"I'm Always Looking For Things That Are Challenging": Aaron Tveit Opens Up About Broadway's "Chess" And His Most Complex Role Yet

You person an unthinkable resume. How does the relation of Freddie basal retired to you?

Aaron: Thank you. I've been precise fortunate that I've gotten to bash a batch of varied work. I’ve ne'er truly done conscionable 1 thing. Especially successful theater, I ever look for analyzable characters. 

I deliberation this is 1 of the astir analyzable characters I've played yet. Freddie is dealing with terrible intelligence wellness issues, and I really wanted to interaction connected that arsenic authentically arsenic possible. I had a batch of conversations astir that with Michael [Mayer], the director, and Danny [Strong], the writer. That's been a batch of enactment and a batch of amusive to dive into. 

On apical of it, I deliberation the singing is the hardest I've ever done. Those 2 things combined person made it rather challenging, but I'm ever looking for things that are challenging. 

It's been truly rewarding to beryllium 4 oregon 5 months in, and I'm inactive learning things astir the amusement and the relation each day. I've been a immense instrumentality of Chess and the euphony for a precise agelong time. It's inactive not sinking successful that I get to beryllium a portion of this revival that I deliberation a batch of radical person waited for.

Freddie has these 2 sides: the swaggering nationalist champion and this profoundly wounded person. How did you attack balancing those?

Aaron: That’s a large question. It each came from reasoning astir his intelligence health. If he's struggling with manic-depressive upset oregon undiagnosed bipolar disorder, it’s each astir those highs and lows.

That gave maine a batch of license. When he’s manic and excited and public-facing, helium gets to beryllium this "rock star" successful his ain mind. I deliberation there’s besides a batch of deep-rooted narcissism wrong of him, truthful that feeds into his qualities. The double-edged sword is: erstwhile each that goes away, helium falls truly hard to the different side.

During Sweeney Todd, the subordinate choreographer, Chelsey Arce, and I started utilizing antithetic colors successful the publication to correspond Sweeney's choler and rage. For Chess, I utilized that aforesaid thought she had, assigning a antithetic colour to Freddie successful each country based connected wherever helium is connected that manic-depressive spectrum.

On the swagger broadside of things, "One Night successful Bangkok" is specified a highlight. It's a precise analyzable scene, particularly however you leap into the pants — however overmuch enactment goes into that number?

Aaron: I'm truthful fortunate that I'm lifted by, I think, 5 of the guys successful the ensemble, and 2 of the women are holding my pants astatine a precise circumstantial spot for maine to get in. So I'm doing the slightest magnitude of enactment successful that infinitesimal — it's truly them that marque it hap each night. I'm precise fortunate to beryllium figuratively and literally supported done that. 

That fig is iconic, right? Even radical who don't cognize Chess person heard that song, truthful there's ever a work that comes with that.

We had this thought to find Freddie arsenic he's disconnected his meds, benignant of self-medicating, for deficiency of a amended term, successful Bangkok. What would it beryllium similar to prop him up and get him acceptable to bash his occupation arsenic an on-camera analyst? That’s wherever it each came from.

We conscionable had truthful overmuch amusive with the ensemble and Lorin Latarro, the choreographer, uncovering retired what that meant, and what we could bash with it. It was this large upland to climb, due to the fact that we were hopefully doing this fig successful our ain way.

On the "wounded" broadside of Freddie, "Pity the Child" is an incredibly vocally challenging and affectional number. When you’re performing it, are you reasoning technically, oregon are you afloat successful the moment?

Aaron: That's a large question. I deliberation it depends connected the day. My anticipation is, particularly with singing, that I've done capable enactment anterior to the rehearsal process. I effort to bash a batch of the method singing navigation earlier I adjacent measurement into the room. Sometimes, if you're disquieted astir the singing, you can't absorption connected the country enactment arsenic overmuch — truthful I effort to bash each that beforehand.

That being said, it's not a cleanable world. We bash 8 shows a week, and it's truly hard. There are decidedly nights, similar this past weekend, erstwhile it got warm, and everything bloomed, and my allergies were conscionable insane. You're trying to fig retired however to navigate each of that, and that's what happens erstwhile you're doing a agelong tally of the show. 

So determination are shows similar that wherever you're decidedly thinking, "Okay, wherever americium I placing this? How americium I going to sing this?" There’s astir a "split-brain" happening that happens. Part of your encephalon is reasoning technically, portion different portion is focused connected the scene. 

With "Pity the Child" successful particular, I knew the opus and had been acquainted with it, but I didn’t afloat recognize what it was astir until moving connected this production. It’s truly Freddie being forced to look wrong himself for the archetypal time.

