INTERVIEW: Angie Schworer shows her ‘Zazz’ in Broadway’s ‘The Prom’
Photo: The Prom stars Angie Schworer and Caitlin Kinnunen on Broadway. Photo courtesy of Deen van Meer / Provided by Polk and Co. with permission.
The Prom, arguably one of the strongest new musicals on Broadway, is having a delight in Midtown Manhattan, entertaining audiences, talking up an important message and bringing that reliable “zazz” to the theater community. One of the key characters in the musical is Angie, played coincidentally by another Angie — Angie Schworer.
In The Prom, a team of Broadway veterans, including Schworer’s Angie, Brooks Ashmanskas’ Barry Glickman, Beth Leavel’s Dee Dee Allen and Christopher Sieber’s Trent Oliver, are down on their luck and looking for a charitable lift. They search through the newspapers and find a person worthy of saving with their celebrity: a young woman facing discrimination for wanting to bring her girlfriend to the local prom.
The Broadway actors paint their protest signs, bring along a press agent and storm middle America for a good old-fashioned uprising. What they accomplish will change this young woman’s life, and maybe their own.
Schworer, who played Ulla in The Producers on Broadway, has been with The Prom since its inception almost seven years ago.
“Christopher Sieber, Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas and I, the four of us, have been in it from the beginning,” Schworer said in a recent phone interview. “So we’ve done the very first table read. … Then we did a workshop. Then we did the out of town in Atlanta. Then we did another workshop, so it was spread out. It wasn’t six years constantly. We did a lot of jobs in between, but it was a total of about six years.”
Schworer first heard about the project thanks to director Casey Nicholaw. He was directing an episode of Smash, the TV show about the Broadway community. Schworer was on the set, and the two met while at craft services. That’s when Nicholaw shared that composer Matthew Sklar and writers Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin were crafting a new show, and they had a part for her — a part even named after her.
“When someone says that to you, of course, it was so exciting, but you never really know if it’s going to happen,” she said. “It’s show biz, baby, you know. You never know, so I remember sort of in the back of my head thinking, oh my God. And then here it is, so I feel like the luckiest girl in show biz.”
Schworer called her on-stage alter-ego a fun, silly part. The musical’s character is a bit more confident, she admitted, but also a little more jaded.
“She’s definitely smarter,” Schworer said with a laugh. “Prom Angie is definitely smarter and more political than real Angie. She’s just a broad, a broad with a heart of gold.”
One of the most fulfilling aspects of working on the show has been sharing the stage with this incredible cast, all of whom are buzzed about for Tony nominations. In addition to the four main Broadway actors, there’s Michael Potts, Caitlin Kinnunen, Isabelle McCalla, Courtenay Collins and Josh Lamon.
“I’ve worked with Beth and Brooks in a couple different shows,” Schworer said. “Beth and I did Minsky’s together with Casey Nicholaw. I replaced in Young Frankenstein. She also was in Young Frankenstein, so we’ve known each other for years. Brooks and I did The Producers together. We actually got to do Ulla and Leo together at one point. I played Ulla, and then he was Carmen Ghia. But he understudied Leo, so we got to dance together and have an onstage kiss, Brooks and I. Then Christopher I’ve just known for years. … So we’ve just all been very social and known each other for years, so I think that automatically works on stage.”
Plus, it helped that these four actors — all four of them — have been together from that first table read. That’s rare for a Broadway show, to have a cast of actors stick with the long-in-development musical for years.
“I’ve learned a lot from them, so I always tease, ‘Thank you for letting me ride on your coattails for six years,'” Schworer said. “They’re always very helpful and very supportive. I remember a specific time that Brooks said to me, ‘You know what this is.’ Because our lines would change, so the rhythms would change. They know the mathematics of comedy so well, so they were always very helpful and very supportive. … We love each other, and it’s like playing with your friends every night. Brooks just always makes us all pee our pants because he’s ridiculous.”
The biggest part of the evening for Schworer is her Act II number, appropriately titled “Zazz.” This is when she taps (literally) into her inner showgirl and sings about the wonders and magic of Broadway. It’s a showstopper each night.
“It’s so fun because I basically take the entire intermission to warm up just to do my ‘Zazz,'” she said. “I didn’t used to have to warm up back in the day, but I have my little ritual that I do before my number. It is very a la Chicago. It’s kind of a Kander and Ebb-ish style number. I feel like so honored that I get to do this, and I get to do a little bit of everything in it. I’ve got the monologue, so I got a little acting moment. I dance a little. I sing a little. I just get to do a little bit of everything. It’s sort of art imitating life because it’s really just a style number, a little zazz. … I feel it fits exactly what I can do, which is a little bit of everything with a little style and zazz.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Prom, starring Angie Schworer, is now playing the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
