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Laura Benanti always wanted to play Eliza Doolittle inMy Fair Lady.
To get there, she just had to give up on that dream first.
Starting October 23, Benanti took the lead of the classic musical.
Im just going to keep tweeting.
Im going to tweet myself into the presidency!
I mean, that has worked before, but dont do that.Worked is a very interesting choice of words.
Then Bart [Sher, the director] and I talked on the phone.
He said, I completely understand.
You have a new baby.
I made peace with it.
Ive been wanting to be a mom really as long as Ive wanted to be Eliza Doolittle.
Then I didMeteor Shower, which was a wonderful experience.
It was a really good lesson for me in letting go.
Was there anything specific you found yourself letting go of?Im going to be 40 in July.
I havent really had that thing where I feel like, this is what I do.
See what I can do well?
Im looking forward to maybe having that opportunity after this, and if not, then not.
It was a really interesting lesson too in thinking,This isnt about you right now.
To join this show, you had to do a lot of rehearsing with a stage manager alone.
Bart was there maybe three or four times, and then Maggie Burrows, the associate director.
Right now I feel like Im in previews.
But we worked together for the first timethat day.
It was pretty exciting because it really activated my listening.
I feel like its the culmination of what I understand on a cellular level in the way thatGypsywas too.
I love an arc, I love an underdog.
I love somebody who goes from A to Z. Im so grateful to be doing seven shows a week but even with that its hard.
The Cockney really requires your tongue to work in a different way.
Then youre belting and then youre singing super-high.
To me the next phase is going to be how do I stay vocally healthy.
You should never do the matinees and you shouldneverdo the show twice in one day.
Maybe I have to change it to Wednesday.
When did you first seeMy Fair Ladyas a kid?
How were you first introduced to it?I never saw it.
Id only ever listened to the Julie Andrews record we still have in my mothers house.
I was singing I could have da-a-nced all night, and he was like, No.
I could havedancedall night.
Michael Rafter also had to tell me onThe Sound of Music, No, youre not British.
You also do theMelania Trump impressiononLate Night With Stephen Colbert.
It feels like that impression has gotten more critical of Melania as time has gone by.
Was that intentional?It was.
When we first started in the primaries, when they were just like, Donald Trump?
This isnt gonna happen!
it felt less terrifying because it didnt really seem like he would ever win.
I wanted to tease him through her, because I cant do a Donald Trump impersonation.
But I can make fun of him through her.
I didnt want to make fun ofher.
Shes obviously an intelligent woman, she speaks five languages.
That really made me so angry because family separation is abhorrent.
We were like, Okay, the gloves are off.
I dont think she will Id love if she did.
Well, even if she did, shes enabled a lot along the way.She really has.
I dont want the first line of my obituary to be Melania Trump impersonator.
You recently put together an albumSinging You Homein response to child separation at the border.
How did that come together?I was despondent.
Then I realized that I have these remarkably talented and socially conscious friends who all have these tremendous followings.
The organization RAICES gets 85 percent of the net proceeds and ASTEP gets 15 percent.
Four of the songs are traditional Spanish songs.
The front cover, the drawing was actually done by a little boy who was separated from his father.
Theyve been reunited by RAICES but now he and his father are currently detained.
