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Video: Beth Leavel is Getting Ready to Sing Some More Sondheim
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Jul 26, 2025
This week on The Roundtable, Robert Bannon welcomes the one and only Beth Leavel, Tony Award-winner and Broadway favorite, as she prepares for her brand-new solo show at 54 Below celebrating the music of Stephen Sondheim. Fresh off her acclaimed run in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends alongside Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga, Beth is bringing her powerhouse vocals and magnetic charm to an evening of Sondheim classics like never before. Watch in this video!
View Video Transcript
0:00
Are you ready? It's the roundtable with me, Robert
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Broadway World. Hey, it's Friday. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the roundtable. My name is Robert
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Bannon. You're listening to us right here on Broadway World, where Broadway gets its news. And if you're a Broadway fan, a Broadway nista, a Broadway soup, you know our next
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guest. I don't know how many Broadway shows she did. I looked it up. It says 14, 15, 15
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It could be 162. I don't know. Broadway has just always had Beth
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Beth level is here. Beth is a part of the fabric of art in New York City and now across this country
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And we adore her and we love her. So cheers to the ladies who have won Tony Awards
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That's right. And she's coming to 54 Below. And where else are you going to go but Broadway's living room and have a Caesar salad and have a little drink and hear Beth sing Sondheim's greatest songs
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Right from Broadway to 54 Below. Beth Lebel is here. Welcome. That was the most amazing intro ever
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And it actually is 143 Broadway shows. Thank you for counting. I knew it
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I used ChatGPT. I have to be honest. Congratulations. 143. 143
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Been doing it for a long time. Is it 14? Is it 13
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Is it 15? Do you keep talking? Yes, it's 15. The next one coming up that I can't tell you about will be 16
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Oh, so there's a lot of news on the horizon. So you need to do a lot of news on the horizon that will eventually be shared
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So, you know, it's not completely a done deal, but sounds really good
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Oh, then come on, people. Let's sign the deal. Beth needs to get me here
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Come on. I want it by the end of the day today on the desk
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I will let you know. Thank you. When you look at this and you see that July 31st to August 2nd at 7 o'clock that you're singing Sondheim after you just had the most epic, beautiful run of Old Friends over at MTC, which we love so much
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What can you say this evening is going to be about? What you, your personality, your voice
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Hey, let me just say they've added another show. So they added Sunday, August 3rd
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And I think there's like four tickets sold. So it'll be a very intimate evening if you want to join me on Sunday, August 3rd
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Please, please do, because that would be fun. You know, we can all share some time together
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It's, you know, I'm, I, 54 Below to me is such a magical place because you're not in character
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And, you know, because I've done 143 shows, I have so many stories connected to the audition for Old Friends
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which was just fascinating and funny. And some of the times that I've sung Sondheim
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and how his music speaks to me. And I was the only one
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I do believe I was the only one in the cast of Old Friends who had never even met him
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But now I feel like I went to Sondheim University. So I'm really ready to share another evening
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of Sondheim music, Sondheim stories. And just the man can write a tune
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You never met him? I never met him. I've never even saw him in person
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Isn't that weird? I was doing all these of my 143 shows, like the indie shows, the drowsy chaperones, the proms, the bandstands
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And our paths, sadly, never crossed. But apparently, according to Miss Bernadette Peters, he would have been very happy with old friends so that I can live with that
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Well, you come off of this, this run and we have, I think I hear you are in the show
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Yeah. With my bath mat. People go, what a beautiful fur. It's like, no, honey
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it's like a bath mat, but it was fabulous. Isn't it fabulous? It's fabulous. And the show was so fabulous and a love letter to Sondheim
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Was doing the show the inspiration for this show? Have you had this show before Old Friends
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This show, when I was cast in Old Friends, I decided to not do, when 54 asked me to come, it was like a year and a half ago or something
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And I thought, let's do an evening of this. And let's, I had just done the Follies concert at Carnegie Hall and sang, leave you, leave you
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So, you know, I was so inspired and I just wanted to test myself
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Like get out there out of your comfort zone and sing this fabulous fabulous stuff even though it just kind of about the lyrics for a long time trying to just learn all the lyrics But then when you know them it one of the most satisfying things to experience and to share with an audience
