Promises Star Molly Shannon on Hoisting Sean Hayes, Texting Kristin Chenoweth & Guesting on Glee

For six years Molly Shannon took on a bevy of larger-than-life characters (including Mary Katherine Gallagher and Sally O’Malley) during Saturday Night Live’s 90s renaissance. After departing the late-night sketch series Shannon went on to comedic roles in films like Year of the Dog, Talladega Nights and Wet Hot American Summer. The funny lady is now back in front of New York audiences taking over the role of Promises, Promises’ drunken scene-stealer Marge MacDougall. Shannon invited Broadway.com into her dressing room at the Broadway Theatre for afternoon tea as she gushed about tackling the Great White Way, her co-stars and pals Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes, and the wild work environment of SNL.

So why did you decide to come to Broadway?
It was just a great opportunity. They called and asked me if I wanted to do it because [original star Katie Finneran] was leaving because she was pregnant. I just moved to Los Angeles a year ago; I had to pull my kids out of school, but only for a short time. Kristin and I met doing The Music Man and I did an episode of Pushing Daisies, and Sean and I worked on Will and Grace together, so it feels like I’m working with my friends. It’s such a loving and supportive atmosphere.

Kristin and Sean are so funny. It must be a blast working with them.
Kristin and I have been girlfriends for a long time. She’s the best, and I’ve learned so much from her. She went to Rite-Aid the first week I started and gave me this whole package of things I might need for the show like like Mucinex. We’re always texting each other. We love The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and I turned her onto Sister Wives. I’ll be up really late and she’ll text me during an episode like ‘Ohhh, Mooooolly!’ I’m so excited to see her all the time even if we don’t really act onstage with each other. It’s funny that the only scene we really have together starts with her passed out on a bed.

And you get to be pretty physical onstage with Sean.
We do a big choreographed dance together, so it’s a lot of fun. I have to lift him! At first I was like, "Oh, no. I can’t do that…especially with high heels!" I’m not a circus type performer, but now I’m pulling it off so I’m really proud of myself. He’s so generous and we really support each other. He’ll say “Mol, Mol, try this!” He’s so technical and specific about everything he does.

So, what’s your take on the character of Marge MacDougall?
My dad raised my sister and me alone, and he dated a lot when we were growing up. There was a woman he met at a bar in Cleveland, and he brought her home late one night and I heard them talking. She had a snow hat on with these big white balls, and she kept asking [in whiny voice], "Are ya going to take me out New Year’s Eve?" She was really drunk, so I think of her as my Marge. I kept thinking, "Wow, she really wants a date for New Year’s" and I could tell that my dad, even though he brought her back to the house, was trying to blow her off. Marge reminds me of one of those people who’s lonely and looking to date. She sees Chuck as someone who’s a big deal, spending a lot of money, and really wants to be with him.

Marge enjoys drinking. Ever have the urge to throw a few back before a performance to get into character?
No, I would never do that. I’m not a big drinker in real life, and that wouldn’t be professional. I grew up Irish Catholic, so I have a lot of experience around drunks though [laughs].

What’s been the most challenging aspect of performing on Broadway?
It’s athletic in length. It’s different than movies or TV in that it feels like a marathon. You really have to pace yourself and watch your voice. It’s hard for me because I have little kids so I can never really rest my voice.

What’s been the most rewarding part?
I love coming to work and hearing a live orchestra. I was in heaven when I had to sing my song with the orchestra for the first time. There’s something about coming to work and hearing an orchestra and singing that puts you in such a good mood. I have such a respect for people who perform on Broadway. The cast and crew is so fun and talented. I really feel lucky to be here.

Is performing live for a Broadway audience comparable to working on Saturday Night Live?
It’s similar in a way, but with SNL we did different stuff every Saturday. We had to write our own material. This show is at least written already, and with great jokes! In order to get on [SNL each week] you have to write yourself a part, so you’re vying with 17 other people for airtime. You never know if you’re going to be on the show. What I like about [Broadway] is you can develop the character as you perform night after night. You’re able to find things you might not have done the first two or three weeks. By the time you get to the fifth week, you can still shake things up. I’m sure what I did the first week is completely different from what I’m doing now.

