Tonys Talk: BEETLEJUICE's Alex Brightman Jumps in Line for Tony Time!

Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge

I'm in the Tony Awards suite at Sofitel, NYC, which is the official hotel to the 2019 Tony Awards

and I'm sitting with one of this year's nominees for Best Actor in a Musical for his side-splitting lead performance of Beetlejuice

Please welcome Alex Brightman. Alex, thank you for sitting with me today

I was forced to. I think I forced you to come, didn't I

Yeah, I'm actually, you can't see this, but I'm chained from the back to this couch

He really is. And they have my family hostage. Please let my family go

But we had to have you today, just so you know that. I love being here. I can't shake because we're both in the wrong hand to shake

I know we are right here. Let's do this. There you go. It's a new handshake. I'm running for mayor. Well, listen, first of all, congratulations on this nomination

Thank you. You know, we just spoke opening night, which seemed like yesterday, right

I mean, that's the best part of this whole experience. that we got to open the show and then right away find out we got nominated to go

right into this it was I think it's the best way to do it because you don't have to

wait four months you know to that you know you open and then it's like reopening

the show getting nominated for a Tony Award so it's nice to sort of do it all at once I much prefer it it must be so exciting because this is such a fun show

Beetlejuice I mean from the audience's standpoint what's it like being a part of

this show insane yeah and I I got to find better, like, cliche things to say, but, like, it's dream come true truly

I mean, it's one of those things where you dream, maybe someday I'll be in a show where I get to, you know, blow fire out of my hands and use a silly voice and scare people and make people laugh and make people blush and do all that in one two and a half hour situation

And then this show comes along. So it's insane. But it's a blast because we got to actually create something over three years

Yeah. So it's something that, like, I'm really proud of the work we've done and the work I've done

I've never worked on something for this long. So it's really cool to have it open and to have people like it and to have people want to nominate us

Yeah. What was your audition like? Was it like 10 minutes? 10 minutes. I don't even think it was 10 minutes

I think 10 minutes is, it always feels longer. Totally. It does

You'll be in there. You're like, man, how long was I in there? They're like 45 seconds. But it probably was five to seven minutes

I would say if I really had to put a number on it, I walked in and I was, I had just done a reading with the producers

of the Warner Brothers people of another musical they were developing, you know, playing sort of an A-hole character

another Michael Keaton character, actually. And I walked in, saw one of the guys who famously

one of the producers, Mark Kaufman, who's great, but he likes to sit front row at the readings

And he gets, he like jiggles his feet, and he likes to, like, say your lines with you

And so I walked and I went, and I just, an instinct, forgetting where I was, I went

oh, no, are you here too? Are you going to be doing all my lines like that? So I sort of, the way Timbers put it

he sort of like oddly bullied your way into the part. I thought it. It's like, we got a higher hand

Yeah, he's like, the sides went fine. The song was good, but you really, just your energy in general

was sort of the dangerous type of energy we were looking for. You were shot out of the cat, and the second that show begins

you're on stage, you just whip the audience, you have them in the palm of your hand

but it's nonstop for you. It is. But that, there's nothing better than that

You don't do theater to play. a coma patient. Or sit backstage. Yeah. I mean, the next role I'm going to do is going to be a

coma patient. But no, I just like not being bored. Yeah. So when I have massive anxiety, I have

that which leads to depression. So when I'm, but what combats that is not being bored. So if I can

keep myself engaged and doing stuff, then the anxiety goes away, which then the depression goes away

Better than any pill I've ever taken. And, you know, that's why I do those kinds of roles. That's why

I'd really try hard to audition for those types of roles. I don't like to be bored

I mean, you're brilliant in what you do because you do everything in this show

As you said, fire out of your hands. Jump, yeah, I get launched out of the stage

like Beyonce at the Super Bowl every night. P.S. anyone that's ever seen the show so far

as terrifying as that looks it way more terrifying to do It never gets old I never used to it I never will be Okay we have to talk about the voice

