Must-see concerts this week: Mary J. Blige, Helmet, Michael Shannon plays R.E.M.
Hip-hop royalty, post-hardcore greats, and a festival of Indigenous music are among the highlights of this week's Twin Cities concert calendar.
Here are the shows you shouldn't miss this week.
Monday, March 10 at Varsity Theater
Best known for its earliest albums, Helmet has been rolling along since "reuniting" in 2003, releasing five albums over the last 20 years. However, that first trio of records was a pointed, powerfully influential thesis statement. John Stanier's unmistakably ballistic drums and Henry Bogdan's driving bass are no longer part of the equation, but Helmet is nonetheless on tour honoring a record from the group's zenith.
Singer and guitarist Page Hamilton, the only remaining member from the early '90s, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Betty, the 1994 follow-up to their breakthrough, Meantime.
Wednesday, March 12 at First Avenue
Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon is back playing more R.E.M. with coconspirator Jason Narducy, the latter of whom will be back in town before too long with Bob Mould.
Last year, they toured playing R.E.M.'s debut album, Murmur. Now, they're touring the band's Fables of the Reconstruction as the Athens group's album turns 40. If R.E.M. fans are tentative about how well the group, which also features Wilco bassist John Tirratt and Narducy collaborator with Mould and Superchunk, Jon Wurster, the cover group was joined by members of R.E.M. a couple of weeks ago in Athens.
Wednesday, March 12 at The Dakota
MC Lyte is a hip-hop pioneer who, arguably, doesn't always get her dues. New work has been infrequent in the 21st century, but she released 1 of 1 last year, her first record in nine years and second since 2003's Da Undaground Heat, Vol. 1. The Dakota will be a unique place to see the hip-hop great behind "Ruffneck."
Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15 at Intercontinental Hotel
The first annual Mni Sota Akítho Festival brings in an impressive, genre-spanning lineup of Indigenous musicians for a festival that will also celebrate art, tattoos, and have vendors stationed around a market.
The music portion of the fest includes Stella Standingbear, Joe Rainey, Jada Brown, and DJ Ao on Friday. Saturday's lineup leans into hip-hop with Supaman,DJ Element, Thomas X, and DJ Shawn Who.
Sunday, March 16 at Xcel Energy Center
The Queen of Hip-Hop is out on her "The For My Fans Tour" behind the new album, Gratitude. The tour and album titles hint at an artist taking stock of an iconic career dotted with chart-topping hits like "Family Affair," an armful of Grammys, an Emmy, two Oscar nominations, and dozens of other awards.
Now, on the heels of Gratitude and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in October, she's promising a tour that will have something for every fan, no matter when they became a devotee during her more than three-decade career.
NE-YO and Mario open.Concerts on Monday, Mar. 10:
Helmet at Varsity Theater
The 3 Ms // Minnesota Music Masters: McLaughlin/Monroe/Mayer at The Parkway Theater
Charmin and Shapira feat. Pete Whitman at The Dakota
Sunny Sweeney with Cam Pierce at Turf Club
House on Fire (Trio) at Berlin
Roe Family Singers at 331 Club (free)
The 8th Ward with Joan of Profile and Demitrious Rallis at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
Concerts on Tuesday, Mar. 11:
Sarah Morris + Dylan Hicks and Small Screens at The Dakota
The Steel Wheels at The Parkway Theater
Jason Anderson, Laura Hugo, and Paul Baribeau at Cloudland Theater
bbno$ at The Fillmore
Spencer Sutherland at Varsity Theater
LØLØ with Gus at 7th St. Entry
Emily and The Space Butterflies, Finick, Duck Bomb, and Flores de Olivio at Green Room
International Reggae Allstars at Bunker's
Venus de Mars at 331 Club (free)
YUHH with Quail and In Solid Air at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
Concerts on Wednesday, Mar. 12:
Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy and Friends play R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction at First Avenue
MC Lyte - Reflections of Lyte at The Dakota
Marijuana Death Squads at Icehouse
Orions Belte with Vinyl Williams at 7th St. Entry
Killusonline with Oath, fallingwithscissors, and Popstar at Pillar Forum
Tae & the Neighborly at Underground Music Venue
The Swamp Kings and Pig's Foot Trio at 331 Club (free)
The Better Mistakes at Palmer's Bar (free)
Lords of the Universe with Thomas Richey and Ego Truck at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
Molly Maher and Her Disbelievers at The White Squirrel Bar (free)Concerts on Thursday, Mar. 13:
Soccer Mommy at First Avenue
The Ike Reilly Assassination at Turf Club
Jolie Holland with Willows at The Cedar Cultural Center
Dusty Forever, Dot Operator, and Big Strong at Cloudland Theater
Ari Hoenig Trio at Berlin
Dead by 50 with Ecphosis and Dennis Asher at Pillar Forum
Oliver Hazard with Kahrin at 7th St. Entry
Brent Fuqua & Friends album release with Mother Banjo Band, Steam Machine, and the Lake Monsters at Hook and Ladder
