Adriane Lenox
When Tony Award-winner Adriane Lenox saunters onstage at Broadway's Ambassador Theatre as Chicago's Matron Mama Morton sporting a sexy blonde 'do and sleek black suit, she becomes a high-energy, wheeling-and-dealing force to be reckoned with. It's one more credit in Lenox's varied stage career, spanning musicals Dinah Was, Dreamgirls, Caroline, or Change and plays Doubt, Miss Evers' Boys, Spunk, as well as an acclaimed solo show, New School/Old School, at the Triad last summer. Her talented family is right by her side, too, as songwriter-producer/husband Zane Mark and rising talent/daughter Crystal Joy contributed creatively to her club act while providing a base of love and support. Having celebrated her 50th birthday last year, this versatile veteran is busier than ever, back on the Broadway boards after touring the West Coast in Doubt and spending the summer at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Broadway.com recently sat down with Lenox for a candid chat about being Mama Morton, her favorite career memories and what it takes to make it in the business today.
You were last on Broadway as Mrs. Muller in Doubt, which is a very different part than the Matron in Chicago.
Oh yeah—this is a different kinda Mama!
Had you been thinking about doing Chicago?
Actually, I can't say that I had been! I was at Williamstown Theatre Festival doing Blithe Spirit this summer. I got a call from my agent that Roz Ryan was leaving. I think they're getting a "name" person when I leave, but they needed somebody for a little while, so I'm doing this now. And it's fun. I'm glad I decided to come in. [Chicago director] Walter Bobbie told me in May that he'd seen me in a reading at New York Stage & Film last summer, and he said, "You were so funny in that!" I guess when this came up, he remembered he'd seen that.
So many actresses have brought different things to this part. What's your take on Mama Morton?
Well, I'm coming after 10 years, so I'm not trying to do something crazy. She knows how to take advantage of the situation she's in, definitely. She has this relationship with Billy Flynn where she can hook him up, and hook up a little extra change for herself by doing that. I think she still obviously has some kind of heart, because she says in the song, whether she means it or not, "All my girls love me."
That was so my idea! And my agents were like, "Yes!! Do that!" Then the hairdressers here came in and were like, "Oooh, that's nice."
As you mentioned, the show celebrated its 10th anniversary last fall. How do you think it stays so fresh?
Oh, it's these kids in the show! They are fierce!
They're certainly the fittest ensemble on Broadway.
I mean, you come in to see the show, and there's these scantily clad women and men in tight pants—what's not to like, people? [Laughs.] They're lovely. And it's just a very entertaining show. To me, it feels like a big cabaret, like a night out where people can smoke and have drinks. If it were really that, then we'd really be living. But it definitely has that feel. And then, of course, they bring in the big names and stars. Like, Brian McKnight is coming in, and he's gonna bring his following. It's so smart, because these kids have been working more than 10 years now! The longest run of a show I've been in was three years, maybe, so this is unbelievable to me. And the audience is cheering, even if there aren't any "name" people in it. My first night here, Tom Wopat hadn't started yet, Brenda Braxton was on vacation—it was a whole bunch of standbys on, and the people cheered just as loud. They had a good time no matter what.
You've had a remarkably varied career. How did you get your start?
I was performing all the time when I was a kid! I'm from Memphis, Tennessee, and I always sang in high school, church choirs and church plays and the like. Then I went to Lambuth University, which you've probably never heard of, in Jackson, Tennessee, and I studied acting. I worked summertime in theme parks doing shows; I've always been doing something. When I got my first Broadway show, Ain't Misbehavin', I pretty much had just come out of school.
One of your first Broadway credits was Dreamgirls. What are your memories of that show?
I replaced somebody in the New York company at the time they were about to do the West Coast company. They asked me if I wanted to understudy on the West Coast for a year, and I was like, "I'm not goin' out there!" So this standby spot opened up in New York, and I took that. I remember Obba Babatunde and David Alan Grier in the stairwell of the Imperial Theatre; they'd cut up so bad and do all this comedy. A lot of the stuff you saw David Alan Grier do on In Living Color, we saw in the stairwell at Dreamgirls! I got to go on for Loretta [Devine] as Lorell for a little while. Sometimes they'd take a leave of absence because they'd been in a show forever, and that was fun.
Did you see the Dreamgirls movie?
Yeah, I did. I thought they did a pretty good job with it. You just can't beat the live show for me; you're just not gonna do that. Even Chicago—the movie was good, but to see the scantily clad ladies in the flesh is another thing.
Was there a point when you started pursuing plays rather than musicals?
I pretty much took whatever was coming. There were times when it was, "I don't have a job, kids!" so when I was getting a lot musical theater calls, I was like, "Thank God I can sing!" But one time, and I'll never forget it, I was having lunch with Phylicia Rashad when she was doing A Raisin in the Sun and I was the standby at Caroline, or Change. I was telling Phylicia, "I'd love to do a play on Broadway." And she came to see Doubt the next year and said, "Remember what you said to me? You spoke that!" I said it, and then the next year, I was in Doubt.
When you first got the script for Doubt, did you have any idea it'd be so huge?
I had no idea! People ask me, "That scene, did you think that was a Tony-winning scene?" And I'm like "No!" I mean, I thought it was good. I had a take on it from the very beginning, from my audition, that wasn't much different from what people saw me doing. Doug [Hughes], the director, guided me, but for the most part, the essence of what I was doing felt right from the beginning. And people really connected. I would hear people say, "It was so real. I felt like she was a real person, right off the street," that sort of thing.
What was it like working with the second Broadway company—Eileen Atkins, Ron Eldard and Jena Malone?