Yeah. What is it called again, what you do? It's called ventricular fold phonation

Okay. Google it, kids. Okay. And then it's, I have to find a, like, I got to like figure out a 30-second way to do this

because I am fascinated by it. Yeah. But I have such a hard time articulating it

There's two pieces of cartilage, muscles, and cartilage in your throat. Sorry, I just had a salad, so I have like indigestion

It's all good. That's okay. It's life. We're humans. It's called the corniculate cartilage and the oritenoid cartilage

It sort of looks like two cashews that are like above your vocal cords up here

So they lie above your vocal cords. So your vocal cords make sound around right down here kind of

They're vibrating around here. I can move stuff around up here. so it sort of makes, it simulates it sound like if I was to be choked

you would push all this together like this, right? Except I can do it without being choked

So this doesn't hurt my voice, it doesn't even tickle. It just feels like talking

I answer telemarketer phone calls like this. It would be interesting to go do like Starbucks and be like

latte, for pump cinnamon, dolce. They'll put beetle juice on the house

No, they'll close the store. But you can use that like eight shows a week

It's actually, oddly, safer to use that than my real voice. The School of Rock was more taxing on my voice because I used my actual speaking voice all day long

and then use my actual speaking voice on the show to an extent that, like, it was, you know, hazardous

This is oddly, it sounds dangerous, but it's much less hazardous. So the biggest challenges, is it the stamina

What's been the biggest challenges of taking on this role? It's a different show every night

because I get to be a conduit to the audience So the audience is different every night There's 1,500 new faces

You know, or 1,400 new faces And we have at least 100 people come back all the time

Which is nice But it's a majority A brand new character in our show

Because I get to talk to them So I don't know what's gonna be out there I'm hoping they're kind

And they understand how an audience works But there are people that You know, they sit in the front row

And they've never been to a Broadway show before I pick on them And it's the one day

they were like, if the next guy that picks on me, I'm going up there. You know, I have to be able to deal with that

So there's like a cool worry. There's like a fun worry about that because you have to be the ringmaster

So you have to not only be a character, but you have to make sure everyone is dealt with and okay

So hopefully we do that. And one of the things I'm proudest of is that everybody feels like they're not being attacked by Beetlejuice, which I think we felt that way in D.C

that I was sort of antagonistic to the audience whereas I think this Broadway one which people have

really enamored themselves to it feels like I have them I'm with you like I'm your friend even though he is

notoriously a bad guy but the second you walk on people are like I have you it's like I have everyone

everyone right here is my goal and then at some point I go

yeah and then and they love it okay I mean just being back at the Winter Garden

this is really like an interesting story because you were just there in School of Rock

And now you're back there again. I never left. I slept in the attic

Same dressing room? Same dressing room. We call it the corner office

It's one of the few dressing rooms on Broadway that has like windows and it looks down time square and it's brilliant

It's called the corner office. It was brilliantly decorated this time around by Mike Harrison

So it looks like this kind of oasis, calm. Everything the show is, the dressing room is not

Same dresser, my friend Keith Shaw. It's like, hi again. I'm back

The greatest thing in the world to have him back because he is the complete. completely into my yang. I'm out of my mind and really dirty, vulgar sense of humor

And he's like, the guy that goes like, oh, geez. How early do you like to get to the theater

Two hours. Usually, I have to be there an hour before the show

For makeup and wig prep. That is what my call is. It's an hour

I'm usually there, depending on the day or depending on how much press I'm doing during Tony stuff

I'm there usually two hours before, just to like be in a place. I don't believe in walking in and going. Yeah

I always done a better job if I could just be in a place for a second live there for a moment and then get to work Because there two sets of these Some people love like you do which I would love to do

Then there's people like, oh, no, I'll get there. Like, you know, 29 minutes before, throw the wig on and put me on stage