SaltyDog at Hook and Ladder
Stunna Girl at The Cabooze
Clayton Ryan and Samantha Grimes at Aster Cafe
Lighter Co. residency with Chapped Lips, The Dregs, and Ski Club at Icehouse
Pullstring, Motherwind, Scorched Waves, and Dark Sun at Underground Music Cafe
Billy Johnson at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
The Customers with Edith Head and Modern Wildlife at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
Concerts on Friday, Mar. 14:
JoJo with Emmy Meli at First Avenue
Jazz Is Dead feat. Adrian Younge with a 10-piece orchestra w/ DJ Terrell LaMarr at Turf Club
Lúnasa at Pantages Theatre
Emei with Haiden Henderson and Ashley Mehta at the Fine Line
Shamrock Shakedown feat. Feed the Dog and Useful Jenkins at Green Room
Jessica Baio with Ni/Co at Amsterdam Bar & Hall
Pam Linton album release at Crooner's
Mississippi Hot Club at Berlin
Yasa-Exide, The Thirsty Giants, and Pleasure Cube at Cloudland Theater
Ignite, Death by Stereo, The Slow Death, and Powerdam at Hook and Ladder
The Scarlet Goodbye album release at Aster House
St. Paul & the MPLS Funk All-Stars at The Dakota
Edie Carey & Sarah Sample at Icehouse
Lost Island City with Ira Haze & the Straze, Junior Choir, and Izzy Cruz at Pillar Forum
MACSEAL with Carly Cosgrove, buffchick, and Keep for Cheap at 7th St. Entry
Are You Garbage at The Fillmore
Peter Hayward, Zander, Splash!, and Joe Kelly at Palmer's Bar
Psych Night feat. Weald, Erik's Iridescent Tent, and Scott Hefty & the Bury 'em Deep at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
Early Evening Jazz: Tim Sparks & Ben Abrahamson at Berlin (no cover)
Concerts on Saturday, Mar. 15:
Marc Broussard at The Fitzgerald Theater
The 1st Annual Winter Rock and Whiskey Warm-Up w/ Sparrowhawk, Big Salt, Whiskey Rock 'n' Roll Club, Bev, and more at Palmer's Bar
Gin Blossoms at Treasure Island Casino
Suzanne Vega at The Dakota
Maude Latour with MARIS at Amsterdam Bar & Hall
Odds of an Afterthought with Neck Wrung and Unfit at Pillar Forum
Burning Blue Rain, Dilly Dally Alley, vinny Franco, and Pierre Lewis at Green Room
StoLyette and Jacob Mullis double album release with Kiernan at Icehouse
Skegss with Twen at Turf Club
Jeffrey Robert Larson, Ditchweed, and Former Crush at Cloudland Theater
Stranger Gallery with Lovely Dark and Full Catholic at Zhora Darling
Daily Bread at The Fillmore
Chutes with Lana Leone and Mike Kota at 7th St. Entry
Andy Frasco and the U.N. at Fine Line
Superfloor with Soft Topics and High Tiny Hairs at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
North Country Singers at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
Early Evening Jazz: The Abinnet Berhanu Three feat. Godbout and Carpel at Berlin (no cover)
Concerts on Sunday, Mar. 16:
Mary J. Blige w/ NE-YO and Mario at Xcel Energy Center
Armor for Sleep at Varsity Theater
Suzanne Vega at The Dakota
Imminence at The Fillmore
Absolutely Yours, Honeybee, and Waking Hours at Cloudland Theater
Father Paranoia album release with $iah, Visa Card, and Uh Uh Uh at Zhora Darling
Finnegan's Farewell at Treasure Island Casino
The Teskey Brothers with Anna Graves at Uptown Theater
Ghost Kitchen, Think Date, Chairman Chair and the Chairman, and Sapiosexual Moodlight at Mortimer's
Ray Bull with Tyler Berrier at 7th St. Entry
Math Emergency with The Janey Winterbauer Trio and Meanest Genus at The White Squirrel Bar (free)
Church of Cornbread with Cornbread Harris at Palmer's Bar (free)Just announced concerts:
March 19: Alone-a, Rabbit By Owl Light, and M. Harlan Engelmann at 331 Club
April 2: Zack Fox (DJ set) at First Avenue
April 10: Grant Hart Tribute with Rank Strangers, Ryan Smith, False Agave, Brian Herb, Nato Coles, The What Have Yous, and Wowsville at Cloudland Theater, a benefit for LA Wildfire Relief
April 17: Ghost Wagon single release with Pat Lenertz and Friends at Icehouse
April 18: Johnnie Brown: The Music of Gregory Porter at The Dakota
April 19: The Shabby Road Orchestra performs The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band at The Parkway Theater
May 2: Molly Dean record release at Icehouse
May 2: Perfect Person at The Cedar Cultural Center
May 7: Guy Branum at Turf Club
May 7: Peter White at The Dakota
May 10: Two Harbors album release show at Turf Club
May 14: The Band Feel at Turf Club
May 17: The Wailers: Natural Mystic 30th anniversary show at The Dakota
May 20: Deb Talan at The Parkway Theater
May 29: Zola Jesus at The Parkway Theater
May 31: Malcolm Todd at First Avenue
June 1: Lyn Lapid at Fine Line
June 2: Kitty Craft at 7th St. Entry
June 14: I'm with Her at The Fitzgerald Theater
June 15: SiR at The Fillmore
June 19: Iris DeMent with Ana Egge at The Parkway Theater
June 19: The Head and The Heart with Futurebirds and Anna Graves at Palace Theatre
June 20: Augustana at The Parkway Theater
July 9: Chuck Prophet and His Cumbia Shoes at The Parkway Theater
July 10: Los Bitchos at 7th St. Entry
July 17: Emery at Turf Club
Aug. 1: Mohanad Elshieky at Turf Club
Aug. 1: Julie Eddy at 7th St. Entry
Aug. 9: Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers at The Parkway Theater
