Actor and Grammy Award-winner Andrew Rannells joined a group of Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) students for a digital meeting as part of the 2019-2020 Master Artist Series (MAS) to discuss his storied career as a performer. MAS events are typically held in person but have been moved online due to nationwide stay-at-home orders.
Scott Barnhardt, the director of the Musical Theatre Conservatory at OCSA, hosted the class and has known Rannells since performing together in the original cast of the Broadway musical, “The Book of Mormon.” Rannells is also known for his roles in “Falsettos,” “The Boys in the Band” and many other well-known Broadway musicals. He has also earned roles in numerous film and television productions such as NBC’s “The New Normal” and HBO’s “Girls.”
After an introduction by Barnhardt, the class opened up to student questions where Rannells covered a variety of topics including his introduction to musical theater and the differences between working in theatre and on screen.
“I started very early in a children’s theater,” Rannells said. “By my junior year, when we were talking about colleges, it was very clear that I wanted to study theater. I wanted to go to New York and I refused to look anywhere else.”
When asked about how the audition process for Broadway productions differs from more local or regional shows, Rannell’s had an answer that may come as a surprise to some aspiring theater actors.
“I feel like sometimes regional theater auditions are harder,” Rannells said. “Generally, with the Broadway shows I’ve auditioned for they’ve been a little more open minded about the process. Sometimes you audition for the smaller theaters and they can be weirdly cold.”
During his early 20s, Rannells said he hit a dead end with theater acting and decided to take some time to work as a voiceover actor and producer on 4Kids TV, which created popular cartoons such as “Pokémon” and “Yu-Gi-Oh!” He said the three-year break from theater was exactly what he needed to come back into the industry feeling rejuvenated.
“I think the only reason I was able to start working on Broadway was because I came at it fresh and clean,” said Rannells. “In this field, it’s okay to know that you might want to give yourself some time to do something else.”
Rannells is set to appear in the upcoming film “The Prom” based on the musical of the same name. Rannells said the COVID-19 outbreak and stay-at-home orders began shortly after he finished filming so the production of the movie has been temporarily halted.
“We were filming ‘The Prom’ and when we finished I flew to New York to promote the show ‘Black Monday’ that I’m in and then as soon as the plane landed everything was canceled,” he said.
Rannells has earned roles across musical theater, television and film, but he said performing in theater shows can offer the greatest personal rewards.
“There are some really fun benefits to working on film,” said Rannells. “But I personally feel working in theater is so much more rewarding because you have the instant gratification of the audience and the gratification of telling the complete story.”
The Zoom call concluded with Rannells reminding the students to always find joy in their work and that there’s a benefit to taking things slowly.
“There’s no rush to grow up too quickly,” Rannells said.
Watch the full interview here.