The Dancers, The Vision, The Dream: a conversation with the director and stars of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS at Arizona Broadway Theatre

Andrew Ruggieri and Rebecca Shulla
photo by Scott Samplin

by Julia Bashaw

Who doesn’t adore a love story, history and dance all mixed into one? An American in Paris has all of those elements and more including a gorgeous score by George and Ira Gershwin. This Tony winning musical has been running at Arizona Broadway Theatre since January 25, and once the show ends this coming weekend at their Peoria home, the cast, crew, sets, and costumes will be transferring to the Herberger Theater Center in Downtown Phoenix for another month of shows, playing from March 8 through March 24.

An American in Paris is set in 1945 at the end of the Second World War. The musical follows character Jerry Mulligan, a now former US army Lieutenant, who decides to stay in liberated France and start his life. He meets a mysterious French woman named Lise Dassin, and he is instantly fascinated by her.

“I would describe the musical as a completely new interpretation of what people think,” Director Kurtis Overby explained. “I’m not trying to make you think real hard, I just want you to escape. It is that escapism, but knowing that there is a story we are trying to pay homage to. Honor those people that do know, and we want to make sure that they’re kept in our brains and our hearts, but we want the people to escape and just have fun.”

Kurtis Overby

For those who don’t know, this show has multiple intense dance scenes including a 12-minute ballet. Overby decided to both direct and choreograph this production. He explained why he chose to take on both roles.

“With a show like this, there was no other option.” Overby laughed. “It is a big ballet in my brain. I wanted to direct it because that was my world for so many years. I wanted the opportunity to do a classic musical. I knew I wanted to dig my teeth into this and push the envelope. I wanted to see what I could do.”

Overby decided to add four extra days to the rehearsal schedule in order to really focus on and tackle the dance scenes. Near the end, there is a 12 minute ballet, four minutes of which is centered on the two leads. And, if you thought that was tough, add the fact that the girl, Lise, is being lifted up in the air by Jerry numerous times in that sequence. Therefore, Overby and his team needed to find actors that could measure up to what the show would demand of them, not only their acting potential but especially their dancing abilities.

“Was it hard when the right people walked in? No. But a lot of people walked in.” Overby said, explaining the casting process. “We found Andrew (Ruggieri) earlier, but we were still trying to find the girl. I knew I had to find that little ballerina.”

Andrew Ruggieri, who plays the lead male role, Jerry Mulligan, has wanted to play this role for quite a long time and became even more motivated when he saw it on Broadway in 2015.

Andrew Ruggieri and Rebecca Shulla
photo by Scott Samplin

“I fell in love with it,” Ruggieri said. “This is my dream show, dream role. I was told initially that I would never play this role by dance teachers and by friends. They said 'you’ll never play this, you’ll never be in this show.' So, from that point forward, I made it a goal of mine to be in this show. I found a dance teacher who helped me for two years to prepare for this show and role.”

Finding the woman who was to perform Lise Dassin though took some dedicated time. She was originally cast as an ensemble member, but within 24 hours Kurtis knew that Rebecca Shulla was to be his ballerina, Lise.

“I’ve been dancing since I was five,” Shulla said. “I grew up doing pretty much straight ballet for a very long time. I wanted to be in a ballet company, but as I got older I realized I just wanted to dance in general. I saw An American in Paris on Broadway and knew it was a show I wanted to be in. Ever since the tour I've gotten callbacks for every regional theatre but never got an offer. I never even dreamed of playing Lise. I just wanted to be a dancer in it, so this is a dream come true. This experience has been exhilarating.”

Tackling the dance scenes were the hardest challenge along with time. Overby was splitting his time between directing and choreographing, both of which require much attention. But as Overby stated before, he did not believe there was any other way, he had to and wanted to do both. When it came to choreographing, he explained his process working with Ruggieri and Shulla.

“I never wanted to force people to do anything that didn’t look right on them,” Overby stated. “It is my job to make people look good and feel comfortable so they can do it eight times a week. They are the ones up there doing it eight times a week, and it is important for a director-choreographer to take that into consideration. It’s not something where we need to force people. There is one thing to push people for a breakthrough, that’s one thing. There is another thing to just jam something down someone’s throat. You don’t get the best out of them. It is my job to make them comfortable so they can tell their story and do what we hired them to do.”

Andrew Ruggieri and Rebecca Shulla
photo by Scott Samplin

Being comfortable with each other was something that Ruggieri and Shulla had to learn quickly, but it came easily. While answering questions, they kept finishing each other’s sentences and saying ‘you’ instead of their characters names.

“The war never really left them,” Ruggieri explained. “You really see how the war affected Jerry and how much he really needs this one true love as well. You, her character, balances him out.”

“And likewise,” Shulla responded to Ruggieri. “You balance me out. He brings her joy again. Love trumps everything, no matter how much hate there is going to be in the world. Because there’s always going to be hate, there’s always going to be wars and there’s always going to be disagreements. But love will always...”

“...conquer it all.” Ruggieri and Shulla said in unison.

When asked what he hopes audiences will walk away with after seeing An American in Paris at ABT, Overby answered truthfully. “It is not my favorite question, because I think people take away things that they need,” he explained. “If we do our job, then they can take away whatever they need from this performance. Hope, love, memories, raw emotions, whatever you do, I hope you feel. It’s not what you take away, it is what you feel, and if you take something away from that feeling, awesome.”

An American in Paris is a beautiful show and audiences should come to be reminded that, through all the trial that these characters face, there is hope and joy on the other side.

CLICK HERE for more information on this production, which runs through March 1 in Peoria and then runs March 8-24 at the Herberger Theater Center