Prepping for Bells Are Ringing, Bobby Cannavale Is Inspired by Sweetheart Sutton Foster

The last time Bobby Cannavale took the stage in a musical, he was a high school student pretending to be a tortured gay dancer. “I was in A Chorus Line 25 years ago, and I haven’t really sung since then,” he told Broadway.com during a rehearsal break for the Encores! production of Bells Are Ringing. “Even then, I didn’t have to sing that much—I played Paul, the guy with the monologue—so it was a real honor to be asked to do this show.” Cannavale joins Kelli O’Hara and Will Chase in Kathleen Marshall’s production of the classic tuner, set to run November 18-21 at New York City Center.

Fans might assume that Cannavale’s sweetheart and former co-star in Trust, Sutton Foster, pushed him toward making his professional musical debut. “No,” he says, “but she’s very excited for me, and now I can say, ‘Yeah, I do musicals, too.’ I’m a big fan of musical theater. I have such respect for these guys and how their keep their instruments in shape and still connect with an audience. I sit there just amazed in a way that I don’t always in, say, a straight play.”

In Bells Are Ringing, Cannavale plays Blake Barton, “an actor who isn’t having any luck getting roles. He thinks that if he can act like Marlon Brando and talk like he’s got marbles in his mouth, he’ll get somewhere—and of course, he’s not getting anywhere until Ella [the answering service operator played by O’Hara] gives him some pretty good advice.” Don’t look for a duet between Bobby and Kelli, however: “I sing the fourth to the last line in the show,” he says with a laugh. “It’s literally over right after I sing, which was smart of them!”

Cannavale, a Tony nominee for Mauritius and Emmy winner for Will & Grace, will be busy this coming spring in the Broadway premiere of Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Motherf**ker with the Hat opposite Chris Rock, but he doesn’t rule out a musical role in the future. "I would love, love, love to do a musical, but I’d really have to work hard and put in the kind of time and effort required to do this eight shows a week. I will someday!”