Why Ann Harada Pitched Cinco Paul on Reprising Her ‘Schmigadoon!’ Role on Broadway

The stage favorite and the show’s creator on their continuing collaboration

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Ann Harada would love to live in a musical. Since that’s not possible, the beloved stage vet (Avenue Q, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Into the Woods) is content to stay in the world of Schmigadoon! After all, it’s practically the same thing. 

Dubbed the “queen of all media for Schmigadoon!” by the show’s multitalented creator, Cinco Paul, Harada is the sole performer to appear in both the original Apple TV series and the new musical comedy running at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre through September 6. She actually manifested it—she loved working on the TV show so much, she pitched Paul on reprising her role.

Schmigadoon! centers on an unhappy couple, Josh and Melissa (Alex Brightman and Sara Chase), who unwittingly wander into an old-fashioned musical and are unable to leave until they find true love. Packed with easter eggs for musical lovers, the show lovingly sends up Brigadoon, Oklahoma!, The Music Man and other Golden Age classics in which whole towns would gather in the main square to sing about the virtues of, say, corn puddin’ in harmony.  

Schmigadoon! celebrates musical theatre and community. Yet during its Apple TV iteration, neither was happening due to the pandemic shutdown. Cast members had to learn their material via Zoom and quarantine for two weeks before filming. “It was very hard to build that family because we weren’t allowed to socialize,” recalls Harada about the rehearsal process. “But when we got to go to the set, they opened the door to the soundstage, and it was this candy-colored Oz world.”

“The joy of theatre is the community,” says Paul, who initially envisioned Schmigadoon! as a stage musical when he came up with the idea more than two decades ago. “We’re all experiencing this community event at the same time, live. There’s nothing else like it.” 

Although he didn’t see many stage shows as a child in Phoenix, Arizona, he grew up listening to his mother’s cast recordings, which included South Pacific and Guys and Dolls. A community theatre production of Carousel also made an impact. “What a weird kid I was—I was really moved by ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone,'” Paul says with a chuckle.

As he built a career as a screenwriter—he cowrote the Despicable Me franchise, Horton Hears a Who, The Lorax and The Secret Life of Pets—Paul continued to think about Schmigadoon!, which he finally sold as a TV show in 2019. The Broadway musical hews close to season one of that series, and fans will recognize many of the storylines and songs, including “You Can’t Tame Me” (inspired by “If I Loved You” from Carousel) sung by the town’s bad boy Danny Bailey (Max Clayon) and “Tribulation” (reminiscent of “Trouble” from The Music Man) performed by the villainous moral arbiter Mildred Layton (Ana Gasteyer).

Of course, to streamline the production to just two and a half hours, a lot of material had to be condensed, cut or completely rewritten. “It was really a fun challenge to figure out how to make this all work on a stage,” says Paul. “Every time you have to get rid of something, it actually is an opportunity to add something that you didn’t have a chance to have in there before.”

Like Harada’s new number. Just as she did in the series, she plays Florence, the warm wife of Mayor Menlove (Brad Oscar), who suspects her husband is struggling with a secret. While her arc remains the same, she gets a brand-new song since her TV solo, “He’s a Queer One, That Man o’ Mine” (a subversive twist on Act II ballads like “Bill” from Show Boat), didn’t work within the compressed story structure. To replace it, Paul penned “What’s the Matter with Men?,” a “more energetic, fun duet” in the style of “Marry the Man Today” from Guys and Dolls, for Harada and Chase.

While some performers might have been upset to lose a solo, Harada was thrilled to receive a new song written specifically for her and her costar. “I wanted to do a female duet,” she says. “You very rarely get to do them.” The number is a bonding moment for Florence and Melissa as they vent about their imperfect partners. “Florence finds somebody that she can really pal around with and have a real conversation with. I don’t think she ever had that before in Schmigadoon!“

Harada is happy to continue her collaboration with Paul on Schmigadoon!, especially since Season 3 of the series, set to spoof musicals of the ’80s and ’90s, was scrapped. After years of working together, she has a deep understanding of his sense of humor. “Sometimes I have to interpret his jokes for other people,” she says, laughing. She’s full of praise for Paul, whom she called an “unbelievably kind, loving human who is so appreciative of all Broadway has to offer.” 

The feeling is mutual, with Paul expressing gratitude for the opportunity to play with Harada again, this time on Broadway. The series’ fans are delighted, too. “Every time she drops that newspaper to reveal her face in the opening scene, she gets big applause!” Paul notes.

“It’s a good feeling to be doing something that you’re so proud of and you believe in so much,” Harada says. “I want to live in a Schmigadoon! world for the rest of my life. I mean, in terms of our community. We accept each other. We’re together. I love it here.”

Paul concurs. “These are my favorite sort of stories, where not only the main characters are transformed, but a whole community is transformed. I wanted to deal with the transformative power of musical theatre, because it changed my life.”

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TDF MEMBERS: At press time, discount tickets were available for Schmigadoon! Go here to browse our latest discounts for dance, theatre and concerts.

Schmigadoon! is also frequently available at our TKTS Discount Booths.