Show People with Paul Wontorek: Katharine McPhee of WAITRESS

Get Tickets to WAITRESS:
https://www.broadway.com/shows/waitress/

SMASH and AMERICAN IDOL alum Katharine McPhee discusses making her Broadway debut in WAITRESS, her theatrical upbringing and the secret SMASH episode Christian Borle wrote.

Here are some must-read highlights:

ON PLAYING THE TITLE ROLE IN ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
“I went to school at Boston Conservatory for three semesters to study musical theater. I learned a lot and had great teachers, but I wanted to get back to Los Angeles and just start working, which didn’t necessarily go the way I planned. American Idol was not part of the plan, but I knew I wanted to start something. I wanted to skip the debt from college. But when I left school, I did Annie Get Your Gun at the Cabrillo Music Theatre. I was 20 years old. I had been told there were quite a few Equity women who were auditioning for it, and I wasn’t Equity. I thought, ‘Well, at least I’ll get in the ensemble,’ and they gave me Annie. It was really the last starring role I did onstage before this Broadway debut fourteen years later. I think I was quite good in that role.”

ON AUDITIONING FOR AMNERIS IN AIDA
“When the auditions for Hairspray came into Boston, everyone went and auditioned for Bernie Telsey’s office. My voice is not quite right for Hairspray. I didn’t end up getting into the show, but they actually had me come into New York that following week to audition for Aida. That was my first Broadway audition, for Amneris in Aida. When I then auditioned for Smash, Bernie Telsey’s whole crew said they remembered me from that Aida audition. I would love to do that show.”

ON CHRISTIAN BORLE'S SECRET SMASH EPISODE
“Christian Borle had written an episode. He had an idea of where the show could go. It was so frickin’ brilliant. This was like five years ago now. It was really fascinating where he thought the stories and characters could go. I feel like it’d have to take place five years later. Maybe someone goes to Hollywood. Maybe they’re in Los Angeles working on a show, and they’re miserable because all they want to do it get back to Broadway. There are so many things that you could do.”

ON HER THEATRICAL UPBRINGING
“My mom was always doing regional productions of either Show Boat or Man of La Mancha. My dad would get my sister and myself into the car, and we’d drive up and watch the show. She played Julie in Show Boat, and I had a panic attack when I was younger because they cut her hand onstage. I was terrified, but the music was so beautiful. She played Aldonza in Man of La Mancha. I had to see that show A LOT. My parents wouldn’t take us to see movies very much, but they would take us to see theater. My sister was the one that was obsessed with Broadway. I didn’t really understand the concept of it, but she wanted to do it, so I wanted to do it too.”

ON HER BROADWAY JOURNEY
“When I came off of American Idol, at that time, it was a pretty natural progression fo Idol alums to go do a Broadway show. If I’m being honest, I got offered to do some shows, but I turned them down because I just didn’t feel like it was going to be special enough or that it was something I was really passionate about. I wanted it to be something that made me really excited to make my Broadway debut.”

ON BOOKING WAITRESS
“Last year, they had asked me about my interest. I knew the music vaguely, but then I immersed myself in it and was suddenly obsessed with the show. Sara Bareilles decided to take over for Jessie Mueller. A year later, they offered the role to me. Sara and I had just done a charity event in Los Angeles. We were both singing it. She heard me singing from the green room while I was in rehearsal. She said she was impressed, which was so sweet. They asked me, and I was 100 percent in.”

ON LIVING HER SMASH CHARACTER’S DREAMS
“Karen Cartwright is living her best life. A lot of this feels very nostalgic. When we were shooting Smash, other than saying ‘Cut,’ when you were doing those scenes, it really was like doing a musical. We had these epic shots panning from what would be going on onstage in front of the audience and then what would be going on in the wings, be it the stage managers walking or the actors goofing behind the curtain. Smash just keeps popping up. Megan Hilty came and saw the show. They just axed it too soon, and they didn’t give it a chance.”

ON BINGEWATCHING SMASH YEARS LATER
"I had the stomach flu about a year ago and was stuck in bed. My friend was keeping me company, and she said, 'Let's bingewatch Smash!' I was like, 'Oh wow! This was a great show.' Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's music is SO GOOD. I would be 100 percent in to them bringing it to Broadway. I'd want to be a producer."