Sarah Steele stars alongside some of the biggest names in theatre, including two-time Tony winner Christine Baranski and six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald—but not onstage. The actor plays Marissa Gold on the CBS All Access series The Good Fight, a spinoff of the hit show The Good Wife.
But Steele has some experience acting opposite big theatre names on the stage, as well. The actor made her Broadway debut in 2014’s The Country House, led by Blythe Danner, and returned in the hit play The Humans, which earned her co-stars Reed Birney and Jayne Houdyshell Tony Awards.
Steele relishes the experience of being a series regular and finding the layers of her lawyer. “Marissa Gold is a brilliant but scattered woman who is truly fearless,” says Steele. “She has searing insights into everyone around her which people don’t necessarily expect because she’s young, flighty and unassuming.”
Here, Steele talks about the lessons she learned from theatre, the performances that left the most profound impact, and her most treasured moment with Baranski and McDonald.
What was your first professional job? Sarah Steele: A Comcast commercial when I was ten. I had to struggle to bike up a steep hill in Manayunk, Pennsylvania to represent “the slow non-Comcast internet.”
What was the stage show that has most influenced you? I saw Circle Mirror Transformation [at Playwrights Horizons in 2010] when I was in college and was blown away. I recognized it as the kind of acting I wanted to do and hoped to be able to achieve one day. So it was quite a dream come true for me to work with Reed Birney [who starred in it] many years later.
Is there a stage moment you witnessed (from the audience, from the wings, in rehearsal) that stayed with you? Also while in college I saw August: Osage County on Broadway. At the end of the first act when Amy Morton throws her mother into a chair and screams “I’M. RUNNING. THINGS. NOW.” I audibly screamed from just the sheer energy I felt watching her power.
What’s been the most rewarding experience onstage for you? There were a few times during The Humans when I decided to really take risks and try something new and be more bold and aggressive in my work. I remember being able to feel that it was working and the risks I was taking were paying off, which allowed me to trust myself more as a performer and not be so controlled. Also just the work of building that family with the finest actors I’d ever met was a privilege that I doubt will be repeated in my career.
Who is a collaborator from theatre who has made you better? There have been so many! Working with Annie Kauffman made me want to approach my process in a deeper, more detailed way. And certainly Joe Mantello was major for me in becoming bolder and embodying my full power onstage.
What is your favorite part of doing TV that’s different from theatre? There’s something very satisfying about seeing the end result with television. The process always feels so chaotic and so many people are doing amazing work you aren’t privy to. Seeing the stories the editors and showrunners are able to craft from the footage is always so surprising and such a treat.
What has been your most memorable moment working with theatrical titans Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald? We were on set shooting Season 2 in the early days of the #MeToo movement and our show tackles this topic head on. Getting to process that moment with women I’ve admired for so long was something I’ll never forget.
The Good Fight Season 3 currently streams on CBS All Access. New episodes available every Sunday.
Voting for Division 1, Round 1 of Broadway Brackets 2019 is now complete and the winners are in! We asked theatre fans to vote for the Grammy-winning cast albums they loved best. Here are the results from the initial round of voting.
Wicked proved to be popular among our readers, winning against the 2003 revival of Gypsy in the first match-up. Fans voted for In The Heights over Spring Awakening, with the Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes musical winning nearly 60% of votes in its match-up. The 2009 revival cast album of West Side Story won against Jersey Boys, with over 70% of the votes. The final match-up, Spamalot against American Idiot, was a tight race, with American Idiot clinching the win and moving on to the next round.
Click here for details on how the rankings and divisions work.
Voting for Division 2, Round 1 continues through March 25 at 12PM ET.
Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations celebrated its official opening at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre March 21. The musical weaves the group’s hits with a book by Dominique Morisseau to chart the journey from humble beginning in Detroit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Des McAnuff directs a company led by Derrick Baskin (Memphis) as Otis Williams, James Harkness (Beautiful) as Paul Williams, Jawan M. Jackson (Motown) as Melvin Franklin, Jeremy Pope (Choir Boy) as Eddie Kendricks, and Ephraim Sykes (Hamilton) as David Ruffin.
Ain’t Too Proud at the Imperial Theatre Marc J. Franklin
See what critics thought of the production below.
Playbill will continue to update this list as more reviews come in.
Rounding out the company are Saint Aubyn, Shawn Bowers, E. Clayton Cornelious, Taylor Symone Jackson, Jahi Kearse, Jarvis B. Manning Jr., Joshua Morgan, Rashidra Scott, Nasia Thomas, Christian Thompson, Candice Marie Woods, Esther Antoine, Marcus Paul James, Jelani Remy, and Curtis Wiley.
Ain’t Too Proud made its world premiere at California’s Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2017 before going on to play Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Toronto.
The production features choreography by Sergio Trujillo, sets by Robert Bill, costumes by Paul Tazewell, lighting by Howell Binkley, sound design by Steve Canyon, and projections by Peter Nigrini. Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting and Merri Sugarman, CSA.
