Why Jim Parsons Is So Fond Of Performing On Broadway

>> Stephen: WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY FIRST GUEST IS A FOUR-TIME EMMY AWARD-WINNING ACTOR YOU KNOW FROM PLAYING SHELDON COOPER ON CBS'S "THE BIG BANG THEORY." HE NOW RETURNS TO BROADWAY IN THE NEW REVIVAL OF THORNTON WILDER'S "OUR TOWN." PLEASE WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE SHOW," JIM PARSONS! [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] ♪ ♪ [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] ♪ ♪ GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. >> Jim: GOOD TO SEE YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. [LAUGHS] >> Stephen: NICE TO HAVE YOU BACK. >> Jim: IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE. >> Stephen: I LIKE THE BEARD. >> Jim: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> Stephen: IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS. >> Jim: IT'S CRAZY. >> Stephen: END OF THE BIG BANG THEORY. FIVE YEARS AGO. A GREAT TIME TO GET OUT OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. >> Jim: COULD NOT HAVE TIME THAT BETTER. >> Stephen: HAVE YOU BEEN? >> Jim: I HAVE BEEN GREAT LATELY. IT WAS ROUGH AT FIRST. I WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT DID NOT DO WELL DURING COVID. I THINK IT GOT INTO MY OCD AND ANXIETY, KIND OF DEPRESSED. >> Stephen: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE "I LEARNED TO TAP DANCE." >> Jim: SO MANY PEOPLE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT. I'VE RUN INTO PEOPLE WHO WERE LIKE, I KIND OF FELL IN LOVE RIGHT BEFORE IT SO IT WAS GREAT TO SPEND THOSE MONTHS TOGETHER. HOW LOVELY FOR YOU IF YOU'RE IN A NICE LONG COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP AND YOU ARE 15 OR SOMETHING. IT WAS LESS FUN. NOT THAT WE HAD ANY TROUBLE. BUT COMING OUT OF IT HAS JUST BEEN BETTER AND BETTER. I REALLY DO THINK IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS -- BUT THIS IS MY THIRD PLAY IN A ROW IN NEW YORK SINCE COVID. [APPLAUSE] I'VE ALWAYS LOVED DOING THEATER BUT I AM POSITIVE THAT THAT WHOLE PANDEMIC STUFF HAD A LOT TO DO WITH HOW MUCH I ENJOYED BEING IN THE REHEARSAL ROOM. CAMERAWORK IS KIND OF IN AND OUT AND YOU'RE IN A TRAILER SOMETIMES. THEATER SHOVES YOU IN A ROOM WITH THIS IN THIS CASE 28 OTHER PEOPLE EVERY DAY. FOR LIKE SIX HOURS. THAT KIND OF CONTACT AFTER HAVING SO LITTLE OF IT FOR A WHILE IN A WORLD WHERE IT'S SO EASY TO JUST ZOOM OR TYPE AND YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE TO SEE ANYONE. >> Stephen: HALF THE STUFF YOU'RE GETTING ON THE INTERNET NOW IS AI. THERE ARE NO HUMANS INVOLVED. I THINK LIVE THEATER IS IN FOR HAVING A MOMENT. YOU KNOW IT'S REAL PEOPLE TALKING TO REAL PEOPLE. >> Jim: I THINK THE SAME WAY ABOUT CONCERTS. IT'S HAPPENING. LIKE BEING HERE RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE SO AWARE OF EVERYONE'S PRESENCE, YOU KNOW? [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] >> Stephen: THIRD PLAY IN A ROW, AS YOU SAID. THIS YEAR YOU WERE WITH JESSICA LANGE AND CELIA KEENAN BULGER, NOMINATED FOR YOUR FIRST TONY. >> Jim: REALLY EXCITING. >> Stephen: HOW MANY BROADWAY PLAYS? >> Jim: THIS IS MY SIXTH. >> Stephen: YOU ARE A BROADWAY ACTOR. SPEECH I'M A BROADWAY ACTOR. >> Stephen: WAS HER FIRST BROADWAY EXPERIENCE? >> Jim: MY FIRST ONE WAS IN 2011. I DID LARRY KRAMER'S "THE NORMAL HEART" AT THE GOLDEN THEATER. OH, MY GOD IT WAS SUCH A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE. IT WAS SUCH A MEANINGFUL PLAY "THE NORMAL HEART" TO SO MANY OF US IN THE GROUP AND IT WAS A TIGHT GROUP AND IT WAS A WELL-REGARDED -- GOOD REVIEWS. IT HAD TONY NOMINATIONS. TWO OF THE ACTORS WON TONY'S. VETERANS ARE BROADLY TOLD ME "GET OUT NOW. IT DOES NOT GET BETTER THAN THIS. IT CAN ONLY GO DOWNHILL." HE WAS VERY FUNNY TO ME. I WOULD'VE NEVER LISTENED TO THAT BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY, IT MADE ME SO FOND OF DOING BROADWAY