Cassidy Janson on Wicked, Neil Patrick Harris & Making Lend Me a Tenor Sing on the London Stage

At 30, Cassidy Janson has made a considerable name for herself on the London stage, shifting from small-scale musicals (Tick Tick…Boom! opposite Neil Patrick Harris at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2005) to the big long-runners: She was in the original London ensemble of Wicked before graduating to standby Elphaba, a part Janson played on many an occasion. She was also in the final London company of Avenue Q, lending her firm pipes to the dual roles of Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut. Janson is currently previewing at the Gielgud Theatre in the musical adaptation of Ken Ludwig’s popular comedy Lend Me a Tenor, which co-stars Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding. Unsurprisingly, the actress has never been to Cleveland, Ohio, where the show takes place in 1934, but she does know her way around the musical as an art form—which seemed as good a place as any to begin our chat.

You’ve appeared in London versions of various New York shows. How does it feel to be originating a part on the West End?
It’s exciting and scary and wonderful! What’s great with a brand new character is to have the opportunity to think, “How would my character say this?”, which means that we are constantly tweaking things. With some shows I’ve been in, it’s been like, “Walk to 4, move to 5, say the line on 6,” whereas on this one, it’s all about, “Can I try this? Or that?” It’s really wonderful to feel safe to fuck up in a show [laughs].

Ohio in 1934 must feel worlds away from the anarchic contemporary landscape of your last West End outing, Avenue Q.
I was so sad when Avenue Q closed because there really is nothing like it in London anymore, but it was so politically incorrect that sometimes people felt they weren’t allowed to laugh. This show is just funny—funny, funny, funny. It’s misunderstandings and people dressing up, and you can almost count the laughs. It’s like, “Cue, laugh!” and the audience does.

Tell us about Maggie Saunders, your character in Lend Me a Tenor.
Well, she’s the daughter of Henry Saunders, played by Matthew Kelly, who is general manager of the opera company that has brought the world’s greatest tenor, Tito Merelli, to Cleveland to sing Otello. She’s feisty with a heart of gold, and is still a virgin.

A virgin? How old is she?
Late 20s/early 30s; that was Ian’s [director Ian Talbot] idea! It never really comes up in the script, but it was just something that Ian gave me so that Maggie has still got one thing that makes her nervous when she is around a world-class opera star. The point is, no one’s ever made me feel gaga and silly and as if I’m about to faint.

Have you ever fainted in real life?
I never have, though sometimes I wish I had! [Laughs.]

Not even going on as Elphaba in a 2,000-seat theater?
The sequence of events was that I started in the ensemble as Elphaba cover and was quickly promoted to standby Elphaba. Idina [Menzel] did her last night on the Saturday before New Year’s and then Kerry [Ellis] was on on Monday and did something to her vocal chords and suddenly there I was on Tuesday: three Elphabas in three performances! From then on, I was on an awful lot, especially when the cover at the time got laryngitis. Sometimes it seemed as if I was the only person who could sing Elphaba in the entire country!

This show by comparison must be pretty stress-free to sing.
I do have a couple of money notes, but they’re right near the beginning, so I do my first scene and hit my money notes and can then calm down for the rest of the show. It’s [co-star] Damian [Humbley, as Max] who is constantly on that stage and he is just incredible; he is such a great actor.

As a musical theater person, how familiar are you with the opera world?
I’m going to sound like such an un-cultured person, but I went when I was 16 to the opera and didn’t like it and then went when I was 26 and didn’t like it. [Janson will be 31 next month.] To me, the sounds are all very strained, and the dropped larynx does nothing for me. It’s all about making sounds, and that’s not what I’m into, or maybe it’s just that the operas I saw weren’t well enough acted—or interested enough in the acting.

Stephen Sondheim has often spoken of not being overly enamored of the human voice per se, which is why he has never written an opera.
The acting to me is so important, perhaps more so because I actually trained not as an actor but a dancer! When I was in Wicked, I would train during the day with an acting teacher, then I’d do the show in the evening and get to go, “Hey guys, [the training] really works; this is great!” Working with Neil Patrick Harris was amazing because he was the first proper actor I was thrown up against. That show [Tick Tick….Boom!] was really exposing for me because I had to play four or five different characters, which required proper acting. And I was in a studio theater, so it felt like film acting at times, as well.

I assume Lend Me a Tenor feels mostly like fun.
What’s brilliant is that I have never done a farce and I have always wanted to, ever since I saw Noises Off and thought to myself, “I would be terrified doing that, but I want so much to do it!” And here I am in a musical farce that is so much about timing and landing everything, so that it’s rhythmically challenging: If you don’t time your door slam, you mess up everyone’s story. I love it!