It’s like an aerobics lesson every night.
A year and a half in London, two years on Broadway, and a year and a half on tour has kept it fresh.
Disney has been kind enough to give me – every few years – an option to take it somewhere else, to do it with a new cast. Gavin: It’s the best role so far that I have managed to get, (and yes – it has been created on film before) and it’s great to be able to create a new role on the stage. What is it about this character that makes you keep playing him? Joel: You have played the role of Bert for 6 years. But my fabulous dresser Martha always has the elevator waiting for me, and I’m back in my dressing room before you know it. Gavin: A couple of floors down, which is a pain when you are running down for quick changes. Joel: And where is your dressing room here? So, there is no actual adjustment that has to be made for the actual show. The backstage at The Kennedy Center is ridiculous! We could do the show three times over with the amount of space we have, compared to some of the cities we have been to. We are very fortunate at the Kennedy Center because we have so much room.
It’s only the minute that you walk off the stage that suddenly you are in a different place. We tour with our floor also, which means we put our floor onto the Kennedy Center Stage, and they put our wings up, which means that when we stand on the stage – everything about the show is exactly the same way. Joel: What are some of the challenges or adjustments you have had to make while performing Bert in the Opera House? And as an actor, that’s all that you want. Gavin: Oh my God! I didn’t know it started here! We were in a couple of cities that didn’t sell well, and it‘s nice to be here where the show is doing well, and the audiences have been fantastic. Joel: I still get chills when I see the poster of Colm Wilkinson who played Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, which played at the Kennedy Center before it moved to Broadway. You walk around here and you see posters of past shows, and operas and musical theatre, and stars that have performed there and you get chills that you are on the same stage as them. It reminds me of the Royal National Theatre in London. Gavin: I was lucky enough to come to the Kennedy Center in November to do a promotion for the show – a quick 20 minutes with Ashley Brown who was playing Mary at the time – and that was the first time I had seen the Kennedy Center – and we walked into the Hall of States and Nations – and it’s such a cool place to work at. Joel: How are you enjoying performing in The Kennedy Center Opera House? It’s amazing how different cities have such different audiences. Some are laughing more at the slapstick stuff. Gavin: Without being rude – some are more sophisticated, so they are laughing and applauding at different moments. Every city in this country is different from the city right before. I’m leaving the tour soon, and heading back to the Broadway show. Gavin: Fantastic! This is my final venue on the tour. Joel: Thanks for sharing this time with me.
#Supercal braodway professional#
For over forty minutes, we schmoozed about his career, his professional training, working with several different Marys, and his amazing dance across the proscenium arch in “Step In Time”. Gavin charmed the soot off of me when we chatted in this telephone interview on the morning of August 6 th. Gavin Lee as Bert in the national tour of Mary Poppins (Photo: Joan Marcus)
Gavin originated the role in London, performed it on Broadway, and has been playing Bert all around the country on this tour. Kennedy Center audiences love Gavin Lee’s heart-warming, lovable performance as Bert, the chimney sweep in the national tour of Mary Poppins.
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