MILLER: Last year, I did Joseph [and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat] at the Arkansas Rep for a long stint, and I did 42nd Street at Goodspeed and on tour. I didn't sleep in my own bed at all last year. I was supposed to go into Joseph in London, but then the show closed. I was really upset, because that's another one of my dream roles, so I'm glad to get to do it in Little Rock.
MP: What is it about the role of Joe Hardy that you like so much?
MILLER: I think there's something really cool about playing someone who's sort of magical and who gets the opportunity to fulfill his wildest, craziest dream, to turn back the hands of time and have all these amazing abilities. But at heart, Damn Yankees is really a very tender lover story between Joe and his wife, Meg.
MP: Did you see the revisal with Bebe Neuwirth and Victor Garber?
MILLER: No, the first Broadway show I saw was Sunset Boulevard with Elaine Paige. She was great. I love Andrew Lloyd Webber's music, and I love that show. Joe Gillis is another part that's on my wish list.
MP: You love that show? Really?
MILLER: Yeah! I don't know why, but I do. I probably know every note of that stupid score.
MP: Back to Damn Yankees: What do you think of this plan to do a movie remake with Jake Gyllenhaal as Joe and Jim Carrey as Applegate?
MILLER: Umm, I don't know. Movie musicals are either so right or SO wrong. There doesn't seem to be a gray area. They're either wonderful or they're horrifying to watch.
MP: They're talking about updating the action to the present day and doing all sorts of rewrites.
MILLER: Damn Yankees is what it is. It's set in Washington, D.C., and the action takes place about 10 years after the end of World War II. It's a really specific time and place, and it's an intrinsically American story -- this guy sitting on his couch, watching sports and wanting to be a star athlete. I think the show is best left as it is.
MP: I can't let you go without asking your take on the whole Grease experience.
MILLER: It was weird. Right afterwards, I was upset, but I've gotten over myself a little bit.
MP: I know you've said you felt the role of Danny belonged to Derek Keeling, who was eliminated early on but who went on to replace Max Crumm on Broadway.
MILLER: Yes. I still feel that way.
MP: Given your love of Andrew Lloyd Webber's work, it must have been a trip for you to perform for him when he was a guest judge.
MILLER: Well...I think I frightened him. Straight out of the gate, I was a little too worshipful. I remember telling him, "Omigod, you don't know how you've affected my entire life, and my sister's! She knows every word of Aspects of Love! Can we call her on the phone?! Can you say hi to her?!!" I made a total jackass of myself. But since that whole experience, a lot of really satisfying things have happened in my career. Things are good.
[END]
