Aaron Lazar calls me from Los Angeles where he is going on auditions for TV & film, and working on developing other projects; considering what a revelation he was in City Center Encore!’s production of A New Brain, where he starred opposite Jonathan Groff, and how electrifying he was in Sting’s The Last Ship, and one can’t help but selfishly wish he’d get cast in a New York show soon! With an impressive voice, and the acting skills to match, he has all the appeal of a classic leading man, and yet so far he’s mostly been seen in featured parts (he reveals he wants to do Carousel, so can we start a petition?) He also happens to make for a fascinating conversation, unafraid to touch on transcendental topics that prove he’s using life experiences as a treasure chest from which to draw on to infuse his characters with a sense of true humanity.

As he prepares to co-headline a fundraiser for The New York Pops with the incredible Stephanie J. Block, he talks about the importance of using talent to bring attention to worthy social causes, why he loves to read about great artists, and what he thinks about the elusive concept of stardom.

This is not the first time you’ll be hosting a benefit. Why do you think they keep calling you? Maybe you have a good guy face?

(Laughs) I just love being associated with The New York Pops, as far as benefits are concerned, in general I love being a part of a benefit because so many times as performers, show business can be a very selfish, narcissistic business, so to be able to share our talent in a way that’s entirely charitable is very important. To be able to do that in a way that helps organizations that are important to The New York Pops, is like that thing: if you’re a friend of my good friend, then you’re my friend.

What have you, Steve Reineke and Stephanie J. Block prepared for A Cabaret Evening?

I’m doing half an hour with my set, Steph’s doing the same, and then we’re going to sing some duets together which we’ve never done. We’re friends and I’m a huge fan of hers and have always wanted to sing with her. I think we’re singing “Move On” from Sunday, “I Did it All for You” by Jason Robert Brown, and we might be singing one more but I don’t know what that is.

How different is it to perform in a smaller venue where you can practically see everyone than doing a big Broadway show? In what ways does the audience energy influence your performance?

They’re very different. Doing a Broadway show I haven’t written it, so it’s someone else’s material, when doing cabaret or solo shows I haven’t written the music, but I’ve written the show. It takes years to craft it and you need to test it out in the way a stand up comic does, in cabaret there are not as many opportunities to take something out the road and try the material to see what works. It strikes me as a similar process, you have an idea for a show, you start putting it together, you do it for an audience, you keep what works, fix the stuff that didn’t and you get more and more of what works until it all works. In cabaret you take that and share it with an audience in a smaller room, 54 Below is one of the best places to do that.

In terms of your stage work, you recently did A New Brain with City Center which in some way deals with equal rights, and you also starred in The Last Ship which dealt with unions and ship builders. Do you find it important to do pieces that deal with larger social issues?

That’s a good question, I haven’t thought about that. I think a lot of actors would say this as well, the material speaks to you, you read the script and you feel something, certainly I responded to the issues in the scripts for those shows. Politics are hot right now, so what’s funny about show business is that it’s a big pot of soup, with all sorts of ingredients and when it all comes together it’s fun. Whatever’s out in the universe, the je ne sais quoi, the zeitgeist, all that affects me, and then the material comes and it becomes part of this soup.

You were very moving in A New Brain. Is there any chance we’ll see that production again sometime soon?

Thank you! I’m glad you liked that. I had never seen the show either, I’ve been a fan of the recording since I was in grad school and I fell in love with it too. I don’t know if the show will happen in another incarnation, but I think I can speak for the whole cast when I say we had the best time working together. If it could happen somewhere, I’m sure everybody would look forward to it.

You have been part of some of the longest-running shows on Broadway, including Les Miz, Mamma Mia! and Phantom. Any interest in revisiting any of those shows at some point?

(Laughs) Well, Mamma Mia!’s closing, so out of Phantom and Les Miz, I would love to play the Phantom someday and I would love to play Valjean.

You've mentioned that Sweeney Todd is your favorite Sondheim show. I’m curious what are your favorite Sondheim songs to perform?

It is yeah! In my show I do “Pretty Women”, we do a beautiful jazz version of that and I love it. I’m looking forward to doing “Move On” with Stephanie because I’ve performed that song maybe twice, and once it was for Steve’s 80th birthday with the Pops. I don’t think there’s a Sondheim song that I don’t like.

Next up you’ll be doing Step Into the Light at The Sheen Center in which you’re mentioned as an artist who is “one role away from stardom”. From your work, I don’t get a sense that you’re particularly trying hard to be a “star”. Is stardom something you were dreaming of when you first started performing?

You know what, no one has ever asked me that, and that’s such a fantastic question because it’s something I think every actor thinks about, the business sort of holds that mirror up to you, or that standard, or that expectation that if you’re not a “star”, you’re not successful. It’s funny that you picked up on that because nobody else has ever talked to me about it, I’ve never said “I want to be a star”, I want to be a better actor than who I was in the show I did before. You know what I mean? I just wanna keep getting better, growing, working with people who I feel have an interest in that as well because that’s how commercial theatre becomes artful commercial theatre. There are certain aspects of Audra McDonald’s career that I would not turn down (laughs). It’s a beautiful ride, to get to do what you like to do, I’m certainly at that point now where I feel like that to have that role, I’m ready. Carousel is my favorite musical of all time and there’s a talk of it being out there, so sure, if that’s what’s next, great! If not, I wouldn’t go into rehearsal going “this is going to make me a star!”, I would be going into rehearsal knowing that I’ve seen the show so many times, and played Billy in different incarnations, so what can I bring to this part that will thrill and deeply move audiences in a show that was written 70 years ago. How do we do that? That fascinates me. If people fall in love with it, then job well done I guess.

You always seem to be reading biographies of great artists, whether it be Laurence Olivier or Steve Martin. What would you say is the best advice you’ve gotten from performers you admire?

I think it’s just inspiration. It’s about tapping into that feeling as an artist where you feel you’re in the river, you’re surrounded by the energy and the joy, love, passion and fun that are all feelings that support creativity. I find reading about people who inspire me, helps me either get back into the river or to stay in it and swim faster.

For more information on A Cabaret Evening with The New York Pops, or to make a donation visit their official website.