Sept. 11: "Weird Al" Yankovic at The Ledge Amphitheater
Oct. 2: Low Cut Connie at First Avenue
Oct. 4: Destroyer at Fine Line
Oct. 11: Greensky Bluegrass at Palace Theatre (moved from March)
Oct. 24: The Folsom Prison Experience at The Fitzgerald Theater
Nov. 11: Belly: Celebrating King at 30 at The Parkway Theater
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Cut to 20 years later, I find myself in a situation where I call upon the skillsets that he introduced to me. LOUIS MCCARTNEY One of our directors, Justin Martin. He's been one of the people who stepped up when I moved away from home, as a director and being there for me as a bro, just hanging out and keeping me going through the hard times. AUDRA MCDONALD Zoe Caldwell, who I did Master Class with in 1996. I didn't know what I was doing and I was very frightened about working with her, because she was such grand lady and one of the greatest actresses of the theater. But she ended up becoming such a mentor that I named one of my daughters after her. I learned from Zoe by watching how disciplined she was about the preparation for each performance, about knowing everybody's name at the theater, making sure that she was thanking everybody on a nightly basis. I have adopted a lot of her methods, one of which is making sure that I'm at the theater a good three hours before showtime. I don't want the train to be about to take off and I'm just getting to the theater. I'm going to be the one to make sure that the train is ready to go. JONATHAN GROFF Our choreographer, Shannon Lewis, is a prolific Broadway dancer, but Just in Time was her choreographic debut. I've never really danced before this, and she was, 'I got you.' She gave me 10 weeks of dance lessons, three times a week, before the first day of rehearsal. She taught me this thirty-minute physical warm-up of five different songs that she has on a playlist, and I do it every day before doing the show. COLE ESCOLA Darren's wife. [laughs] Actually, there's this great interview where Zoe Caldwell is telling this anecdote about when she stepped in for Anne Bancroft in The Devils, and she's recalling a line off the cuff and turns her head and goes right into character. The lights don't actually change, but you feel like there's a lighting change and a temperature drop — I'm getting goosebumps now just thinking about it. But it reminded me, 'Oh, it's just about having immediate and free access to your imagination.' So, Darren's wife and Zoe Caldwell. SARAH SNOOK The vocal coach that I worked with in Australia, Geraldine Cook. I hadn't done theater since 2016, and needed to get my instrument back into shape and to get the athleticism going for this particular show, with so many different characters and talking for two hours straight, yelling and speaking quietly and all of that. And she was really instrumental in being able to switch them on quickly, and to also know that I have something to go back on when, in the 10th week, you're like, 'My voice is shot. What am I going to do?' NICOLE SCHERZINGER It's not necessarily a person for me, it's a higher power, because it's so much bigger than me — as we all know, it is a lot. So I'd have to say a higher power, and my ancestors. Cole, you'd been thinking about doing something about Mary Todd Lincoln for 15 years. Why her? ESCOLA I had the idea, 'What if Abraham Lincoln's assassination was a good thing for Mary Todd?' [laughs] But it's really a story about someone with a dream that everyone around her thinks is stupid — and that's how I felt about this idea, so it's very meta. It's Mary's story, and then it's my story with the show— SCHERZINGER And Norma's story. ESCOLA And Rose's story. My deep fear is that I'm irredeemably annoying. So I thought, 'Can you root for someone who's completely annoying, with no redeeming qualities? Can you have the audience on her side by the end, even though she's just id the whole time? That was my hope.' Audra, at the age of 10, you were part of a production of at a dinner theater in Fresno? MCDONALD Yes, I was one of Uncle's Jocko's buddies. [laughs] Over the years since, was it even an aspiration of yours to be a part of a Broadway production of it? Where did the idea come from? MCDONALD Gavin Creel [the Tony-winning actor who died of cancer last year just 48], who was a wondrous friend to many of us here. He brought Sara Bareilles to Thanksgiving dinner at our house, and my older daughter was obsessed with Sara, so at one point Gavin said to her, 'Why don't you go talk to her?' And then, as I was nursing my younger daughter upstairs, I heard Sara at the piano and my older daughter, who plays the bass, playing 'Who Made You King of Anything?' I ran downstairs to take pictures, and then Gavin said, 'Oh, honey, I want to talk to you about something! Come here!' And he dragged me into the garage and told me his idea that I should play Rose in Gypsy. SCHERZINGER Wow, that's an amazing story! MCDONALD So it's a tribute to Gavin. He's the one who put it in my head. Jonathan, you portray Bobby Darin from around 19 to 31, and he died at 37. Your association with