Beth Leavel’s career on the Broadway stage spans 30-plus years and includes an impressive roster of musicals such as “42nd Street,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Elf.” In 2006, she won a Tony Award for “The Drowsy Chaperone.” Her resume also features a number of films and TV credits, “This Is Where I Leave You,” “ER,” and “Submissions Only” among them. She’s currently starring in “The Prom,” a groundbreaking Broadway show at the Longacre Theatre. Leavel plays an actress whose theatrical quartet makes headlines in a small town in Alabama where a student wants to take her girlfriend to the prom.
We talked to Leavel about her enduring career, who influenced her, and what being in “The Prom” means to her.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
W&H: How has Broadway changed since you first started out, particularly for women in light of #MeToo and other women’s movements?
BL: I’m not sure it has changed. I could be wrong, but I feel like on Broadway we are so sensitive and careful to take care of each other as artists. If it has changed, it’s that women now feel like we can say what we want to. When I was coming up on “42nd Street” in 1984-1985, the industry was much more male-dominated. Now it’s getting more balanced. Casey [Nicholaw] is our play’s director but almost everyone backstage – the musical director, the assistant stage manager – are women.
There are more women making decisions now, which is fabulous. There are more women writing. There are more women directing — not enough yet, but we are getting there. When I was in “42nd Street,” there was only one female stage manager. Now there are more opportunities for women to lead.
W&H: You’ve had a successful career while raising children. What has that been like and do you think it’s easier for women today?
BL: I do. I think each circumstance presents its own challenges. My husband at the time was a stay-at-home dad. That enabled me to have it a little easier with my career. The only thing I didn’t do was that I didn’t tour when my children were there.
I know that for each parent, men, and women, mothers and fathers, when you have children it’s a struggle — whether it’s finding babysitters or figuring out your next paycheck. And I couldn’t go out of town. I had a baby. But we worked it out, and I wouldn’t have changed anything. And as “unnormal” as my life is, my kids thought it was normal growing up. Mondays were our weekend.
W&H: Did being a mother and having a certain type of schedule make you think harder about the roles you took?
BL: No. I was the breadwinner. I went where the money was, and thankfully, the roles were in New York so I could support my family. I had a career.
W&H: Who has been very influential in your career?
BL: A lot of people, but one who comes to mind is Bobo Lewis, god rest her soul.
Bobo had a fabulous career. She took over the role of Maggie in the original “42nd Street” in 1989, and I remember thinking she was the coolest women ever. She was single. She lived in an apartment. She was a New Yorker. We would go out every Thursday night. There would be a group of us, men and women, and we would just sit around like we were at a campfire and listen to her stories. I remember thinking, “I want this, I want to be as comfortable in my skin as she is.”
Bobo wasn’t a star, but she was a star to me. She was what I like to call a worker bee. She worked constantly. She was a feminist way before it was cool. My husband at the time and I loved her so much. Bobo influenced me to be strong and to be proud of being a woman in this business.
W&H: How did “The Prom” come to you? I read that you had worked with Bob Martin, the show’s co-writer, on “The Drowsy Chaperone.”
BL: I was doing “Elf,” which was written by Bob and Chad Beguelin, and the music was by Matthew Sklar. We were finishing that up, and I remember wondering when we’d do something else together. We had gone out one night and the guys looked at me with this glean in their eyes. They had already started the process of giving birth to this musical. But they didn’t tell me what it was until five years later when I ran into Casey and he invited me to a reading of a new play by Bob, Chad, and Jack [Viertel]. I sat around a table with Angie Schworer, Brooks Ashmanskas, and Christopher Sieber. That was seven years ago. I’ve been with “The Prom” since day one.
W&H: “The Prom” has a very modern, universal, and important theme. What’s it like bringing it to the Broadway stage?
BL: Yes, it’s so highly entertaining, too. I have both Democrat and Republicans friends coming to see it and they love it. It’s a story that presents both sides, and hopefully, it leads with heart and humanity.
W&H: What was it like performing at the Thanksgiving Parade? That was a really big deal for the show.
BL: What’s interesting is that it didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. That’s just what happens in the story. Then I realized it was the first lesbian/homosexual/gay kiss ever in the history of the Macy’s Parade – good for us. It felt like a privilege. And to be honest, most of us that day were thinking, “Oh my god, it’s five degrees — I have never been this cold in my life!”
W&H: Then you saw all the media attention afterward.
BL: It was like, yes, of course this is a big deal.
W&H: There are a lot of political punches in the show and a lot of cheers come from the audience as a result. What does it feel like when your jokes land right where they’re meant to land? You have such impeccable comedic timing.
BL: Thank you so much! It’s satisfying. Plus, I have Bob and Chad writing me. We share the comedy DNA. When I can land a joke, it’s so pleasing to know I’ve made an audience laugh. It’s addictive and it’s something I’ve worked on. It’s hard to explain. I was talking to Bob and he was saying, “If you can’t make it funny, we have to go back to the drawing board.” I thought that was such a compliment. To make them laugh and continue to discover the laugh, it feels really good.
W&H: Are you at all like your character, Dee Dee Allen? She experiences a huge evolution through the course of the play and I imagine becomes more like you in the process.
BL: That’s true.
No, I don’t carry my Tony Awards and I’m not a narcissist. It’s like that quote, I’m not a doctor but I play one on TV. Playing Dee Dee is a blast and it’s fun to have permission to play my evil twin.
W&H: How do you step into her shoes night after night?
BL: I have a vocal warm up. Once I put on that wig and those shoes on, I’m ready. Here she goes. It’s all so available for me in the writing.
W&H: “The Prom” focuses on narcissism and egos, which I’m sure you see a lot of in your industry. How have you managed to stay so grounded?
BL: I don’t know. But the people in our show are the nicest group of balanced people ever, and I find I’m attracted to that so the artists I’m around all support and balance each other. I’m also balanced because I have a family, a fiancée, a cat, good friends, and my work. All of this keeps me grounded.
W&H: What’s it like working with so many young people in the cast of “The Prom”?
BL: They feed me. They’re so professional and so talented. They’re so committed. We find ourselves in the wings watching them dance, in awe of what they bring to this show. I have a huge amount of respect and love for them and wish I could do what they do.
W&H: Besides your work in theater, you’ve also done a lot of television. Do you have any future plans in the works?
BL: You know, I never fully jumped into that swimming pool. My heart is with Broadway. I’m a New Yorker now. If a show presents itself and I can be in an original company of a show, surrounded by my friends, that would be fun. Until then, I’m so happy doing what I do.
