They’ve made magic together on screen in 30 Rock and on stage in Damn Yankees at City Center. Now, Jane Krakowski and Cheyenne Jackson are taking their chemistry to Broadway in Cole Escola’s Tony-winning sensation Oh, Mary! Krakowski steps into the corseted, cabaret-obsessed shoes of Mary Todd Lincoln, while Jackson plays her devoted acting teacher. Spectrum News NY1 entertainment journalist Frank DiLella caught up with the longtime pals to talk about their enduring showbiz bond — and why this outrageous new comedy feels like their most joyous reunion yet.
Jane and Cheyenne are back together again! I love it!
JANE KRAKOWSKI: Cheyenne and I have always had a special chemistry. We have this incredible connection and fell in love with each other immediately.
CHEYENNE JACKSON: I told Jane this the other day: She’s one of my favorite scene partners because she’s an aggressively great listener. So, if I give her something new, it always feels alive and electric with her. We’re having a really great time.
JK: I don’t know about Cheyenne, but I’ve never been put into a show before. So, to learn Oh, Mary! in two weeks was wild!
The comedy is so specific in this show. What was it like learning this show so quickly?
CJ: A few months ago, when I got the call from [director] Sam Pinkleton, it was immediate excitement, fear, and pure panic. I was put into a show once — Into the Woods — but I had done that show before, so it was in my bones. This show, I have such reverence for. The book, Cole’s incredible piece that they wrote. I didn’t want to be the weak link, so I never worked so hard on anything — EVER!
JK: I asked Tituss Burgess for some advice before saying yes because he’s a dear friend and he had done the role of Mary before me. He gave me the great advice of learning as much of it before getting to the two weeks of rehearsal, which was brilliant advice. I interestingly started at the end — with the show, with the part we’re not supposed to give away — and then went back to page one.
You two first met playing opposite each other in the workshop of Xanadu.
CJ: Yes.
JK: We became real friends during Xanadu. That process went on for a year.
What’s the secret behind this Cheyenne and Jane love affair?
CJ: Jane is my kinda gal. What I love about Jane, if she messes up something or if she’s unsure about something, she doesn’t pretend she knows. She says “I don’t know” or “I haven’t seen that movie.” A lot of people fake it. I love her honesty and commitment; she wants every moment to be great. She’s my girl.
JK: Cheyenne and I have a chemistry that was instantaneous. And I know before we were both offered Oh, Mary!, Sam Pinkleton, our director, was at one of Cheyenne’s 54 Below shows that I guested in, and I don’t know if he felt the chemistry there, but I wonder if the seed was planted then that he was going to ask us both to be in it. Our voices blend beautifully. I think we both love passing the ball back and forth to each other. I always know when I look into Cheyenne’s eyes on stage he’s there with me.
You both are Broadway babies at your core. What do you love most about being back on stage?
JK: I was such a fan of Oh, Mary! before I was cast in it. I’ve seen every Mary; I saw it six times, I saw Cole twice. I’m a big fangirl of the show. Interestingly, there have been a lot of firsts for me with this show. This is the first time I ever had a put-in. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a billboard or poster of myself on the marquee. It’s the first time I’ve ever had my face on a poster in Shubert Alley. These are things for us theater kids that are giant milestones. So, the fact that these new firsts have come into my career at this time in my life with Oh, Mary! — it’s very special to me.
CJ: I’m so obsessed with this show. I’m constantly looking for a reason to come back to New York in a show. Being back on Broadway in something this joyful, this subversive, this wild and filthy and hilarious and perfect — it is a dream. It’s the only thing that could’ve taken me away from my husband and kids.
I remember chatting with Betty Gilpin and she told me she was going to sneak her oldest child into the last few minutes of the show when she was performing Mary on Broadway. The two of you have kids of your own. Will they be seeing Oh, Mary!?
JK: [Laughs.] Are your kids going to come, Cheyenne?
CJ: No! They’re going to come for your last five minutes. That’s the only time they can see it — they know that. What about Bennett?
JK: He’s on the cusp, I think, with this show. There are one or two moments that he won’t get — or I hope he doesn’t get. Maybe the last seven minutes is the idea. I would love for him to see it. I’m incredibly proud to be here in this show and I think it’s nice to share that with your child. I would love for him to come. I just think I need to have a conversation prepared for the next day. [Laughs.]
In the spirit of the show — without giving too much away — you both have performed in cabaret settings over the years. Who do you look up to in the world of cabaret?
CJ: Marilyn Maye.
JK: Marilyn Maye is still doing it! I would also add Barbara Cook; she is one of the great cabaret artists. Also, Lypsinka and Charles Busch.
CJ: I would also like to mention Sandra Bernhard, who is going to come see us in a couple of weeks.
JK: Don’t tell me — I don’t like to know who’s in the audience.
Cheyenne, speaking of singing on stage: You have your big concert coming up at Carnegie Hall on December 8. Jane, I understand you will be there?
JK: You can’t keep us apart!
CJ: You can’t! Jane is doing me a solid on our night off. This show was born out of a show I did a couple years ago called Signs of Life. I did the show at 54 Below two years in a row. It was autobiographical. It was the most personal thing I had ever done. And on one of the last nights, someone from Carnegie Hall was there and said, “Would you be interested in exploring building this out into a bigger show?” I’ve guested a couple of times at Carnegie Hall, but this is my first solo show. It’s going to be everything: my trajectory from my humble beginnings in Northern Idaho in the woods with an outhouse, a queer kid in a red state making my way to Carnegie Hall. It’s going to be a family affair — my mom and my little sister, she’s a second-grade teacher, my mom is a retired widow in California — they will be there. They’re going to join me on stage and we’re going to sing a trio because my mom taught me how to sing. It’s going to be a cool moment because my mom and I have gone through it politically and spiritually over the last 10 years. It’s going to be hopefully a healing time.
JK: We’re going to do a duet. And I’m so happy to be there and support Cheyenne whenever he asks. I’m honored he asked me. And I’m so proud of him that he’s having this moment.