this project goes back to 2018? GROFF Eight years ago, [producer] Ted Chapin asked me to do a night of Bobby Darin music at the 92nd Street Y. Sort of like you, Cole, part of my inspiration is watching clips of divas singing, so I went home and watched Bobby Darin performing on YouTube, and I had this reaction that I normally feel when I watch Barbra [Streisand] or Judy [Garland] or Beyoncé — it's usually reserved for a female performer, but he was singing for his life. Then I started learning about him, that he was told that he was going to die by the time he was 16, so from 16 to 37 was all borrowed time for him, and is reflected in the primal way that he's leaping, in these black and white clips, off of my computer screen. I read this quote that, 'At the end of the day, he was a nightclub animal,' which is now a line at the end of our show. So at the Y, we started doing his music live, which was really fun, but then all of a sudden, in the space between audience and performer, it felt spiritual. For the last seven and a half years, we've been trying to make it happen [on Broadway]. And now we're at Circle in the Square, finally getting to do it for an audience, and it's like drugs. It's great. Nicole, the world first got to know you through the Pussycat Dolls — you ladies were together from 2003 through 2010 — but from what I understand, your interest in and involvement with theater predated that, and you've been on a quest to get back to it. In fact, I was invited to something at the Pendry Hotel in LA in 2022, and I wasn't sure what was behind it, but I was thrilled to get to see you— SCHERZINGER You went?! Yes. This was an intimate performance that you gave, which sort of connects to , right? SCHERZINGER I got my first job when I was about 14 at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky — which, for Louisville, Kentucky, is big time, y'all — and I was in a youth performing arts high school. That's where I found my tribe. I always felt, since I was a little girl, that I didn't really fit in and didn't really feel comfortable in my skin, but then I went to this performing arts school and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, these humans are just like me!' I started out in voice and learned to read music and sang in the choir; and then I went to musical theater. Ms. Mateus cast me in Alice when I was 15— ESCOLA Alice in Wonderland? SCHERZINGER Alice in Wonderland. ESCOLA Okay. It could have been Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. [laughs] SCHERZINGER And that was big-time for me because back then people didn't cast roles like that. I was like, 'Yo, you're casting a Hawaiian-Ukrainian-Filipina girl as Alice?!' So, that's where my love affair began with musical theater. I went on to college and to do a lot more musical theater — summer stock in many different places around the country — so yes, this is over 30 years in the making. In the Dolls we have a song called 'When I Grow Up [I Want to Be Famous],' and we were shooting that music video on Hollywood Blvd. in front of the Pantages, and there's actually a video where I go, 'I always thought I'd end up on that side of the street,' and it pans to the Pantages with Wicked. I was fortunate enough to do Rent at the Hollywood Bowl 10 years ago. Neil Patrick Harris directed it and it had a beautiful cast— CRISS I saw that! It was fantastic. You smoked that. SCHERZINGER Around 2017 or 2018, I was like, 'Can I please audition for things?' And people wouldn't even allow me to audition. So I created my own show and put it on in London, New York at the Django, and then in LA [at the Pendry]. I was like, 'I'm just going to go put it on myself and invite people to come.' It was all the roles that I wanted to be cast in and all the songs that I wanted to sing. And that's what you saw. You obviously achieved your objective, because Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jamie Lloyd approached you about — and I know you sort of thought at the time, 'Is it a great compliment or insult to be asked to play Norma Desmond?' But I think the ultimate compliment came after Andrew Lloyd Webber later said that your performance is the best thing that he's ever seen in anything that he's been a part of, which is high praise. ESCOLA He didn't see me in Cats. [laughs] Darren, is an original musical. How did it get on your radar and how did you wind up bringing it to Broadway? CRISS I think all the best stories that we weren't really prepared to hear — Batman or Star Wars are examples. If you were trying to elevator-pitch any of them, people would be like, 'What the fuck are you talking about? That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard.' So it is fun to be part of something so singular. I was telling Audra that I name-drop her every night when people come by to say hello. I say, 'I don't envy the Herculean task that Audra has. First, it's over three hours of ripping your soul out vocally, emotionally, all these things. But because it's such a known piece, people also come in with comparisons and expectations, which isn't fair to