Follies leading man Gregory Harrison has worn many faces during his long career, which has already lasted a quarter-century. For TV viewers, he's best known as the star of shows like Logan's Run, Trapper John, M.D. and the recent short-lived Safe Harbor. He has also starred in more than 30 TV-movies and miniseries, often as the object of desire in projects with titles like The Women's Room, Seduced, Bare Essentials, Caught in the Act and For Ladies Only, in which Harrison played a New York actor-turned-stripper.
What many in the theater world don't know is that Harrison's acting career started on the stage when, at the age of 21, he starred in a production of The Fantasticks in his hometown on South Catalina Island, California. Jason Robards, who was filming a movie on the island at the time, caught Harrison's performance and told him he had a future in the business, which encouraged the young actor to try his hand in Los Angeles. During most of the 80s, Harrison was also a successful theater producer in L.A.; his production company Catalina Production Group Ltd. funded and operated the Coast Playhouse from 1982-1993, presenting 60 shows which together won over 150 theater awards.
Now Harrison is on the Great White Way with Follies, but it isn't his first attempt at Broadway musical fame. His debut came in 1997 when he played Mick Hamilton in the musical Steel Pier, which couldn't find success despite the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb and the dances of Susan Stroman. The experience wasn't a happy one for Harrison, who saw his role cut down in previews. Thankfully, Follies has been a better time thanks to a meaty leading role, a bevy of amazing co-stars and oodles of anticipation from theater fans. Harrison recently chatted with Broadway.com in his dressing room before the show.

Hi Gregory. I'm thrilled to see Follies, but they won’t let me in yet.
We’ve been trying hard to keep critics and their friends at bay for a while. I’m sure we’ve failed—they’re sneaking in. Everybody is. There was more hype for this show before we even started rehearsals… We’re feeling a little bit of pressure.

So is this a good thing or a bad thing?
It’s exciting. Better than having everyone feeling indifferent! I believe in the show and in my castmates and myself, so… I think we can stand up under it all.

How did it feel to do finally get it on its feet? How was the first preview?
It was thrilling. It was filled with the hardcore Follies fans, so it unrealistically enthusiastic from the start. We didn’t even have to do anything right; we just had to stand there. Of course, we didn’t learn anything from it. We started the learn at the second preview, when we had a more authentic audience.

What have you learned?
We’ve learned what you always learn in previews. How to connect the dots...How to segueway one scene into the next...How to anticipate the audience and let them become a character themselves...And you also learn how to pace yourself so you don’t exhaust yourself early on. And you also don’t want to exhaust the audience early or else they won’t come back.

Were you a Follies fan yourself before you got cast?
Not really. I was a fan of the CD, but I’d never seen the show. Of course I’d heard about the legendary status of it many times, from the Sondheim-philes out there. But I didn’t know much about the actual show. People would tell me, “You should play Ben in Follies.” I just sort of filed that piece of information away. When I heard they were doing it…I’d been waiting for a project to drag me back from my happy little abode on the coast of Oregon. But it had to be the right one and this fit the bill. I told myself, “If you don’t fight to get this, you’re a fool.” So I flew myself to New York and started my attempts to become a part of it. It was actually one of the few times that I really wanted a role and actually got it! Usually the pressure and stress of desiring something that much sabotages the chances, but this time it worked out. I’m so grateful to be here. I’m thankful every time I walk into the theater.

Let’s talk about the show. It’s really a story of lost love.
It’s a very complex story of lost love, failed marriages, shattered dreams…

Your character, Ben, is at quite a point in his life.
Yes, it’s a real turning point. When he decides whether or not there is something to live for for the last third of his life. And the show explores choices made in the first third of our lives that in many ways we don’t understand or regret for various reasons. Ben is a very complicated man. He’s successful on the surface; he looks composed, happy, charming. And through the time of the show, he’s stripped to the bone, layer-by-layer. And he’s the last person to see how naked he has become. Of all the characters, Ben is the last one to admit that he’s screwed up his life. And if there is any hope for him, he has to make some major changes.

Traditionally, Ben and his friend Buddy are cast as different types, yet you seem pretty similar to Treat Williams.
I think it was a conscious choice. Treat and I are actually very different, but on the surface we don’t look all that different. I think that helps the audience believe that these guys could have really been close buddies. You go, “Yeah, sure. A couple of guys looking like they look… Both of them are probably getting along with the ladies.” The fact that 30 years later they’re very different human beings…We see that in all of our lives. People grow apart, people change dramatically. You need to believe that they were very close and similar at one point.

