JMcD: I'm still the supervising music director of Annie Get Your Gun, so when Bernadette departs this summer, I'll put in the new star--whoever that may be. And we're working on putting together a national tour.
TM: I've heard that Bernadette and Tom [Wopat] are both going to tour.
JMcD: At one point, they were talking about that. I'm not sure if it's still going to happen.
TM: Do you want to give us any teasers on who might be replacing Bernadette on Broadway?
JMcD: Well, you know Rosie [O'Donnell] considered it for a bit, but she realized it was going to be too much, with the TV show coming back in September. The timing was not quite right. But I've been telling her for a long time that she should do Annie Get Your Gun on television. She'd be so great.
TM: Do you have any "dream" Broadway shows?
JMcD: Some folks have batted around the idea of doing revues on Broadway with rotating leading ladies, a Ziegfeld kind of a show. I think that would be a lot of fun. I'm so hooked on variety now! It would be great to do a real "follies" on Broadway--you know, Angela Lansbury coming in for three weeks, then Carol Burnett, then Tyne Daly. It could be a really exciting, "I'd better buy my ticket now because you never know who's going to be there" kind of thing.
TM: In an interview a couple of years ago, you talked about a musical that you were writing. Is there any update on that that?
JMcD: I have some ideas. It's all about finding the time to create it.
TM: What about Broadway regrets? Were there any shows that got away? Things that were heartbreakers? I know that you worked on Busker Alley with Tommy Tune.
JMcD: (sighs) I did...from the very beginning. The thing that really kills me about that show was that it was getting really, really good. We worked so hard on it, and it was such an audience pleaser. The reviews were kind of mixed, but they were getting better. We were ready to come in...
TM: And then Tommy hurt his foot.
JMcD: Yes. I watched him fall, and his face went white. It was shocking to witness that.
