The Family is Back Together on Opening Night of MARVIN'S ROOM!

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Roundabout Theatre Company is proud to present the Broadway premiere of Scott McPherson's beloved play Marvin's Room, directed by Anne Kaufman

And we're here on opening night to celebrate with the company, led by Lily Taylor, Celia Weston, and making her Broadway debut, Janine Garofalo

Enjoy. This is your Roundabout debut, right? This is my Roundabout debut, I know

And what a place to debut. It's such an incredible staff and artistic leadership, and it's been really something, actually, bringing this to life

This is such a beautiful play. This is a play about so many incredible things

What attracted you to want to direct it? Gosh, you know, I think one of the major things that it advocates for and is just so not seen in this culture

is the idea of taking care of somebody, that there's no shame in that

And there's actually a lot of nobility in it and a lot of joy that's derived from that

And this is a culture that we just don't celebrate, you know, taking care of one another

And it's time to take that seriously. What have you been enjoying the most about working on the play and doing the play

Well, you know, that is hard to say because it has been something I'm not used to, you know, as a role

So it has been Me hoping I don't let people Honestly I have not yet

From the second we started rehearsing I have always felt like I don't know if I deserve to be here

That, I'm just being honest with you I don't So to say so far enjoyed

Would not be accurate I Now feel I will be able to enjoy it Tell me what it been like working with this cast Well Lily I always wanted to work with so that been a thrill but I terribly

intimidated by her. Terribly intimidated by her, because she's the real thing. And I love my kids

Jack and Luca, could not have that, and Celia West is a legend, so that's all an honor. And

And Nedra and Carmen and Trini. Everybody, great, great, great. They're all like actors, though

They were never scared. Like, they knew what they were doing from the first

And so I'm very, very pleased that I got to be with such great people, like right off the bat

So that's good. Well, congratulations. Welcome back to Broadway. Thank you. End in a play

How does it feel? It's so different, but it's so amazing. It's crazy

It's just crazy. Okay, you went from School of Rock to Marvin's Room

Two totally different animals, right? They're, like, complete opposites, but yeah. Yeah, the two shows are so different

but it was really fun to just go away from, like, all the singing and the dancing and the craziness of a musical

and just go to, like, a straight play. It was really fun

What's it like playing Janine's son in this play? It's so awesome

It's so cool. I never thought in a million years I would ever get this chance

And actually, the first time I was here at the American Airlines Theater, I went to the premiere of Speech and Debate, and she was in Speech and Debate

and I didn't know she was going to play my mom when I went to go see that

So it was crazy that the first time I was in this theater, I got to see her

and then now I'm in the show with her. It's so cool. What it like being a part of Marvin True God it such a dream I keep saying that but it really is I mean The script is so well written It very real It not spoon fed to the audience

And I have a thing for dark pieces and this mixes comedy and darkness very well

What a great company of actors you're working with. You play Janine Garofalo's son

How cool is that? It is literally the best. I mean, me and her get along so well

She's so funny and great. And it's a blessing. It's a blessing to get to work with someone who's so amazing

What's been the biggest pinch-me moment for you with working on this? You know, just finding the character as it is with a lot of different things

It's those rehearsal processes and getting comfortable in these shoes and working with these amazing people

You know, we've got Celia West and Lily Taylor and Gene Garoppolo. So it's just like, hey, do your best

It seems like you took your bow tonight. Do you remember what you were thinking? I wasn't thinking anything. I was so spaced out and thankful to be here

and it just kind of hit me with an overwhelming sense of emotions. What's it been like for you being a part of Marvin's Room

Well, I love this character of Ruth, and I didn't want her to be written off as a ditz

I really wanted to express that her world is small, but her mind is not

Her disability is something that marginalizes it, but I wanted to make it clear

and I researched the science of it with my niece who's a doctor, a friend who's a scientist from Stanford

What comes into play when someone has a surgery implanting electrodes and wires in their brain to abate debilitating pain

And that's, you know, I tried to make that a part of it and we make that funny as we can

And you know as Ruth sees it too I mean she just she a pure heart What a beautiful play It a play about so much right Right I know It funny

It's like, I've been realizing when people come back to let them just have a minute

Because it seems like it's hard to talk immediately about it. Because it's about a lot of things

Yeah. You've got to be caregiving. Everybody care gives now, but no one talks about it

Like in plays, Scott was the first. Right. Scott was the first. And he wasn't even at that point yet

And he sort of knew. Did you hear later that he had said he couldn't believe how right he got it

Yeah. You know, I just loved reading that article where he was like, he would sit in his grandmother's room, who was staying in their house

and she had the TV, but it was just part of everyday life. Yeah, right, right

It was what everybody does in every other country. Yeah. I know

And we're just coming around to that here now in America, right? I know, that's right

Yeah. So it is opening night. How do you feel? well you know it's a crossing a threshold thing it's it's everyone's like what's the difference

between opening night and previews like non-actors and non-theater people and i'm like you know i

don't know exactly um so but it's some threshold i guess the ticket price goes up you expect more

uh i guess that's sort of the difference between a draft and publishing it okay so tonight we're

published enjoying the most about being back on broadway you know the roundabout is extra friendly

and extra warm. The audiences are really warm. Todd Hames has created such a really welcoming

atmosphere. I feel like, I feel like, not cuddled, I feel like carried or taken care of. It's just

lovely. So when you took your bow tonight back on Broadway, do you remember what you were thinking

Well, I thought, remember that mezzanine. Let's give it to them, okay? Don't ever forget about

them, and so I, and I thought, we did it. We're here