What about your director, Matthew Warchus? People are saying that this is more of an actor’s Follies than anything.
That’s part of it. He brings an intelligence, a fearless willingness to explore the darker sides of these people. And he doesn’t worry about if they’re always sympathetic, which I completely believe in. I’ve made a career out of playing good bad guys and bad good guys. That’s what’s interesting to me, to play the gray area. One minute, you’re rooting for the guy and the next, you can’t believe you liked him and then the next minute, you’re rooting for him again. Matthew is all for exploring those variations in each of our characters.

What about your leading ladies?
Oh my God. It is absolutely the best. I’m in actor heaven here. I enter with Blythe Danner, an amazing actress. There is an amazing kind of energy that she possesses. She almost dances across her lines and her character nightly. Then I start working with Judith Ivey, who is so grounded so deep into the earth and so courageous and unafraid to plum the depths of every emotion. I can’t do it justice with words. It is what makes her so special as an actress, one of the best in the country. She’s an absolute pleasure. It’s funny because Blythe plays my wife, but Judith gets most of my onstage attention. And it’s the opposite for Treat.

Let’s talk about your audition. Everyone wanted to get a part in this show. Was it difficult?
Yes, but I really believed in the character. I believed that I played it with conviction at the audition. To my amazement, they seemed to agree. Usually I walk away saying, “I don’t know why they didn’t see it.” They didn’t make it hard, but it was hard because of my nerves.

What did you sing?
Songs from the show and I played scenes from the show. And I did it again and again. While I was here, I picked up a job on the TV show Ed, so I was feeling good and confident. A few days after that, I went over and did the same songs and scenes for Stephen Sondheim and [librettist James Goldman's widow] Bobbi Goldman for the final audition. A few days later, I got it.

Were you intimidated by Sondheim?
That’s a good enough word for it. He’s an icon and he’s the best lyricist that ever wrote for the stage and I respect his work so immensely. You want him to respect you and like you and you want to do justice to his work. It’s been very nerve wracking, but he’s very nice and supportive and encouraging. You couldn’t ask for a more mild-mannered icon.

Your Broadway debut was in Steel Pier, another show that arrived within a wave of enthusiasm, yet it didn’t last long. How do you look back on that time?
It was a rough time in my life. I dragged my family out here for Steel Pier. I didn’t do that this time. They’re out in Oregon. I dragged them here and moved into a home in New Jersey, putting my four kids in a new school. I traumatized everyone in my family and then the show didn’t run very long. I felt a little burned by the experience. It wasn’t malicious, but they didn’t feel the show was balanced properly [while we were in previews]. In the end, they cut a couple of numbers of mine right before the show opened. It undercut my character, and what I had accomplished in workshops, in a big way. I went from playing a guy with three dimensions, and with those gray areas that I love, to a one-dimensional guy. That’s what the critics saw, too. I really felt out-of-control and victimized. It took me a couple of years of going back and doing TV and film to forget the pain. It’s a lot like labor. Women say, “I’ll never have another child,” but they eventually forget the pain and they’re ready again. That’s how I feel now.

You appeared in Guys and Dolls in Seattle.
Yeah, I really enjoyed that. It was a show that I always wanted to do. I also went to Los Angeles and did the Reprise series production of Of Thee I Sing!, so I keep my singing chops up as much as I can between these things. But I didn’t make any major commitments like this to New York theater for a couple of years.

With Steel Pier behind you, do you approach a high-profile gig like Follies differently?
I don’t think you can. You’re doomed if you do that. It’s like entering a new love relationship with someone by saying, “I’ll never get hurt again.” You have to enter each new show the same way, wide open and fearless. I’m totally vulnerable, but I believe in what I’m doing. I believe in my ability to fill my piece of the puzzle and I have high hopes. Maybe one thing that’s changed is that I’m more in the moment. I’ve loved every moment so far and I’m loving each night and not thinking about the long run or what awards might be out there. I’m trying to live in the here and now. I’m focused on that. If those other things come, then it just means that I can live in the here and now for a longer amount of time!