THAT I THINK IT'S MADE IT EASIER FOR ME TO DO OTHER SHOWS BECAUSE IT WAS SUCH A POSITIVE WAY TO LAUNCH INTO IT. >> Stephen: YOU'RE BACK ON BROADWAY AGAIN. THORNTON WILDER'S "OUR TOWN" AT THE ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATER. "OUR TOWN" OF COURSE A STAPLE. [APPLAUSE] IT'S A STAPLE OF AMERICAN THEATER. EVERY SCHOOL DOESN'T. WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH IT BEFORE DOING IT? >> Jim: I THOUGHT, IT WAS ONE OF THOSE I'VE NEVER SEEN BUT I WAS LIKE, I READ IT AT SOME POINT. THEN I READ IT WHEN THEY ASKED ME ABOUT DOING IT AND I WAS LIKE "I HAVEN'T READ THIS." THIS IS NEW TO ME. THE MAIN PLOT WASN'T BECAUSE IT SUCH A STAPLE THAT OVER THE YEARS I'VE ABSORBED WHAT GENERALLY HAPPENS IN IT BUT I REALLY THINK MY BIGGEST EXPOSURE TO IT, DID YOU EVER WATCH SPALDING GRAY'S MONOLOGUE "MONSTER IN A BOX." HE RECOUNTS PLAYING THE STAGE MANAGER ON BROADWAY IN THE '80s. >> Stephen: NICE PEOPLE. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? >> Jim: EXACTLY. I THINK MOST OF MY EDUCATION ABOUT "OUR TOWN" WAS THROUGH SPALDING GRAY'S EXPERIENCE DOING IT. BUT NO, IT'S NEW TO ME IN THAT WAY. AND I'M AMAZED AT THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WHO ASK ME "WHAT'S IT ABOUT?" TONS OF THEM. >> Stephen: WHAT IS IT ABOUT? [LAUGHTER] THAT'S REALLY GOOD QUESTION BECAUSE IN SOME WAYS, WHAT IS IT NOT ABOUT? IT'S THIS BRILLIANT -- KEEP IN MIND YOU PLAY THE STAGE MANAGER. EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE WITH THIS ROLE IS, FIRST OF ALL. >> Jim: UNLIKE A STAGE MANAGER WHO'S ACTUALLY WORKING ON OUR SHOW, HE IS QUITE LITERALLY THIS CHARACTER MANAGES THE STAGE ACTION. I WAS TELLING STEPHEN EARLIER, WHEN SO MANY ASKED ME WHAT IT'S ABOUT AND WHAT'S PLAY LIKE AND WHAT YOUR ROLE? HERE'S SOMETHING. THE FIRST LINE IN THE PLAY WHICH IS SPOKEN BY MEAN NOW IS THE STAGE MANAGER IS "THIS PLACE CALLED "OUR TOWN." IT WAS WRITTEN BY THORNTON WILDER." THAT'S WHERE IT GOES FROM THERE. IT'S THAT KIND OF SITUATION WHERE HE'S LAYING IT OUT FOR YOU. HERE ARE THE ACTORS YOU'RE GOING TO SEE TONIGHT. HERE'S THE TOWN WE ARE GOING TO BE SET IN. HERE ARE THE CHARACTERS THEY'RE GOING TO PLAY. HERE'S THEIR HOUSE, THERE IS THE OTHER HOUSE. IT'S -- I THINK IT'S VERY BEGUILING IN THAT WAY TOO. THERE'S A REAL SIMPLICITY TO IT. EVEN THE SMALL TOWN HE PLACES IT IN HAS A REAL SIMPLICITY TO IT. GROVER'S CORNERS. IT'S ABOUT AS PROFOUND IN SUBJECT MATTER AS ANY PLAYER GOING -- IT IS ABOUT, I THINK, AT ITS ESSENCE IT'S ABOUT WHAT IT IS TO BE A HUMAN BEING, TO BE A SOUL ON THIS EARTH FOR YOUR LIMITED TIME HERE AND HOW YOU USE THAT TIME. AND PERHAPS THE TIME AFTERWARDS. WHAT HAPPENS IN THE AFTERLIFE? YOU CAN'T GET MUCH DEEPER THAN THAT, CAN YOU? AND YET -- >> Stephen: IT'S VERY SIMPLE. SUGGESTED LOCATIONS, SUGGESTED PROPS. >> Jim: SUGGESTED PROPS THROUGH THERE'S A COUPLE CHAIRS AND A COUPLE TABLES. >> Stephen: PRODUCED A 1938, THIS WAS AN AVANT-GARDE PIECE OF THEATER AT THE TIME. IT IS THE DECONSTRUCTION OF WHAT IT IS TO BE ALIVE. IN THE CHOICE AND THE TRAGEDIES BUT "TO SEE LIFE IT'S AND ALL ITS CRUEL AND RADIANT -- ALL OF THAT." ALBERT ALBI SAID, HE CALLED IT PROBABLY THE FINEST PLAY EVER WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN. >> Jim: YEAH. THAT'S NOT LOW PRAISE, ISN'T? I THINK THERE'S AN EASY ARGUMENT TO BE MADE FOR IT. I KNOW WHEN THEY ASKED ME TO PLAY THE STAGE MANAGER, I FELT VERY SIMILARLY TO HOW I MIGHT'VE FELT OR ONE MIGHT HAVE FELT IF SOMEBODY ASKED YOU TO PLAY HAMLET OR TOM IN "A GLASS MENAGERIE." IT'S A LITTLE FRIGHTENING BECAUSE IT'S ICONIC AND IT'S A PIECE YOU THINK ANYBODY KNOWS BUT IT'S ALSO, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SAY NO. IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU TO DO IT, YOU GET OUT THERE AND YOU DAMN WELL DO IT. STILL WE HAVE TO TAKE A QUICK BREAK BUT DON'T GO AWAY. WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH MORE JIM PARSONS FROM EVERYBODY. STICK AROUND.