Tony Award–winner Laura Benanti, who has appeared in everything from The Sound of Music on Broadway to Supergirl on TV, provides a preview of her upcoming live show in Palm Springs, spills the beans on spoofing Melania Trump, and weighs in the #MeToo movement.
What can we expect from your show in Palm Springs?
My shows are very relaxed. I tell silly stories. I tell jokes. I sing songs. Todd Almond is my music director, and we sing everything from “Vanilla Ice Cream” to “Take to the Sky” by Tori Amos. I want people to feel like they’re in my living room and we’re just hanging out. I don’t give myself any rules. I actually do something I call the inappropriate medley, which is a bunch of songs that I love but I never, ever should sing. And then I sing them.
What’s the best thing about going on the road?
Experiencing different audiences. New York audiences are a very specific breed and I love them for sure, but going out of town you really get to ... I was just at Brigham Young University in Utah and that was a very, very specific audience but I loved it. They were wonderful. I like experiencing different people and different ways of life and connecting on a similar level.
Since October, you’ve been playing Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, which you have said is your dream role. You’ve also done The Sound of Music a number of times, and you won a Tony for Gypsy. What iconic roles are you still eager to play?
That’s it. My dream roles were Cinderella in Into the Woods, Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy, Amalia Balash in She Loves Me, and Eliza in My Fair Lady. The only one that’s left for me is Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. That’s for when I’m older.
My favorite performance of yours, which I’ve only seen on YouTube, is the “Model Behavior” number from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It’s an incredibly complex song but your performance is pure comedic genius. How much fun was that?
Thank you. It was really fun. Because I’m a soprano I’d only really played ingénues or leading ladies, and I never got to show my sense of humor. That role was a real turning point for me. People got to see me in a comedic way. That was really, really fun.
You’ve been very open on Twitter about your various obsessions, from Nashville to Amy Schumer. What are you currently obsessed with?
Yes. Yes. I’m currently obsessed with Betty Gilpin on Glow. It’s on Netflix, and it’s such a good show. But Betty, in particular, she gives a masterful performance. It’s hilarious but also real and so moving. Then I got into a wormhole of things that she writes. She’s a really great writer. And then I got into an Instagram wormhole on her. I’m crushing on her hard.
What is your all time favorite cast recording?
Oh. Whoa. I’m going to have to say the original Into The Woods. There are so many classics — like Barbara Cook’s She Loves Me — but that one, I just wore out. I just could not stop listening to it.
In your spare time you hilariously spoof Melania Trump on The Late Show. How did that come about?
I was on the show promoting She Loves Me and Stephen [Colbert] pointed out my physical resemblance to the First Lady. And then after her famously plagiarized RNC speech I got a million phone calls and emails asking if I would come in and do it.
Your take on her is funny, but it’s not particularly mean. Is that intentional?
Yes. I don’t have an interest in being mean to her. I think I’m pretty clear about my politics, but I don’t think she’s a stupid woman. She speaks five languages. I do think she’s a good mom. She keeps her child out of the limelight, which I think in her position is very difficult. That being said, she’s also a Donald Trump apologist in that she defends some of his atrocious behavior. We can’t just pretend she’s not culpable. But for the most part I try not to bully her.
Have you received any negativity as a result?
Oh, yes. I actually had death threats.
Do you have any thoughts on the #MeToo movement?
You know, I started in this business when I was 18 years old, almost 20 years ago. And when I think of the things that as an 18-, 19-, 20-year-old person that I just brushed aside because even at that young age I knew it was just something women had to deal with it — the fact that there are now a group of women standing up saying “This isn’t acceptable” makes me feel so much better about having brought a little girl into the world. The fact that the #MeToo movement and Times Up have come on the heels of what I see as a blight on our American history, is one I’m very, very grateful for.
What’s next for you?
I co-produced an album of children’s songs to benefit RAICES [Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services], which is an organization down in Texas working full time to reunite the children separated at the border. Mary-Mitchell Campbell, the music director for Mean Girls on Broadway, and my friend Lynn Pinto, who I actually did Sound of Music with 20 years ago, we brainstormed and put together six songs. Warner Bros. and Ghostlight are helping us put them out. It’s called Singing You Home: Children’s Songs for Family Reunification. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mandy Gonzales sing a duet in Spanish, and Josh Groban and Idina Menzel perform a song Josh and Dave Matthews wrote called “Lullaby” that’s sung in both English and Spanish. It’s really incredible. And all the money is going to go to the organization. Not a single person is taking a cent.
An Evening With Laura Benanti plays Nov. 17 at the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Annenberg Theater.