PhotosA Final Spin Backstage at On the Twentieth Century Before It Taps Off Into the SunsetSpend a day at the Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century, which ends its run this weekend! Mamie Parris, who plays Agnes in the musical, takes us through her day, from waking to the sound of the alarm clock to the exciting backstage life at the American Airlines Theatre.
By
Matthew Blank
July 16, 2015
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Smoothies, Stunt Doubles and Madeline Kahn Chenoweth! A Two-Show Day at On the Twentieth Century With Mamie Parris
Smoothies, Stunt Doubles and Madeline Kahn Chenoweth! A Two-Show Day at On the Twentieth Century With Mamie Parris
Spend a day at the Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century! Mamie Parris, who plays Agnes in the musical, takes us through her day, from waking to the sound of the alarm clock to the exciting backstage life at the American Airlines Theatre.
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*beep beep beep* "Noooooo" (me basically every morning)
Mamie Parris
Cookie agrees.
Mamie Parris
But then we're like, "It's Playbill Two-show photo day!" and we tried to take a selfie. This is what trying to take a selfie with my dog looks like.
Mamie Parris
Twenty minutes later... Cookie's all "I woke up like this."
Mamie Parris
Breakfast! (Spinach, banana, almond milk, strawberry, protein smoothie)
Mamie Parris
What I look at while enjoying the smoothie! In the Heights! I love our view.
Mamie Parris
The morning routine. Some yoga and core strengthening, and working through a knee aggravation, so a LOT of rolling out quad/it band...
Mamie Parris
Packing for the day! I have a couple of auditions between shows today, so shoes, dress, sides, etc...
Mamie Parris
Kiss the hubs goodbye...
Mamie Parris
And I'm off!
Mamie Parris
First up, Starbucks with my handsome friend, Mark Eric Gomez. He writes plays and is super talented. He is also a goofball. :-) Then I'm off to catch the subway.
Mamie Parris
I'm here! Come and meet those dancin' feet...
Mamie Parris
Our glamorous and mysterious stage door. There's either a Broadway theatre on the other side, or something out of "Law & Order: SVU"...
Mamie Parris
Heading in the stage door takes you basically onto the stage, where the crew is pre-setting the show. We have such a fabulous crew! This is Emily with our huge locomotive piece as it's flown until needed in the 2nd act.
Mamie Parris
The "Hair Honeys"! Nellie, Mary, Tom, and Raven. That dark space behind them is where bad pins go to die. It's a fishhook graveyard, friends.
Mamie Parris
The perfectly placed roller. Now you know Kristin's beauty secret. ;-)
Mamie Parris
No contest. Coffee. Matinees are early.
Mamie Parris
Stage management thinks if they put their office in the caviest corner of the basement we won't find them... They are mistaken! Best SM team ever! Scott, Sam, and Matt (who is hiding somewhere).
Mamie Parris
Checking in with Larry in the pit!
Mamie Parris
It's official. I'm here.
Mamie Parris
I'm ready to attempt the beautification...
Mamie Parris
Carly, our terrific company manager, climbs all the stairs (we're on the 5th floor) to come see us every show! Buns of steel!
Mamie Parris
OUR PERFECT PORTERS! Phillip Attmore, Richard Riaz Yoder, Rick Faugno, and Drew King. Richard's crocheting a Porter-ready scarf!
Mamie Parris
We are READY to repent!
Mamie Parris
Raven puts the finishing touch on my look with a beautiful wig.
Mamie Parris
The before and after!
Mamie Parris
Dresses in need of french ladies. Our backstage space is tiny so all quick changes are done in a hallway or stairwell. Glamorous!
Mamie Parris
Kevin Stites, our fearless conducting leader, starts us off.
Mamie Parris
I call this my "cupcake dress". Ready for Veronique!
Mamie Parris
Moe, Kristin's fabulous dresser, waits on a ladder to make magic happen with a super quick change on the stage above...
Mamie Parris
The button of "Sign, Lily, Sign." Riotous applause is happening!
Mamie Parris
Playing dress up with Erica!
Mamie Parris
Andy Karl is smokin'.
Mamie Parris
Leading men waiting for the curtain to rise on Act 2...
Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth embodies Lily Garland, a role created by her idol Madeline Kahn, in Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century, playing now through July 19 at the American Airlines Theatre.
The comic-opera score by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, is used to express the larger-than-life characters of flamboyant Broadway producer Oscar Jaffe and Lily, a movie star he hopes to con into signing with him for a new show. All the action takes place aboard a luxury train ride from Chicago to New York where, as title song says, "Life and love and luck may be changed, hope renewed, and fate rearranged." In Twentieth Century, Chenoweth, a Tony Award winner for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and a Tony nominee for Wicked, plays Lily Garland opposite film, television and Broadway star Gallagher ("The O.C," "American Beauty," Guys and Dolls, The Country Girl) as Oscar Jaffe.
Roundabout associate artistic director Scott Ellis (a six-time Tony Award nominee for She Loves Me, Steel Pier, 1776, Twelve Angry Men, Curtains, The Mystery of Edwin Drood) directs On the Twentieth Century with choreography by Warren Carlyle, a Tony Award winner for After Midnight.
The musical — featuring music by Cy Coleman and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green — premiered on Broadway in 1978 under the direction of Harold Prince and won Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.
Here's how Roundabout bills the classic: "It's nonstop laughs aboard the Twentieth Century, a luxury coach travelling from Chicago to New York City. Luck, love and mischief collide when the bankrupt theater producer Oscar Jaffe (Gallagher) embarks on a madcap mission to cajole glamorous Hollywood starlet Lily Garland (Chenoweth) into playing the lead in his new, non-existent epic drama. But is the train ride long enough to reignite the spark between these former lovers, create a play from scratch, and find the money to get it all the way to Broadway?"
A new scholarship will send three young writers to the 2026 International Thespian Festival to work directly with Playbill on coverage of the week-long event.
