Joshua Henry is ready to bring the soul to Broadway.
That’s what Henry told me he hopes to do with his upcoming performance in Serenbe, called “Broadway in the Woods,” on May 20. Henry has made the rounds in the theater world, appearing in everything from revivals of classics like “Carousel” and more recently “Into the Woods,” to newer productions like “The Scottsboro Boys” and “Hamilton.”
But even with some of the musical theater standards you might hear on Saturday night, Henry hopes to put his own spin on things.
“When they approached me about this, I knew that they wanted to hear Broadway, so you’re going to get the best of the Broadway [shows] that I’ve been in,” Henry said. “But the way that I’m going to present these is not the way that they were onstage. It all comes through a funky, soulful lens.”
Ahead of the performance, Rough Draft Atlanta spoke to Henry about his career, the changes Broadway has undergone over the past few years, and his upcoming album. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Do you remember what the first musical you fell in love with was? Was there a musical that made you want to do this professionally?
Joshua Henry: The first musical I fell in love with was probably “In the Heights.” “In the Heights” was not only the first musical I fell in love with, but it was also my first Broadway show.
Right, that was your Broadway debut.
Henry: Yeah. I did it Off-Broadway, and I grew up in Miami, Florida, so hip hop and salsa in the 1990s was what was always around. So that’s the moment where I was like, “Oh wow, there’s stuff that’s for mainstream consumption that is literally what I’m listening to and what I grew up singing.
What do you remember about that first Broadway experience? It was obviously a huge hit.
Henry: You know, it taught me so much. It taught me the importance of being in the ensemble and supporting a show, even if you’re not front and center. I understudied one of the main roles in that when it just started off, but being in the ensemble of that show showed me … the community of what a team is, and how to really have respect for yourself as an artist, whether you are a foot away from the front of the stage or 20 feet upstage. That stayed with me.
Speaking of that, I feel like you’ve been in so many musicals over the years from a real breadth of composers and style – everything from Rodgers and Hammerstein, to Sondheim, to Kander and Ebb, but also newer projects like “In the Heights” and “Hamilton.” Is there an approach that you enjoy more than the other when it comes to looking at older material and reinterpreting it or starting with something completely new?
Henry: There’s nothing like finding a character in a new musical, whether that’s “In the Heights,” and getting to see the director talk to the leads about who these people are, or if that’s in a musical like “Shuffle Along,” where it’s being created in real time with legends like George C. Wolfe, the director. There’s nothing like doing something new, and honestly that’s what I’m interested in now. [Laughs] I don’t necessarily want to do any more revivals. I’ve done a fair amount of them.
Do you have anything coming up as far as new shows that you’re excited about that you can share? Or are there any roles you’d be really interested in playing at this point in your career?
Henry: I’ll say this. There’s something large that I’m working on I can’t talk about, but it does fall under the category of new musical – very exciting and amazing music, and that speaks to a very large audience.
I would say of the older stuff, if there’s anything that I haven’t done that I might be interested in doing, it’s probably Coalhouse Walker Jr. in “Ragtime.” That’s the only one. But other than that, I’m excited about new things. There’s a musical “The Wrong Man” that was written by Ross Golan that’s still alive and kicking as well. We did it Off-Broadway, hopefully one day it will make it to Broadway.
You put out an album in 2021, and I know you’re about to drop another one. Is that a trend you’re looking to continue, and what can you tell us about that new album?
Henry: Yeah, for sure. In 2021 I released “Grow,” my debut album. I just released a single called “Can’t Nobody Tell Us Nothin’” in January.
Music is the thing that I am probably the most passionate about right now artistically. I’ve been writing for quite some time, and this music that I’m going to be releasing is more along the lines of … really high falsetto and lush harmonies, in a D’Angelo type of way, but with a super pop sensibility to it.
I recently went out to Nashville and started working with some incredible writers out there, and producers. I’m still working with my incredible producer Theron Feemster, who has just done everything from Michael Jackson to [Dr.] Dre, to everything. I’m so excited for folks to hear the new music. There’s not a date on it right now, but I want to release it before the fall for sure. So I’m very thrilled about that.
I was reading an interview with you recently, and you said something interesting about “The Scottsboro Boys” – that if that musical were revived today, audiences might be a little more receptive to it. I thought that was interesting because I recently spoke to Jason Robert Brown and he said something similar about the way the most recent revival of “Parade” has been received. How important do you think timing is when it comes to a musical’s success?
Henry: My gut instinct is to say it’s everything. “The Scottsboro Boys,” when it came out, everyone in the art community respected the heck out of it. But audiences were not ready for it. The moment was not right for it. It’s not like you hold everything until the right moment, but the moment does have a lot to do with the success of something. That show only lasted a month and a half, and then it went on to get 11 Tony Award nominations, [and] have an incredible regional theater life. It went over to London, was nominated for tons of Olivier Awards over there.
I do feel like, you open “The Scottsboro Boys” now, revive it? It’s going to do really well, because people are ready to talk about injustice and history in a way that’s not scared to open old scars, and really examine them. Whereas, you know, in 2010 … we weren’t talking as freely about a lot of those issues.
Broadway and the theater world have undergone such a shift over the past few years. I think that was definitely exacerbated by the pandemic, but do you think this was happening before or there’s something else at play?
Henry: I think it’s been bubbling for a while, but yeah 2020 – there’s no doubt. Aside from COVID, the racial awakening that we had as industry in Broadway, and so many other industries, that the way that this power structure has been set up, or the stories that we’ve been telling – the way that these stories have been produced and managed – has been favoring one type of people for so long, yet telling all types of stories.
I think we’re now seeing the importance of many different types of stories being told, and also who’s telling them and who is profiting by those stories being told. There’s no doubt that we would not be where we are without 2020, in so many ways. I’m grateful we went through what we did, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg for an industry as big, but as insular, as Broadway.
