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GAME BOY
Harry Connick Jr. Has Sold Millions Of Records, Won His Share Of Grammys And Done A Few Turns As A Big-Screen Leading Man. Now Louisiana's Musical Son Is Getting His Shirt Off On Broadway In The Pajama Game.
INSTINCT: Has doing The Pajama Game
eight shows a week worn you out?
HARRY CONNICK JR.: It hasn’t. At fi rst, I was
really concerned about it, only because when I do
my show, it can go anywhere from two hours to
four hours. The thing is, it’s all improvised. Here,
when you dance, you have to dance. You can’t not
do it. I was like, Oh man, because these dancers
were so in shape. I had to start physically trying to
get in better shape.
Speaking of shape, my boyfriend and I went to
see the show, and you come out, and I’m like,
“Dude, Harry Connick Jr. is ripped!” Secretly in
the back of my head, I’m like, “Please let him take
off his shirt, please let him take off his shirt!”
And at the end, there’s the big payoff!
I don’t know what a pay-off that is, or how much
of one.
Is that a huge amount of pressure?
Yeah, it’s really intimidating. I remember the fi rst
time I did it in dress rehearsal, my wife was there. I
said, “Was I okay? Did I look okay?” She said, “You
look like a deer in headlights, but you look fi ne.
You look scared to death!”
The show is called The Pajama Game. What
does Harry Connick, Jr. wear to bed?
Man, I don’t wear anything! I like to sleep with no
clothes on.
What’s it like working on the Will & Grace set?
It’s exactly what you think it would be—a lot of
fun. A lot of laughs, no egos. You have to realize
that those four characters in real life are all musicaltheater
people, so they’re all constantly singing and
they’re very extroverted personalities.
Are you more Will or more Grace?
Oh, wow. Probably more Will, I guess. I don’t
know—I’m in the middle. I like to eat stuff and
can be sloppy sometimes. They’re kind of like the
Odd Couple in that way. I’m a little bit of both.
What’s your guiltiest pop music pleasure?
I like The Cure. I dig them.
Is that really guilty? You’re not running on the
treadmill to Britney Spears, thinking about The
Pajama Game?
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Oh, you mean someone I shouldn’t love. Who else
is there that I shouldn’t love?
Britney, Jessica, Christina.
I was into Britney for a minute, because she was
has sold
millions of records, won his share
of Grammys and done a few turns
as a big-screen leading man. Now
Louisiana’s musical son is getting
his shirt off on Broadway in The
Pajama Game.
from Louisiana and I thought that was cool. But
I’m not into her anymore.
You became one of the celebrity spokespeople
for Katrina. What memories do you have of
that experience?
When I got there, I didn’t know what to expect. I
just felt that I had to go. I know the fl ood happened
on a Monday and I got in very early on Tuesday
morning—the sun hadn’t come up. As I got into
the city, I just couldn’t believe it. When I got down
to the convention center and saw all those people
just waiting around for days, it was so confusing to
me. There were so many memories, and as time
goes on they’re starting to become a little more
clear in my mind. I’m starting to be able to fi gure
them out a little more. It was the most horrible
and humiliating experience you can imagine for
these people.
Have you been back?
Yeah, I’ve been back quite a few times. We have a
project called a Musicians’ Village, which is really
important not only because we’re going to try
and rehouse some of the musicians who were
displaced during Katrina, but we’re working with
Habitat for Humanity for this. It’s not really about
building a house or two. We’re literally building a
neighborhood. There’s a fi ve-block area. There’s
going to be a school on it, hopefully some clubs
eventually. It’s all about building a community.
You have a very diverse fan base.
I don’t notice anything different about any
fans. I’ve always kind of been color-blind and
gender-blind and sexual-preference-blind. I
read somewhere online that these two guys were
saying, “I didn’t know Harry Connick Jr. was gay.”
And the other guy said, “He’s not. He’s married
with three kids. I read it here in Playbill.” The fi rst
guy says, “Playbill’s the new beard.” [Laughs]
The Pajama Game runs in New York through
June 11. For ticket information, check out
roundabouttheatre.org
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