You don’t get much time on the Tony Awards red carpet to chat. You do, however, get some time to ask random, non sequitur questions that occasionally totally bomb. And then you kind of feel bad. And sometimes, they weirdly kind of work out. Here are nine questions that kind of did.
The Cool-Friends-in-Cool-Places Answer
L: What was the first text message or phone call you got today?
Michael McGrath: Hank Azaria texted me earlier this morning. He said, ‘Go get em, buddy. Knock it out of the park.'”
The Winner
L: What was your first paying job, in or out of theater?
Tom Edden: My first paying job was in a department store in my hometown of Guildford called House of Fraser. I was the go-to guy in the kitchen department. And I once tried to show a guy with one arm how to open a pressure cooker. I said, ‘It’s easy. Just put one hand there, and one hand there, and open it.’ And he said, ‘I’ve only got one hand.’
The Quip, Followed By the Real Deal
L: What was the first thing you did this morning?
Jeremy Shamos: Well, that’s very private. Um…I took my son to the park for like two hours. It was pretty awesome. And I was actually thinking while I was doing it that it doesn’t matter what happens tonight because my son’s cool.
The Answer You Get for Asking a Stupid Question
L: What are you most excited to see tonight?
Ashely Spencer: Newsies
The Answer that Shows You How Long It Takes, Exactly, to Win a Tony
L: What was your first paying job?
Christopher Gattelli: When I was eleven years old, I did the national tour of Evita. They were hiring local kids in each city and I lucked out. I grew up outside of Philadelphia.
The (Very) Humble Beginnings Answer
L: What was your first show?
Corbin Bleu: When I was six, I was in a very depressing off-Broadway show called Tiny Tim is Dead. It’s about a group of homeless people telling the story of A Christmas Story to this young boy. They end up abandoning him, and like… it’s really sad.
The First-Time-Nominee Answer of Breathless Overwhelm
L: If you could give one piece of advice to yourself at 15 years old, what would you say?
Jessie Mueller: Don’t worry. There’s a plan. I don’t have it. God has it.
The Answer that Could Be the Beginning of a Memoir or a Novel
L: What was your first paying job?
Mandy Patinkin: My first paying job was working at the People’s Iron and Metal company, the scrap business, on the South Side of Chicago.
The Inspirations and Influences Answer
L: Which writers do you love most?
Joe DiPietro: I love the people who sort of came right before me, like Neil Simon and Wendy Wasserstein. I love writers who write between comedy and drama.
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