Paul Alexander Nolan is currently starring as Jimmy Ray Dobbs in Bright Star on Broadway at the Cort Theatre. The show is written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, inspired by their 2013 bluegrass album Love Has Come for You.
Paul’s Broadway credits include playing Guy in Once, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and Pasha/Strelnikov in Doctor Zhivago. He recently appeared in Daddy Long Legs off-Broadway.
His U.S. regional credits include: Aida (Kansas City Starlight); JCS and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (La Jolla Playhouse); six seasons with the Stratford Festival, including As You Like It (Orlando), The Grapes of Wrath (Al), Cyrano de Bergerac (Valvert), West Side Story (Tony, dir. Gary Griffin), Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus) and The Who's Tommy (Cousin Kevin).
During my recent trip to New York, I sat down with Paul before a performance of Bright Star to discuss how audiences have been responding to the show, why he turned down his first audition for Once and how seeing Les Mis aged thirteen made him realise he wanted to be a performer…
Opening a Broadway show is such a big deal – what’s going through your mind now that you’re open?
I think the busier you get the more present you get because you can’t think about what’s happening tomorrow. My wife and I moved the week after opening night – I had done no packing. It has been busy! We’ve had more downtime after opening because we’re not rehearsing. We’ll enter another period with awards season coming up.