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And I've tried to just make it as personal as I can and as fun as I can
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And I misbehave greatly. That's what we're here for. That's my favorite part
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Yep. Yep. I've got some good naughty stories. And, you know, it is like what you said
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It's like the Broadway living room. It's being in my living room. I just share and we just really have a good time
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So remember, August 3rd has been added. An added date. An added date
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54below.org is where you can get your tickets. And I'm telling you, you will not be far from the stage
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You've never been there. You need to be there. Yeah, we share. I've been known to take sips of drinks and Caesar salad
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That's my go-to. I like it. The food there is unbelievable. it's such a plus that the food is so amazing and I hope that you're enjoying listening to my cat
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use this litter box right now I love your cat use it my neighbor is that I was talking to is mowing
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his lawn so this is a very professional interview Beth this is what you get here live Malcolm really
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now hi Malcolm so when you look back at your life and journey and you go back to you know
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in North Carolina and coming to New York City. And now you see all the Broadway shows and the
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awards and the television work and the theater work and around the country. What do you, do you
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make sense? Is it just, are you looking for the next gig or do you ever like sit back and think
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like, holy hell, this happened? I always sit back and go, holy hell, this is happening. I still
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don't understand. I was at like a masterclass Q and A the other day with a whole group of teachers
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from around the country. And it's like, have you always wanted to be an actress
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Did you start? I was like, no, I have no idea how this life has presented itself to me
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You know, Raleigh, North Carolina, I didn't know what musicals were. My parents, it's like, what happened
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What past life motivated me to pursue something that I knew absolutely nothing about
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but I knew I did my first musical my senior year in high school. And I knew from that moment on that this is what I had to do, no matter how
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terrified and how inexperienced I was. And cut to, you know, 143 Broadway shows
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I hope that goes up on your website. Imagine. It's like, what? It's only 15
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But your website is beautiful and people need to check it out. It's really beautiful
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Thank you. That's Sean Wang does that for me. She does an amazing job
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I really she lives in Singapore and I'm like what am I doing she's like okay here we go look at your
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website it's so good so you go back into 42nd Street and your Broadway debut and then the show
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is thereafter is there a moment that you felt was there a job was there a opportunity was there a
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second where you got a gig or you went on that stage and you realized you saw the shift change
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was it a principal part was it not being an understudy or swing anymore was there a moment
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There was, you know, it all worked up to show Broadway show number six, which was the Drowsy Chaperone
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And after that moment, my life, oh, there's Mama and Bob Martin
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After that, my life changed. I was having a great time on Broadway
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You know, I was I had leads. I was. But that one originating that role was life changing
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And then I want to tone. Oh, what? It's here. Sorry. It's not always next to me, but I was coaching and I won the Downey Award for the Drowsy Chaperone
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And from that moment on, it's just different. It's just different. Work came a little easier
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It's still, I still audition. I still, it's like, you know, you never know
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I was telling someone in this industry, in this business, the good news, bad news
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The bad news is you never know what the next job is going to be. And the good news is you never know what the next job is going to be
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And that part of me, that thrills me. And, you know, when I had kids, it was like, well
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when are we going to eat this month? But things work out and we are persistent and enthusiastic
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And I wouldn't change anything. I just wouldn't. Well, I'm so grateful for the work that you do on stage and your humanity and your personality
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and what you share on stage. You know, everyone that's I've been very lucky. I've done this show
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other people have had awards. Nobody has ever offered to let me take a selfie with their award
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best. So I'm just going to put it out there that when I see you somewhere. Remind me and I'll
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continue to carry it around in my purse. I'm going to, if I won one, I'd have it with me all
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in a lunch pail next to my Hold on Ham sandwich and my Tony award right there every day Are you sure I can have a refill on that diet Surely surely you just
