It’s Only a Play Star Martin Short on Maroon 5 Shower Concerts & Going Freaky Friday with Obama

Martin Short has a standing invite to the ultimate theater party: It’s Only a Play, Terrence McNally’s comedy about the hijinks that unfold on the opening night of a Broadway show. The stage and screen favorite plays James Wicker, the pal of the playwright who hopes the show will be a hit—a role Short has played many times in real life. “I remember going to the Hairspray opening,” he tells Broadway.com. “My friends Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote it, and the party was fabulous, and someone came over with The New York Times and it was a rave. But sometimes they’re painful. Once I was at an opening, and by 10:55 no one had mentioned the reviews. That’s when you know.”

Short—whose Rolodex of talented friends also incudes Andrea Martin, Eugene Levy and Steve Martin, just to name a few—wouldn't trade careers with a single celebrity. He would, however, like to switch with President Obama, Freaky Friday-style. “I’d be curious to see what it would be like,” he says. “Also Prince Charles. And the Pope would be interesting. But I have a feeling that after a couple of days, I’d say, ‘OK, I want to go. I want to be back in Marty’s shoes.’”

If Short didn’t have to worry about the reviews, which Broadway role would he like to play next? “I always wanted to play Prince Pippin [in Pippin], but I think I’ve waited too long,” he jokes. But even though the Little Me alum isn’t currently starring in a musical, he still keeps up his singing chops. “I’m a shower singer,” he admits. “I’ll sing anything, from opera to Sinatra, James Taylor to Maroon 5.” No word on whether the Tony winner would ever consider releasing an album of his shower songs, but if he ever does, we’ll be the first in line to buy a copy.

See Martin Short in It’s Only a Play at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.