical that's been on stage for 20 some odd years with an orchestra behind me
0:43
I mean, it's like when I stepped on that stage, on the West End stage, the first time at the Phoenix Theater where Sir Lawrence Olivier stood
0:52
I could feel the energy, like you say, on the boards just emanating from the floor up through my body and, you know, propelling each performance
1:01
And now I get to do it on Broadway. And it's just a magical experience
1:07
There's nothing like doing a musical. So tell me, like, in London, what do you remember about that first performance on stage, singing Kander and Ebb
1:14
Well, scared to death. I was scared to death. And it was like, you know, that old phrase, in himself, whatever
1:21
Well, it physically would happen every show. I'd have to hit the bathroom because my mind would lose and my body would just release
1:29
And I think the first time I hit those first few notes on all I care about is love
1:35
And you can see the you can almost hear the audience go, oh, OK, all right, we're fine
1:39
And then that becomes a drug. And as you sing and you're dancing and the dancers with the fans are going around you like this
1:49
It just the energy is just propelling each show With Trip to Bountiful it was an emotional release So after a while it started to bear on your psyche and it got really really heavy
1:59
But with this, the opposite would happen. You'd get energized every performance
2:04
Okay, let's just talk about doing a musical. Growing up, when did you realize you could sing
2:09
You know, I was always, as a kid, told, no, you're not a singer, you're a dancer
2:14
You're a dancer. So I never even attempted until I became an adult. and when my agents called and said that Barry Weissler had offered me Chicago on the West End
2:23
stage I said well I can't pass on it so I went with Eric Vitrose a vocal coach in LA and worked
2:29
with him for about two months and when I got to London that month of March it all clicked
2:36
everything clicked for me and uh and I think that was the first time I realized that I could do it
2:42
And it literally, you know, three weeks prior to our first preview was when I finally got the confidence
2:49
But that nervousness really never leaves you. I mean, I've always, you feel nervous
2:55
They say if you're not nervous, you're not trying hard enough. But to sing and dance and act in that one performance was something that really horrified me until I actually got on that stage and felt at home
3:10
Okay, let's just talk about Billy Flynn. What a great role. What's it like playing him? Oh, you know, the closest I feel to playing Billy Flynn
3:16
reminded me of Rod Tidwell and Jerry Maguire because they're both charismatic, boisterous manipulators, you know
3:24
And Billy Flynn even more so because the dialogue is just so rapid
3:28
but yet it's so connecting. And you really feel the love that he has, not only for what he does
3:33
but for the people that he's helping out, you know, these women. You feel that love through the banter
3:38
and there's a relationship that is created there with the Roxy character
3:42
and the Velma character and it just such a magical thing to portray And what you love about this musical like I told you Kandernab my favorites The music it just straight to music
3:54
All I care about is love, razzle-dazzle. We both reach for the gun, that last note that you just hit and you go for, you know
4:01
It's, you know, and the cellophane, that whole number with cellophane. And then Mama Morton and Velma, you only have yourself as a best friend
4:14
These are the melodies that propel the show, even without words. You don't even need a lot of dialogue
4:22
The songs will tell the story. Are you back in rehearsal here for Broadway
4:26
Not yet. Not yet, but going to be in about a week here, a week's time
4:30
How exciting is that? So exciting. So exciting. And I can't tell you, to just be able to step on stage, my mom didn't get to make it to London
4:38
So she's coming to Broadway and it's going to be that emotional experience I can't wait for
4:43
You are so busy. Talk about your new film. My first directorial debut with a film that I co-wrote, starring myself and Richard Dreyfuss and Famke Jansen
4:53
I tell people all the time, I'd rather direct than act now. It's one of those things where, as an actor, there's this bit of insecurity because you create this character and you surrender it to the director and you hope that they interpret what you want them to
5:07
But as a director, you get not only to manipulate your performance, but everyone else around you
5:12
And it's this drug that you get because now it's literally your ability to tell a story that actually gets to the audience in the way that you had envisioned it
5:23
and it's been a kick in the pants and it's one of those, again
5:28
another life-changing experience for me in my career. For young aspiring directors
5:32
who'd like to step into your shoes to direct a film, what's the best advice you would give to them
5:37
Like I say to my sons who are 21 and 23 write write write write Because the one thing on the set they going to ask you every question you can think of
5:49
And if you don't have the answers, not only will it halt production, but it'll make them feel insecure
5:55
And the more confidence you have in decision making, the more confidence they'll have in their departments
6:01
And, you know, you the director has to be the number one problem solver
6:05
and I feel that I'm a collaborative director and I have with my first production
6:11
a crew of people we shot in New Orleans in Louisiana and there's so much love for cinema
6:17
in that community of filmmakers and I think we make something special
6:22
That's beautiful. You know, many people will be coming to see you in Chicago
6:27
because of your notoriety, of your stardom and everything you've done on film and television
6:30
and you're going to enter them into that world of theater and it's going to change them forever
6:34
what that means to you. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm here. You think any role
6:40
if you can find a bit of truth in it that affects someone's life, then you've done your job
6:45
And what better way to do that is in front of that audience on that Broadway stage
6:50
You're about to return to Broadway. What are you looking forward to the most? There's nothing like it
6:55
Those musical numbers, singing in front of that audience. You know, it's funny
6:59
because people ask me when I was in London, what's the difference with the London audience
7:04
with Broadway, and I said, well, I haven't sang in front of the Broadway audience yet
7:08
but there's an energy that Manhattan has like no other city in the world
7:14
and I can't wait to experience that. When you walk by and see the marquee in your name up there
7:21
Magical. You know, it's certain feathers you get thrown in your hat, winning the Academy Award, working with co-stars like Jack Nicholson
7:28
and, you know, the list goes on and on, to stepping on that Broadway stage in a musical
7:33
Again, big feather. the very best. Congratulations, my friend
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