In Giselle Bonilla’s The Musical, theater teacher Doug Leibowitz (Will Brill), whose dreams of being a successful playwright haven’t exactly come to fruition, loses any remaining sense of patience or restraint when his now ex-girlfriend, fellow teacher Abigail (Gillian Jacobs), is dating the irritating Principal Brady (Rob Lowe). Blinded by rage and intent on sabotaging Brady’s reputation, he prepares his students to put on the most heinous and offensive musical possible, practicing in secret before the big and disastrous reveal.
Awards Buzz spoke to Brill about how it feels to have been thought of to play a part like this:
“It’s a blessing when somebody looks at you and thinks, I think that guy can do something manic or terrifying or wildly out of bounds of human behavior. It’s really an honor, and it’s so fun to get to play in the recesses of a madman’s mind. It was really exciting to get to read this role and know that I had been thought of so early on for it. Giselle told me that she watched– there’s no humble way to say it and it’s so embarrassing every time I say it – Tony acceptance speech in which I thank my therapist because she is everything to me and has shaped my life, and she was like, this is the flip of the world. This is who Doug Lebowitz would be in an alternate universe. If things had just gone a little bit better for him, he could have been this guy. I do feel like we’re all sort of on a hair’s breadth of going crazy and becoming somebody else and making vastly different choices at any time. Parallel universe stories are really moving to me.”
Watch the video above to hear about his experiences working in similar time periods in vastly different projects The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fellow Travelers and how he’s not going to sabotage the play in which he’s currently performing.
The Musical is now playing in theaters nationwide.
