Annie Golden on Being the 'Woman of a Certain Age' in Broadway Bounty Hunter & Her Time as Tracy Turnblad

Stage and screen star Annie Golden can be found leading the cast of Broadway Bounty Hunter at off-Broadway's Greenwich House Theater through August 18. With music and lyrics by Be More Chill Tony nominee Joe Iconis and a book by Iconis, Jason "SweetTooth" Williams and Lance Rubin, the hilarious new musical was written for Golden. "They called me one afternoon and asked to meet. I thought it would be a song, maybe a signature song if I was lucky," Golden said to Paul Wontorek in a recent interview on Broadway.com's #LiveAtFive. "We went to West Bank Cafe, and I called ahead for us to be able to use the piano downstairs. We had a drink at the bar and my life continued to be like a Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney movie when we went downstairs and they handed out scripts. Lance [Rubin] said, 'Joe [Iconis] is going to play the songs and we're going to read all the parts if you could just read for the part called Annie Golden.' And that was the start of it all."

The role was written so specifically to Golden that she was even able to add in her own life experiences to the script. "The boys would tell me their horror stories, and I would tell them mine. They couldn’t believe that an established person, a person with a resume, still meets up with rude behavior and condescension," she said. "It had something to do with people thinking they know every color you have in your crayon box and every trick you have in your bag. They took it to heart. They were really affected and offended by it. Some of those stories are in the lyrics, too."

Golden's resume features Broadway turns in The Full Monty, Hair, On the Town, Violet, Xanadu, Leader of the Pack and Ah, Wilderness! along with screen appearances on Orange is the New Black and High Maintenance. Some of her biggest roles aren't even publicized. "I am on the demo of Hairspray singing Tracy Turnblad," she said. "I was another Mickey calling Judy situation. Marc Shaiman called me and asked me to come over to the house for some demo some stuff. I demo'd 'Good Morning, Baltimore' and 'Momma I'm a Big Girl Now.' I was the full-figured 15 year old."

Looking back at her incredible career makes Golden feel even more proud of the work she continues to do. "I can't believe my life," she said. "I can't believe who I came up with and the new people I'm meeting, like the kids over at Broadway Bounty Hunter. I don’t have children of my own, but I do because I watch their stars rise."

Catch Golden in Broadway Bounty Hunter through August 18!

Watch the full #LiveAtFive interview below!