Bonjour from Paris! And not Paris, Texas. Speaking of that hacky joke, let me talk about something that happened like that, for real, years ago.

Andrea Martin asked me if I wanted to do a show together in London. I had always dreamed of performing in London and, even though I had another gig for the date she offered, I told Andrea that I was going to call my manager and cancel it. She was so surprised I would cancel another gig just to go to London, but how could I turn down the chance to perform in the country that gave us Shakespeare, the original production of Evita, and my favorite dessert, treacle pudding?! I got out of the other gig, and Andrea immediately got me roundtrip plane tickets to London.

London, Ontario. As in Canada.

I’m not joking. Yay?

But, speaking of London, England, I was there last week with James, and we had a great time. We saw a slew of shows that featured lots of our pals which was so fun. The first night we saw a fantastic production of Next to Normal that I have a feeling is going to come to New York. Even if it doesn’t, this production is definitely being filmed for us all to see! Caissie Levy (who got an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for the role) was fantastic as Diana Goodman, the mom. This was the second West End show in which we’ve seen Caissie.

Years ago, James and I came to London for one of the first times and saw Caissie in Ghost. I found this photo of us from backstage!

The two musicals are vastly different. Ghost features a dead husband with whom the wife connects throughout the entire show. Next to Normal features a dead son with whom the wife connects throughout the entire show. The more things change…?

The next day, James and I saw our pals Andy Nyman and Jenna Russell in Hello, Dolly! Leading lady Dolly was played simply and warmly by Imelda Staunton, and the whole production was wonderful. The last time we saw Andy on the West End was when he played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (for which he was Olivier nominated). It was so great to see him out of his scrappy outfit and dressed to the nines as a song and dance man. And, even more amazingly, he’s about to star as Max Bialystock in The Producers at the Menier Chocolate Factory. It’s such a perfect role for him!

Jenna, who played Mrs. Malloy, performed on my Broadway cruise to the Norwegian Fjords a few years ago, and I remember so many hilarious stories that she told me while on the cruise. This is one about when she was starring in Guys and Dolls in London (featuring Jane Krakowski as Adelaide and Ewan McGregor as Sky). 

Jenna began previews, and asked her longtime romantic partner, Ray Coulthard, for any notes he had about her performance. He told her that he loved it all, but there was only one moment that he thought could improve. In the middle of Act 1, free-wheeling Sky (Ewan) suddenly kisses uptight Sarah (Jenna). Ray thought that Sarah should be shocked by the kiss and immediately push Sky away. Ray noticed that, instead of a push-away, Jenna seemed to let the kiss linger for quite a while. It didn’t make sense for the character. Jenna totally agreed, and agreed that, indeed, Sarah Brown would be furious that Sky is taking such a liberty and that Sarah would end the kiss in two seconds flat. 

Well, the next night before the show, Ewan walked by her and asked if she wanted to change anything in that night’s performance. She was about to tell him about cutting off the kiss when he turned to face her. Jenna took in his extremely handsome face. The next thing she knew she was saying, “Nope! Nothing’s changing.” The lengthy kiss remained for the run of the show. Werk!

James and I also saw the incredible Stephanie J. Block in Kiss Me, Kate. Of course, Stephanie played all the humor, but she also nailed the soprano notes. And she still found a way to belt the hell out of a lot of the songs. Holy cow! Just like Next to Normal, the production is being filmed for our viewing pleasure.

Next was The Baker’s Wife, directed by my childhood friend, Gordon Greenberg. It was so great to finally see the show I had heard so many stories about! It’s playing at the Menier Chocolate Factory which is super intimate, so I really felt like I was in a small, French village where the specialty was baking and belting. Of course, the song “Meadowlark” was an incredible highlight. It's still so strange to me that David Merrick hated the song so much.

If you don’t know, David Merrick was the producer of the original show, and there were numerous problems while it was on the road to Broadway. Believe it or not, the leading lady was fired, leading man was fired, and the director was fired! To top it off, David kept demanding that the song “Meadowlark” be cut. One day, he apparently pronounced, “I’ll get rid of that song even if I have to poison the birdseed myself.” The creative team refused to cut it, so David pulled one of his signature sneaky moves. He went into the orchestra pit before the show and took the music. When the orchestra got to the song, there was no sheet music for them to play. Regardless, that song has since become a Stephen Schwartz classic. Here is the incredible Liz Callaway sassing it!

P.S. Where can you see Liz sing this song up close and personal? Why, on my next Seth’s Big Fat Broadway Cruise! Liz is joining Tony Yazbeck and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer on my January cruise to the British West Indies, Dominican Republic, and other lovely warm places. Find out more here. 

And speaking of! Here’s another video I just found of Liz being hi-larious! Lewis Black put this together, and it ends with Liz singing her signature song from the film Anastasia.

On our last night in London, James and I saw Mean Girls and had a great time. Not only did we have a ton of laughs, but also, this show was definitely the biggest belt-fest out of all the ones we saw. So many high notes! Also, there were three understudies on, and they were fantastic. It’s one thing to memorize an entire role and not make mistakes, but it’s so impressive to me to go on in front of a giant audience and exude complete confidence and relaxation.

Anika Larsen tells a great story about making an audience feel comfortable (and it wasn’t when she was an understudy). Anika originated the role of lyricist Cynthia Weil in Beautiful. Normally, she would walk in to meet Carole King (Jessie Mueller) and demonstrate how she writes lyrics by singing a new version of “Happy Days Are Here Again.”

Well, Anika began the song as usual, but soon completely forgot the lyrics. It was a few weeks into the run, and, for whatever reason, she went blank! Anika stopped singing, cut off the music, and loudly announced, “Let’s start this whole thing again!” It sounds like something the audience would know was a mistake, but Anika hoped that because her character is a lyricist auditioning, it could make sense that she would start the song again.

Well, the second time through, even though she didn’t check the lyrics, she magically remembered every word and finished as she always did. Phew! Still, she was fearful that the audience was onto her mishap and was therefore nervous for the rest of her performance. Anika decided to simply act calm and play the show as she always did. On her next laugh line, she got a laugh! Anika knew then that the audience didn’t know she had truly forgotten the lyrics!

Anika told me she feels that if an audience is nervous for you, they won’t laugh because they’re too anxious. The fact that she got an immediate laugh meant that the audience felt relaxed. She tells this story in master classes, but in summation, she feels that being a professional doesn’t mean you don’t mess up. It means you know how to recover. I thought of that story while watching Mean Girls, but I was so not nervous for these understudies because they exuded such confidence! Brava Clíona Flynn (Cady), Mervin Noronha (Kevin), and Baylie Carson (Janis)!

Next week, I’m in California doing my Deconstructing Broadway show and a master class at the Orange County High School of the Performing Arts (alma mater of Stephanie J. Block, Matt Morrison, and Krysta Rodriguez). Tickets are available here.

Then, I have two shows with Christine Pedi, my SiriusXM cohost, on Saturday September 21 at Myron’s in Las Vegas. Here’s Christine’s signature brilliance when we did a concert in Orlando right after the horrific Pulse Nightclub Shooting. It was so wonderful to bring joy to a city that was in mourning.

Come see me and Christine!

Until then, peace out! ✌🏻