Steven Skybell
Steven Skybell, currently staring as Herr Shultz in Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club, joins us On The Couch this week. Having been nominated for a Tony award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical alongside fellow cast members Gayle Rankin, Eddie Redmayne (Best Performance by an Actress and Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical) and Bebe Neuwirth (Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical), his experience in the show has been nothing short of incredible.
Past credits include Tevye in Joel Grey’s Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (for which he received a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, a Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Nominations), Pal Joey, Wicked, The Full Monty (which provides us with his most embarrassing moment – definitely worth reading!) and more.
Skybell’s kind, sweet nature and incomparable talent has made him a Broadway favorite, both among fans and his peers. Read our full interview below to learn more about him and the denial he inherited from his parents.
Steven, please let us know if you’re taking quilt commissions!
What do you consider to be your best asset?
I’m an open-minded open-hearted team player.
What was your proudest moment?
It’s hard to choose one proudest moment. Being recognized as a Jewish performer lately has made me very proud. I was very proud of our Yiddish Fiddler on The Roof, and presently I’m very proud to be telling the Jewish story in Cabaret.
What is your favorite drink?
Chilled vodka. That’s it!
What is your favorite food?
Homemade chopped liver. Yum!
What is your favorite condiment?
Sriracha. Never knew it was spelled that way!
What is your current obsession?
I’m watching the 25th anniversary release of The Sopranos. I know I’m very late to the party, but I can’t get enough of it.
If you could give up one of your vices, what would it be?
Eating after the show!
What is the one professional accomplishment you long for most?
Who doesn’t want an Oscar?
What is the one thing you waste too much money on?
Quilting supplies. Since 2006 when a dresser at Wicked taught me how to quilt, it has been another obsession of mine.
What is the one activity you waste too much time doing?
I don’t consider it wasting time, but I do love to quilt. And quilt. And quilt.
What do you consider to be the single greatest threat to your health?
Death.
What’s the single best trait you inherited or learned from your parents?
Kindness to all. And do your best.
What’s the single worst trait you inherited or learned from your parents?
I honestly can’t think of one bad trait I learned from them, so it must be ‘denial’.
What in the world most thrills you?
Great performances thrill me. Stratospheric singing at the opera house. Those kinds of performances where you can’t believe you’re witnessing what you’re witnessing. As a performer, the stillness that can happen in a full theater as the entire audience breathes together with you cannot be beat.
What current trend in popular culture most irritates you?
I don’t like how dependent we’ve all become on our phones, but here I am answering these questions on my phone.
What was the most embarrassing moment you’ve ever experienced on the job?
When I had my callback for the Broadway production of The Full Monty, they were having all of us come into the room and perform a striptease down to our underwear, one by one. When it was my turn, I threw my shirt this way, my pants that way, my belt that way, one shoe over there, and one shoe over there, only realizing after I had finished that I had to scurry around and pick up all my clothes before I could leave the room. In my underwear. I got the gig.
What is your favorite place in the world?
Home. Or anywhere with my husband.
What is the most important trait you seek in a romantic partner?
Excellent communication.
Do you prefer the company of dogs or cats?
Dogs, dogs, dogs, dogs, dogs. I have two Australian shepherds and I couldn’t live without them.
What would have to happen to make today the best day of your life?
Peace on earth.
What is your personal motto?
Rabbi Hillel’s three questions: If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?
