Cole Escola, Jim Parsons, Zoey Deutch, Daniel Dae Kim and More Recall Their Most Memorable ‘Broadway Firsts’
variety.comEmiliana Betancourt The current crop of Broadway actors, creators, producers and thought leaders congregated at Variety’s annual Business of Broadway Breakfast, presented by City National Bank.
Amidst the conversations with “Sunset Boulevard” star Nicole Scherzinger and panels hosted by the cast and creator of the new Broadway addition “Yellow Face,” Variety paused to quiz the theater kids on their most memorable Broadway Firsts. “The first Broadway show that I ever saw was ‘Kiss Me, Kate.’ I was in New York, on a school trip,” said “Oh Mary!” creator and star Cole Escora, who was around 13 then. “I was so pissed.
I didn’t want to be there. I had no idea what it was. And then, Marin Mazzie makes her entrance in this big hat. And she turns around in sunglasses.
I was sold. It was heaven. I was in love.” Jim Parsons recalled how his first Broadway performance ended with the waterworks. “I remember we had had a very short rehearsal process, and so I was very nervous,” the “Our Town” actor said. “I remember going on stage for the first scene of the first preview; I finished the scene, and I walked off-stage, and I guess all the tension released.
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