Fit to Be Todd

To paraphrase that old Donny and Marie Osmond classic, Michael Cerveris is a little bit Sondheim and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll.

If the first part of that description is a relatively new development in the actor’s life, the second part certainly isn’t. Cerveris formed his first rock band, Ukiah, in the eighth grade. Over the past three decades, the accomplished guitarist — who turns 45 this month — has gone on to front a whole bunch of other bands, including his current group, the aptly named Cerveris. He has even managed to incorporate his rock dreams into his acting career: One of his first professional gigs was playing rocker Ian Ware on the TV series Fame, and he has essayed the title roles in The Who’s Tommy (earning a Theater World Award and his first Tony nomination for his efforts) and Hedwig and the Angry Inch (which he played in New York, Los Angeles, and London).

But, today, Cerveris’s critical reputation largely rests on his status as one of the foremost interpreters of Stephen Sondheim’s works. He has appeared in three of the master’s shows at the annual Ravinia Festival outside of Chicago: Passion, Sunday in the Park With George, and Anyone Can Whistle. He played Carl-Magnus in A Little Night Music in Chicago, and he was a memorable Giorgio in Passion at the Kennedy Center in D.C. and at Lincoln Center. (The latter production was telecast on PBS and won an Emmy Award). Most notably, Cerveris took on the difficult role of John Wilkes Booth in the Roundabout Theater Company’s 2004 revival of Assassins and won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

Right now, he is sipping the crème de la crème of the Sondheim canon, playing the title role in the Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd that officially opens on November 3. Created by the British director John Doyle and co-starring Patti LuPone as Sweeney’s partner-in-crime, Mrs. Lovett, this version of the operatic musical is a far cry from Harold Prince’s legendary original production in 1979. Here, the 10 performers also serve as the orchestra, each playing one or more instruments while singing this tremendously challenging score. So Cerveris again has a guitar in hand. (He’s using one from his extensive collection.)

“Sweeney was the first Broadway show I ever saw,” says Cerveris, who was raised in Maryland — “and I saw it six or seven times. It was definitely a formative experience, so much so that I was afraid to think I might ever do this part. Len Cariou’s performance is indelibly etched in my mind. And I would have expected that, if the part were ever to come up for me, it would have been years from now. They usually cast the role older, even though, in reality, Sweeney would probably be about my age.”

One reason why the part so often goes to older men is the difficulty of casting an age-appropriate actress as Sweeney’s daughter, Johanna. According to Cerveris, “playing a father is bringing up some interesting issues for me. Right now, it’s just me and my dog. But before I start thinking about kids, I’d better find a serious girlfriend!” Not that he really has time to date anyone at the moment, given the intensity of the Sweeney experience. Before beginning rehearsals in mid-September, Cerveris had only minimal preparation time for this Herculean task.

“I listened to the original cast album again so I could remember it,” he says, “but I haven’t played it since. For one thing, the orchestrations are very different. Plus, with John’s way of working, the best thing is to show up at rehearsals like a blank page and create the part. Also, I was doing Anyone Can Whistle right before we started, and I’m not the kind of person who can really learn two things at once. So the first week of Sweeney rehearsals was frantic.”

Cerveris says that working with LuPone, who also starred with him and Audra McDonald in Passion in New York as well as in all of the Sondheim shows at the Ravinia Festival, is a blessing. “There’s a real comfort zone, a kind of shorthand between us, and we know we can count on each other,” he remarks. “That comes in handy when you’re trying to create such complex characters in a short time.” LuPone has played Mrs. Lovett before in staged concerts of Sweeney in New York and San Francisco but, according to Cerveris, audiences shouldn’t expect the same performance from the Tony-winning actress: “She’s had no trouble reinventing the role. It’s so different from what she did before. She just jumped in with both feet.”

The new Sweeney admits that some audiences might not respond favorably to this production; among its other facets, there is only one set, and the actors never change costumes. Also, purists should note that a few textual and music changes have been made. “I’m sure there are people who won’t like it just because it’s different,” says Cerveris, “but I think this production is more unnerving and unsettling. There are fewer opportunities to laugh it off as a standard musical comedy; it really gets under your skin.”

And at the end of the day, the person Cerveris most wants to impress with his performance is Sondheim. “You know,” he says, “nobody gets cast in his shows without his approval, so to have had his support over the past few years is something I’m most grateful for. He’s very respectful to actors. He usually gives notes through the director because he believes in one voice but, occasionally, he will pull you aside and say something very specific. On one show, he gave me a note about my tendency not to sing through lines. That was true, because I really feel more like an actor who sings than a singer who acts, and when I’m concentrating on the acting, I don’t always carry the musical line through. So now I check myself periodically to make sure I’m doing it his way.”