Up next in 10
Video: Tony-Winning Producer Carl Moellenberg Opens Up About His Spiritual Journey to Broadway
May 17, 2024
Carl Moellenberg's story is one of overcoming enormous obstacles and changing course to find his passion and his true self to live joyously as a long-term survivor. It is a journey of many transformations: from Midwestern boy most interested in music to a fast-paced Wall Street career; from investment banking to a 13-time Tony Award-winner on Broadway; from overcoming several death-defying crises by finding healing, and inspiration from a higher being, and deeper spirituality. Carl hopes that his story will inspire others who face seemingly overwhelming obstacles to find their passion, their reason to live, and to find love.
View Video Transcript
0:00
♪��
0:08
Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World. 13-time Tony Award-winning producer Karl Mullenberg
0:14
has written a truly inspirational memoir about his fascinating life. And I caught up with Karl here at Rosevale Cocktail Room
0:21
at Civilian NYC. Karl, it is a thrill to be sitting with you here
0:27
at Rosevale Cocktail Room at Civilian NYC. Well, it's really nice to be here
0:32
and thank you for having this conversation. Isn't this a beautiful room, by the way
0:37
Oh, this is so stunning. And the whole hotel designed by David Rockwell, one of Broadway's all-time favorites
0:42
And I mean, I love that this room is all curated and he changes it. Right, yeah
0:47
There are different artifacts from different shows all the time. So, but these are some special ones
0:52
Oh yeah. You know, Wicked and Hamilton and Kinky Boots. I mean, they're all around us, yeah
0:58
Well, I have to tell you, I adore your book. Oh, thanks so much. What an inspiration it is to read
1:03
and what an inspiration you are. So I wanted to ask you, how did you come about to write it
1:08
Well, a few friends of mine that had known my story for decades
1:13
encouraged me to write a book that they thought hopefully would inspire other people
1:19
to work their way through their own personal challenges. And mine was mostly a health challenge
1:26
which I go into some detail with in the book. But the whole idea was to try to tell people
1:36
that I managed to find my passion and my joy in Broadway
1:42
and along the way through some spirituality courses that I took. And it allowed me to completely change my life
1:52
around to actually still be alive today, which I don't think I would have been
1:57
if I stayed in investment banking with the incredibly stressful hours and to live a brave life
2:04
And I want other people, hopefully, to get that sense of passion and beauty and joy
2:13
and be able to express it themselves in their own way. Yeah, you know, the arts are very healing
2:18
So I want to go back to the beginning. You were brought up in Ohio. Where does your love for the arts begin
2:24
Well, it grew because my parents loved music. And so I started studying both piano and voice
2:33
as a performer at age five. And thank God I didn't continue that path
2:38
but because you have to be exceptional. But I picked up my love of music really early
2:46
And we went to the orchestra all the time. And when I got to high school and college
2:56
I sang in every ensemble that was, from 200 people to a touring group of a cappella singers
3:03
There were 15 members. So that's where my love of music started
3:09
And I actually thought about trying to move directly into that in a career
3:16
but my parents convinced me to do something they thought would be more stable
3:21
And that's how I wound up doing investment banking for a while for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs
3:27
and some others. So that's a big, stressful life. Very stressful. Finance, right
3:33
Very, yeah. The hours often were from seven in the morning to midnight
3:38
and then go home and sleep a little bit and repeat. It was rough, yeah
3:42
So how did you move from finance to Broadway? Well, what happened was that in the midst
3:50
of my finance career, in the early 80s, no one knew before then that there was such a thing as HIV
3:59
And so I had made the very unlucky decision to come out right before that
4:07
and had almost no experience in my new life of deciding that I really was more attracted to men
4:14
and wanted to be with men in that way. So literally right after that
4:21
the first test came out and I felt incredibly unfortunate to be positive
4:26
because I had done almost nothing. And of course, no one knew that there was such a thing
4:31
that was unsafe. So I managed to stick it out in investment banking
4:39
for another 12 years. But that period of time, as you know
4:45
was just filled with fear and chaos and panic and people not knowing what caused the disease
4:54
or what might cause it to spread. And a lot of my friends were getting very ill very quickly
5:01
And obviously it decimated the arts of some incredibly brilliant people. So ultimately, my T-cells had declined to a point
5:13
where they were virtually non-existent and I got my first opportunistic infection in 1995