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This is a Tony, it's a Tony award. Oh, whatever. I have pictures. Here's, here's a crazy
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And a Mamma Mia moment. Oh yeah. And a baby it's you moment
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Yes. And the prom, which that cost you life. I love I even I'm walking in Midtown two days ago and I was stopped twice by someone who had seen
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the prom and how much it changed their lives and that's really one of the most gratifying parts of
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this work is that when you get a show like Drowsy Chaperone or even Old Friends and it
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affects your audience and changes. You've changed for good, like wicked. That's a privilege
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That is a privilege. And it keeps me going in times where I wonder what
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I wonder what I'm doing next. It keeps me going that our work is still out there
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People can, it's still, people are like prom is being doing, being produced everywhere, everywhere
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and so I feel like Dee Dee Allen and the cast of that show that we built is still changing lives
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you know a lot a lot of your work has changed lives and a lot of your work you mentioned it
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before that you have not met Sondheim and you didn't work with him in that way back then because
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you picked shows but your shows that you've picked a lot of them are ahead of their time because they
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dealt with queer identities they talked about humanity they were you know the problem was in a
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time where these shows were not being made like they are being made now. You ushered that in for a lot of people
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God, they're being made now. Thank God. And I want to be first in line
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Let's go. Let's go. 144. In line for the LGBTQ representation. Yes
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You did it with Limpica. I mean. Yeah. Oh, there she is
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Right before she dies. God bless her. And you sang the snot out of that song every night
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Thank you. Oh, it was one of those moments, you know, when the song is so full of emotion that I hear the audiences
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And I'm like, I'm so sorry. But yeah, that's what I'm supposed to be doing up here with this song
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But yeah, that was that was a gift. That one song that was really
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Wow. Me and Nate and Eden Espinosa. That was kind of amazing
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Yes. So but the body of work is there. The voice is there. The talent is there
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The charisma is there. The personality is there. Your tickets are what you need to grab now
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Grab a ticket. Who works with you on this show? Who's your music director, your band
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What's the show? Boys. My musical director is Phil Reno. And on bass is Michael Kinnanen
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And on drums is Perry Kaveri. And we all know each other from Drowsy Chaperone
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They were in the pit. And when I needed my first 54 concert, I needed a musical director
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And it's been Phil Reno ever since. And let me tell you, that's a band. And shout out to my Jersey brother, Perry Caveri, because he grew up with my dad right over there in Fairview, New Jersey
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And I have to shout out Perry because when Perry was playing in pits growing up, he used to get my dad and me tickets and I was a little Broadway nerd
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And wherever he played, he always had tickets for me and my fathers and always would let me sit in the pit
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And I love Perry so much. So shout out to Perry. so great
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We just kind of get together, add water, and go. It's like, that's it. That's great
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All right. See you July 31st. So how many songs? Do you know how many songs
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Is the show set? You're ready? Like, we could do it right now? Yeah, it's set, but
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I keep marinating on, well, I wonder what happened. And it's changed a little bit since the last
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time I did it. I mean, it had to. Like I said, I've been to Sondheim University
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And I've got great stories from old friends. But I'm still, you know, I like to tweak
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And it's never finished until the audience gets there. Yeah. It's never done until we develop that relationship and have that experience together
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What is your process of how you put the songs together? Is it index cards
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Is it I want to tell a story and put a song here? I feel really good about that
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I mean, there's really there's a math. He told me a long time ago when we first started, he said, you know, the third song needs to be funny
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I mean, if you're funny, like I can be funny. So that it's just kind of a process
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And we've since we've done it before, we know what works. And I changed the ending last time with a song that is really thrilling And I did that like two days before the show And so you hear that because that was really exciting for me to do I not going to tell you what it is but yeah No spoilers people
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You need to get a ticket. That's what you have to do. There is no spoilers. You'll have to buy a ticket