her— MCDONALD And singing along! [laughs] CRISS Because I've done shows like Little Shop [of Horrors, Off Broadway] and Hedwig [and the Angry Inch, on Broadway] where people know the material, that can also be an obstacle and something that you have to overcome, for better or for worse. For me, I've never been a part of anything where audience has been completely unencumbered by expectation or experience. That in itself is an obstacle, because now I have to try and convince them that this is something somewhat worthwhile, but it is amazing to feel that the gasp of, 'What is going on?!' But in short, this came to me in 2018, and it was just a matter of being available — the pandemic and then a strike and so many things that happened until finally the stars aligned in a way that I'm so grateful for. Sarah, was never done for the stage until 2020, when it was first performed in Australia. How did you wind up attached to it? SNOOK Kip [Williams, the playwright] and I had a conversation about it around March of 2023. I was about to go and shoot the final scenes in Barbados for season four of Succession. I went, 'This is an amazing thing that's about to end, and this is something else that I could go on to.' The question, first of all, was, 'What's the earliest you think you could do this? We have a theater we're looking at in August.' [laughs] I was like, 'I have a baby I'm currently cooking. She's due in April. So there's no way I can make August work. The earliest I could do it is this time next year.' And so they accommodated that. You're used to having to perform a lot of lines very quickly, between Sorkin's with and , among other things, but doing so while also literally running from one character into another, as you do in , is different. SNOOK It's different. And it's prose that has been turned into dialogue and that has to be spoken in a way that the audience can receive it, to understand it, to be engaged with it — finding places to be incredibly swift with it, because we need to be moving on and get the audience leaning forward, and then also to allow them to sort of sit back for a second and enjoy the pretty pictures. And I think, ironically, that having a baby and doing this show was maybe a good choice because it means that you stay very straight and narrow. You're not going out after the show to have a drink or wind down. It's like, 'No, I've got to go breastfeed in two hours, so I'm going to try to get another hour-and-a-half of sleep now, wake up and feed, and then go back to sleep.' Louis, you're only 21. What was going on in your life when you first heard about ? Were you already a watcher of ? MCCARTNEY I was just moving out of Dublin. My dad and I were doing our little YouTube channel, which is how they [the show's producers] got wind of me, and how my agent got wind of me me as well. I was finishing up season three of Hope Street, which was the soap I did. And then I got wind of this 'untitled Netflix play directed by Stephen Daldry,' and I did three to four months of auditions, and was flying back to Belfast, and finally we got word that it was Henry Creel, so all my focus then turned on Jamie Campbell Bower [who played the character on the TV show] and his performance in season four. I think he's phenomenal — I wanted to emulate that, but also create my own line of Henry Creel because he's a kid in the show, and we're dealing with this idea, 'What if he's a good boy? What if he just wants to go to school and get a girlfriend?' At the start of the process, I judged him and thought that he was a bad kid, but now I think he's a really good kid and it's his conditioning and the people around him that shaped him. But that's the question of our play. It's quite a psychological Greek take on Stranger Things. You've got the mother archetype and you have the tragic hero, very Hamlet, and there's lots of questions to the stars, 'Why me and why am I like this?' But also keeping with the mythology of Stranger Things and honoring the fans. It has now been 10 years since the opening on Broadway of a little show called , which Mr. Groff here helped to bring to life. Jonathan, 10 years later, what do you believe is the greatest legacy of ? GROFF That Lin-Manuel Miranda is a fucking genius and wrote an unparalleled work of art. I replaced Brian d'Arcy James in the show Off Broadway at the Public Theater. He originated the role of the King, so I got this really interesting experience with the show because I always felt outside of it and inside of it at the same time. Lin and I became friends when I was doing Spring Awakening and he was doing In The Heights, and we had stayed in touch, and then Brian had to leave and Lin texted me, 'What are you doing next month? Can you come be in the show that I wrote for a couple months Off Broadway?' I was like, 'Sure.' I went on a Friday and was in the show on Tuesday. When I saw it, I was like, 'Oh my God!' I mean, we all had that experience seeing it. The King is only on stage for nine minutes; when we moved to Broadway to the Richard Rodgers, I would peek through the curtain, watching the