Joanna Gleason on Getting Whiplash After Winning a Tony, Her Upcoming Concerts & More

Stage and screen star Joanna Gleason is getting ready to appear alongside her longtime friend Joan Ryan at Birdland Jazz on May 16. She will then bring her solo show, Out of the Eclipse, to Feinstein's/54 Below in July. "Joanie and I did a benefit in L.A. a thousand years ago and we shared a dressing room. We instantly became dressing-room buddies and then stayed friends," Gleason said to Paul Wontorek in a recent interview on Broadway.com's #LiveAtFive. As for the inspiration for her own solo show: "There was actually a magnificent solar eclipse in 2017 and everything went dark depending on where you were. Things went really dark for me. This show is about my coming back into the light."

It's been over 30 years since Gleason took home a Tony Award for her acclaimed turn as the Baker's Wife in Into the Woods, a night she'll never forget: "I did not expect to win," Gleason said. "When they said my name, my head flew back in shock. I had whiplash for two weeks and couldn't turn my head. When you're sitting in the seat and your category comes, you're going to think you hear your name because that's what you've rehearsed in the shower. So, you have to just wait a second and make sure."

Gleason has recently been hitting the concert circuit as well as appearing on shows like Sensitive Skin and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. So, when will she return to the stage? "I think there's another play in me," Gleason said. "I would like to do another play very much in New York, on or off-Broadway. I don't know about a musical, though. I like new things, not revivals, where you get to create the character and take on chewy roles."

While we wait for her return, be sure to catch Gleason at her upcoming concerts.

Watch the full #LiveAtFive episode below!