Back to the theater for Krakowski, Burgess
Two of television’s greatest comic actors, Jane Krakowski and Tituss Burgess, are going to return to their theater roots this summer, albeit briefly.
The duo, currently appearing in Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!,” will team up July 27-29 for live performances of “Center of the YOUniverse” at off-Broadway’s Minetta Lane Theatre.
On the theater’s website, the show is billed as “a clash of divas and dueling vocals.’’ It sounds like Krakowski and Burgess will be performing as exaggerated versions of themselves — or, rather, as live embodiments of the indelible TV characters they created.
“Unaware of just how brightly the other one shines, Tituss and Jane will attempt the impossible: a double booking,’’ the site says. Inevitably, what transpires is that “They’ll stop at nothing to upstage each other and steal the spotlight.”
Sounds perfect. That’s exactly what their TV creations would do. Massive selfabsorption, vanity, and insecurity were their hallmarks.
On NBC’s “30 Rock,” Krakowski played Jenna Maroney, a narcissistic sketch performer on a “Saturday Night Live’'-like late-night comedy show. On Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,’’ she portrayed Jacqueline White, a socialite struggling to reinvent herself after she’s dumped by her rich husband.
On “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,”
Burgess delivered an unforgettable portrayal of the egotistical but endearing Titus Andromedon, a struggling singer-actor desperate to make it on Broadway. (Burgess also had a recurring role on “30 Rock” as D’Fwan, a hairdresser who was part of the entourage of Angie Jordan, played by Sherri Shepherd.)
When Jacqueline became Tituss’s manager on “Kimmy Schmidt,” Krakowski and Burgess had more scenes together, and they were invariably a treat.
Now, as they prepare for their brief sojourn back on the stage, both of them can draw on their musical theater experience.
In 1987, when she was only 18 years old, Krakowski made her Broadway debut in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Starlight Express.” Two years later, she performed in “Grand Hotel,’’ earning a nomination for a Tony Award. In 2003, she won the Tony for “Nine the Musical.” As recently as 2016, Krakowski was on Broadway in “She Loves Me,” earning another Tony nomination.
Burgess, for his part, made his Broadway debut in 2005 in “Good Vibrations.” When that show closed after a brief run, Burgess rebounded quickly, landing a role in “Jersey Boys” the same year. He later appeared in Broadway productions of “Guys and Dolls’' and “The Little Mermaid.’’
Two years ago, Burgess and Krakowski were to appear together in NBC’s “Annie Live!,’’ but Krakowski had to bow out when she was diagnosed with COVID-19.