show. Lin is such a brilliant performer, he has such an awareness of storytelling and audience, and he knew how to keep everyone's attention for two-and-a-half, three hours. Even when I'm listening to the mashup that we're doing on the Tonys I'm like, 'Oh my God, Hamilton is so good!' Now it's been around for a decade and you're like, 'Oh, yeah, it's Hamilton' — it's the poster and it's 'send all your friends to see it' and whatever. But every time I re-engage with the material, it's just pure genius. Audra, yours is the sixth Broadway incarnation of , and you are the first person of color to play Rose. You've been navigating this conversation your whole life, or at least since you were 16 and playing Eva Perón in . Also, you received your first Tony nomination for , for a part that had been played by white people. Can you take us into your experience with nontraditional casting? MCDONALD I was very lucky growing up in Fresno, California, and having two parents who needed something for their very hyperactive, over-emotional, over-dramatic child who was struggling deeply. They found this dinner theater for me, and I went and auditioned and became a part of the little junior troupe. And once I was a part of that troupe, like when all of us kind of find theater, it was, 'Oh, here I am!' ESCOLA 'Bye, everyone!' MCDONALD 'I know who I am now.' Or, 'I know that there are a lot of people like me,' whether we know who we are or not. But in that theater in Fresno, I at one point was cast to play the Servant Girl in The Miracle Worker — I just ran out and auditioned for it and got the part — and my parents said, 'Absolutely not. You will not be playing that part. We don't need to have you out there perpetuating stereotypes. There are other roles for you.' From then on, it was, 'What role do you think you can play? And make them say no to you.' So when the call came to audition for Carousel, I think that helped me. I'm trying to find who a person is, not what they look like; that's a part of it, but, 'Who are they? And is there something in my soul that can help illuminate who that character is?' And that's what I feel about what's happened with Rose. The main thing with me playing Rose as a Black woman is we are not shrinking away from it. We have not changed a single line. We have not changed any of the grammar. A lot of people come to this show and say, 'Oh, well Rose is saying 'that ain't this' and 'that ain't that' — I'm like, 'That's what Arthur Laurents wrote!' I felt I just knew who she was, and why couldn't it be a Black woman's story? Why couldn't it be an Asian woman's story? It could be anybody's story! Cole, you're a bit of a trailblazer yourself. Over the last few years, there have been a couple of non-binary performers who have been recognized, but not many. Some award shows have adopted gender-neutral awards. That is not the case obviously at the Tonys, so you had to weigh in on which of the existing categories you wanted to be eligible for, and selected best actor in a play. But how did you feel about having to make that call? And is that something that you hope changes? ESCOLA I do hope it changes, yeah. I didn't love having to make that choice. There are arguments, 'Well, women are given so little, and that would take more away from them,' but at the Drama Desks last year, best performer went to Sarah Paulson and Jessica Lange; no men won, and I think the same thing happened in the supporting category. So I don't know, it's such a weird thing, it's almost arbitrary — 'Well, a man couldn't play this same role that a woman can play.' Well, an eighty-year-old couldn't play Juliet — well, I shouldn't say that. An eighty-year-old could play Juliet. But where the lines are drawn, I guess, doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Best director is gender-neutral. Every other category is. ESCOLA Every other category. MCDONALD It makes for a shorter night. [laughs] ESCOLA It makes for a shorter night. I don't know. I just want to do my show and be myself, and I don't want to push people's buttons — well, that's not true. [laughs] I do want to push people's buttons, but not those buttons. Another topic of conversation in the community is the role that technology is playing. Sarah and Nicole have camera rigs on stage with large screens that give us a look into things that people never would've been able to see on Broadway until a few years ago. Louis, some of the effects in your show are unbelievable, and probably wouldn't have been possible pre-, the effects of which were handled by some of the same people who worked on your show and are getting a special Tony for them. In the case of the three of your shows, the technology helps to connect the stories to the world of today, especially for younger audiences, wouldn't you say? SNOOK Yeah, absolutely. Technology is always going to advance — we invent things and we find ways to incorporate them into our lives. And we've always had theater — it's an ancient art form. So inevitably you're going to incorporate technological advancements into theater in some ways. And as long as