February 2, 2003

Q&A: The musical, man!

Actor Matthew Broderick reveals the true love of his life: the great American song-and-dance tradition of Broadway.

By Jennifer Mendelsohn, USA Weekend

"The most perfect, brilliant thing I've ever seen," marvels Matthew Broderick.

He's not talking about his new son with his wife, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, born just weeks before. The object of his unbridled adoration actually is Fred Astaire -- specifically Astaire's "sand dance" in Top Hat. Adds Broderick earnestly: "I love musicals more than anything."

At the moment, audiences seem smitten, too. With Chicago burning up the big screen, Broderick brings another famous musical to the small screen with a TV production of "The Music Man."

Although he jokingly dubs himself a "triple non-threat -- I can't really sing, dance or act" -- Broderick, 40, boasts strong credentials as a musicals man. He won a Tony for his first Broadway musical, 1995's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and was nominated for his second, the 2001 smash The Producers. (His wife starred in Broadway's Annie.)

USA WEEKEND chatted with Broderick at a Broadway eatery about the past, present and future of the American musical:

You loved movie musicals as a kid. Did you think, "I want to do that one day"?
I don't remember taking it as far as wanting to be in them, or even being aware they were movies. I thought it was really happening. The lore in my family is that at the end of The Sound of Music, when the lights came up, I turned to my father and said, "Every mountain?" I was distressed; I didn't think climbing every mountain was possible. That's the thing with musicals: You have to not take them too literally. Some people don't like that people stop and sing in the middle of a bus or whatever.

Can those bus-singing musicals still be relevant in times like these?
More than ever. In the Depression, escapist musicals were popular. Doing The Producers, you've never seen an audience more connected to something. Now there's Hairspray. Audiences are ecstatic. I don't know if any other [art] form can do that to a crowd.

How does doing musicals compare with your other work?
To be covered in sweat and getting laughs and singing with a full orchestra is an amazing experience. It's great, great fun. No matter how sick you are of the show, there's something about when an overture starts that makes you wake up.

Do you think there will still be a Broadway to take your son to someday?
I really do. It's more crowded than ever. I remember the first Broadway play I did, in 1983. Everyone said, "You're lucky to get here now. Broadway is about to be dead. They're tearing down theaters." So here we are with a revitalized Times Square, and the grosses are growing all the time.

Should the average American care what's happening on Broadway?
It's not a breeding ground for movie stars like it used to be. On the other hand, everyone who makes movies and writes comes to these shows. Backstage at The Producers was every megastar and writer you could imagine. Broadway can't influence as broad a group as movies can, but it does influence the people who do influence the country. Presidents Bush and Clinton were there, and the guy who lowers the interest rates or doesn't -- Alan Greenspan!

You joke that liking musicals is a little embarrassing. They're too old-fashioned?
It's not that they're quite old-fashioned, but you're very aware it's a tradition: People gathering in these dark houses with a lit area. It was there before film, and film will turn into something digital and evolve. But no matter how fancy it gets, there's still always a desire to see people live onstage with other people around you watching it. It's part of who we are.