INTERVIEW: Jill Paice journeys to Paris for award-winning Broadway musical

An American in Paris has quickly become one of the most successful and acclaimed Broadway musicals in recent years. Adapted from the original Gene Kelly movie, the show features recognizable tunes from the George and Ira Gershwin songbook.

The musical tells the story of down-on-their-luck American artists trying to gain recognition in the French capital. One is a painter; the other is a musician. Together they walk the streets of Paris, soaking in the sights, watching the crowds of people and hoping for a big break. A pivotal character is Milo, who is a denizen of high society, a doyenne of the art world. When she takes a liking to the main character’s paintings on the street, everything in his life changes.

Jill Paice, of Broadway’s Matilda, The 39 Steps and The Woman in White, plays Milo and created the role when the musical first opened in Paris a couple years ago.

“We weren’t really quite sure how it would go over there [in Paris],” Paice said recently during a phone interview. “Here we are playing a show about their city, but part of the experience of being there for us … was to make sure that we were real, that we were authentic to their experience, particularly the liberation and what Paris was like after World War II to ensure that we didn’t make a caricature of their experience. And, of course, you’re surrounded by plenty of history and plenty of museums to fill in some of those colors for you. And the audiences themselves, we were kind of shocked by these five curtain calls every night, with people on their feet.”

The show soon traveled from Paris to New York’s Palace Theatre, where it has been playing to packed houses ever since. Currently joining Paice on stage are Garen Scribner as Jerry, the painter with high aspirations; Leanne Cope, a Royal Ballet School alumna, as Lise Dassin; and Veanne Cox as Madame Baurel, among others. The show is directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, a Tony Award winner.

Paice’s Milo is a compilation of Katharine Hepburn and Rosalind Russell, what the actress calls the “Turner Classic Movie dames,” those cinematic strong women who were fast talkers and unafraid to wear paints.

“Those were kind of my inspirations,” she said. “Once I put on Bob Crowley’s costumes, she just sort of popped into place. I felt like that was the finishing touch for finding that character. … Well, we sort of designed her as affluent in my mind because she’s so educated in all of those [artistic] areas. I sort of imagined her growing up on the Upper East Side of New York. She’s very much a Peggy Guggenheim, and Peggy herself wasn’t necessarily educated in art until she started hanging out with artists, and with curators and with those sort of people. So, in my mind, that’s where Milo got that sort of education.”

For Paice, the greatest challenge of performing in An American in Paris eight times a week is the dancing. There are numerous big-company numbers, including an orchestral composition and ballet that dominate the second act. The cast is made up of professionals dancers who are now acting on stage, and actors, like Paice, who are now dancing professionally. The mixture offers a source of new energy.

“I just had a lot to learn very quickly when it came to the dance,” she said. “That being said, other people in the room who were from the ballet world had the challenge of now speaking on stage. I feel like we all were sort of pushed out of our comfort zone at one point [and] knew how to be supportive of each other.”

In researching her role, Paice never drew on the Milo character played by Nina Foch in the iconic movie. For one reason, Paice has never seen the movie.

“And it’s odd because normally I would,” she said. “I did Gone With the Wind, which I was hugely familiar with and a huge fan of when I was a kid, and I had no qualms about sort of going back to the film for reference and to help me develop. There’s probably something that Vivien Leigh does that I have put into every show I’ve ever done because I admire her so much, and I even feel her in Milo just a little bit. But for some reason, I never wanted to go watch An American in Paris. I’m sure I will one day when this experience is over, and people tell me that our Milos are quite similar, which is sort of funny having never seen it.”

Being the first person to originate the role of Milo on stage has several advantages and a few added pressures as well. Paice will forever be known as a member of the show’s original Broadway company, and that meant performing on the Tony Awards and the cast album. It also meant that Paice was mentored by the original director, choreographer and music personnel for the show.

“That being said, there’s a lot of pressure with opening a new show,” she admitted. “You don’t know what the show is going to be, don’t know how long it will run, or if it’s going to be well received or if you’re going to be well received. So I, having had both experiences, they both have their perks. When I joined Matilda six months in, it was still very fresh and very new, but, of course, I never spent much time in the room with Matthew Warchus who directed it.”

It’s an interesting, almost philosophical point for actors in original Broadway companies. For example, Paice has never seen An American in Paris on the stage because she has performed in the musical every night. She’ll never know about the perception of the piece until one day she leaves the show.

For this actress, who first became serious about theater at her high school in Dayton, Ohio, the sense of discovery that a new role affords is a welcome adventure.

“For the most part, you step out on stage, and all your fellow actors are there with their own energy and whatever has happened to them in the day,” she said. “But we’re all professionals, and we know what it takes to do the show. We know what we have to reserve during the day, what we need to bring at night. I’m very grateful to share the stage with this particular group because everyone is very committed. I mean, the dancers dancing this show eight times a week, they have the hardest job because they also move the sets. You know, the one thing that changes every night is the audience, and so we never know what you guys are going to bring. And you come with a different energy.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

An American in Paris is currently playing Broadway’s Palace Theatre. Click here for more information.