Broadway's Nicholas Rodriguez Explores Sondheim through his Letters and Songs

Nicholas Rodriguez has an impressive roster of musical credits that include Che in "Evita," Jesus in "Jesus Christ Superstar," Fabrizio in "Light in the Piazza," Joe Gillis in "Sunset Boulevard," and his recent turn as Captain Georg Von Trapp in the U.S. tour of "The Sound of Music." He once stared opposite Kathleen Turner in "Mother Courage and Her Children" in Washington, DC, and received a 2011 Helen Hayes Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Curly in "Oklahoma!" at DC's Arena Stage.

He appeared on the big screen in the film "Sex and the City 2," but it was his television work as Nick Chavez on the daytime drama "One Life to Live" that is likely his most notable performance to date. Chavez was an out character involved in a love triangle that included daytime's first gay kiss and first gay wedding, earning Rodriguez and co-stars Brett Claywell and Scott Evans the 2009 GLAAD Media Visibility Award.

Rodriguez has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Musical Hall, 54 Below, and Birdland. His album "Sondheim Unplugged" earned him a 2024 Grammy nomination. He returns to the Sondheim canon for his original show, "Sincerely, Sondheim," as part of John McDonald's Broadway Summer Series at the Post Office Café and Cabaret on July 26 and 27.

He is married to director Matt Lenz, whom he met 22 years ago when they worked together on a production of "Love! Valour! Compassion!" Lenz directed and Rodriguez played Ramon. They married during the pandemic.

EDGE had the chance to chat with him recently, as he prepares to visit Provincetown for a night of songs, laughs, and, hopefully, lobster. Lots of lobster.

EDGE: You made your Broadway debut in Disney's "Tarzan."

Nicholas Rodriguez: We had a blast. It was great group of people. I wasn't the first Tarzan. I had the joy of going in as the first replacement, so it made it easier. It's always a gift to know what you're going into. Taking that first bow, I felt like the quarterback in the game.

EDGE: Your wardrobe was a little revealing.

Nicholas Rodriguez: The wardrobe was pretty much nonexistent, and so iconic.

EDGE: Did you ever have any wardrobe malfunctions?

Nicholas Rodriguez: No wardrobe malfunctions, but definitely a few set malfunctions. The biggest one happened when I was running around an opening in the stage and I got a little too close to the edge. I fell 18 feet under the stage, but fortunately there were some crew people there who picked me up [and] hoisted me back onto the stage where I, now bleeding, sang the 11 o'clock number.

EDGE: Did the audience freak out?

Nicholas Rodriguez: I don't think they really noticed. It was only about five seconds, though it seemed like a lifetime. I had some friends in the audience, and they knew something went wrong. The rest of the audience didn't react at all. It was all my fault. I didn't see the lip of the stage. I never made that mistake again.

EDGE: In 2009 you had another big first on the soap "One Life to Live."

Nicholas Rodriguez: My character, Nick Chavez, was an openly gay teacher and head of the school's gay-straight alliance. Mine was the first gay kiss on daytime TV, and we had the first gay wedding before it was even legal. It was pretty amazing to be a part of that.

EDGE: Was it scary in terms of your career to come out so publicly?

Nicholas Rodriguez: It was a little scary coming out. Had I not been playing this character, people would not have asked about my sexuality. When it was theater, that didn't matter so much. But in TV at that time, I guess it did. I once got asked, "What's it like to be one of two openly gay actors in daytime?" I said, "Who's the other one?" I knew about five myself, but I wasn't going to out anybody.

EDGE: Did you have any concern about possibly being pigeonholed as playing only gay characters?

Nicholas Rodriguez: I didn't think about being pigeonholed as gay. I was just doing the work at the time. As actors, there's so much more to us than our sexuality. The bulk of my characters have been straight leading men in musicals. I didn't see myself as the gay marching in the front of the parade, really, because I'm shy.

EDGE: You won a GLAAD Award for your work on "One Life to Live."

Nicholas Rodriguez: Winning the GLAAD Award was so fun because it's from so many different mediums, not just TV. It's film, Broadway, print. It was great seeing so many people. I actually sat and chatted with Joel Gray that night. When did I think that would ever happen?

EDGE: When did you come out?

Nicholas Rodriguez: I just graduated grad school when I had my first boyfriend. I think I was in my early 20s. I grew up in Texas, went to the University of Texas for grad and undergrad. I started experimenting with boys until I met my first love. Then I knew. Coming out wasn't an easy thing to do. It was definitely an adjustment for my family, but they're good with it now. I have friends who have gone through much worse. My family always loved me, they just needed some time to adjust to it. It's so awesome to see how the world has changed since I came out 25 years ago. It is nice that people have older role models on TV and in film.