The Saturday Night Live writing process sounds pretty cutthroat.
It’s the most thrilling and exciting thing, but it’s a really hard job. It’s very creative and everyone was very supportive, so it’s more that you’re competing against yourself. You have to come in Monday morning, think of an idea for yourself and write the host a good part too. Then you pitch the idea, see if the host likes it, stay Tuesday night until the sun rises writing, submit your sketch and read it at the table on Wednesday, then depending on what gets laughs, they pick what will be on the show. Then you rehearse half the scenes Thursday, half Friday, then on Saturday there’s a dress rehearsal where they’re still cutting scenes. You don’t really know if you’re scene is going in until 11pm Saturday night.

Things change right up to air time? That's amazing.
You go into [Lorne Michael’s] office asking, "Did my cupcake sketch get on?" You might still be wearing the cupcake costume from dress rehearsal. It’s like looking to see if you got in the school play. I have friends that are movie writers who would sometimes think of ideas for me and they would be like, "I can’t believe I thought of that idea and you got it on the air by Saturday." It blows their mind. It’s that quick. You think of an idea one day and four days later it's on network television.

Did you have any favorite guest hosts to perform alongside?
Gwyneth Paltrow was great. She’s so game and naturally funny and always just wanted to have a good time. She could be a cast member. I haven’t seen her Glee episode yet, but I wasn’t surprised to hear that people loved it. She’s done a lot of serious stuff, but I think she’s naturally a comic actress. The people who are the best are the ones who just want to have fun, not the ones who are trying to prove that they’re really funny.

Your Glee appearance [as badminton coach Brenda Castle] was great too. Give us some behind the scenes dish!
That was so fun. My part was small, but I was so excited to be on that show. Everybody wants to be on that show! I’ve known Jane [Lynch] for years through the comedy world, but I was so nervous because the show is so popular. I didn’t get to do too much with the kids, but they were so sweet. I’m so glad I got to meet them. I watched the whole first season, but haven’t been able to see the new ones because I’ve been so busy.

And you’re going to get even busier. Tell us about your upcoming HBO series.
[Writer Tim Long and I] have have a meeting with HBO this week to start work on the pilot script. It’s about a nun taking a leave of absence from a convent and one of the great things about doing it at HBO is you’re allowed to develop things like sex and religion in a deeper way than you could on network television. We’re going to delve into her family and why she decided to go into a convent in the first place, and why she wants to now leave. I like the idea of a repressed character wanting to come out and find herself. Anyone struggling to find themselves as they’re getting out of a long releationship, whether it’s a marriage or a relationship with Jesus Christ, that interests me. We haven’t decided why she decides to get out, if she’s going to have a breakdown or what, but she’s going to find herself as a woman going into the world.

You’ve got a Broadway career now. Will there be any singing nuns?
Well, maybe! We’ll have crazy flashbacks, so there could be that. Tim is also working on a musical of The Goonies and he’s done musical episodes for The Simpsons. He’s really into music.

There were even hints of Broadway in your early career when you starred in the 1989 horror film version of The Phantom of the Opera.
That was a really big deal because it was my first job where I made money. I was doing food demos, giving out samples of liver pate to people, and I checked my messages to find out I got the job. I got to go to Hungary!

You went to drama school at NYU but have done so much comedy. Do you hope to ever tackle more traditional dramatic roles?
I thought of myself as a very serious actress, but they had auditions for a comedy revue show and it came very naturally to me. I feel like I pursue comedy in a very dramatic way. I never like making fun of the characters I play. I treat them all very seriously. Even with Marge, my favorite parts of her scenes are the more dramatic things, like where she’s hurt at the end and says, "The minute you walked into the bar with that dignified hat I knew you were a pervert." I like putting heart into my comedy.

See Molly Shannon in Promises, Promises at the Broadway Theatre.