it has a dramaturgical purpose and an active influence on the audience, I think there's a place for it. This show wouldn't be possible without the camerawork that the camerapeople do, and also the video they record, edits that we've created beforehand. And it's amazing to work inside of that. Nicole, how did you acclimate to acting while there are people with cameras running around you? SCHERZINGER I guess I'm kind of used to cameras with singing, but I didn't have a choice. It makes sense, obviously, because Norma is a film star, that he incorporated that. And we don't have a set or props or anything, so we're able to tell that story on stage and then to be a little bit more intimate when the camera is involved. But yeah, as pop star, this [points to the left side of her face] is my good side. I'm sitting on my bad side [points to the right side of her face] today. [laughs] So I've had to throw all that down the drain. He [director Jamie Lloyd] has taken me out of my comfort zone, but it's what's got me here today. It's supposed to emanate from within, anyway. We've established that unbelievable physicality is demanded of each of you in these roles. Audra, you've said that you've never played a more exhausting part. Darren, I don't know how you don't need a chiropractor walking around with you all day. SCHERZINGER I have several good ones. CRISS I've got to ask Nicole. What do you do for yourself physically between performances? CRISS I'm really militant about contrast therapy. It's this ancient Norwegian stuff. It's being in a hot bath and a cold plunge. I'll do a sauna and a steam. I do this two, three times a week for about a half hour. MCDONALD Do you have a sauna in your dressing room?! SCHERZINGER And a cold plunge?! CRISS I do not. I wish I did. I'll go to a place that has a sauna. I'll do a steam room for 15 minutes, a cold plunge for three minutes, and a sauna for 15. I'll do it in-between shows. It's a meditative thing. It's good for my respiratory system, circulatory system and immune system, and that is how I keep my battery charged. It's a reset. It's my time to just relax. I feel I'm on a beach. I close my eyes and just drown out the world. MCDONALD I would never come for the second show. [laughs] CRISS Well, it's that cold plunge at the very end, sitting in 45-degree water for three minutes. After that I'm like, 'All right, let's go, we've got another one!' SNOOK I just sleep. I think it's so important. I mean, for me, I need eight hours. ESCOLA Between shows? [laughs] SNOOK You've got to have the deep-sleep recovery because it heals your body. SCHERZINGER That's how I feel too. I have to tell myself, 'It's a new day, it's a new performance.' ESCOLA It's reminding me of that Ethel Merman quote: 'Warm up? That's what the opening number's for!' [laughs] I can't rest between shows because then I wouldn't get up. MCDONALD I can't either. Other shows I've been able to, but I can't sleep in between this one. Our show is basically three hours, so especially on a Wednesday matinee, we've got a 2pm and a 7:30pm, so I only have enough time to do PT and then sit down for a few minutes and stare at a wall. ESCOLA Yeah, exactly. The wall stare. You all move back and forth between screen and stage work. When you go from one to the other, what is the thing that you most consciously have to remind yourself to do differently? ESCOLA I don't [do things differently], and that's why I always get told on [a film or TV] set, 'Just less.' [laughs] MCDONALD 'Think louder.' I used to be so afraid of the camera. Once I figured out that the camera is the audience, I realized that I could think louder and the camera will pick it up. ESCOLA Oh, I've got to write that down. SCHERZINGER I'm taking that. Speaking of moving back and forth between the stage and screen, some people will discover you through one and not even know that you do the other. Darren, you told me a funny story about this earlier today. CRISS There's no prerequisite for you to know anything about a person's career. I'll never forget, I saw this queen [McDonald] a long time ago at one of her shows in Los Angeles, and there was a woman next to me who loved Private Practice [the ABC TV series on which McDonald appeared from 2007 through 2011]. We were just small-talking before you went on, and I mentioned Ragtime and all these shows that I've loved your performances in. And she says, 'I didn't know she was a singer.' And I'm like, 'You best buckle up, you're about to get served some serious fucking shit!' [laughs] I just was so moved by that because, again, there's no prerequisite here. Her gateway drug was Private Practice. We take all kinds. We're happy to have you! MCDONALD No, it's true. People who don't usually come to see theater, but come for some reason — 'Well, I love Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls, so I'm coming to see her' or 'I love Sarah from Succession' or whatever — what usually happens is they get bit by the theater bug. They get a taste, and then they want more. Let's close with some fun rapid-fire stuff. Excluding relatives, who's the