Production Photos: Ain’t Too Proud on Broadway
Production Photos: Ain’t Too Proud on Broadway
10 PHOTOS
Ephraim Sykes Matthew Murphy
Jeremy Pope, Candice Marie Woods, and Cast Matthew Murphy
Derrick Baskin, Jawan M. Jackson, Jeremy Pope, James Harkness, and Ephraim Sykes Matthew Murphy
Cast of Ain’t Too ProudMatthew Murphy
Ephraim Sykes, Jawan M. Jackson, Jeremy Pope, Derrick Baskin, and James Harkness Matthew Murphy
Ephraim Sykes and Cast Matthew Murphy
Ephraim Sykes, Jeremy Pope, Jawan M. Jackson, James Harkness, and Derrick Baskin Matthew Murphy
Christian Thompson, Saint Aubyn, Ephraim Sykes, Jeremy Pope, Derrick Baskin, and Jawan M. James Matthew Murphy
Derrick Baskin, Jeremy Pope, Jawan M. Jackson, Ephraim Sykes, and James-Harkness Matthew Murphy
Ephraim Sykes, Jawan M. Jackson, Jeremy Pope, Derrick Baskin, and James Harkness Matthew Murphy
Leslie Odom, Jr., who won a Tony for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Hamilton, will play a leading role in The Many Saints of Newark, David Chase’s movie prequel to TV series TheSopranos, according to Deadline. No word yet on exact details of his character.
The stage and screen star joins the previously announced Tony nominee Billy Magnussen, Corey Stoll, Alessandro Nivola (Broadway’s The Elephant Man), Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, John Magaro, and Michael Gandolfini. The latter will step into the role of Tony Soprano, created by his father, the late James Gandolfini.
Odom’s additional recent screen credits include an upcoming ABC comedy pilot (appearing alongside Tony nominee Hailey Kilgore) and the thriller Only,set to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival this spring.
The movie is set in 1967 Newark, New Jersey, against the backdrop of race riots incited by instances of police brutality against African-Americans. Alan Taylor, who has worked on TheSopranos and GameofThrones, will direct a script by Chase and Lawrence Konner.
The Many Saints of Newark is scheduled to be released by New Line September 25, 2020.
Look Back at Hamilton Tony Winner Leslie Odom, Jr.’s Career Highlights
Look Back at Hamilton Tony Winner Leslie Odom, Jr.’s Career Highlights
The stage and screen actor celebrates his birthday August 6.
20 PHOTOS
Jarrod Emick, Charlie Williams, and Leslie Odom, Jr. in Leap of FaithCraig Schwartz
Leslie Odom, Jr. and Kecia Lewis-Evans in Leap of FaithCraig Schwartz
Leslie Odom Jr. and Megan Hilty on SmashNBCUniversal
Leslie Odom Jr. on SmashNBCUniversal
Matt Sax and Leslie Odom Jr. in VeniceJoan Marcus
Leslie Odom Jr. and Haaz Sleiman in VeniceJoan Marcus
Leslie Odom Jr., Haaz Sleiman, and the cast in VeniceJoan Marcus
Leslie Odom Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Karen Olivo in tick, tick… BOOM!
1872 Birthday of singer and actor Anna Held, future wife of Florenz Ziegfeld, and the classic sexy French flirt of her era. She plays that role in a series of musical vehicles including La Poupee, The French Maid, Mam’selle Napoleon, The Parisian Model, and Miss Innocence.
1915 Actor and future “shrew” Patricia Morison is born in New York. In 1948, she stars with Alfred Drake in the original production of Kiss Me, Kate. Her father is actor-playwright William Morrison.
1931 Producer Charles Cochran’s Cochran’s 1931 Revue has a book and music conceived by Noël Coward. It treads the boards at London’s Pavillion Theatre. Bobby Clark, Melville Cooper, and Ada May are in the cast.
1998 Proving everything old can be very new again, Cabaret transforms the Henry Miller’s Theatre into the Kit Kat Klub. Directed by Sam Mendes and co-directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, the revival opens tonight with Natasha Richardson, Ron Rifkin, Mary Louise Wilson, and Alan Cumming. It wins four Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical. The production later moves uptown to Studio 54, where it sees several big-name stars such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary McCormack, and Susan Egan play the role of Sally Bowles. It runs 2,377 performances, making it one of the few Broadway revivals to run longer than the original.
2002 British actor Henry Goodman takes over one of the most coveted roles on Broadway: Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers. But he lasts only about a month, to be summarily replaced by understudy Brad Oscar.
2008Paul Scofield, whose sonorous voice, commanding presence, and mournfully dignified mien made him one of the leading players of the London and international stage during the latter half of the 20th century, dies at age 86. He is perhaps best known for creating the role of Sir Thomas More in Robert Bolt‘s history play A Man for All Seasons.
2009 A revival of the Arthur Laurents–Leonard Bernstein–Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story opens on Broadway at the Palace Theatre. Directed by librettist Laurents, the staging weaves Spanish into the book and songs, with “I Feel Pretty” and “A Boy Like That” delivered entirely in Spanish. The translations are written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
2012Cris Alexander, who played one of the three sailors in the original Broadway production of the musical On the Town, dies at age 92. Alexander’s Broadway credits also included nebbishy Walgreens manager Frank Lippencott in Wonderful Town, and obsessed playwright Roland Maule in Present Laughter.
