CRAZY FOR CROWLE - A CONVERSATION WITH MATT CROWLE

Matt Crowle, the multi-talented, award-winning veteran of musical theatre in Chicago for the past decade, has a backstory worthy of a Broadway musical all its own. Born and raised in Marshall, Michigan, where he discovered his love for ballet, tap, theatre and comedy at a very early age, Crowle eventually followed a calling to New York City, grinding through years of auditions, dance and voice classes and part-time jobs to make ends meet.  His first real break would come as a member of the touring company of Dr. Dolittle and stage time with Tommy Tune. And then came the Broadway megahit, Spamalot.

These stories are just part of the fascinating conversation we had on September 27th with Matt Crowle, the six-time Jefferson award nominated actor, choreographer and dance instructor. In a wide-ranging discussion, Crowle talks about who helped to shape his performance philosophy, recognizing talent, the importance of training, and, working with one of his best friends, Bill Larkin.

Matt Crowle received the 2015 Jeff Award for his performance as Hysterium in Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and is nominated twice in 2016 -- for his tour-de-force performance as Leo Bloom in Mercury Theater’s The Producers, and, for his choreography in the Drury Lane Theatre production of White Christmas. 

NEXT UP: Matt Crowle is merging all of his formidable talents and vast stage experience as director and choreographer of Drury Lane Theatre’s upcoming production of Crazy For You, running November 3rd though January 8th.

Matt Crowle on his New York miracle and unforgettable Spamalot audition:
"I was working at Ellen’s Stardust Diner and I got a call from Tara Rubin Casting saying we’d love for you to come in next week for Spamalot …  and to be honest, it was an eye-rolling moment because I thought 'you’ve seen me… there’s nothing left to do.' I talked to my mom and said ‘I don’t think I’m going to go. I have a shift that night.’ My mom said ‘So, you’re going to sling burgers around when you can audition for a Broadway show !?!’" 
 
"I almost didn’t make it … I was trapped on the N train, ran upstairs grabbed a cab and said ‘I will give you 50 dollars if you can get me to Chelsea faster than you should legally’ ... and he did …  I think I was the first to go, did the first song, went well, did the first of two scenes, went well, and that was when my mentor Bruce kicked me in the back of the head and said ‘you’re not done yet.’ ... So I launched into the second one and the associate director at the time, Peter Lawrence, leaned in after I finished and said ‘I am very, very glad you did that.’ … So that was at about 11 … and at about 11:15, I had a phone call that said if you want to join the Broadway company Spamalot,  you start in two days …  So I went in there, quit my job at the restaurant, and there you have it.”

About physical comedy and streamlining simplicity:
"I had a knack at a very young age for falling down really well. I was doing prat falls for a very long time. My parents got a video camera … one day, when I played hooky from school all I did for the whole day was fall off from furniture or jump off of things and fall and then I’d go back and watch it in slow motion to see if it was believable enough."
 
"My mom found the tape. She was like ‘What were you thinking?!?!’ It was just before the night I had an opening in a show in high school. ‘And what if you had broken your arm !?!’ [I said] ‘I’m not going to break my arm. I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m a pro!’ … and she just rolled her eyes and said ‘Well, it’s your problem.’ 

“I think the first real exposure to physical comedy for me would have been Steve Martin. My mom and dad loved Steve Martin, listened to his stand up albums, watched Roxanne, The Jerk and, of course, Three Amigos. So much of my generation is about vulgar humor… But I thought clever always spoke to me. Clever and simple because it’s not easy. It’s not easy to weed out all the stuff you don’t need just to find that nugget, that gold nugget of truth and streamline simplicity … And then I was turned on to Keaton and Chaplin and went back over and over again saying, ‘What is it that makes it so perfect'"

Working with Bill Larkin 
"That rehearsal process [for Producers] was incredible because we had so much already from day one … Bill, as brilliant as he is, can be a bit awkward physically and he embraces this … There was a day when the director was trying to get him to lean on a wall a certain way. I felt like I was watching a Steve Martin or Buster Keaton comedy bit where he seriously didn’t know how to lean on the wall ... We had to take a break I was weeping … He’s such a natural, beautiful comedian … I adore him … He’s one of my dearest friends.”

The importance of training: 
“I try to impress upon my students and colleagues that you are never done training … In New York, everyone is always in class … always in voice lessons… always training … I didn’t notice that here so I’ve really tried to change that approach … All you have is your reputation and if you rely on that as opposed to committing to push forward with it you lose, and we all lose … Any time I talk to young performers I say ‘Be the best you can. Then get better.’”

Matt Crowle Website
Peninsula Players Theatre - Peter and the Starcatcher July 2 - 23, 2017

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ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS - CONFESSIONS OF A P.I.M.P.

André De Shields returns to Victory Gardens Theater August 26-28 for a production of his one-man show, Confessions of a P.I.M.P. 

On Broadway, De Shields originated the title role in The Wiz and had long runs in Ain’t Misbehavin', Play On! and The Full Monty -- Broadway performances that have earned him two Tony Award nominations and five Drama Desk nominations.

A multiple Chicago Jeff Award recipient, most recently for his show-stopping performance in Jungle Book, De Shields also received an Emmy Award for an NBC broadcast special on Ain’t Misbehavin’. During a break from rehearsals on August 15th, André De Shields talked about his show, an extraordinary 46-year career and what it is that keeps bringing him back to Chicago. 

André’s advice to young performers at the beginning of their careers:
“It is not easy … it is hard for everyone. But remember there are two things that are guaranteed, absolutely guaranteed, in this industry … now here comes the punch line … It’s not fame and fortune … it’s rejection and insecurity … but that’s the test because when you get hungry, and you will get hungry, philosophically hungry and carnally hungry, your stomach will growl for nutrition. When you get hungry, if you can make your meal of rejection and when you get lonely, and you will get lonely, because this narrow path you’re walking is yours and no one else’s … if you can make a companion of insecurity then the universe will conspire to help you because you both will have realized that you have chosen the correct path.”
 
André shares a special moment with (Dreamgirl)Donica Lynn:
“In one of my Cabaret performances in New York I chose to sing ‘And I am Telling You I’m Not Going’ from a male’s perspective, but I didn’t change the pronouns ... and what I learned about that song is that it has very little to do with gender per se … the essence, the heart of that song is ‘I don’t want to be free.’ I shared that with Donica Lynn and with Doug Peck and during their (Dreamgirls)performance they sent a Facebook message to me and it was a photograph of that part of the music with a huge lip imprint of red lipstick from Donica and it meant the world to me ... because apparently she used that doorway as one of the means to get into that song. And when you hear that song with the emphasis on ‘I don’t want to be free’ it really changes what that song is about … it’s not about the man… it’s not about the woman… it’s about the human condition. ‘I don’t want to be alone. I need a companion’ … and that’s that message I was talking about earlier about rejection and insecurity.  We need company … we need ensemble … we need community in this industry. Otherwise we can’t rise.”
 
André on the ‘power of effective storytelling’: 
“If the story is told effectively then it will transcend the problem and transform the life of an individual … it will transcend the problem and alter the government … it will transcend the problem and change the world into the place you want it to be and you need it to be.”

Entire podcast HERE

André De Shields Website HERE

"... it was a photograph of that part of the music with a huge lip imprint of red lipstick from Donica and it meant the world to me ... because apparently she used that doorway as one of the means to get into that song. " André De Shields August 15, 2016

CONFESSIONS OF A P.I.M.P August 27, 2016 with Denise McGowan Tracy and André De Shields

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