KEVIN CSOLAK HAS HIS HOPES HIGH,
NOT TO MENTION THE TIME AND
THE PLACE AND HE’S GOT RHYTHM
Kevin Csolak (pronounced SO-lack) is currently playing Tulsa in Gypsy with Audra McDonald. One of the highlights of the production is his song-and-dance number, the iconic “All I Need Is the Girl.” The night I attended, applause broke out twice during the number and, at the end, exploded into one of the brightest ovations on Broadway. Stage and Cinema asked me to speak with Kevin about this dream job amid his equally impressive career.
GREGORY FLETCHER: How was it building and originating your big song and dance, “All I Need Is the Girl?”
KEVIN CSOLAK: I couldn’t have wished for a better experience because this is the first time the choreography was different from past productions. Usually, the Jerome Robbins estate is strict on what they want and allow. But with Camille A Brown choreographing, they allowed her to open it up and explore. She already had a great structure of what she wanted, and steps, but then it was a beautiful process of molding it to my body, using my skills to the best of their ability, and refining. We were adjusting the steps up until opening night. It was a long, ideal process because sometimes you get in there, you’re given the steps, and you’re left to figure it out and make it your own. But we kept working it, tweaking it. Even last week, she came back to note the show, and I asked about a step that wasn’t feeling totally right, and she said, “If you shift your weight to the other foot, that’ll work.” I love how we’ve connected in telling the story through dance.
Kevin Csolak and Joy Woods in Gypsy (photo by Julia Cervantes)
GREGORY FLETCHER: Has the number been extended? It seemed like a bigger number than I remember from past productions.
KEVIN CSOLAK: Yeah, it was. But honestly, that’s hats off to Camille for developing more of a journey for the number. There’s a little breakdown at the end that usually isn’t there. Which gives a nice arc, I think.
GF: Breakdown?
KC: There’s a dream sequence that happens where Louise imagines she’s the girl that I’m talking about, and we break out and dance together, but then afterwards, there’s a breakdown which broke us out of the dream sequence, and I go on my knees. Camille added moves that represent the culture Tulsa had mixed with on the Circuit Mama Rose had them on—moves to my number like the “Shorty George” and others that come from the black community and culture. Tulsa would have visually seen people of color do these in certain vaudeville houses thus bridging Camille’s moves to Tulsa, which we haven’t seen in previous iterations of the number.
Zachary Daniel Jones, Tony D'Alelio, Jordan Tyson, Kevin Csolak,
and Brendan Sheehan in Gypsy. (photo by Julia Cervantes)
GF: How else did the interpretation of Tulsa differ from past productions?
KC: [Director] George Wolf told me in rehearsal, “I think Tulsa is actually kind of an awkward guy. I think he’s a little shy.” So, when he’s showing Louise this dance, I’m full of nervous jitters—like when you care about something so much and sharing it with someone for the first time. I loved exploring that because often Tulsa is portrayed as a song and dance man already at the highest of his abilities. But for us, we took a step back and examined where Tulsa was at that time of his life. And where’s Louise in her journey? I think that’s where the beauty lies in the number.
GF: Is Tulsa one of the young boys that Rose recruits at the beginning? The young boys are black, but when you make your first entrance and trade places with the youngsters, the teenage boys are all white. Was this The Notebook approach where race is irrelevant and ignored?
KC: No, it definitely was a relevant choice by the creative team. The point being that Rose, after years of trying to get ahead with the act, came to realize that the act could get more attention if June was dancing with white boys. Thus, adding an extra element to the show which hadn’t been considered before—with a woman of color in the 1920s, what does she have to do to get ahead with her daughters in show business, which was predominantly run by white men.
GF: And God knows what happens to those talented young black boys.
KC: And let me tell you, those kids are professionals. So talented. They know all of my choreography in the entire show. One little boy can do it better than me.
Kevin in Fox's The Mick
GF: Are you ready for a long run? What’s the longest run you’ve done so far?
KC: The Outsiders was for four months. How the Grinch Stole Christmas was six months. But Mean Girls was a little over a year.
GF: This one may top them all. Any secrets to share about surviving eight shows a week, week after week after week?
