Broadway’s Scariest Villains! The Spooky Stars Talk Terrifying Halloween Costumes, Gross Candy & More

For a Broadway villain, every day is Halloween—after spending hours dressing up in elaborate costumes and makeup, they get to scare the living daylights out of kids and adults alike. In honor of the most frightening day of the year, we assembled super-scary Broadway villains Christopher Sieber (Matilda), Mary Testa (Wicked), Jonathan Freeman (Aladdin) and Keala Settle (Les Miserables) for a spooky photo shoot at Jekyll & Hyde Club in Times Square. Find out what it takes to be a Broadway baddie in this terrifying exclusive feature, then check out a behind-the-scenes video of the photo shoot below!


CHRISTOPHER SIEBER 
(Miss Trunchbull in Matilda)

The scariest thing about Miss Trunchbull is...
Her teeth.

The scariest thing about me is...
I’m not scary at all! Am I scary? I don’t think I’m scary. If I don’t brush my teeth, it’s not too great, but I’m not scary.

What is the biggest perk of playing a villain?
You get to be completely terrible and awful and disgusting. People find her funny because they actually do like being terrified. When a kid is terrified, they go down to the lower lobby with their parents, but then I [have to walk through the lobby] right down where they’re hiding. It’s like Jason coming out of the woods! I feel so bad.

What was your best-ever Halloween costume?
My husband and I went as Girls Gone Wild one year, lifting up our shirts like they do in the videos, with blonde wigs and short shorts. Everybody said, “Oh my God, it’s Mary-Kate and Ashley!”

What is the grossest Halloween candy?
Candy corn. Or when someone doesn’t give you any and gives you religious pamphlets instead.


MARY TESTA
(Madame Morrible in Wicked)

The scariest thing about Madame Morrible is...
She starts out good and turns evil because of ambition. She’s been helping Elphaba and then she sees a door and goes through it without thinking about her at all, and all bets are off.

The scariest thing about me is...
I have absolutely no patience and I can go into a rage if I don’t think things are happening fast enough.

What is the biggest perk of playing a villain on Broadway?
The other night people applauded when [SPOILER ALERT!] I was dragged off, and that makes me so happy. In my term as Madame Morrible, it’s happened twice. I love when that happens.

What was your best-ever Halloween costume?
This is a little distasteful, but years ago I went as Sharon Tate to a “Come as Your Favorite Murder Victim” party. I had on a blonde wig and I was pregnant.

What is the grossest Halloween candy?
I don’t know, maybe Pop Rocks? There’s no gross candy at Halloween!


JONATHAN FREEMAN
(Jafar in Aladdin)

The scariest thing about Jafar is...
Either his laugh or his silences. I think being still is almost the scariest thing he can do.

The scariest thing about me is...
If you’ve ever seen me rearrange a drawer, that would scare the crap out of you.

What is the biggest perk of playing a villain?
The satisfaction that you’ve scared some kid in the audience. [Laughs.] It’s deliciously fun to know that even though you’re in a totally ridiculous costume and makeup and you’re just pretending, that you can actually scare somebody.

What was your best-ever Halloween costume?
Full 17th-century costume: Big wig, hose, high-heeled shoes, the whole nine yards.

What’s the grossest Halloween candy?
I don’t like those things that look like eyeballs and they’re kinda gummy. I’m not into that at all.


KEALA SETTLE
(Madame Thenardier in Les Miz)

The scariest thing about Madame Thenardier is...
At any given moment, you don’t know whether she’s happy or sad. You never know if you’ve angered her or not.

The scariest thing about me is...
I always go there, no matter what the consequences will be. But not to hurt anybody—even to think that I had offended or hurt somebody is probably one of the scariest things. I hate that.

What is the biggest perk of playing a villain on Broadway?
As sick as it sounds, the Thenardiers are the comic relief. They’re trying to make do any way they can. They’re just trying to make a buck! So it’s fun to uplift the very solemn destruction that’s going on.

What was your best-ever Halloween costume?
I was broke as a joke and living in Las Vegas, and on The Martha Stewart Show, Martha busted out all these coffee filters and hot glued them onto this dress to make a vampire’s petticoat. So I thought, that is genius, and I spent a total of $8 on it—and four days gluing on coffee filters.

What is the grossest Halloween candy?
I can’t stand that honey bee stuff [Bit-O-Honey]. And close second is candy corn. I can’t do it. It’s just sugar wax. I can’t do it!