Clock punchers. I get it. I respect the game. How do they do that? I don't know how they do it

I do not know how they do that. I like, I mean, I also don't believe in leaving your baggage at the door

Yeah. Because all the characters I play, and then most people that play characters have baggage

So it's easy to bring your baggage in. As long as you don't let it take over your performance and break down on stage

What an incredible company you get to work with. I mean, Sophie

Yeah, next. You love her. I couldn't love her anymore. You can only make fun of the people that you truly love

Sophia and Caruso. And it's just, I told her. I said on the day the nominations came out and she didn't get one

and I had said for years before that, I was like she's going to take the town. Sure. Which she has

You know, taking the town does not equal nominations. Yeah. People love her and rightly so because she is easily, and I say this with no hyperbole

one of the best scene partners I've ever had. Yeah. She listens, she plays. And what 17, when I was 17 on stage, I was like, either doing the thing or forgetting my lines

Try not to pick my nose in public. And she is fully there, fully committed, coming up with new ideas, laughing when it's appropriate

I mean, like, she'll break like anybody else. But she's broken me, which is rare

That never happens. That's a tough one. It's a tough to break. She's brilliant

She's really nice offstage, and she's got a really amazing head on her shoulders

And I've worked with her for three years on this, and she's only gotten smarter

Yeah. So I'm, like, really terrified for all the other girls out there that would be her competition

because there's no shot for you guys. Got it. Sorry. Alex Timbers

What an incredible director. What's it like being in the room with him? it's like getting encouragement on stuff that you're not even sure were

I mean, it's like being in a sandbox, because this was a really sandboxy way of creating a show

but then you have like one bigger kid in the playground that's like you think it's going to be very scary and goes, keep playing

I'm into it. What's that? Yeah. I said this to John Mullaney because he presented Alex with the Drama League Award

And he was asking for anecdotes, and I mean this. And I think this really encapsulates Alex

He is as interested in your choices, if not. not more interested in your choices than you are

Because he doesn't like actors that ask permission. He likes actors that do stuff and are not precious about it

Because I think that makes the best type of collaborative work is to say, let's throw it against the wall

If you want to wipe all of it off, fine. But maybe we'll find some of the reason why we made this mess in the first place

Oh, I love that. Yeah, me too. We really get along in that way. Yeah. I would, if they were like, listen, you have to work with Alex Tim or the rest of your life

Sign me up. The best jail sentence you could ever get. Yeah. the audiences, I love your Beetlejuice audience

because you had the Beetlejuice fans. And then you realize there's so much more to this show

than just the movie. I know. It is so clever. Everyone that shops at Hot Topic come sees our show

Every goth. We take all comers, man, because they are. We have tons of first Broadway shows

but people that are much older than you would believe to see their first Broadway show that live in the city

So they're seeing something that they, what's great about Beetlejuice is the name recognition

It brings them in. that they're staying for the thing that we've created, which is wildly different than the movie

but gives you all the stuff that you need. But, you know, why would you do just the movie on stage

I think. I don't think that's interesting. So people are taken to it, which is nice

And the cartoon, I was brought up with the cartoon with my nephews. So I was like, oh, when I saw this show

For a second, I was like, you were brought up with the cartoon. No, not me. I'm not saying you're old

Thank you. Oldish. Just gives me a face. No, but so there's a lot of that in there, too

Yeah, there's, I think, more of that. Tone-wise, I think we hit sort of that cartoon very heightened, but very dark, anything can happen

heads can spin type of tone early. So that when heads do spin, no one's, you know, like, well, that doesn't seem on brand of this

What's great about Beetlejuice in general is that it is sort of a living cartoon. So you can't be big enough

However when you see the show you realize all this is set in stone in a grounded way A lot of stuff is relatable A lot of stuff is you know for playing a dead guy it like you don there no way to relate to that in any way

I didn't get to interview anyone that was dead. Yeah. And so it was nice to just go, well, how would it be to feel lonely all the time