Well, completely different. Eileen, oh, she is a crackerjack! Seventy-something years old, I mean, a crackerjack. She was great. It was just very different. A lot of people seemed to think Ron Eldard was more innocent than they thought Brian [O'Byrne] was, that he didn't do it. Who knows why? Jena was lovely, too. They were just great, great people. As a matter of fact, when I did my club act, Ron was like, "Oh guys, let's go, let's go! And let me contribute some cookies!" 'Cause he used to bake cookies. every two weeks, he'd bring fabulous cookies on Saturdays to the theater.
It was a fascinating thing. First of all, it was a great year for plays. And with Heather [Goldenhersh] in my show and [Mirelle Enos in] Virginia Woolf—the competition was high. So I didn't think about it! People said, "Oh you won the Drama Desk, that's a precursor," and I was like "That's not necessarily so." Because there were a lot of upsets that year! Everybody thought Michael Stuhlbarg was gonna win [for The Pillowman], because he'd won all the previous awards. Same thing with Brian. But it was thrilling—my sisters and my cousin and a couple other people had come up from Memphis. It was a fabulous, fabulous experience, and I was just like, "Wow! Who knew?" 'Cause I'm very laid back about stuff! I try not to get too excited, because you don't know how things are gonna turn out. So after it happened, I was like "Well, this is a lovely thing!"
Okay, now that Doubt is done—did Father Flynn really molest your character's son?
Oh my God, once I finished the tour, I was gonna ask Chris McGarry, who was doing Father Flynn on the road, about that! When we were in it, the women weren't supposed to know—that was the rule—but the actor playing the priest does know. I never asked! I e-mail John [Patrick Shanley] from time to time to keep up, and it doesn't even occur to me to ask him.
So you're still in doubt?
Yes. I'm happily living in doubt. Who knows— I may do the play again!
Let's talk briefly about Caroline, or Change. You went from playing the Moon at the Public to standing by for Tonya Pinkins on Broadway. How did you keep yourself ready to tackle such a huge part?
It's a hell of a part! I got to play it four or five times. I thank God I had experiences on the road, working on my "lead-ness," doing other big roles. That gets your confidence up to be the lead in a show.
It's such a mountain of a role.
Oh yes, absolutely. But I'd had that experience, which helped me be more calm about it. It's a great, great part—lovely music to sing. It set well in my voice, I must say. And the company was very supportive. Tony [Kushner] came to see me, and was all, "Ohhh, Adriane, that was a revelation!" So everybody was very happy with what I did with it.
Why did you switch from the Moon to standby?
Ahh, that had nothing to do with me. You want some dirt? I can give you some dirt! [Big laugh.] I was coming with the show as the Moon; they'd already made me the offer, and just before they started rehearsing, I got a call that said, "Well, we don't want you to do the Moon." So I was unemployed! But then my agent put in an "exploratory" question: "Well, who's gonna be standing by for Tonya?" I knew I was gonna do The Color Purple out of town, so I said, "While I'm waiting to go to Atlanta, could I just stand by?" That's how it happened. It all fell into place.
Speaking of The Color Purple, tell me about playing Shug Avery in the early productions of the show.
It was a very good show, even in Atlanta. Of course it changed drastically when it got to New York. I had done a couple of the workshops/readings as well. And even though I didn't do it here on Broadway, I tell people it seems that I was destined to play Shug Avery, because years ago, when the writers were submitting their songs and whatnot, I got the call: "We want you to sing Shug Avery for our submission." People who know me are like, "Oh, Miss Thing, you are Shug Avery."
Was it disappointing not to get to do it in New York?
Not at all, because I was in Doubt right then. I mean, it would've been great to have done it, but what can I complain about? [Laughs.] I ended up in a nice show!
I know your daughter, Crystal Joy, seems to be following in your footsteps.
She's a singer! She writes, but what she really wants to be is a recording artist. And that's a hard field to get into. I remember my agent asked me, "Would you mind if we sent her out on some stuff?" And I was like, "Sure, whatever." So she booked Dorothy in The Wiz. I think she was 18 or 19 then. She said, "Ahh, this is fun!" so they continued to send her out. She's auditioned for Hairspray and Wicked. This is somebody who doesn't necessarily want to do musical theater, but things are falling into place. She just auditioned for Dreamgirls in Houston. There's a lot happening for her.
She kind of realized she wanted to do it on her own. One summer, I was doing something in my church and said, "Can Crystal sing?" She must've been about 12. She sang and everyone was like, "Oh God, this girl can sing!" She'd never done any singing in choirs or anything. She heard people's reaction and said, "Mommy! I think I'd like to go to performing arts school." So she auditioned for LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts and got in there.
You must be very proud.
Oh, yeah! When I did my club act last year, she was my opening act; she did four of her own things. So it's a good deal.
Do you think it's easier for young African-American actresses to make it in the business than when you were starting out?
Well, if you can come up with a good rap song, you'll be all right [laughs]. That's how I see it! It's as hard as it's ever been. It's a rough business—a lot of people want to do it, and there's not many jobs. And of course, nowadays, name recognition and all that kind of stuff [is so important]. I think things are more difficult, really. You could be just talented as a star, but because you're not one, you're not gonna get chosen. A bit of a heartbreaker, kids! It sounds very cynical, but that's how it seems to be. When I was coming up, you could audition and you could just get it 'cause you were good.
And now "good" sometimes isn't enough.
Exactly! They know they can bring in a non-theater person for the box office. Paris Hilton will get a record deal before my daughter will!
Do you have anything lined up after Chicago?
I'm in the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie coming out. The little chipmunks have sore throats, and I play the doctor who comes to check on them. I just auditioned for a movie, so if I get that, that'd be nice. I don't even know the name of it—the only thing I know is they're gonna shoot it in Brazil for two weeks. If it happens, that's where I'll be! But you know how these things are—you go in there, do the best you can and see what happens.
See Adriane Lenox in Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre.