KC: Yeah, it’s tough. Like anyone who works the night shift, it can be hard getting home and getting to sleep because your body’s still running on adrenaline. Especially doing physical shows like West Side Story and The Outsiders where we’re doing fight choreography in the rain. It’s such a rush. How do you let that go? I have a nightly routine of warming down. Warming up is very important, but I think the warm down is even more vital. Additionally, treating your body right as far as nutrition and sleep. As much as I want to wake up at 8:00 AM and make coffee and read a book, often I need to sleep till a half hour before I need to leave the apartment. Your body needs to regenerate. Also mentally. I think it’s necessary to be honest with yourself. Eight shows a week is tough and there are ups and downs. There are days when it can feel like a roller coaster ride with emotions—feeling burnt out. But if you make sure you’re doing everything you need for your mental and physical health, you’ll remained balanced and stay in check. And once you get to the theater, and the orchestra starts the overture, I think we have the biggest orchestra pit on Broadway right now, and getting to watch Audra McDonald and Danny Burstein onstage, it’s a dream within a dream within a dream. I try to really take stock every day on how grateful I am. And that’s what pushes me through.
Kevin as Diesel in West Side Story
GF: It must’ve been very interesting going from the stage version of West Side Story to the film.
KC: Actually, the other way around. Most people think the same, but the film’s release got pushed back a year, which confuses the order. But the film came first and then the revival on Broadway.
GF: What were the big differences between the two?
KC: Artistically speaking, the film was set traditionally in 1957, but the stage show was set in what looked like 2017. The film had a huge multi-million-dollar budget and stayed very true to the authentic original era of the story. In the stage revival, we examined how we relate to the show in today’s times. Visually, it was a stark contrast to the film. We were covered in tattoos. I had 9 or 10 fake tattoos on my neck. And The Jets weren’t just white. We were actually seen as Americans, so we had black, white, and Asian cultures mixed together. The Sharks were Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Latino. Very different from the film, I had to close the book on that experience and put it aside. It helped that I played different characters too. In the film, I played Diesel, who I found to be a little bit more on the outskirts of the group. He was older and was probably going to leave the Jets soon. In my back story, I had a younger sister who I was supporting, and I was an older brother figure to Baby John. Both he and Diesel were a little quieter. I didn’t say much until the song “Gee, Officer Krupke.” Whereas in the Broadway production, I played Arab, who talks a lot and was a little annoying, always wanting to play and joke around.
GF: Fascinating to do the same show with two very different directors.
Kevin Csolak looking up at director of West Side Story, Steven Spielberg
(courtesy of 20th Century Fox)
KC: Steven Spielberg was so amazing with us. Guided us lightly with kindness and with kid gloves toward where we were taking the characters. With Ivo van Hove for the Broadway production, he was almost standoffish and gave very little direction. Here and there perhaps, but mostly he let us play and be rowdy, which catered to the lack of parental guidance in the Jets & Sharks.
GF: And how ironic that the stage production used so much film aesthetics with large screens of video and onstage cameras.
KC: Very similar to the current staging of Sunset Blvd.
GF: Where did the film of West Side Story shoot?
KC: A lot in Harlem, not too far from where I live. They blocked off five streets and an avenue. To be able to walk to set and see all the streets blocked off—well, it was a Steven Spielberg production after all. We also filmed on 132nd Street in Harlem and in Brooklyn at Steiner Studios. That’s where we did the rumble and the salt shed; there was a whole week and a half of night shoots. We also shot in north Jersey. There’s a small town there with a four-block parking lot that was rented out. They built broken down tenements and apartments that looked partly demolished from a wrecking ball. Piles of rubble were everywhere. We filmed a lot of the “Jet Song” there, “The Prologue,” and the final scene where Tony dies. We did one day of shooting in Washington Heights. Two blocks away from where they were filming In the Heights.
Kevin Csolak in West Side Story
GF: How many days of shooting was it in total?
KC: Roughly two or three months with weekends off. Plus, we had three months to rehearse, but honestly, after a month and a half, we were ready to go. The last month and a half was about fine tuning. Steven would come into rehearsal, and he’d practice shots and examine angles. It was unfathomable watching him watch us. You could see a twinkle in his eye when we finished a dance. You could literally see a spark of inspiration in him. Oh my God, that was amazing. You saw the wheels turning in his head. We were like kids in a candy shop. When we were on set doing “Dance at the Gym,” Steven would call over all 80 dancers to watch a video of what he shot. He’d take time out of the busy schedule to have all of us watch a take on this one screen. And a beautiful thing would always happen. I’d look over at him and see Steven watching us. His face would light up at the joy of us watching. Our hearts were so in it, and we came to work giving our all. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on set.
GF: How different was the choreography between the film and the stage version? Meaning, in a film you’re only going to perform it once or a few times, whereas in a stage version you have to repeat it eight times a week.
