Broadway News
Jane Krakowski Shares Tales From Her Dangerous Broadway Debut in Starlight Express
The Tony winner also discusses watching the 72nd annual Tonys—and why she hasn’t missed a year yet.
Jane Krakowski appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers June 11 to recap the 2018 Tony Awards. Krakowski, who was last nominated in 2016 for She Loves Me and won a Tony in 2003 for Nine, shared that she watched this year’s awards from the comfort of her own home.
“It was the first time I actually watched an awards show with my son who is seven,” she said. Together, they cheered on friends like Tina Fey, who was nominated for Best Book of a Musical for Mean Girls. “I’m trying to get my son as addicted to it as I am.”
Read: 7 MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM THE 2018 TONY AWARDS
Krakowski grew up watching the Tonys every year: “My father would tape every Tony Awards. I would learn every number that they did live. Back in the day they used to do one number in the show; now they do little montages. It's a little harder for you to do a little montage in your living room by yourself. But I would learn every word from the number they did from Evita or all the different musicals that were popular. It's what inspired me and made me want to try to do this.”
Read: WATCH ALL OF THE PERFORMANCES FROM THE 2018 TONY AWARDS
Krakowski also spoke about making her Broadway debut in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express as Dinah, the dining car. “I think part of the reason I got in is because a lot of people who are on Broadway regularly would not audition because it was more roller derby than Broadway musical,” she explained. “A lot of the playing field of the audition wasn't there. I was one of the five girls that was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll be on roller skates!’”
Roller skates became a recurring theme in Krakowski's career, as she went on to lead workshop presentations of the musical Xanadu and donned a pair in the pilot of 30 Rock.
