Congratulations on getting RUSSIAN ON THE SIDE to Broadway. What was the inspiration for the show?

The show was inspired by the song Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians) -- the Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin patter song from LADY IN THE DARK that made Danny Kaye a star in 50 seconds.

What's it about?

It's about the discoveries that I made in researching Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians). That song is a list of 49 Slavic Composers and it's curious to me why a few of them are very well known, but most of them have been long-forgotten. This made me examine the legacy of some fine artists I've known who were never famous and, of course, my own standing on the ladder of legend (I'm on a VERY low rung). Believe it or not, this all lends itself to a LOT of comedy. What I do in the show is uncover the stories of who these people were. See, in researching the show, I uncovered some amazing stories about these composers that are either funny, or bizarre or just plain gossip -- this became the foundation for much of what makes the show funny, as well as tying their lives to my own -- which is an unending source of aggravation and, as you know, the formula is: tragedy plus time equals comedy. I also found genuine tie-ins to some magnificent Great American theater-songs, so I was able to flesh out their lives in these songs in unexpected (I hope) ways.

You can find out much more about the show and see a bit of it by going to www.RussianOnTheSideOnLine.com

Was there any concern that such an obviously intimate show might not be flashy enough to compete with the mega-musicals currently on the Great White Way?

I don't think of this show as competing with MAMMA MIA or THE LION KING anymore than FALSETTOS competed with PHANTOM. It's a totally different audience and the beauty of Broadway is that it attracts all types of audiences. I'm what they call a "big" performer -- that is to say, I have a lot of energy on stage and all that energy can be a lot for a couple hundred people to absorb; my shows play best to houses that are between 500 and 1000 people.

You've just finished previewing the show in Chicago. Did you make any major changes?

The whole reason we went to Chicago was to do just that. We made substantial changes in Chicago! Anyone who thinks they've seen this show (I did a cabaret show called TSCHAIKOVSKY (AND OTHER OTHER RUSSIANS) on which RUSSIAN ON THE SIDE is based) is in for a LOT of big surprises. My director, Mark Waldrop, (who wrote and directed WHEN PIGS FLY as well as directing Bette Midler's Millennium Tour and BEA ARTHUR ON BROADWAY), is a master at clarifying ideas; aside from opening up the show theatrically, dramaturgically he was of infinite value in guiding me as a writer -- making the show something that the audience "gets" fully. This show has a lot of food for thought in it and it was important that the audience walk away a) thoroughly entertained and b) with their brains spinning about the salient ideas that glue the show together. In Chicago, after a lot of work, we got the show to where it's accomplishing that!

Mark and KT Sullivan Photo by Heather Sullivan

Portrait of Mark and KT by legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld

Cabaret audiences know you best for your very successful shows with the fabulous vocalist KT Sullivan. What do you feel are the essential elements for a great cabaret duo?

I can only say what's worked for KT and me. The main thing is that we genuinely admire each other's particular talents and like each other as people. We're very, very good friends and this comes across on stage. Also, we're yin and yang -- the old "opposites attracts" adage. The other thing is that we both come from exactly the same place, artistically, with regard to the songs we sing. We have very similar taste and senses of humor.

If you had the chance to sit down with one of the great musical theater songwriters of the past, who would it be and what would you like to ask him or her?

That's a REALLY hard question! Who WOULDN'T want to have a chance to sit down and get to know one of the great songwriters? The thing that I've found is that the great songwriters tell you everything you could possibly want to know in their work. Their work IS them; they've left bits of their soul in every note and lyric and it's there for us to "sit down with" any time we want; in fact, this is one of those salient ideas of RUSSIAN ON THE SIDE I was talking about.

Of all your accomplishments so far, which one gives you the greatest personal or professional satisfaction?

Honestly, I get extreme personal satisfaction from whatever I'm doing at the moment -- I suspect any working artist would tell you the same. I'm very, very lucky in that I don't have to take jobs I don't want to do. One of the great benefits of working in Cabarets and concert-halls is I put the shows together myself -- I don't have to sing ONE SONG or say ONE WORD that I don't want to say. Granted, I've had some HORROR STORIES of jobs in my lifetime, (like, for instance, I did a gala in Milwaukee a couple weeks ago: I was trying to entertain 450 well-dressed people in a tent during a TORNADO!!), but at least I choose the material.