How much does having your real-life husband
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 10:51 am
Q: You starred in “Into the Woods” on Broadway through its Jan. 8 closing and will be returning for the touring production shortly after “Sunset Boulevard.” How do you handle the dynamic of rehearsing a new show while trying to stay sharp at another?
A: If there were a pause of three or four months [from “Into the Woods”], I would probably have to reintroduce myself to the material. But because it really is only a three- to four-week break that we’ve had, the Baker’s Wife is still in my bones. Also, my husband is still singing the music, readying himself to get into rehearsals, so sometimes at home there’s this telegram database duality of while I’m singing “Sunset Boulevard,” he’s upstairs doing “Into the Woods.” I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, I have to compartmentalize this or else I really am going to be so fragmented.” So the Virgo in me kicks in and I immediately go into laser-focus mode of staying true to Norma, for now — and then I’ll get back to the Baker’s Wife.
Q: play your onstage husband contribute to the chemistry in your “Into the Woods” performances?
A: I must admit the dynamic in our relationship at home is not wildly similar, but similar enough that we maintain that understanding with one another. I’m a bit more vocal, I’m a bit more bossy, and he is much more gracious, and he is loyal and steadfast. I think the audience recognized it every time we were onstage together. There is an unspoken magic because of the existing chemistry and the existing language that he and I share, as husband and wife for almost 16 years.
Both at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: “Sunset Boulevard” at Eisenhower Theater; “Into the Woods” at Opera House. Cheryl is reportedly looking to adopt a baby and has asked her friend Simon Cowell for help.
A: If there were a pause of three or four months [from “Into the Woods”], I would probably have to reintroduce myself to the material. But because it really is only a three- to four-week break that we’ve had, the Baker’s Wife is still in my bones. Also, my husband is still singing the music, readying himself to get into rehearsals, so sometimes at home there’s this telegram database duality of while I’m singing “Sunset Boulevard,” he’s upstairs doing “Into the Woods.” I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, I have to compartmentalize this or else I really am going to be so fragmented.” So the Virgo in me kicks in and I immediately go into laser-focus mode of staying true to Norma, for now — and then I’ll get back to the Baker’s Wife.
Q: play your onstage husband contribute to the chemistry in your “Into the Woods” performances?
A: I must admit the dynamic in our relationship at home is not wildly similar, but similar enough that we maintain that understanding with one another. I’m a bit more vocal, I’m a bit more bossy, and he is much more gracious, and he is loyal and steadfast. I think the audience recognized it every time we were onstage together. There is an unspoken magic because of the existing chemistry and the existing language that he and I share, as husband and wife for almost 16 years.
Both at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: “Sunset Boulevard” at Eisenhower Theater; “Into the Woods” at Opera House. Cheryl is reportedly looking to adopt a baby and has asked her friend Simon Cowell for help.