Barrett Foa on the Method to the Oh, Mary! Madness and Playing Opposite Bowen Yang and Meg Stalter

Sure, there are days when Barrett Foa longs for his easy, breezy L.A. life of hopping into his car to drive to Whole Foods and wearing his flip-flops in February. Whatever. As a native New Yorker, the veteran stage (Avenue Q) and TV (NCIS: Los Angeles) actor knows there’s no place like home—especially when home means returning to Broadway for the first time since The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in 2007. “I missed it so much,” he says. “As soon as I got back in the rhythm of it, I was like, ‘Yes, I’m here.’ And I get to have this nice, juicy long run in a hit play!”

Since July, Foa has been smashing it as Mary Todd Lincoln’s teacher in the raucous Tony-winning play Oh, Mary!. And while he’s still uncertain about how much to reveal about the character in interviews, he’s happy to talk about what happens inside the Lyceum Theatre when audiences find out for themselves. “It’s so satisfying when you can hear their shock at some of the twists and the gasps and laughs," says Foa. "It means I’ve been telling this story right, and I get rewarded in a really delicious way.”

Hours before heading into Midtown for a Thursday performance, Foa—who will be with the show at least through December 6—chatted with Broadway.com.

So, is your Broadway homecoming treating you well?
It’s like riding a bike! But my body is a little more tired than it was 20 years ago. It can be intense just walking through Times Square to get to the theater.

Did you return because you got the role?
I've really been wanting to get back for a while. I would come here often to see shows and friends and family and think to myself, “I would love to settle here.” And just as that dream was coming to fruition, Broadway calls and is like, “Hey, do you want to be in this totally hit show for at least six months?” It was pretty fortuitous, I gotta say.

And was Oh, Mary! one of the shows you saw?
I was at opening night with [playwright and original star] Cole [Escola], which was mind blowing. And then I went back to see Betty Gilpin and Jane Krakowski. Then while we were rehearsing, of course we would watch Maya [Rudolph] in the show. So I've seen four Marys, and I get to perform with at least two.

Wow, how did you snag an opening night ticket?!
I have friends in high places! It was nice to scoot by Amy Sedaris and Patti LuPone, who were right next to me in my row.

Now that you’re a few months in, what’s surprised you the most about doing the show?
I can't believe it still works with a completely different comedian slash actor slash personality in the main role. It’s such a testament to the writing and the direction. It can hang on so many different kinds of people and still totally work. The audiences just absolutely love it. It's foolproof. Like, every laugh is there. It's never like, “Oh, they just don't get it today.”

To that end, you’re the seventh actor to play Mary’s Teacher. How do you make the role your own?
There are a few rules that Cole and [director] Sam Pinkleton printed out for us on day one. And you make the role your own by following them. Let me see if I can pull them up: The stakes are high; everybody means what they say; don't let the audience get ahead of the story; protect all the surprises of the show. But here's the deal: I'm never going to be copying anyone’s performance because I’m me, right? So anything that filters through Barrett is going to have that Barrett filter. But also, everyone in the cast is the guardrails around Mary because there can really be one clown on stage. If I wanted to get a laugh here because it sort of feeds my ego, then I’m not following the rules—and the show can get a little off the rails. We need to be her foils. If there are too many Tasmanian devils on stage, the audience will get confused.

You were working with Meg Stalter as Mary. How did you forge the on-stage bond?
Oh my God. I wanted to know everything about Meg going into rehearsals. So I watched Too Much and caught up on Hacks and watched all her viral sketches. I became more of a fan as I got to know her larger oeuvre. We started texting about our excitement going into the show together. And on our first date, we saw The Rocky Horror Show—Sam’s other show—and had drinks. Then we dove into rehearsals. It’s been so incredibly fun the whole time. The whole theater is a really happy place.

And Bowen Yang started his turn as Mary on September 15. Is it challenging to take on such a big casting shift?
We’ve only had a couple rehearsals with Bowen, and the energy is so different. Meg’s comedy is so outside the box—she doesn’t have those traditional theatrical or musical theater or cinematic rhythms that Cole has. There was actually a second where I was like, “Is this going work?” But it has! And then Bowen has such comedy chops. He’s put in his 10,000 hours from SNL and a million other projects. It’s going to be a trip to play off of him after the insanity of Meg.

You actually don’t enter the show until about 30 minutes in. How do you amp up your own energy during the downtime?
So before each show, the cast forms a circle. And our props person writes a Merriam-Webster word of the day on a little dry erase board—Merriam-Webster is a theme in the show—and then we say it. It’s a really nice thing. Sometimes we alter it to make it funny. Even though I don't enter until later in the show, I'm always ready and there for that circle. It’s just so important to get the energy going.

Unrelated but important: You were in the original Broadway company of Mamma Mia! which is approaching its 25th anniversary. Given that it opened shortly after 9/11, do you have intense memories of that run?
We were in rehearsals when 9/11 happened—it was actually a big number called “Under Attack.” I also had a costume fitting that day. So it was a strange and insane time. But we also knew that we had to move forward with what, as [The New York Times' former theater critic] Ben Brantley called us, “a giant Hostess cupcake of a musical.” You know, I honestly think 9/11 helped Mamma Mia! because I think Mamma Mia! helped New York. It was airy, fun, silly and served as the salve that everyone was looking for at that exact time. So even though Mamma Mia! and 9/11 are completely linked for me, it was a pretty special thing to be a part of. As a native New Yorker, that day is filtered through a lens of lightness.

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