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We're not, this is, you're not getting this for free. Get a ticket. Get a Caesar salad
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And a Caesar, right. And a Caesar salad. When you were with old friends and you were with Bernadette and you're with Leah
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And let me tell you, if you've seen the show, it was amazing. if you see the clips of it online
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that finale was, I mean, bananas every night. Was it fun? It looked like a blast
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It was a blast. It was really, it was a blast. And it was, I've never done a show on Broadway
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that is in the review format. So, you know, it doesn't really have a beginning
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middle and end. There was a lot of time when, you know, we were not on
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So we became very close as a cast backstage. And it was fun to do that
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You didn't have to, you know, listen for your cues for the next scene
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You knew that the fifth song was yours. It was like, let's go. Let's get your fake fur on and go sing Ladies Who Lunch
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And then I would get there early because I would sit in the wings and listen to the Sweeney Todd stuff because it's just so good
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They were so good. I would listen to, you know, sneak out early to listen to West Side Story because the voices in the show
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were just astonishing. And again, I forgot how many, the 26 musicians in that orchestra
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there just doesn't get much better than playing Sondheim's best stuff with the best musicians in the world
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And now you get to see her do it at 54 Below. And then wherever you're going, who knows, maybe they're going to be doing it
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I hope other places, because this show is, check it out. Follow, follow her, all the information's below
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The link for tickets is below. The website is below. Everything is below
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her phone number, her social security number. My decent card. Good luck. You're charging on that
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That's what I say. You can steal my debit card. You may get a cup of coffee. Maybe you can do better than I can. While you're at it, maybe you can tell me what my passwords
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are because I don't know anymore. I just click until something works
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You know, that's very true. And I changed my password yesterday. I told my husband
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he took my last name he's Darius Bannon I said you're I said I don't know what names to use I
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don't know what my name is your name I don't know my passwords I don't know I have to reset the
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passwords they ask me security questions what's your husband's name I don't know it anymore
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yeah it's hard being an adult it's hard it's that's why you got to get out get out and get
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it when you're doing this show and now making this show and then doing old friends what have
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you learned about Sondheim's humanity within these stories? What is the theme? Is there a theme
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between what he writes? Not really. Someone asked me, I did a Q&A after the show to a group from
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California, and he went, is Sondheim really this bitter? Some of his work has an edge to it. I said
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well, you know, you write what you know. I don't think he's bitter, but I think he has such a
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his characters that he writes for have such a humanity in them that you explore not only the
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happy, happy, happy parts, but you, you get to know like, leave you, leave you. That's, he can
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write for a relationship that's not necessarily functional. And we relate to that because we're
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all human beings. Yes. It is humanity. That is the theme. He writes stories of relationships and
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real people living and coping with love and life and all of the things that matter, no matter if
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it's, you know, into the woods or assassins. These are people. And who better to hear it than a person
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a real live person. There you go. There you go. I'm so grateful and so honored to hear
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the show with an added date, August 3rd. August 3rd. Be one of the five people there, please
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You may get everyone may get the chance to get up and sing a song themselves at that rate
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You know nothing would make me happier if we did a sing-along. Yes
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So Beth Level sings Sondheim, coming to the beautiful 50th. She's got a Tony Award
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I will share with the Tony Award at my sing-along. At the sing-along
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At the IP package, you could spin the Tony Award. Spin the Tony Award and eat part of your Caesar salad
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54below.org. And by the end of the day, the 144th Broadway show will be announced
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It's an honor. You are the dream. Oh, Robert, you're a dream
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You are an honor and a dream. And you made a dream come true for me today
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I adore you. And I'm so excited for people. Thank you. My privilege. My pleasure. I got you
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See you on the stage. Mwah
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