NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)- You’ve seen him on your TV screens, on the Broadway stage, and now you can hear him perform his new album in New Orleans.
Tony-award winning actor Michael Cerveris splits his time between the Big Apple and the Big Easy. On his trip home, he caught up with News with a Twist Reporter Kenny Lopez to talk about winning a Tony, his new album, and living in New Orleans.
“For years I had friends that said that New Orleans was my type of city. At the time I was living in a hotel on Canal Street, and I was like what do my friends think of me. I then moved near Carollton and started to embrace the New Orleans lifestyle, and soon fell in love with the city,” Cerveris said.
Cerveris has had roles on TV’s “Fringe,” “Treme,” and “The Good Wife.” Along with those credits, he’s won two Tony Awards, one for Broadway’s “Assassins” and most recently in 2015 for his role as Bruce in the musical “Fun Home.”
He’s made New Orleans his fun home.
“I wanted to pay taxes here, and now I am,” he said.
He bought a house here around 2012 and splits his time between his home in Treme and New York City.
“In NYC, everyone wants to come to the new restaurant, hear the new band, but in New Orleans, everyone wants to know what’s been here the longest, what’s survived the longest. New Orleans really appeals to me because of its inescapable sense of history,” he said.
When he won his Tony award, Cerveris showed the Crescent City love during his acceptance speech by chanting a big “Who Dat!”
“I think I mystified everyone in the press room and viewers at home. They were like, huh, what did he say?” Cerveris jokingly said.
His friends here at home cheered him on for a role he said every family can somehow relate to.
“It’s really about the mysteries,” Cerveris said. “All families have these mysteries, even the people that we are the closest to. I always have people come up to me after the shows and tell me that their family was nothing like the family in ‘Fun Home,’ but at the same the time the family is exactly like their families.”
The music in Cerveris and the music in New Orleans were a perfect match. That’s why he’s having his album debut show at The Theatre at St. Claude Friday night.
His new album, “Piety,” was made to pay tribute to the old Piety Street Recording Studio. The album features a who’s who of New Orleans musicians: Mia Borders, Anders Osborne, Paul Sanchez and Shamarr Allen just to name a few.
“Steve Gleason makes an appearance at the end of the record. I don’t think there’s many people I admire as much as him. Giving him the last word makes sense,” Cerveris said. “Once I started living in New Orleans and participating in it, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with it. I’m just glad to be here the summer before another Saints Super Bowl.”
In addition to starring in “Fun Home,” which shows no signs of slowing down, up next for him is an HBO TV project called “Mosaic,” directed by Steven Soderbergh.
His album debut show is Friday, April 29 at 8 p.m. at The Theatre at St. Claude. For ticket information, click HERE.