Isn't She Loverly? Laura Benanti Talks MY FAIR LADY!

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Tony Award winner Laura Benanti has stepped into her dream role of Eliza Doolittle

in Lincoln Center Theater's glorious new production of Lerner and Lowe's classic musical, My Fair Lady

And I caught up with her right before a performance. Well, first of all, welcome back to Broadway and with My Fair Lady

How does it feel? It's a dream come true, an actual dream come true. Was this the dream role of yours or a dream role

No, this is the dream role. I mean, certainly Gypsy was a dream role. Amalia was a dream role

But this was the pinnacle. This was the part that I had been longing to play since I was four years old

I listened to the record with my mom. She would read me the inside, the lyrics, and tell me the story

Julie Andrews, you know, it's no secret that Julie Andrews is my idol

And so getting to step into this role is really a dream come true

So you really first heard this like at four years old? Oh, yeah

I mean, my mother was an actress and a music teacher or a singing teacher

so musicals were playing in our home all the time. And this was it for me

What is it about this role? Because everyone I've spoken to has ever tackled this at some point

like Christina Andreas. What is it about this role? She has such a huge arc from A to Z, similar to Gypsy

You know, I'm very drawn towards somebody who has a very, who starts in one place and ends up in a totally different place

you know, it's everything. It's comedy. It's drama. It's basically like doing a play and an opera

And it's, for me, the greatest challenge I've taken on just in terms of the sheer

you know, what it requires of you. Let's talk about your director, Bart Le Cher

because every time I see his stuff, his shows, he spends so much time on the text

which I think is fascinating that it like a play with songs even though it a full musical Yes I think that is something he is incredible at You know he really pulls the text out

I know that they put a lot of Pygmalion into this as well, but he really, you know, he is an actor's director

He's not just looking for a beautiful voice. He's looking for people who can bring humanity

and a sense of reality to whatever he's doing. He's really astonishing

What's he like to work with? Like, did you work some time on this show with him? Yes, I mean, not as much as I think we both would have liked

because he's doing To Kill a Mockingbird, so we worked together maybe four times

But he, you know, Maggie Burrows, who's his assistant director, was wonderful

And then Jen Ray Moore, the stage manager, she's been incredible. And Bart is here as often as he can be

and he and I have a shorthand because we did Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown together. And I'm considering myself in previews

So I know, you know, once he's able to come back and see it more times, he'll elevate my performance even more

What do you remember about your first performance on stage here at the Beaumont as Eliza

I remember the stage turning, the turntable turning and, you know, seeing the audience for the first time and them seeing me

And knowing my mother was in the audience and my dad, Sal, and my husband

And I just started crying because, you know, it is very rare that someone gets their dream fulfilled

And I've had a lot of them recently. You know, I had Ella, and now I get to do this

And I have my amazing husband and healthy parents. And so I just felt a tremendous sense of gratitude in that moment

Juggling motherhood and eight shows a week. What is that like so far

I know it's new again. It's really challenging, especially because it would be delightful to be able to sleep in

It would be incredible to not use my voice, except when I'm at the theater

And that's just not possible with my daughter. She's actually here right now in my dressing room

So when I done I going to go hang out with her And thank goodness for my husband He such a supportive supportive person and gets up with her every morning that he can And Joanna our nanny and our friend Lauren

And we have a real village taking care of Ella. She's, you know, Rachel and I could name them all

Singing this glorious score, what's it like living in the world of Lerner and Lowe

I mean, it's just, these are iconic songs. These are songs that are built into at least my cellular DNA

You know, this has been a part of me since I can remember. So it feels like a gift

You know, I try to let every word that I sing just be like, thank you. How demanding is this role? Like I told you, Julie Andrews said this was the most demanding role she's ever tackled, but the most satisfying

it's incredibly difficult I think the next phase of my journey is just going to be figuring out how

to give enough that I feel proud of my performance but also where can I back off so I remain vocally

healthy because the cockney and then the belting then going into the very high soprano it just

requires a lot of you it's mostly the speaking that is so difficult especially the cockney and

there's a lot of yelling so I'm just trying to figure out right now how to keep myself

vocally healthy. It's a wild arc ride she takes with this like growly kind of voice and I was

wondering where you put your voice that just sings so beautifully later. Yeah I'm experimenting now

with trying to make it more nasal putting it into like a more nasal resonator as opposed to letting

it all live here. If I were doing a film that would be great but I really want to be here for

of the seven shows a week that I'm slated to be. Other than when I have my concerts, check my website, LauraBernetti.com

So yeah, that's what I'm working on right now. You know, you have a lot of fans outside of the theater

from all the other things that you do, that will be coming to see you in My Fair Lady

to see you who have never seen theater but it gonna change them forever What that means to you It means a lot to me it actually already happened um people that liked my melania impression came on tuesday my opening night and they had no idea i could sing like that you know people who had come to see me

actually just at 54 below who became fans of mine through that they obviously knew i could sing but

they didn't know i could act so i'm hoping that you know i've been acting now since i was 18 so

for 21 years. I'm hoping that the Nashville fans and the Supergirl fans and, you know, the Colbert

fans, I'm hoping that they come and see this. They certainly won't be disappointed, I hope

You're going into your weekend. We're here on a Friday night. You're doing tonight. You're doing shows tomorrow. You're doing show Sunday. So what's your prep like before you go on tonight

I will stretch. I will vocalize. I will put a heating pad on my body to relax my muscles

I will stop talking I'll steam I'll drink some tea and just give it a good old

What are you enjoying the most so far? I know it's all new

but just doing this being back on Broadway doing your dream role

what it means to you? You know what I'm really enjoying? When I was 18

and I had my first job on Broadway ever that was my dream

and I was fulfilling it so it felt really special and this feels similar

you know the sense of gratitude that I have but now I now I I'm fulfilling a dream but I also have

21 years of experience to know that that really doesn't always happen and I've been through a lot

with this community I've been through a lot with the theatrical community highs and lows and I can

tell you I genuinely feel a sense of celebration from these people that I have loved and admired

my entire life so I just you know honestly I just want to say thank you thank you to everybody who

makes it possible for me to do this for a living. Thank you for coming to see the show. Thank you

for my life. You know, not everybody gets to do what they love for a living and I do. And the

only reason I get to do it is because of the fans