Harriet Harris Gets Real About It Shoulda Been You and the Methods of David Hyde Pierce

Tony Award winner Harriet Harris is legendary for her outsize performances in shows like Thoroughly Modern Millie and Cry-Baby. Yet in response to the notion that her acting is over-the-top, the actually very mild-mannered Harris contends, "I think my top is just very high." What one might see as over-the-top, Harris sees as theatrically truthful.

Harris is bringing her realness to It Shoulda Been You, a brand-new musical comedy set to begin performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on March 17. It's about the wedding of Rebecca Steinberg (Sierra Boggess) to Brian Howard (David Burtka). Tyne Daly plays Rebecca's overbearing Jewish mother, Judy. She finds her foil in Brian's mother, über-WASP Georgette (Harris). Sparks fly and secrets are revealed as the young lovers prepare to vow, "Till death do us part."

It Shoulda Been You marks the Broadway debuts of composer Barbara Anselmi and lyricist and book writer Brian Hargrove. Tony winner David Hyde Pierce (Hargrove's husband) directs. Harris has been attached to the project for a long time. She spoke with TheaterMania about the show, her views on acting, and the rarity of completely original musicals on Broadway.

How did you get involved with It Shoulda Been You?
I started with a reading of the show at the BMI workshop so that Brian and Barbara could hear it for the first time. I've been with it ever since. I was thrilled when David Hyde Pierce decided to helm. I admire him so much. I've known Brian and David a long time. It's a lovely core group of people and I'm happy I get to go to Broadway with them.

What does it mean to you to be originating a role in a completely new musical on Broadway?
It's a lovely idea that Broadway can be a place where something starts. It's just not what one expects anymore. Usually, if a story is proven successful in a different venue or medium, then maybe it can go to Broadway. If you're not a proven entity somewhere else, there's no room for you. I think that's a very scary thing for actors: If you're not in movies, you can't be a theater actor. This show is a very refreshing antidote to that.

You play Georgette Howard, the mother of the groom. Who is she?
She's had a very nice but sheltered life. She's always been wealthy. She's gone to good schools. She's never had to fight for anything. She's been isolated by wealth and a social bracket that she's never had to step out of. Having her son gave her an intimacy with someone that she's never had before. She's very dependent on that relationship, especially since her husband is always busy working. She thought that her son would be her best friend and partner for life, in some way. If she loses that relationship, she loses her emotional life.

You've played a lot of needy and conniving mothers: Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, Felicia Tilman on Desperate Housewives, Mrs. Eggleston in Little Me. What draws you to these characters?
Employment. I love to work. I'm not 20…30…40. I'm not going to be playing someone discovering life for the first time. There's a certain amount of experience I bring to this part. The way women are written, you're either conniving or the most supportive mother in the world. The latter is not a very interesting part, and I wouldn't be thought of for it anyway. I don't think of myself as an edgy person, but people see me as able to play a wry outsider character.

I've always admired your ability to play an objective to its logical (albeit insane) conclusion. Have you always been like that as an actress?
I think everybody's like that! With any actor, you find your objective and go for it. If the role says, this person will stop at nothing (and that's true for a lot of the parts I play), I really don't think you're doing your job if you pull back because it will make you look unpopular. You want somebody to go to the mat. Of course, if the director says, "Pull way back," then I do that. Sometimes you put a mute on a trumpet.

Do you find that directors appreciate bigger choices that they can scale back as opposed to small performances they can draw out?
I think that's true. If you can be big and real at the same time, then you can be small and real. We assume that what's socially acceptable is really very small. But that's not human. That's learned behavior. In real life, situations can get pretty big and dicey.

David Hyde Pierce is making his Broadway directorial debut with It Shoulda Been You. How's he doing?
He's a wonderful director, so gifted. He's got such an astonishing ear and a real sense of truth. He will always go for that, knowing that truth will make a moment funny. He never encourages people to just go for the laugh. One of the things David has done so beautifully is cast this as if it were a piece of music. He's got the right instrument playing the right music. He's really great at that.