For no one to see you literally. Yeah. I can go there. I think everybody feels like they haven't been seen at some point

So he really, for a dead guy, is very human as far as his qualities go

Yeah. Yeah. You know, we all fell in love with you way before School of Rock when you first got here and then School of Rock happened

No, but seriously. I appreciate that. You were first, you know, you were like one of those people that everybody looked at and like, wow, something's going to happen with that one

That's very nice. You know. That's really nice. I wish someone would tell my parents that

I love your parents. I know you, but. They're the most supportive in the world

Seriously. They all really are. They fly in from everywhere. Yeah, but now they live here. See, I sat next to them at a School of Rock event

Yeah. And I sat next to them at the press. Oh, you did? Yeah

They're cool. They are the coolest people in the world. They are cool. They should be cool if they're parents. They're like the last people to let you know that they're my parents, which I think was kind of great

They don't do like, just so you know that's our son. That's our son. They never have done that, which is nice

But if you know them, they're like, that's our son. Yeah, they'll slip one on. But they won't tell a crap

Totally. Being on Broadway, I mean, you have just wowed audiences in School of Rock and everything else you've done

Now you're doing it again. You're such a good interviewer. Keep going. Oh, you think so? Yeah

But you know, what you do is, you said there are newcomers coming to the theater for the first time

I mean, you've introduced. so many new people to a show, like your school of rock and this

What do you love the most about performing on Broadway and being a part of the theater community

People, there are, right now, especially with theater programs getting cut across the country

And, you know, there's a bit of a resurgence, but still, not enough. That theater's important

The theater's important not just because we need art in the world and a distraction and an escape

It teaches people perspective. It teaches people to look at things from the other side

you don't have to enjoy a show necessarily to understand the impact of a show

and I'm I like doing it now because I'm just sort of sick and tired of hearing all about

these stories now about kids getting bullied for the things they're passionate about so theater's a way for me to like as a not typical theater person

guy that just like theater is a part of my big part of my life but it's not I represent

sort of a slice of people that don't necessarily always exist on Broadway which is the

sort of character guy, not traditional leading man type. And so to be able to be a conduct with those people that feel like they don't belong

that's the best part is that to be able to just say, look, we all belong here in some way

And don't, if you're passionate about something, be passionate about it. Eventually, the people that make fun of you, they may never stop making fun of you

but everyone else is going to see them as the jerk and not you. Great, beautifully put

Stay passionate. Finally, if you could sum up the best part of the experience of working on Beetlejuice

what's it for you? Oh, that's a great question. Currently, it's that we didn't

I think it's that we are getting the accolades we wanted with no compromise. We didn't feel like we had to really, truly compromise

anything in our show to get the show we wanted on stage

Those three years were very important, and the seven years before that they were working on it

that we didn't have to go, the show's great, but maybe we cut this because my aunt's cousin

didn't like that word. It's like we're reading, the times, we're reading the, not the newspaper, we're reading like the signs of the times

and figuring out where we belong. And we understand that we are not the classic musical theater

show and we're standing by it. We're a very on-brand type, absurd downtown theater show on

Broadway. And we're going to like own up to that. Which makes you one of the coolest

I think so. I, you know, I was never the cool kid. I was looked up to that kid. Now it's nice

to be a part of that kid, but, you know, it's nice. It's nice to be doing something that you

truly like to do and not had to do. Well, I thank you for dropping by today

It was such a chore. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to un-chain here now and send you back to Schmackeries, right

Please let my family go. They've done nothing wrong. They've done nothing wrong. I love your family

Oh, yeah, I'll be at Schmackeries. See you there. Yeah, I'm going there right now to sell some cookies

The best. I don't get to make any money doing that, though. No. But you can eat them, though, right? Just kidding

Yeah, I can eat them. All right. Well, that's a good payoff. Hell yeah. All right

I adore you. I adore you. Thank you very much