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DIVA TALK: Chatting with Grease's Ashley Spencer Plus News of LuPone (1980 and 2008), Paige
By Andrew Gans
15 Aug 2008
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Ashley Spencer
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News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.
ASHLEY SPENCER
The Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre — directed and choreographed by Tony winner Kathleen Marshall — welcomed two new leads at the end of last month: Ashley Spencer as the sweet, wholesome new-girl-in-town Sandy Dumbrowski and Derek Keeling as leader-of-the-pack Danny Zuko. Both Spencer and Keeling were finalists in NBC's reality TV audition series, "Grease: You're the One That I Want"; Spencer was the runner-up for the role of Sandy, which was eventually won by Laura Osnes, who opened the current revival in August 2007. Although she didn't win the casting competition, it was clear from Spencer's TV performances that Broadway would soon welcome the young singing actress; in fact, Spencer made her Main Stem debut in Hairspray (as Amber von Tussle) just four months after the reality program aired. And, now, a year later she has succeeded Osnes in the role originally created on Broadway by Carole Demas and later immortalized on screen by Olivia Newton-John. I had the chance to chat with Spencer just three days after she stepped into the revival of the '50s-themed musical; that interview follows.
Question: How have your first few performances been?
Ashley Spencer: They've been great! Today will be my third performance. The more I do it, the better it feels and the more comfortable I am. . . . The cast and the crew have been so helpful and so fun and just great to be around.
Question: How did the role come about for you?
Spencer: I was on the TV show and came in second to Laura [Osnes]. When the TV show ended, I auditioned for Hairspray and was lucky enough to be in Hairspray for a year. My agent got a call from Charlotte Wilcox, who is the general manager at Grease, and she asked if I would want to replace Laura in July, and I said yes.
Question: So you didn't have to audition again?
Spencer: I didn't. I was hoping that my audition on national television would have been enough. [Laughs.]
Question: When you look back on the casting show, what are your thoughts about the experience?
Spencer: Now that I look back on it, just crazy stressful! There's no audition like that. I feel fearless going into any other audition because nothing will match that — ever!
Question: I also would think it must have been such a big disappointment to get that far — to get to the top two — and then not get the role.
Spencer: Of course, it was very hard to get over. It was devastating because the whole process in itself was stressful and draining, but there was still, behind that, the excitement of, "Am I gonna get it? Am I gonna win?" Then to have it pulled away from me at the last moment was [difficult]. I was so disappointed for a long time. I was in a funk. . . . [Although] I was very disappointed, I was thrilled for the opportunity and just thankful for that in itself. Then when Hairspray came along and I auditioned and I got it, I just couldn't have been happier. I was like, "Things are working out. I was meant to be in Hairspray first instead of Grease." Being on Broadway for a year has prepared me so much. I am now more prepared than ever to be Sandy. I now know what it takes to do eight shows a week, and I have the stamina for it. I've learned so much from people on Broadway. It's just incredible.
Question: Do you remember what your first night on Broadway was like in Hairspray?
Spencer: Excited, nervousness, like any other show that you go into, I guess. . . . When I came into the show, [I worried people would think], "Great, another reality show girl taking a role from Broadway people." But that wasn't the case at all. I was really nervous about not being accepted, and I felt that I had to kind of prove myself, and I feel that I did just that. I think I changed everybody's mind in that I wasn't just a girl coming from a TV show, and I really kind of earned my place there. And, I worked my butt off, I really did! [Laughs.] I want to be on Broadway for a while, and I think that your first show sets the bar for your career.
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Ashley Spencer as Sandy
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| photo by Joan Marcus |
Question: How has being on Broadway differed from what your dream of it was?
Spencer: I think it's everything that I expected it to be. It's exciting. It's so wonderful to come through that stage door everyday, and it's great to leave and hear screaming fans. That feeling is like nothing else in the entire world. Just being on that humongous stage every night is thrilling, and I am so lucky to be one of the very few people to have a job on Broadway.
Question: Getting back to Grease, what was the rehearsal process like? I know sometimes when you step into a show, you don't get all that much time.
Spencer: You don't. What's different for me is that I had two weeks of rehearsal, a full two weeks, for Hairspray, and one put-in rehearsal. And, then I came into Grease, and I did double duty for one week. I rehearsed during the day and then I did Hairspray at night. I only had six rehearsals and a put-in rehearsal for Grease, and then I was on.
Question: What was the first Grease performance like?
Spencer: It was really nerve-wracking. There were cameras there and people from [the theatre websites] and agents and close family and friends who insisted on coming on opening night. I felt like everyone had high expectations and I had to meet them. Of course, I was shaky and nervous, and I was kind of glad to get the first show out of the way so that I could relax a little more and enjoy myself. It was kind of hard to enjoy myself on opening night, if you know what I mean.
Question: Tell me about working with Derek. I did watch the TV series, but I don't remember if you worked with him much on the show.
Spencer: I really didn't. On the TV show we did one thing together. We partnered with each other on one of the group numbers, and that was it. We didn't do anything else together. So it was thrilling and exciting to actually get to work with him and form a relationship and form chemistry with him and find new things. It was helpful for me because I've never done any form of Grease, not even in a community theatre or anything, so this is all brand new to me. He was on tour for two years with Grease, so it was helpful to me for him to know the show so well. We also have formed our own Sandy and Danny with each other.
Question: How would you describe Sandy?
Spencer: My description of Sandy is she's sweet and demure and, like any new girl coming into a brand-new school not knowing anyone, she just wants to be liked and gives everybody the benefit of the doubt. At the same time, my Sandy doesn't let people walk all over her . . . . I kind of have her a backbone. I think that sometimes when I've seen it done, Sandy is kind of — well, I don't want to say wimpy. I feel that she personally has a backbone and she sticks up for herself. She's sweet and she just hasn't maybe experienced certain things that other girls have. She's not at that place in her life. But she met this guy, she met Danny over the summer, and then everything gradually starts to change for her when she gets into this new school. She becomes tougher and more aware of things as the show progresses, so it kind of builds up to the finale when she comes out and she's full-throttle, cigarette-in-hand and ready to change.
Question: Do you have a favorite moment in the show yet for the character?
Spencer: There's a rec room scene right before I have my quick change for the finale and I sing the "Sandra Dee" reprise. It's a huge turning point for her because she's made a decision to step it up and see what [Danny's] reaction is going to be.
Question: Did Laura [Osnes] or Max [Crumm] have any advice for you? Did you get to speak with them before you went into the show?
Spencer: Not really. They wished us luck and told us to just go there and rock it and do our own thing, to make it our own and go out and have fun and not to listen to the critics or take things too personally. Continued...
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