42nd Street's Tom Lister on Why He's Jealous of His Co-Stars, Performing for Kate Middleton & More

Tom Lister is a renowned TV star in England on the back of the popular series Emmerdale but has lately been commanding the capacious Theatre Royal, Drury Lane as none other than the directorial autocrat Julian Marsh in that ever-exhilarating musical theater chestnut, 42nd Street. The engaging Lister took time early in the New Year to talk about musicals of scale, moving to London for this role and being at ease in his newfound American skin.

How much did you know about 42nd Street before this came along?
I didn’t know it at all actually, I’m ashamed to say. I’d obviously spent a lot of my career in TV, especially during the last 15 years, and had never done anything in town [London], so when this came along, my agents said, “you must go and be seen; it’s going to be fabulous.” So, I did as I was told!

Has this been a happy voyage of discovery for you?
[Director and co-author] Mark Bramble offered me the job in the room at my audition, which is almost unheard of, and since then it’s been wonderful, from the rehearsal process right through to opening night and beyond.

What are your memories of that extraordinary opening night last spring?
I don’t think any of us guessed that the reaction was going to be what it was. We had Morgan Freeman in the audience, so I thought, “I’m standing in the center of Drury Lane with this genuinely great actor in the audience and the Duchess of Cambridge [Kate Middleton] in the Royal Box,” and I was like, “Pinch me: what the heck is going on?”

How does it feel after all the razzmatazz of the show, in this version especially, to get its closing moments alone onstage?
That’s always such a wonderful moment, when I get to sing the reprise of [the song] “42nd Street” alone at the very end. I remember on opening night having by that point already seen Kate in the wings preparing to come onstage and there I was thinking, “Get to the end of the song and do not mess it up!” By the time I finished and she came on, I was so elated that I almost threw my arms around her. Good thing I didn’t or I might have been taken out by the secret service.

Did you do any preparation to attune yourself to the Depression-era style and tone of the piece?
Quite a lot. I watched a lot of the movies from the 1930s and ‘40s to try and nail the period. The way men and women interacted with one another was so different to what it is now, so it was important to try and get a sense of how people speak and how that has changed.

What are your thoughts about Julian Marsh, the take-no-prisoners director whom you play?
I’ve never worked with a director as fearsome as him, I have to say, but I think that comes from the stakes being so high. The thing in the show is that this is his last chance: he has lost all his money and gone from being the king of Broadway to a bit of a laughing stock, so he sees this as a chance to redeem himself. It was important therefore to me to keep the stakes really high.

Have there been any changes in audience response to Julian in our newly awakened times when it comes to theatrical (mis)behavior?
That’s a difficult one, isn’t it? I can’t say I’ve noticed any specific change in attitudes but also there are no actual moments in the show, thankfully, where you see Julian acting in any way that is truly untoward. I think the point is that he’s a force to be reckoned with, though if you scratched the surface, you would probably find all sorts of things going on.

Do you think Julian ends up with Peggy Sawyer, the unknown whom he plucks out of the chorus so that she can become a star?
Clare [Halse, the production’s Peggy] and I were asked this at an event recently and she sat on the fence saying that she didn’t know. I said to her, “You do know; Peggy must go with Julian!” It’s good that the audience can fill in the blanks but in my mind it’s absolutely the case that Julian has got in there with Peggy and is taking her home.

Do you ever get exhausted just watching the energy of your younger co-stars tapping their hearts out night after night?
Without a doubt! Clare and Stuart [Neal] and the entire ensemble are the real stars of our show. I run around and shout at everyone and look angry, but they are out there relentlessly dancing and getting a real cardio workout. I’m slightly jealous that they are getting these huge fitness workouts when there I am wandering around trying to stay calm and fit into my suit and stay healthy outside of the theater!

Isn’t it exciting in this day and age of pared-down musical productions to see one done on such an elaborate scale?
You get the sense with 42nd Street that everyone involved with this wanted to do it and do it right. It’s very rare that you’ll get such a large orchestra in the pit and an ensemble that looks as if we are cloning people backstage as more and more people come out during the big numbers. The first time I saw the stair dance, it just took my breath away: it was if this entire army of dancers was coming over the barricades. I’m immensely proud of this cast that I get to work with every night.

Have you become aware over time of the original 1980 Broadway production?
Very much so through Mark [Bramble], who has been with the show since its inception. And I always thought Jerry Orbach [the original Julian onstage] was just incredible, so to be in any way compared with him is high praise indeed.

Am I right in assuming from your ease with it that the American accent wasn’t in any way an issue?
Thank you for saying that! In fact, I kept saying to Mark, “When are we going to have a dialogue coach because I don’t want to be standing on stage with a ropy American accent,” but I guess I didn’t need one. It must have something to do with watching all those movies back in the day—things like The Philadelphia Story, The Grapes of Wrath and, of course, 42nd Street the movie.

Have you had to disrupt your home life in order to take this job?
I’m from the northwest [of England] but my wife is from down here, so we’ve done some very strange swaps where she’s up home where I hail from and I’m down south with friends from her childhood. It’s tough but it’s kind of the job of the actor to go where the work is, and my boys are old enough now to enjoy the train journey down to London on a Friday.

Finally, would you agree with Julian that musical comedy are “the most glorious words in the English language?”
[Laughs.] What about: “Are you having a drink?” Or: “I’m just going to the bar. Do you want anything?”