Jeremy Jordan on His Rent Dream and Long Little Shop Intermission

Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan was set to make his debut as Seymour Krelborn in off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors on March 17. That first day on Skid Row never came for Jordan, who was halfway through a final run-through when they got word that Broadway (and off-Broadway) theaters would be shut down. "I actually got my Seymour haircut the day of the shutdown," Jordan said to Paul Wontorek in a recent episode of #LiveatFive: Home Edition. "We had just finished going through Act One, and we were like, 'I don't think we're going to get to Act Two for a couple months.'"

Jordan was set to succeed Gideon Glick, who replaced the production's original star Jonathan Groff. "It's totally a dream role for me," Jordan said. "I've known the movie and have been singing the songs forever. I just never thought it would be something that would come back in the time that I was still able to do it." Although Jordan says he's not a botany enthusiast, he still understands Seymour on a personal level. "I'm super big into computers. I play a lot of video games, and I read a lot," he said. "I have grown up with a healthy dose of social anxiety, too, so I can relate to Seymour in many ways. You put on those glasses, and it's just very transformative."

While Jordan waits for Little Shop to reopen, he's been keeping himself busy. "I'm trying to do some writing, which has been really fun," he said. "There's some music and a certain script or two that I've been thinking about for years and never actually got around to. I'm finally giving myself permission to do these sorts of things. I've been trying to work on an album for five years now and it just gets to be the last thing on the backburner. Now, I have plenty of time."

Jordan boasts an impressive resume with six Broadway credits, including a Tony nomination for his leading turn in Newsies, and it's all thanks to Rent. "The first show I saw on Broadway was Rent when I was a freshman in high school," he said. "I saw it and I was like, 'Yup, that's what I want to do.' I always thought I wanted to do a Roger or Mark, I think I'm like in that weird in-between stage where I'm like not quite right for either. I could have been a swing or standby back in the day. Play the Squeegee Guy and understudy Mark and Roger, there's a dream role for you." 

Hear Jordan talk more about his time at home (he's a chef now!) and more by watching the full episode below!