Gavin Lee Keeps His Tap Muscles in Shape and Stretches New Ones—Alongside Legends—in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends

When you’ve leaped across rooftops in Mary Poppins and tap-danced wearing two fake legs in SpongeBob SquarePants, dipping into the song catalog of a musical genius is a cinch. For Gavin Lee, who snagged Tony nominations as chimney sweep Bert and octopus Squidward Q. Tentacles in the aforementioned musicals, the Broadway revue Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends is a joy-filled juggling act. The tall and elegant Lee bickers with Beth Leavel (“The Little Things You Do Together”), packs for “A Weekend in the Country,” declares “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” and performs a poignant, gender-bending “Could I Leave You?”

Born in England and now living in New Jersey with his wife, actress Emily Harvey, and their three children, Lee is the ultimate hybrid in a cast that combines British and American stage stars. Between shows on a matinee day, he talked about the fun of immersing himself in all things Sondheim.

Old Friends is more than just a revue—it’s 41 amazing Sondheim songs, many of them in fully staged medleys. What’s it like to be immersed in this music every night?

It’s a dream come true for any musical theater actor, especially one like me who never got to do a proper Stephen Sondheim show. The orchestra is right behind us, so we can hear every note, every instrument. I run off stage after “Weekend in the Country” and change into Victorian garb to do “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd,” and then jump into “Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George. It’s hit after hit. I never tire of listening to the introduction to every song, and we can tell that the audience feels the same way.

How heavenly is it to work with Bernadette Peters, who actually knew Stephen Sondheim?

Oh my gosh, I still pinch myself. I did the show with her a year and a half ago in London, and she would come by and say, “Hi Gavin, how was your day?” and we’d chat like normal people, not like actor to icon. [laughs] She’s really normal—of course she is!—but she’s Bernadette Peters. To get to do the show with her again in her hometown, in Stephen Sondheim’s hometown, with a New York audience, is just the icing on a fabulous cake.

The show features a mix of American and British actors, which allows Broadway audiences to see people like West End leading lady Joanna Riding. You’re the composite.

I’m one of the Brits, but I’ve lived here since 2006 and have been lucky enough to work on Broadway. When five of us were asked to do the show in New York, we wondered if we would jell with the newbies. We had a tightknit ensemble in London, including Bernadette and Lea Salonga, with no hierarchy. But within two days in the rehearsal room with 11 new American actors, it all jelled again, and it was amazing to see what they brought to these numbers. As you know, we’re being given the opportunity to reimagine some of the songs, even if we’re not necessarily the right age or the right gender.

Let’s talk about your numbers, particularly “Could I Leave You?” [from Follies], “The Little Things You Do Together” [from Company] and “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” [from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum].

“Could I Leave You?”, of course, is a female song, dramatic and sarcastic, and I get a lot of comments at the stage door from people saying, “I’ve never seen you do anything like that.” Usually I’m tapping upside down or tapping with four legs, so I’m grateful I got a number that isn’t traditionally what I have done as a song-and-dance man. I love the duet “The Little Things You Do Together” with Beth Leavel. You know she’s going to be hilarious, and I think we’ve wrung that song dry for laughs. “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” [performed with Kyle Selig and Jason Pennycooke] is more in my wheelhouse, but during rehearsal we were feeling it was a little dated. Someone said, “What if you are the maids?” It became a silly, high-camp number that works in 2025 without offending anyone.

If you could do a production of any of these shows, what part would you play?

I’m a fan of every Sondheim show, but I'm swaying toward A Little Night Music. I’m very lucky that in the “Weekend in the Country” number, I get to play Count Carl-Magnus. It’s a delicious role because he’s such an ass. [laughs] He’s so full of himself, and it would be great fun to play that character in a full production.

You’ve been at the center of two high-energy numbers on the Tony Awards telecast when you were nominated for Mary Poppins [in 2007] and SpongeBob SquarePants [in 2018].

I was way more nervous the second time, maybe because I start the whole number when the curtain goes up. The bad thing about the Tonys is that you have a final dress run with the cameras in the morning, then you have a Sunday matinee—which is the last thing you want to do before the Tonys. Thank goodness it all went down brilliantly, and I will be forever grateful that the creatives chose Squidward’s number [“I’m Not a Loser”] as the one that would represent the show [online] forevermore.

Were you surprised to be the focus of SpongeBob’s Tony moment?

I think it was just the number that seemed the most “Broadway.” When you look at all the brilliant numbers from SpongeBob, it was a big dance routine that would look great on the [Radio City Music Hall] stage. Squidward is still the role I get the most comments about when I come out of the stage door.

You are a beautiful dancer. What’s the key to longevity when you’ve done so many strenuous roles?

I’m not putting it down to technique, I’m putting it down to luck—that, at 53, my ankles and my knees have not given way. I’ve been lucky because I am a very stampy tapper, and stamping my feet on stage for the past 30 years-plus is probably not good for my body. Eventually your ligaments and bones and muscles have had enough, but I can say that I’m still going strong with the tap dancing. Also, I’ve been able to transition into big character roles: I just finished playing Thenardier in the World Arena tour of Les Misérables.

Was it a big decision for you to settle down in America with your family?

My wife is American, and we relocated to New York when I was asked to open Mary Poppins on Broadway as Bert. I was given a year’s contract, and then we both went out on tour with the show, then back to Broadway, then we had our first child, and it was like, “I guess we’re settling down here.” That’s the thing about being an actor: You go where the work is. It’s one of the reasons I’m so grateful for this job, because since the pandemic, when we didn’t work for a year and a half, all my jobs have been in London or Europe. It’s wonderful to be doing a brilliant show on Broadway eight times a week and then going home to my family.

Are your kids “mid-Atlantic” in their accents and outlook?

People ask, “Do your kids have an American accent?” Of course they do! They’ve only ever lived in New Jersey. I think they could do an English Cockney accent if they wanted to, but when I do an American one, they go, “Ooh, Dad, that’s rubbish. Stop it!” They think my American accent is dreadful.