LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR S WEDNESDAY,JANUARY11, 2017 E5
Hills.Firs t, the dri veway’s
electronicgatewas being
balky, and now thefront
door latch was proving un-
cooperative.
These annoyances
morphedthefrownto grum-
bling: “Boy, go away a little
bit andeverything crum-
bles.”
Morrison plopped down
on a comfy leathercouch,
stretched his legs out onto a
coffee table and pushed
aside repair thoughts to
chat abouta bit ofevery-
thing,which seems suitable
given that his15-year career
is equal partsacting, sing-
ing and dancing.
Morrison hasa number
of pots boiling.
Last year hefilmeda role
in “Tulip Fever,” a Tom
Stoppard-written period ro-
mance with Oscar winners
Alicia Vikander, Judi Dench
and ChristophWaltz that is
to openFeb. 24. In late No-
vember, he workshopped
numbers in the eagerly
awaited Stephen Sondheim
musical,whosewor kingtitle
is “Bunuel.” (“Melodies are
so ungeneric,challenging, I
couldn’t sleep the night be-
fore singing my parts,” he
said.) Fingers crossed, that
willopenatthePublicThea-
ter in New York in the fall.
In the meantime, his fo-
cus is on a touringshow in
which he sings Broadway
standards witha backing
jazz band. It stops Saturday
at the Broad Stage in Santa
Monicaand March 4 at the
Irvine Barclay Theatre.
“My arrangements are
organized soI can dance, a
bitdifferentthancontempo-
rary people like [Michael]
Bubleand [Josh] Groban
whosing this kind of music,”
Morrison saidduring a re-
cent interview (edited for
length), ourfirst since our
conversation fora Times ar-
ticle published during the
first season of “Glee” in 2010.
The 24/7 public attention
you got in the firstyear or
two when “Glee” blew up: a
blessing ora curse?
Yes, [laughs] both. But
that was fine. I kind of live in
an emotional5, I’m aneven-
keeled guy.During the peak,would
peoplereact as if you were
that character?
Oh, yeah. OnceI was
waitingto gointo a restau-
rant, and these kids came
up and started singing,
auditioning on the spot.
And then theywere, “So,
can we be on ‘Glee’?”I gave
them a bit of the Mr. Schu
pep talk, but itwas awk-
ward. How do you say, “I
play a fictionalcharacter on
aTV show. I don’t cast it”?Igotta know, whatwas the
song?
[The slightest offrowns
returnedto his brow.] Ah,
pret ty sure it was “Don’t
Stop Believing.” [Laughs]
Yep, I got that onea lot.You had done Broadway,
but that show established
you nationally.
AndI am so proud of it! I
could have been ona cop or
lawyer show that hit, but
“Glee” actually stood for
something, legitimately
meant more to real kids, like
thoseI went to school with
[at an arts high school].
“Glee” hada significant
part of thegay rights move-
ment, its surging among
younger people, letting
them feel more confidentto
be themselves in public.You attended the Orange
CountySchool of the Arts.
Looking back 20 years,
what did thatgive you?Abig thingwas being in a
school where everyone there
wantedto be there — not
just going because they had
to goor learnto get an A and
then forget stuff. People
there applied learning in
real time, so theywere grow-
ing and changing. And so
did I.You are now on the school’s
board?
Yes, it ’s a mission of
mine.I feel it isa perfect
modelof a charter school for
the arts.Next year we are
opening one in the San
GabrielValley, and thenwe
are lookingto be in San
Diego.We’reexploring
doing about three in North-
ern California down the
road, hopefully making this
anational thing.You’ve anchoredanhour-
long TV showand beenthe
lead in aBroadway musi-
cal. What have you learned
about sizing up projects
thatcomeyour way?
[At first] itwas, “It’s a
part,I want any part!” After
Ihad donea couple musi-
cals,I was more looking at
the roles — “Does thiswork
for me?What doI get to do?
Can I act, sing and dance?”
Nowwhena project
comes up,I lookat the team.
Are they people likelyto put
somethinggood toge ther?
BecauseI have beena part
of some projects— sorry,
no names— that didn’t
really have a good leader or
weren’t shaped right or the
dynamicswereoff, and the
results showed, I felt.Now you have more con-
trol?
Ido concerts, like these
onescoming up, allover the
world, and I am ableto
make a nice income so I
don’t have to do just any
show to pay the bills.I turn
down more things than I
accept.Thatsaid, is there any
specificrole you would
crawl over glassto play?
Gene Kelly!In the day, people seemed
to beeither Fred Astaire
fanciers— hewas suave
and smooth —or fans of
GeneKelly, more physical
andrambunctious. How
didyou compare them?
Astaire felt a little high
class for me. Itwas “tails.”
Genewas the proletarian
working man,average guy,
you know? AndI think I fell
in lo ve with Kelly because
maybeI could be like him: I
sing, act, dance. Heexcelled
at allof them.Beyond theobvious “Sing-
in’ in the Rain,” is there a
Kelly movie that especially
knocks you out?
Ilove “An American in
Paris,” buta danceroutine
that blows meaway was in
the movie “Summer Stock.”
There was a creaking board
and then a newspaper on
the floor, and hetears it with
his feet. Itgets smaller and
smaller, so effective and
simple.Now, talking about
it, I want to gowatch itagain!Canyou tell us abouta song
you are likelyto singlive in
these shows, why it mat-
ters to you?
There is a senseof long-
ing to “On the Street Where
You Live” that makes it
special. But the song has
changed meanings for me
over my lifetime.How so?
Isang it in high school,
and I auditioned with it in
New York for many things. It
was the songI got “Glee”
with. But itreally changed
for me after I got married. In
the past, itwas so in the
present for me— I was
wooing,walking down the
road with differentwomen
—but now it has a reflective,
almost past-tense feeling: I
alwayswalked down the
path that led meto you, my
wife.I will always stay here,
be trueto you, withyou.Doyou have any nonenter-tainment professional
pursuits?
Ihave gotten involved
in an online business offi-
ciallyrolling out inJune
for Father’s Day. It is called
Sherpapa.We are creating
and selling what we think
of as high-quality “field
kits” foryoungerdads who
travel with their families.
Aparka kit,a beach kit,
an airplanekit, just grab
your quality-gear little kit
and go.How did thiscometo be?
Renee and I love
traveling.We are friends
with another travel-hungry
couple whojust hada
kid, andwe werelamenting
the challenges of being a
“dad adventurer.”We hit
on the name, in part from
aSherpaguiding, leading
the way, plus, also the
person carrying all the
stuff, which often falls on
dad.[email protected]Ex-‘Glee’ star heads
to stage, big screen
[Morrison,fromE1]
MATTHEW MORRISONloves GeneKelly because he aspired to be like him.MarcusYamLos Angeles TimesMatthew
Morrison
Where:Broad Stage, 1310
11th St., SantaMonica
When:7:30 p.m. Saturday
Tickets:$75-$115 (subject
to change)
Info:(310) 434-3200,
http://www.thebroadstage.com