person whose attendance at one of your performances of your current show has meant the most to you? ESCOLA Elaine May. GROFF Tom Hanks. MCCARTNEY Tom Hanks as well. SNOOK Bette Midler. CRISS Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. SCHERZINGER Glenn Close or Oprah. What's the most unusual thing in your dressing room? ESCOLA Me. [laughs] MCCARTNEY Dried lavender that I have yet to buy a vase for. SNOOK I've got a little crochet doll of the characters of Dorian and Jane from Predestination [a 2014 film in which she starred] and my Met Gala outfit, which this incredibly talented young woman crocheted. I love them, and so does my daughter — she loves to play with them. What's the most annoying thing that audience members are doing at Broadway shows in 2025? SNOOK I don't get particularly annoyed by it because I know the impulse, but I do just want to make a PSA that we can see your phones when they're up. It's a reflective surface reflecting back onto the stage. I can see you filming. [laughs] MCDONALD We can't do anything about phones. It is what it is. But at curtain call, it's almost like no one's applauding anymore because they're all filming! It's the weirdest thing to me. 'Well, then we'll just go.' SCHERZINGER Because they're trying to catch that legacy, honey! They got to get it. [laughs] Also, we can hear you eating. Sometimes with the rustling, I'm like, 'Did you get it? Did you?' Last one. If you could snap your fingers and make it so, what would be the ideal number of performances you would perform per week? SCHERZINGER That is a great question. MCDONALD That is a really good question. CRISS Do you get to decide when they are? Absolutely. MCDONALD Wednesday matinée is gone. SNOOK Yeah, I think seven is good. MCCARTNEY We do a double-double — two on Saturday and two on Sunday — so we don't have a Wednesday matinée. SNOOK The Sunday matinée is not something that exists in London, but it's fantastic. SCHERZINGER Delightful. SNOOK Because then you get a spare night! SCHERZINGER Six would be lush. You could just do it forever then. A version of this story appeared in the June 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)
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How life changed for a 102-year-old woman after viral moment: "I got a million calls"
A chance meeting at Chicago's airport has transformed 102-year-old Beatrice Stieber into an unlikely social media sensation, spreading her simple philosophy of life to millions around the world. CBS News contributor David Begnaud first encountered Steiber during a layover earlier this year. Their impromptu interview, in which the centenarian shared her secrets to longevity, garnered nearly 9 million views and more than 17,000 comments on social media. "The secret to me is attitude and gratitude," Steiber told Begnaud during their initial meeting. "Attitude and gratitude, attitude and gratitude." The overwhelming response prompted Begnaud to return to Chicago, where Stieber has lived since 1953, for a follow-up visit. Despite her age, Stieber maintains an active lifestyle in her apartment building, where she has resided for more than 40 years. She grocery shops independently and deep cleans her own home. Building manager Ken noted her sharp mind, saying he would never guess she's over 100 years old. "I always get taken for 70," Stieber said. "Not only that, there are a couple of 70-year-olds that look like they're 102." Stieber was married to her late husband, Robert, for 52 years and raised two sons, Jay, 77, and Dean, 68. She continued driving until age 98. Her philosophy on life remains refreshingly simple after more than a century of experiences. "You plot along and you find the humor and you say thank you for the trees, thank you for life," she said. "Life is a miracle." The viral fame has brought unexpected connections. Fans from Long Island, New York, and New Jersey called Stieber, sharing how her message of gratitude has impacted their lives. "She changed my life for the better," said Carmel from New Jersey. "Sometimes I used to be a little bit sad, but after I saw her, I want to live." The visit concluded with a celebration of Stieber's 102-and-a-half birthday at her favorite Chicago restaurant, surrounded by family — a fitting tribute to someone who believes every moment deserves celebration. "Thank you, God, for everything," Stieber said while making her birthday wish. Her unexpected internet fame hasn't gone to her head, though she admits the attention has been overwhelming. "I got a million calls," she said."I live in a world where I couldn't even imagine the response. I couldn't even imagine we met by accident." David Begnaud loves uncovering the heart of every story and will continue to do so, highlighting everyday heroes and proving that there is good news in the news with his exclusive "CBS Mornings" series, "Beg-Knows America." Every Monday, get ready for moments that will make you smile or even shed a tear. Do you have a story about an ordinary person doing something extraordinary for someone else? Email David and his team at DearDavid@
