It's time for Judy Kuhn to win a Tony Award. The Broadway leading lady starred as the original Cosette in Les Miserables, the original Florence in Chess, she was Amalia in the last revival of She Loves Me, she was the singing voice of Disney's Pocahontas, and now she's giving a chilling, ugly-cry-inspiring performance as Helen Bechdel—a once promising actress who spent her life in suburban Pennsylvania married to a closeted gay man, raising their children and trying to keep the family's facade in tact—in the 12-time Tony-nominated new musical Fun Home. Just brace yourself for a glimpse of her big song "Days and Days and Days."
Below, Kuhn, who is nominated this year for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, looks back on six famous YouTube videos from her past and reacts to watching each one again.
"Rags", Rags, 1987 Tony Awards
This night was crazy. I was nominated (for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Les Miserables) and sang this song from Rags AND performed with the Les Mis company. My category was up first and someone was supposed to come fetch me and take me backstage to get into costume etc. for Rags. I waited and waited and nobody came! I got myself backstage just in the nick of time…I have often had nightmares about watching Angela Lansbury introduce the number while still sitting in my seat.
Les Miserables: The Dream Cast in Concert at Royal Albert Hall, 1995
This concert was all about a high note for me. I hadn’t done the show in 10 years, had just had my daughter, and wasn’t sure I would be able to hit that high C! I did think that if it sounded bad, it was just a one night concert in London, no one else would ever see it. Ha! Little did I know.
"Nobody’s Side" Mashuped with Pocahontas
This is awesome! I had never seen it before. Hilarious.
Andrew Lloyd Webber Love Trio, 1998
I was SO sick the night of this concert. I had a really swollen, sore throat all day during rehearsal and by the time of the concert I was running a fever. I sang "Don’t Rain on My Parade" earlier in the evening (which they did not include on the video) and thought that was all I had in me. When it was time for this trio, I was not sure if I’d be able to make a sound. It was terrifying really. I can’t watch this without thinking about how sweaty I was and how horrible I felt.
"Loving You", Passion, 2013
I loved this day, sitting with my costars, Ryan Silverman and Melissa Errico, and John Doyle and Stephen Sondheim talking about this beautiful piece. It was one of those “pinch me” moments.
"I Dreamed a Dream" at the White House, 1988
I look at this and think ugh, my hair. They had sent a hair person to my hotel and I wasn’t really paying attention at first, then I looked in the mirror and he had teased it straight up and was shaping it into a horrifying bouffant! My dear departed co-star in Chess, David Carroll, took to calling me Judy-Bird after that.
Get your tickets today to see Judy Kuhn's mesmerizing, heartbreaking Tony-nominated performance in 'Fun Home' at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre.
