With his gentle cowboy swagger, movie star good looks and smooth voice, Damon Daunno should be playing the lead romantic roles in most Broadway shows (Georg in She Loves Me! Raoul in Phantom! Marius in Les Mis!), but the young actor has instead taken a more adventurous path by working with some of the most audacious visionaries in modern theatre. He joined Daniel Fish in an immersive production of Oklahoma! that took place inside a barn, featured cameras with night vision, and presented chili for a thankful audience to digest as they came to terms with the show’s until-then little explored darkness. In Anaïs Mitchell’s musical Hadestown (at New York Theatre Workshop through July 31) he takes on the role of Orpheus, the mythical hero whose story has been transposed to a Dust Bowl-era mining town. In the production, directed by Rachel Chavkin, Daunno must travel from musical genre to genre, and has to win both the love of Eurydice (a luminous Nabiyah Be) and the audience, who must be willing to follow him down into the inferno to accomplish his mission.
I spoke to Mr. Daunno about the influences that helped him shape his work in Hadestown, his penchant for picking up new skills, and working with modern theatre gamechangers.
From Jeff Buckley, to Rodgers and Hammerstein you seem rather fearless when it comes to taking on songs that have versions other people already adore. Was doing Hadestown refreshing in that sense?
It was definitely refreshing because the music is beautiful and I get to use my falsetto a lot which is something I really enjoy doing. Having come from Rodgers and Hammerstein where there was no room for that stuff, this does feel more up my alley in a natural way, but not without its challenges. There is a huge following with this piece and people who love it can be protective. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver sang Orpheus on the album, so those are big shoes to fill. Stylistically I think it’s a good match, it’s been a dream job.
How do you keep your falsetto in shape if you don’t get to do it often?
I’m a huge fan of jazz singers, growing up I was influenced by female jazz singers. I still sing along to my favorite women all the time, and that helps me live in a higher space. Growing up I was a huge Jeff Buckley fan, when I discovered his music it was like the Holy Grail of stuff I liked to do, so it really helped steer the ship in how there was a template to follow. The older I get, it’s really important to shed your influences and discover your own machinery. I’m always working and I never feel like I’m settled, so this is just a new exciting excavation in my machinery to cultivate my authentic falsetto.
You took up the ukulele and the bass when you did Brief Encounter at Roundabout…
(Laughs) That was a wild experience.
...have you started taking up a new skill or instrument with each show?
I never really consciously thought of it that way but absolutely. As an artist I’m always trying to push myself and learn. I’m obsessed with learning, so I tell myself to always say yes to things, like when I met the folks for Brief Encounter and they asked if I played bass I said sure, thinking they meant an electric bass. Then I flew to London and they gave me a double bass, and they were like “we start previews in 6 days”, so that trial by fire I found very motivated and inspiring. I’m not necessarily the kind of artist who likes to punch in and punch out, I love live performance because you always discover something new. I love jazz because there is a structure, but it’s about connecting to the present and finding freedom.
You’re also a composer, is making your own musical something that interests you?
I could definitely see that happening, maybe not tomorrow because I respect the form too much to know I can’t feign how to approach that just yet. But maybe if I kick around for 10 or 15 years I might want to do that. I have a lot of friends who are composers and writers, and fellow collaborators who I have interest in working with, so maybe if the right subject matter appears I’ll go for it. Because of the musician/actor thing you can get an identity crisis, but these days I’ve been describing myself as “a man who does stuff”, if one day it’s writing a musical then so be it.
The Orpheus myth is rather popular in entertainment, do you have any favorite adaptations?
Interesting. Gosh, the Gluck opera is definitely sort of the ultimate adaptation, but reading a lot when I got the job, I read many short stories and saw many adaptations, and there is this really groovy silent claymation short film, and what they did in it was so beautiful. But I think Hadestown is the hippest version by far (laughs).
You’re working opposite Amber Gray who was your love interest last summer in Oklahoma! how is it to have her as an antagonist this time around?
I love Amber dearly and I love working with her. She’s a ferocious performer and she’s become a very dear friend, so I’m thrilled to work with her again. It’s funny we’re in opposite teams this time, but to add to the intricacy of this story, there is an aspect of it which suggests Persephone and Orpheus have an unspoken kinship. The show starts when I sing that song about Lady Persephone and explain how she’s bound to the underworld, when she comes out we have this bond of respect. When she’s on top we have each other’s backs, and in the underworld she’s responsible for Hades giving us a second chance. She says “let them go”, I think in the underworld it just breaks her heart. So even though we’re on opposite sides, when I see her onstage secretly I go “she has my back”.
I couldn’t help but think how much Patrick Page sounded like Leonard Cohen…
...and Tom Waits.
...yeah, and I wondered if Rachel asked you to seek inspiration from specific musicians. Because there are so many different styles in the show, and yet it feels so cohesive.
Very interesting, yeah, the show features many styles, I had a vocal coach come see it and she freaked out because it features every color of the rainbow vocally. But I’d say like in any show, inspiration comes from places like posters on the wall the production designer are using...for instance our team has posters of James Dean and things like that. Or Billie Holiday for Persephone, and Tom Waits for Hades. There are subconscious backgrounds but we all agree authenticity is king and we have to embrace how we sound in order to tell the ultimate truth. So even though Patrick might remind you of Leonard Cohen, or I might remind you of Jeff Buckley, there’s no way we’re doing anyone but ourselves. I like when people tell me I remind them of Jeff, rather than saying I sound like him. Maybe that’s how Anaïs wrote the piece, thinking Hades was a Tom Waits type. Similarly with vocal stylings you can always get so far with an impression, it’s good it reminds people of other artists, but we were always encouraged to be ourselves.
Oklahoma! was by far my favorite thing I saw last year, so having worked with Daniel Fish and now Rachel Chavkin who are two directors who work so outside the box when it comes to actors and audience, has this non-traditional staging changed how you perceive your work?
I absolutely love it and would want it no other way. My experience with New York has been very up and down, another brilliant director I’ve worked with is Emma Rice who used to run Kneehigh and now runs The Globe in London, and she once called me “a left handed performer” in that maybe I tend to do things that are less than traditional. So I find that the people who work in unconventional ways, really see me and like to challenge me and celebrate what I can do. That pushes me and I can question or doubt things in this business when I have missed opportunities or am let go, but I now think it’s about taste and I’m lucky, I’m coming to be proud of the fact that these unconventional directors choose to work with me. I’m building some strength with that in mind, thinking I can bring this thought with me. Progress should be about pushing the medium, about shaking it up, and I want to be a part of that. I don’t know if I could sit in a box even if I wanted to.
Will there be a cast recording of Hadestown? I’m still dreaming of an Oklahoma! recording.
Hopefully that project will come back around and we’ll get a chance to do that. As for Hadestown there hasn’t been a decision, I do know fans of the album have had a very positive response to the show. They hear the new voices and songs and they want the cast recording.
What are your dream Sondheim roles and your favorite Sondheim songs?
Amazing that you chose Sondheim, because as far as traditional musical theatre I’m not incredibly versed outside of Sondheim and Rodgers & Hammerstein. I truly love Sondheim and my dream role is definitely Sweeney Todd, I love that production so much. Maybe because I grew up listening to punk rock and the show is really dark, the music is gorgeous and ferocious, and the character’s emotional arc is truly epic. My songs would be “No One is Alone” from Into the Woods, that song destroys me! I would also say “Epiphany” from Sweeney Todd when he loses his mind and decides to wreak havoc on the masses, and maybe “Pretty Women” from Sweeney too.
For tickets and more information on Hadestown click here.
