Rock Star Savannah Wise Goes from Broadway Baby to Broadway Babe

Savannah Wise is living the Broadway fairy tale. The sassy super trouper, one of the original off-Broadway players in Rock of Ages , passed a career milestone when she made her adult Broadway debut with the show in April. Three months later, she officially stepped into the leading role of 80s ingenue Sherrie following Amy Spanger’s departure from the hit tuner. From the outside, this ascension may seem inevitable, given Wise's Broadway pedigree. Her mother and father, Kiel Junius and Tony Award winner Scott Wise, met during their run in the original A Chorus Line; stepmother Elizabeth Parkinson boasts credits like a Tony-nominated turn in Movin’ Out. But while triple-threat Wise hit Broadway herself by age eight, playing young Cosette for two years in the original Les Miserables, she never felt stardom was a given. Rather than using family connections, she worked her way through the ranks, waiting tables and juggling national tours like High School Musical and guest spots on Law & Order before making it to the majors. In a sit-down with Broadway.com, Wise tells all about growing up on Broadway, making a name for herself and what it’s like to “break” a rock icon on national television.

You made your Broadway debut at eight. Were you a super-mature workaholic, having watched mom and dad your whole life?
Ha! People forget there were a ton of kids in Les Miz. It’s no Billy Elliot, but there were plenty of us. I’d goof around all night with kids my age. We got in trouble constantly for doing kid stuff—playing Blind Man’s Bluff backstage while people were trying to do a show 10 feet away, climbing all over the bathrooms and old pipes in the building. It taught me about balancing school and my show responsibilities, but I was hardly an angel.  
It was stupid big, so probably not. People had been talking to my dad about me getting onstage since I was a toddler, because I had a real theatrical streak—always singing and dancing around. To him, I was always too young. When he finally let me audition, I remember being surrounded by all these 10- and 11-year-old kids and their mothers trying to get to Broadway. [Associate director] Richard Jay-Alexander ran to my father in front of them all going, “Scott, we love your daughter, she’s amazing!” I could just feel these mothers hating me. I remember being like, “Wow, this is a big deal.”

Did you understand how big Les Miz was at that age?

You and your dad were on Broadway at the same time, right?
He actually was in the [Marquis] theater around the corner from us doing The Goodbye Girl. He’d come pick me up from Les Miz during his intermission, bring me back to his theater and let me hang out with the kids in his show. Then we’d go home together. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

Are you and your father close?
I’ve always idolized him. He’s just this talented, lovely, warm man, and one of the most normal “Broadway” people I’ve met to this day—never a diva. I remember being in high school while he was in Fosse, watching the show from the wings and being blown away by him. He would always tell me, “Savannah, you don’t have to sit around this theater, go do something!” But all I wanted to do was sit backstage with the dancers and watch.

Theater seems obvious, but was there anything else you ever wanted to do?
I wanted to be a fashion designer, but I can’t draw—that was a major blow to that plan! I also wanted to be a chemist for a minute or two, which was just ridiculous. There’s actually an interview on tape somewhere from when I did Ruthless, and it says, “Savannah Wise doesn’t want to be an actor—she wants to be a chemist.” Like, what?! But look, I’m young. I have a million interests. I love my job and am 100% committed to it. But never say never.

Given their experience, did your parents ever try to steer you away from the stage?
There were moments when, like any parent, they tried to steer me toward whatever would be least painful for me. They made me go to college; I wanted to go right to New York. And after college, when I came to the city, my dad wouldn’t just let me move in with him. I had to get a survival job, pay rent and work hard like anyone else. I was a freakin’ waitress at Film Center Cafe, getting up at 4AM to shoot a few lines on Law & Order, then going and working a double. I wanted, desperately, to be the “child actor.” When I was in Les Miz, I begged them to pull me out of school and let me get tutors like everyone else. But they wanted me to have a normal kid’s experience. I went to school full time like any other student the whole time I was on Broadway, except for half a day on Wednesdays when I’d do the matinee.

What did the non-Broadway kids make of you?
God, I was that girl at the school assembly singing “Master of the House” as a talent number, as if that made sense to anyone but me! When my mother and I moved to New Orleans after my parents divorced, it was really hard. I was just a weirdo to those kids. I hid my Broadway background so I could fit in. Then I got to college and people would be like, “Wait, your dad is Scott Wise? How come you never talk about this?” Looking back, [I realize] my parents’ resisting and making sure I had a life outside of show business gave me the space to step back and say, “I’ve seen both paths, and this is the one I choose.” That’s a real gift.