KC: There are definitely some things that you can do on a film set knowing I’m okay; I’m only doing it two or three times. But some Broadway choreographers push it, and it’s up to the performer to know what you can do eight times a week. You have to find that middle ground so you don’t hurt yourself. But I will tip my hat to Justin Peck because his choreography in the film could be done eight times a week onstage. But then again, he comes from a stage background, so he knows. But yes, overall, in film and TV, you can throw your body around and do something more challenging or more taxing than what’s appropriate for a Broadway run.
GF: How about a totally different venue like the Super Bowl halftime show with Justin Timberlake. What kind of prep did that demand?
KC: A year into Pace University in New York, I had to take a gap year because of college loans and moved to LA. I slept on the couch of one of my mentors in dance and a couple other commercial dance choreographers. I ended up training out there for about two or three years. Training for commercial dance with an aim to dance and act for film and TV. When I got the call that I was cast in the Super Bowl halftime show, I was through the moon. I ran down the block like a goofball. The prep was different for me than the main corps of dancers because Justin Timberlake was about to go on tour with his Man of the Woods album. All the tour dancers already knew the choreography, but the newly hired dancers, six or seven of us, we had to learn it from scratch. We rehearsed in New Jersey at a stadium that wasn’t in use for about four weeks. But after the first week, we mostly knew the choreography. The latter three weeks were just for running it a few times a day. We would hang out, go get food, come back, and then Justin would arrive and hang with us, getting to know us. He’d have meetings with the choreographer or discuss details for the tour. Then we’d run the Super Bowl show. After three weeks of rehearsal in New Jersey, we went to Minnesota a week before the game. We only got to practice on the field twice but mainly for the crew who had to set the stage in a matter of minutes. It’s something I’ll never forget. I got to dance with my mentors of dance and look to my left to see Justin Timberlake. And seeing that crowd of 56,000 people. It felt like a milestone of growing up, of reaching a goal of hard work paying off.
GF: You’ve performed from an early age. What was your professional debut?
A young Kevin Csolak dances to Footloose's 'I Can't Stand Still'
KC: The soap opera As the World Turns. I was 10 years old. My brother wanted to get an agent, and I went along for the ride. At the child management office, they hired him, then looked at me. I got signed, and we both started auditioning. I also worked on the soap opera The Guiding Light. Next, I booked How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was my first Broadway show.
GF: So many kids have done Broadway, but I wonder how many crossover as adults. What was your transition from child to adult actor like?
KC: I think the transition for me was very much like teenage battling, trying to fit in with friends, questioning if I should do sports, deciding what to study for college. Around 14 to 16 years of age, you have to start making decisions. I loved performing so much, everything else kind of fell away. I was on a travel baseball league, but I was missing games and showing up late because I was coming from auditions. Sports wasn’t as important so that fell by the wayside. I trusted my heart and my gut. The toughest time was being a late teenager: it’s harder to book a job because producers can hire someone who’s over 18 and doesn’t need a guardian. That’s when I focused on my studies. One reason I went to Pace University was because they allow their acting students to continue auditioning on the outside. Many other colleges won’t allow outside auditions because they want you to stay in school for the four years to focus on the training. I was consistently auditioning, and I think the consistency was really helpful because auditioning is its own beast. It’s a muscle you need to keep working because it’s tough, especially post pandemic. It was all self-taped for the most part. When I’m auditioning for something, they’re probably looking at a couple-hundred people who look exactly like me. So, you have to put yourself out there and find something that’s unique about yourself or about your interpretation of a character. How else do you stand out?
GF: In your case, just being a triple threat.
KC: That’s one of the things that this role of Tulsa is bringing out in me, and I am so grateful. It’s my first principal role on Broadway, and I hope this propels me to more triple threat song-and-dance roles.
Kevin in Watch Night at PAC NYC, and a quote on his site from my review. (photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
GF: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
KC: In 10 years, I hope to be transitioning into directing and choreographing for stage, TV, and film. In a perfect world, I’d love to be doing film and then come to Broadway to do a song-and-dance role. I think that would be the dream if I’m really looking into a crystal ball and crossing all my fingers and toes. I’m going to keep my head down and keep working hard, keep grinding, and keep exploring.
GF: Which may be the best advice of it all. Thank you. We’ll be watching.
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find Kevin Csolak on his site and IMDB or follow on Instagram (@kevincsolak) and Facebook
find Gregory Fletcher at Gregory Fletcher, Facebook, Instagram,
