Joe Mantello on The Boys in the Band, Wicked & More on Show People

Show People’s season premiere, available now on Broadway.com, features Broadway.com's Paul Wontorek chatting with award-winning actor and director Joe Mantello. Mantello wowed audiences with his unforgettable performances in Angels in America, The Normal Heart and more, but he is perhaps best known for his visionary work as a director, shaping the worlds of shows like Love! Valour! Compassion!, Wicked, Take Me Out, Assassins, 9 to 5, Other Desert Cities and most recently, The Boys in the Band. In addition to helming the Tony-winning revival of the late Mart Crowley’s play about gay identity, Mantello also directed the film adaptation, which recently premiered on Netflix.

Just before the Broadway shutdown, Mantello’s take on Edward Albee's Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, starring Laurie Metcalf and Rupert Everett, had only performed nine previews. A dream project for the director, the production will no longer continue at the Booth Theatre even once Broadway opens for business. “That was always on the list; it’s a mountain of a play,” Mantello said. “That was disappointing.”

Meanwhile, Mantello has been busy with screen projects: both behind and in front of the camera. In addition to directing the film adaptation of The Boys in the Band, Mantello also collaborated with producer Ryan Murphy when he appeared as Dick Samuels in Hollywood. Fun fact: Mantello hasn’t watched it. “It was such a remarkable experience, and it was so fun that I don’t want anything to mess with the version that’s in my head," he said. "The version of it that’s in my head is really outstanding.”

Mantello also discussed Wicked, the Broadway smash hit he helmed:  “It’s been running long enough now that we actually have people in the show who say, ‘This was my first Broadway show.’"

Watch the full Show People interview below, and spot Mantello in the October episode of Broadway Profiles with Tamsen Fadal.