5:20
It was pneumocystis. And it wasn't clear whether I was going to make it through it, but I did
5:29
And after that, there was no going back to investment banking and the long hours and the stressfulness
5:36
So after some period of recovery from that, I started taking classes in spirituality
5:44
mostly energy related because energy is essentially at the core of everything
5:50
So I became a Reiki master, an ordained minister. I studied meditation
5:56
I studied with a shaman who had learned in Peru. And all of this not only grounded me
6:03
but it allowed me to shift my focus outward to be able to help others as a counselor
6:11
and I actually was on the suicide prevention hotline at the Trevor Project
6:15
and a portion of the proceeds of the book are being donated to the Trevor Project
6:20
which is an incredible cause. During my time in the spirituality courses
6:29
I wound up having an incredibly momentous day on the banks of the Loire in France
6:36
Should I keep going on that? Because what I love about this is a wonderful thing about the book
6:41
I mean, people have to accept when they have a life-threatening disease
6:46
or illness or whatever, and you have to learn how to work through it. And that's what I love about your book
6:50
because you found the peace with it and you found the spirituality and the positiveness
6:56
which I think is a major factor of how you heal and move through something, right
7:01
And I had tremendous support from a close group of friends, just amazing support
7:07
But I started doing a little bit of traveling because I hadn't had the chance to do that
7:13
during investment banking to amazing places, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Turkey, France, Italy, Mexico, Canada
7:22
some of the amazing national parks in the US. But one day I found myself
7:27
sitting on the banks of the Loire River by myself, although I was traveling with a friend
7:32
but I was meditating, looking out across the river, and the sun was on the other side
7:38
It was a bright, sort of crisp day, and the birds were chirping and there were rowers going by
7:43
It could have been a painting from an impressionist or something, but the sun came at an angle
7:51
where it was creating a glistening, sparkling effect, which then was going on the other angle
7:57
right into my face. And I thought, this is really kind of supernatural
8:03
but all of a sudden I heard a deep voice in my head
8:09
that I, of course, was not at all sure what it was, but after a few minutes
8:14
it clearly was some kind of a divine presence that was speaking to me in that moment
8:20
I had no idea what I was going to do with my life at that point in time
8:24
and the voice said, you are meant to have a very long life
8:30
You will be loved and supported by many close friends, but your journey is to create beauty in the world
8:39
and that beauty, we think, will be expressed in the arts. So that lasted about 20 minutes, believe it or not
8:48
and I went running back to my hotel. I was keeping a diary on the trip
8:53
and I wrote down every word I could remember, and when I got back to New York
8:58
I started the journey to become a Broadway producer, and you can't just do that overnight
9:04
and wave your hand and say I'm a Broadway producer, but that was the beginning of my transition
9:10
which has brought me so much joy, I cannot tell you. I absolutely love the fact that something so joyous
9:19
and passionate has come out of something that could have been despair
9:25
but it turned around and I had a new path. Okay, 13 Tony Awards
9:32
I love this, your track record is amazing. Where do you keep your Tony Awards first
9:36
Well, they're in this really cool obelisk-shaped glass place where I keep both the Tonys
9:46
and important pictures of my parents and other really most momentous acquisitions
9:55
Such as they were, but they're in this beautiful case, and obviously the recognition is wonderful
10:02
No one is ever gonna say I don't want to accept a Tony Award, but my joy from doing Broadway comes from telling stories
10:13
It's all about telling stories. Something that I hope will transform people
10:19
in the two to three hours we have them or have them think about something in a different way
10:25
or they might relate something in the show to their family and create a whole new set of family talks
10:33
or they just want to discuss it with their friends because there were things that came up
10:37
that were worth talking about, and that's why I do this. And winning the Tony Awards is wonderful
10:45
but the joy comes from telling stories. You also got involved in filmmaking
10:51
I mean, Wakefield was your first film with Bryan Cranston? I mean, wow
10:56
You know, I adore Bryan Cranston. I've done two plays with him and that film
11:05
and not only is he an absolutely brilliant actor, but he is the kindest, most generous
11:12
funny person to be around. I mean, we had our secret handshake
11:17
and I mean, I would follow him anywhere. He's such a nice person, and you could see that