Did you ever feel like you had a different standard to live up to, because of who your parents were?
Absolutely. I had to prove myself to me and then everyone else. I promised myself I wouldn’t bring up my dad at auditions unless asked, and wouldn’t mention I was his daughter until I’d made my own way. It’s not like I didn’t want to be associated with him—he’s my hero, and has a reputation as being sweet and dedicated and easy to work with. But I needed to make sure I had done my own thing. When casting directors would bring him up during auditions, I’d get flustered and try to change the subject.

Well, you finally made your adult Broadway debut all on your own.
That didn’t even register until the Tony Awards, honestly. I’ve been a part of so many Broadway openings—been to so many, seen so many, celebrated so many—that it didn’t set in until we’d been doing the show for months exactly what was going on. I had seen it done through my father, but I’d never done it myself before.

This was your first time onstage at the Tonys?
My father [performed] at them two or three times. I watched him win his own Tony and was there when my stepmom [Elizabeth Parkinson] got nominated. My boyfriend, Marty [Lawson], performed as part of the Cry-Baby ensemble last year. But all of a sudden I was in one of those video clips you see when you’re watching the telecast from home. It was—I’m sorry, I’m getting choked up! It sounds so hippy-dippy, but it was really emotional to go, “Oh my God, I’m a part of this now, not just watching.”

And your video segment got more airplay than anyone else’s, because Bret Michaels got creamed!
God, poor Bret! You hear legends about a set piece lowering onto someone, and you say, “Oh please, that never happens.” And then it did happen—to Bret Freakin’ Michaels. Who knows, maybe he’ll go on to be a cautionary legend in musical theater!

Did you see it happen?
Oh yeah. We were all huddled up watching him rock out and watching the drop piece lowering at the same time. It was like, “Wow, he’s rocking it, he’s....wait....oh, no, he’s not going to make it, is he?” It was like in those movies, where you want to do the slow dive and push them out of the way with one of those “NOOO!” cries. As soon as we got offstage I was like, “OMIGOD, we broke Bret Michaels!”

 
Oh my god! That opening? I was rocking out next to Liza Minnelli! First of all, she’s so tiny! You’re looking at this tiny little lady going, “You’re amazing!” Then it sets in who you’re talking to. I’m usually very poised, but I lost my cool. Honestly, I think my mouth was just hanging open the whole time. And my boyfriend, Marty, is in Shrek and my best friend was in Guys and Dolls, so we were all there, onstage, hugging, for this wild be-in onstage at the Tony Awards. It was amazing.

Even without the broken rock star, that was a crazy opening number.

Do you feel any different now that you’re playing the lead in Rock of Ages?
That’s another thing that hasn’t really set in yet. I went on as Sherrie the first week of Broadway previews and was freaking out. Fortunately I’d played the part off-Broadway so I wasn’t totally lost. Halfway through that performance I had a moment in my dressing room alone, between entrances, where it was completely quiet. I looked around, and I just went, “Oh my God. I’m doing this.” I hadn’t called my parents; my friends didn’t know. I had been so focused on getting out there and not messing up that I hadn’t shared the moment with anyone.

Did you finally tell someone?
I called my mom, but she didn’t pick up! So I called my aunt and just gushed, “I’m the lead on Broadway tonight! I’m in this amazing costume in a huge dressing room and I’m waiting to go onstage for my big number! I just wanted to say that out loud, okay, I love you, BYE!”

Was it a shock to get the news you were the new Sherrie?
It was. But honestly, the “new Sherrie” thing still feels surreal. I’m finally able to relax a little and enjoy how fun this part is, but coming in and seeing my name on the dressing room door or in the program is wild. I’ve been working for this since I was eight years old. My parents are so proud.

Is it hard for them to watch their little girl giving lap dances as an 80s stripper?
They think it’s hilarious. Opening night off-Broadway I came onstage and they were front row center. I remember saying beforehand, “Daddy, I’m warning you, I’m a stripper. I get on the pole.” Once the curtain came down he was like, “Is that all you’ve got? I’ve seen much worse.” They’re dancers—it’s a very naked lifestyle! If I were an actual stripper in a club somewhere? That would be a different story. But until I’m nude in a show, I don’t think they’ll be shocked by anything.

So is it safe to say they’re happy you’re following in their footsteps?
My father jumped up and down when I told him I was taking over the lead. They’re proud of me whether I’m a Broadway star or not. But to have my dad come visit me at my show, and hold my stuff while I sign autographs the way he used to? It doesn’t get more full-circle than that.

See Savannah Wise in Rock of Ages at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.