On October 14th, Colin Donnell will be joining The New York Pops on their season opener, The Musical World of Lerner and Loewe, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of My Fair Lady. I had a chance to speak to Donnell about reuniting with the Pops, as well as how he first came to know the work of the iconic composers, working with Sutton Foster, and how he finds relief from the anxiety of the election.

Do you remember when you had your first taste of Lerner and Loewe ?

I think it probably was when my high school did Camelot in my senior year, and that’s the first time I can remember. Growing up we’d go to my grandparents’ house, at the end of every night my grandmother would eventually end up on the piano singing showtunes, so I’m sure she was playing Lerner and Loewe back then too. She had music for everything, but my senior year is when I really remember latching on to it.

Can you describe what’s it like to sing while The New York Pops accompanies you?

I literally just got chills thinking about it. I was trying to explain it to somebody the other day and there’s no experience like it for a performer. Some of the best musicians in the world come together to play these beautiful arrangements which sound amazing when they’re played by a 20-piece orchestra, and then all of a sudden you have 70 pieces, it’s phenomenal. You feel like you can do anything!

What Lerner and Loewe songs are on your wishlist?

“If Ever I Would Leave You”, it’s something that I obviously know very well, but thinking about singing it with the Pops made me go back to listen to Robert Goulet’s version, which is so beautiful and simple that I just sat and cried. That’s number one on my excitement level of songs.

When it comes to My Fair Lady are you more of a Freddy or a Professor Higgins?

(Laughs) I think the kinda quiet nerd in me has always been Freddy, he’s such a lovely, fumbling kinda guy.

Growing up I loved “On the Street Where You Live”, but it’s kinda creepy too.

It’s a little creepy, but it’s set to the most beautiful music. He’s kinda stalking her though, isn’t he?

By now you’ve experienced what I assume are different kinds of fandoms: comic book people and Broadway people. Are they very different or do they intersect at some point?

They’re equally passionate fandoms which is really cool. It’s always fun for me. When I did the show and then came back to Broadway, there was this cool intersect when I’d come out of the stage door now there’ll be fans of Arrow, or Chicago Med, and it’s really cool because some of them came to see the show because I was in it, which is wonderful. But they leave with a musical theatre experience which they don’t necessarily have had before. At the same time when I meet fans of the TV shows in conventions, I love when a fan shows up and tells me they love the shows but also saw me in Anything Goes for example. I love hearing from TV fans and especially Broadway fans, I feel that’s where my homebase always was.

Both of those universes are also so intricate. Is it fun to go from Chicago Med, to Fire, to PD?

Yeah, that’s Dick Wolf’s trademark, he was doing these giant crossover events before anybody else was, going back to Law and Order days. It’s amazing how they’re able to merge PD, Fire, Med and coming soon there will also be Chicago Justice. It’s a fascinating way of telling stories across many different shows.

Have you ever pitched a musical episode? Have Dr. Connor Rhodes burst into song?

I think I’m going to try to keep it as separate as possible (laughs).

You’ve worked with Sutton Foster on Broadway twice, what’s the biggest piece of wisdom you got from her?

Watching her perform is definitely a lesson in itself. She’s a tireless worker at what she does, I’ve been fortunate enough to call her a friend now for 5 or 6 years, I love watching her work, she’s a joy to be opposite of. You have to lift yourself up as a performer to match what she’s doing.

Since you’re in Chicago, have you seen Joshua Henry in Hamilton?

I’m planning on it. I’ve been in touch with some of those guys to make sure they’re all settled in and offering my limited Chicago knowledge. I know they had their first preview and I can only assume it’s amazing. Josh is going to be fantastic in that role, that cast is so amazing.

This is random, but since Patti Murin will be on Frozen next year, who’s the Disney Prince you’d like to play?

I haven’t even thought about it, you’re the first person to ask me that. Maybe if they brought back Beauty and the Beast, I’d love to play Gaston, have always wanted to play him. He’s not even a Disney Prince, but I like playing the bad guy.

Speaking of that, what’s the craziest Arrow theory you’ve heard so far?

Oh man, pretty much every other day I see something online or on Twitter about how I’m going to be coming back in some various capacity. My favorite one is that Tommy Merlin didn’t die, he just moved away from Star City, changed his name, became a doctor and is now working in Chicago under the alias Connor Rhodes.

On Twitter you tend to be very vocal about the election. How do you unwind and get away from that when it gets too crazy?

It’s definitely a special year there’s a lot on the line, I seem to have a following on Twitter that seems to agree with me in my points of view, so I haven’t had a lot of toxic feedback. I’ve had to actively search that on the news (laughs) which is fun, but Patti and I every now in a while will catch up on our TV, or just walking the dogs, going to dinner. We find a way to disconnect from it every once in a while, we’re both very passionate about what we think is the right choice moving forward.

You’ve already done Follies and Merrily We Roll Along, are there any other Sondheim roles you’d love to tackle?

All of them? (Laughs) I could have done Merrily until I collapsed. It’s one of my favorite experiences I’ve had, especially working with Stephen himself and James, Bessy, the whole cast was great. I fell in love with how deeply flawed my character was, it was a totally draining experience, but every night I left completely satisfied. So I think that.

Since you like villains, maybe Sweeney?

I had the chance to do Sweeney in university, maybe in a few years I can play Sweeney himself, or Beadle even, that would be kind of fun, Judge Turpin, that’s a really bad guy (laughs). I got to play Anthony and it was amazing, I must go back and play Ben in Follies, I’d love to step into that role. Stephen’s work is just amazing, as a performer when you get it, it just works. You don’t really have to do anything with it, you just do it. There’s something truly spectacular.

For tickets to The Musical World of Lerner and Loewe click here.