Encores! concludes its season at New York City Center with John Doyle’s production of Irma La Douce, the famous French musical about a charismatic streetwalker and the young law student who goes through extraordinary lengths to win her love. The limited production runs May 7 through May 11 and stars Tony nominees Rob McClure and Malcolm Gets and newcomer Jennifer Bowles as Irma la Douce. In the musical, Nestor(McClure) goes to great lengths to win the love of Irma—creating an alter alias, faking his own death and standing trial for murder; so when BroadwayBox caught up with the show’s trio of stars, we wanted to know: what’s the craziest thing you’ve done to win the affections of someone you desired?
Rob McClure (Nestor/Oscar)
“That’s a very specific question because you use the word crazy—not romantic, crazy. It would have to be in high school; I had a crush on a girl who lived on the other side of town, so I used to ride by bike past her house and break a Snapple bottle as I rode past, in the hopes she might be like, “what is that noise,” and come outside. Instead, I was just filling the front of her yard with broken glass, which is not remotely desirable. And then I would go by and be jokingly singing or making a lot of noise, anything that would possibly make her say, “what the hell is going on outside,” and come out. She never came out; but I’m sure every morning on the way to school, she was like, “why is my driveway always full of broken glass?”
Jennifer Bowles (Irma la Douce)
“I was seeing this boy, and he was really into Shakespeare—and I just don't have a ton of experience as a viewer of Shakespeare; so I decided to go see a Shakespeare play on my own, so that I could come back and talk to him about it and seem extraordinarily cultured. But I didn't do the research before the show, so I had no idea what was going on and I left at intermission. However, I remember talking to him about the first act with a lot of enthusiasm.”
Malcolm Gets (Bob-Le-Hotu)
“I’ve been with my partner Dominic for 15 years; we met in 1999, and shortly after we met, I asked him what he was doing for the Millennium. He didn't have any plans, so I bought tickets for Barbra Streisand in Las Vegas. And we had just met, so it was definitely a bit extravagant on my part. But it didn't scare him off; here we are 15 years later. And he was not a big fan, but if he’s going to spend 15 years with me, he’s going to have to eventually make his piece with Barbra.”
See Rob McClure, Jennifer Bowles and Malcolm Gets in ‘Irma La Douce’ at New York City Center May 7 through May 11.
