Tony Winner Michael McGrath Was Supposed to Rap with Santino Fontana in Tootsie

Tony winner Michael McGrath is right at home in a musical comedy. This time he's playing exasperated agent Stan Fields in Tootsie on Broadway. Eight times a week, McGrath can be found bringing Robert Horn's Tony-winning book to life on stage at the Marquis Theatre opposite the show's Tony-winning star Santino Fontana. He recently visited Broadway.com's #LiveatFive to talk all about making audiences laugh, playing cards with the cast between scenes, what he did with his Spamalot props and more. "It's going great at Tootsie with big laughs every night," he said to Beth Stevens. "I'm backstage a lot and play gin for an hour and a half with Sarah [Stiles] and Andy [Grotelueschen]. It's a very brutal game we play. No bets, just insults everywhere."

While McGrath has several hilarious one-liners, one thing that is missing from his stage time is a song. "When we were in Chicago, I had questioned them as to why Stan didn't have a song since my background is in musical theater," he said. "Then [composer] David Yazbek told me that there was a rap at one time between Michael Dorsey and Stan Fields. The arranger was able to pull it up on his computer and showed it to me and I was like, 'You know what, me doing a rap with anyone would not be good.' You'll never see me in Hamilton."

Although Tootsie marks McGrath's 14th Broadway production, he originally got his start lovingly making fun of shows and stars of the Great White Way in Forbidden Broadway. "They're bringing the show back and going to do Tootsie, but I haven't spoken to anyone about it," he said. "I recall almost full casts coming to see us do their show. We had Carol Channing come all the time to see her number. Patti LuPone, too. All of the greats. That show was such a big hit."

One of McGrath's most well-known theater roles is playing Patsy in Spamalot, which earned him his first Tony nomination. "I'd love to do Patsy again just for the hell of it," he said. "I actually signed so many of the coconuts away. I broke a lot of them during the run but most of them went to Broadway Cares. I don't think I even have a pair of coconuts at home anymore."

With so many comedic hits in his resume, McGrath still can't believe he's bringing one of his favorite movies to the stage. "We have a lot of people who were big fans of the movie who were a little reluctant to come see the show," he said. "They always say they're glad they came, though. Sometimes I hear that it's even funnier than the movie. I have to say that it's a favorite movie of mine, and I really do think it's funnier."

See McGrath in Tootsie, playing at the Marquis Theatre.

Watch the full #LiveatFive episode below!