11:25
even on shows where I would bring people backstage, and most actors are very polite and welcoming
11:34
He not only was that, but he took a lot of time
11:37
and asked them questions about their personal lives. That's the type of person he is
11:43
and I can't say how much I love Bryan Cranston. And Exploited is another wonderful film
11:51
It just came out on Blu-ray. It's just been released, which you were producer and co-writer on. Co-writer
11:57
I mean, wonderful psychological thriller. So beautifully done. You had a great time working on that, right
12:02
I did. Obviously, doing a film is a completely different process from doing theater, and I guess I like both of them
12:12
for different reasons, but we had a wonderful time on the set
12:18
I thought the actors were terrific, and it was mostly a young actor set
12:23
where they were, in many cases, getting their first breaks in major films
12:30
And with any luck, there might be a sequel to it. We'll see
12:35
We are thrilled. The NANA project, I mean, Mercedes Rule. I mean, Bryan Cranston, Mercedes Rule
12:42
I mean, what a wonderful way to start the film business. I know, she was such a delight to work with
12:47
The project is, the movie is called The NANA Project, and it also had Nolan Gould in it playing her grandson
12:54
and some wonderful character cameos, like Charlene Hilton and Morgan Fairchild and others
13:03
who lived in Timeless Acres retirement home with NANA. And it was so much fun to make
13:13
but it also, it had a message, like I still want to tell in every project I'm involved with
13:19
where it, without preaching, I believe it tells people that older people have a lot of wisdom
13:28
and they have a lot of value, and we should listen to them a lot more
13:32
I think in America, we tend not to do that as well as maybe they do in Asian countries, for example
13:40
where they revere their elders. And so this, this in a non-preachy way
13:46
is a family reconciliation story, and a recognizing the wisdom of senior people
13:53
And in addition, it's incredibly funny. It's written in mockumentary form, like best in show
13:59
So there's this cameraman following them around on all the crazy things that happened
14:05
in the retirement home. You talk about wonderful things and heirlooms and things that mean the most to you
14:11
The ring you are wearing, just talk about the special meaning of what that means to you
14:16
Well, it really is special to me. My parents were not waving a flag
14:23
but they were really accepting when I finally came out, which was when I was 29
14:29
And my brother was getting married a few years later, and we were all gathered to celebrate the wedding
14:37
And my parents asked me to come to their room. And they said, we know you're not going to be
14:44
in the same situation where you're getting married, which turned out not to be the case
14:49
You know, there was gay marriage did, you know, fortunately come upon us
14:54
But they said, we want you to have this ring. And you know, it's gold with a sapphire
15:00
and small diamonds around it. And I wear it on every important occasion
15:05
to remind myself of my parents. And I thought that was such a beautiful thing
15:10
that they had done. Yeah. Like I said, such an inspiration, this book
15:14
What gave you the biggest joy about writing this book? And what do you hope readers take away from it
15:20
The greatest joy was having a project during COVID when a lot of people were isolated
15:29
and wondering what to do with themselves. And even though I was feeling a little bit of terror
15:36
because my life literally was becoming an open book and very personal things, obviously, inside it
15:43
but I was working on a project that I slowly but surely became convinced would be inspirational
15:50
to other people. And what I want people to take away from it
15:55
is to find their own passion and to live a brave life
16:00
and to look for signals out there. The signals might come in the form of sitting
16:06
on the banks of the Loire or a golden bird walking down Fifth Avenue with you
16:11
or sitting in a park and hearing a divine presence through a breeze that you hear
16:20
that you might believe is a whisper from God. You know, I really believe those signs are all around us
16:26
if people are willing to embrace them and accept them. I love this
16:31
So the book is available anywhere books are sold, right? Correct. Well, like I said, you're an inspiration to so many people
16:36
Like I said, I reread the book again last night. Thank you for doing what you do, Carl
16:41
Not just for the arts, but just for how you help people and everything else. And some of the donations from this book
16:46
are going to the Trevor Project, which is really important. Oh, thanks. It's been my pleasure to speak with you
16:52
And I'm very happy that this is out and in the world now
16:57
So I appreciate the time to have this conversation. Thank you for continuing to make art on Broadway
#Acting & Theater
#Broadway & Musical Theater
#Self-Help & Motivational