EDGE: You're married?

Nicholas Rodriguez: My husband is theater director Matt Lenz. We've been together 22 years, but got married over the pandemic. We had been talking about it anyway. But we got to meet Ruth Bader Ginsberg at our friends' wedding and asked her, if Trump was president, could they stop people from getting married? She said they could, but couldn't take it away from people who were already married. We went down to our town hall not long after with a few friends, all socially distant, got married, then had a party in our back yard.

EDGE: Where did you meet him?

Nicholas Rodriguez: He directed a play I did, "Love, Valour, Compassion!," in Austin. We hit it off, but kept it all professional. There was no showmance. When we both came back to New York, we went out. The rest is history.

EDGE: You both have hectic travel schedules. Is that challenging?

Nicholas Rodriguez: Very much so. We just make it work. We plan it out, map it out, and communicate. There are times when we look at a project to see if we really want to take the job, given the circumstances. We have a pretty hard and fast three-week rule: We don't go three weeks without seeing each other. One of us will hop on a plane. It's not always easy, but we put in the effort, I think, because we both have an understanding of the business, and we want to do this.

EDGE: You're traveling to Provincetown.

Nicholas Rodriguez: Yes. I have been there, but I've never played there before. It's been 15 years since I vacationed there. We've always been looking forward to an excuse to come back as it's not that easy to get to. And here we come.

EDGE: How did you get the gig?

Nicholas Rodriguez: John McDaniel happened to see my show in Florida. Afterwards, he asked me to come do the summer show in Ptown. He and I have known each other for a long time socially, and he's a very good friend of my husband. When he asked me if I would come do it, it was, 'Yes, please, more.' It's really a blessing.

John was actually my introduction to Broadway. Growing up in Texas, I would watch him on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." (McDaniel was the musical director on the show.) She had a lot of Broadway shows on. She would always ask him what he did last night, and he would say, "Oh I went to the Oak Room and saw Nancy LaMott." He would introduce all these artists, and I would run out and buy their records. It's how I learned about cabaret.

EDGE: What can we expect in your show?

Nicholas Rodriguez: We basically got access to a lot of letters that Sondheim wrote to people, and people wrote to him. He was a vociferous letter writer. There are some punchy ones, some catty ones, some bitchy. It's fun to see that side of Steve. We used the songs to weave everything together. Ninety percent of the of show is written by Steve, but we also have some Lin-Manuel Miranda, Oscar Hammerstein, and Jerry Herman. It's a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it. I've been touring the country with it this year. The timing of this couldn't be better.

EDGE: How did you come to do a show of Sondheim music?

Nicholas Rodriguez: My manager reached out and asked if I could do a Sondheim show. I did, and it's one of those things that, if you build it, they will come. It's taken on a life of its own. You don't realize how many fans of Steve's there are. It doesn't get played as much as you'd think. It's fun to see the audience reaction when you play their favorite song. It's not so fun when it's over and I didn't sing their favorite song. You can see their disappointment.

EDGE: What's your favorite Sondheim song?

Nicholas Rodriguez: Mine changes, sometimes daily. I think today it's "Marry Me A Little." I sang it on an album called "Sondheim Unplugged." We got nominated for a Grammy. We didn't win, but I got the nomination certificate and framed it.

EDGE: You were in the recent Broadway revival of "Company."

Nicholas Rodriguez: "Company" was always my dream show. Playing Bobby was my dream. I wasn't going to be able to do it here, but just to do it was incredible. What a dream to work with Patti LuPone and Katrina Lenk. Talk about a master class. I was a standby for five of the men.

EDGE: How did you keep all of that in your head?

Nicholas Rodriguez: Perpetual rehearsal, every day. Great colleagues. I was on quite a bit, because we were in the height of COVID, then Omicron; so, if someone was out, they were out for ten days. That was the rule. It was fun playing all of the guys, fun to live with all of the cast. Working with Patti LuPone and playing her husband was never even on my bucket list. And singing "Getting Married Today" to another gay man and watching the audience respond to it, erupting. As a gay man it was so special, something I can relate to. It hits a little deeper. I'm very fortunate. I do not take it for granted.

EDGE: Can you explain the gender switch in this production?

Nicholas Rodriguez: The gender switch in the production was the genius creation of the show's incredible director Marianne Elliott. The character Bobby was turned into Bobbie, a woman. His original three girlfriends became Bobbie's three boyfriends. David and Jenny had their roles reversed, and Amy, who sings "Getting Married Today," became Jamie, a gay groom with cold feet. It was amazing to watch it all. It hits a little differently when a 35-year-old woman is asked, "Why aren't you getting married today?" The power dynamics of all the relationships were swapped.