Joe Mantello

Christopher Abbott was one of the sons, and the other son was Ben Ahlers, who is in The Gilded Age, the character affectionately known as Clock Twink, the young man who invented the winding clock.

So there are big, big stars in that one, and it really paid off with Jeffers Salesman, a huge production directed by Joe Mantello, who we know directed Wicked.

Yeah.

And there's a whole lot of shows currently running on Broadway, which, of course, listeners can have.

He is larger than life.

It's one of the difficulties I had with Joe Mantello, our director, who kept saying, simplify, simplify, simplify to me.

And I often felt, well, but the guy is not simple.

And I understand that there is an argot or a kind of currency in the show, which is very much about embracing

They're all from Rockford, Illinois.

And they're all friends with a great, the best theater director, Joe Mantello, if you know who Joe is.

And so...

Joe had recommended me for the part, unbeknownst to me.

And like pointing at things.

And then seeing Joe Mantello on the street.

That's

a whole story.

I was like about to say something.

Good thing I didn't.

Because guess what? Allie was like, was that Joe Mantello? And we all looked.

We're like, oh, my God, that was Joe Mantello.

And I'm a New Yorker, so it was an awesome experience.

And my auditions, like Joe Mantello was there.

I danced for Wayne Salento.

It was still, at the time, it was 2008 when I was auditioning.

Hello, hello, hello.

Welcome back, or welcome to act two of my chat with Joe Mantello.

Listen, I'm not gonna waste your time or mine.

The lights are going down.

[upbeat music] All right.

There he goes, ladies and gentlemen, out of the stage door and off into a quietly luxurious evening.

He's Joe Mantello.

Oh, what a joy to talk to Joe.

It was in March 2001 they had a workshop at a Universal movie lot that the show actually fully came together for the first time, and Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and Mark Platt knew that they had something special on their hands right there.

Joe Mantello was brought on as director in the summer of 2001, and casting began in New York to find an Elphaba for their Broadway run, alongside Kristin Chenoweth, who had already been cast as Glinda.

The role was given to a rising star called Idina Menzel.

She was actually the first actress to audition and instantly made an impression on the creative team, coming into her first audition already embodying Elphaba with green eyeshadow, lips and blush, and of course, her powerhouse of a voice.