It's a precise fascinating happening to beryllium discovering each of that with the assemblage successful that moment. It's an astonishing happening successful the theatre erstwhile you get to beryllium unsocial connected signifier with the audience. I effort to marque oculus interaction with radical during that number, and it feels similar I’m truly speaking to them. 

It’s the hardest opus I’ve ever sung, but besides 1 of the astir amusive things I’ve ever gotten to do.

You've mentioned this is your astir vocally challenging relation successful your career. How bash you support your vocal wellness doing 8 shows a week?

Aaron: When you're successful the agelong tally of a show, it's 1 of the astir important things. If you're doing thing for 4 to six weeks, you tin benignant of get distant with a batch of things. When you're doing thing for a agelong time, you truly request to marque definite you're taking attraction of yourself.

I grew up studying classical music, truthful I person a classical instauration successful my technique. I person a dependable teacher successful the metropolis who's been my dependable teacher for fundamentally 20 years. Before I commencement something, I privation to cognize I tin physically bash it successful a steadfast way. Once I cognize that, and I've checked successful with her, I effort to fto that portion go. I besides find that stressing astir one's dependable is truly detrimental to vocal health. So I effort to bash that enactment beforehand, and past fto it go.

On a day-to-day ground successful the show, I effort to support my baseline wellness arsenic precocious arsenic possible. It sounds precise simple, but conscionable making definite I'm getting capable sleep, eating correctly, and not going retired excessively much. Lots of h2o and steaming. The operation of each of those things is what's worked for me.

The formed signaling is retired now, and I've had it connected repeat. What was antithetic astir signaling the formed medium successful the workplace versus performing live?

Aaron: It was an astonishing acquisition signaling these songs successful the studio. Our dependable connected signifier is incredible, and our dependable designer, John Shivers, does a singular occupation with the show. Rock musicals are truthful hard due to the fact that determination are truthful galore elements.

But successful the studio, you get this different, sonic acquisition that gives you contiguous feedback connected your ain voice. It gives you the capableness to entree each these antithetic parts of your dependable that tin beryllium harder to pat into live. Just proceeding the set and the different singers, successful a mode you can't perceive nighttime to night, was amazing. As a instrumentality of this music, the information that I got to beryllium successful my ain booth, conscionable maine and the euphony — it was precise cool.

For "Pity the Child," we sang done it twice, and astir of what you perceive is the 2nd take. They turned the lights down, and it was conscionable maine successful the studio. It was 1 of those moments wherever I was trying not to get overwhelmed. It's similar an out-of-body experience. I'm similar floating supra myself, watching myself, thinking, "How is this happening close now?"

You person unthinkable co-stars successful the show, similar Lea Michele and Nicholas Christopher. What’s your chemistry similar off-stage?

Aaron: It's wonderful. All of america got connected immediately. Lea and I person known each different for galore years, and I've been a immense instrumentality of her talent, but we ne'er worked together. Nick and I just got to do Sweeney Todd last year, but we didn't person this rehearsal process together. It's been bully to stock the afloat experience. 

From time one, we could archer that we each loved the amusement truthful much, we each cared for it, and we each approached the enactment the aforesaid way. Everyone is simply a truly hard worker. Also, there's 5 kids nether 5 betwixt the 3 of us. There's thing astir the information that we each tin look astatine each different and cognize that past nighttime mightiness person been a unsmooth night, and everybody conscionable picks each different up. 

Bryce [Pinkham] is besides hilarious and a large guy. He's been progressive with different iterations of Chess and welcomed america with unfastened arms. We're truthful fortunate to person specified a large radical of radical doing the show.

Finally, you've inspired truthful galore radical done your work. What bash you anticipation audiences instrumentality distant from seeing you arsenic Freddie successful Chess?

Aaron: With this show, it's twofold. The archetypal portion is conscionable sharing this astonishing euphony that radical person loved for 40 years. 

The 2nd thing, that's been the astir unexpected and rewarding, is that respective radical person told maine that they conflict with either bipolar upset oregon intelligence wellness issues. They felt seen, seeing our story. I had a akin acquisition with Next to Normal, wherever truthful galore radical went to spot that amusement and would accidental to the formed and to Alice [Ripley], "Thank you for telling that story."

Mental wellness is inactive thing that has a spot of a stigma successful our society. If anybody tin travel distant from Chess with much of an unfastened caput to what that is and what that means for the radical affected by it, I deliberation that's the biggest reward that I'm uncovering successful doing the show.