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PEOPLE & ARTS A31
Ex-’Chuck’ star Zachary Levi takes the long way to Broadway
MARK KENNEDY
AP Drama Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — To one
day get to Broadway,
Zachary Levi made the
calculated choice to not
initially go to Broadway.
The southern California
native grew up as a pas-
sionate fan of theater, but
knew he had to play a
long game to make those
dreams happen.
First up, he had to become
a TV star.
“I knew that people who
win Tony Awards have
a hard time getting ar-
rested in Hollywood, but
if you could get on some
schmucko sitcom in L.A.,
Broadway comes a-knock-
ing, saying, ‘Hey, come
and be in our show,’” Levi
said, laughing.
Broadway has indeed
come knocking for the for-
mer star of “Chuck” and
“Heroes Reborn,” who is
starring in a revival of “She
Loves Me,” considered by
many to be one the most
charming musicals ever
written. The show opens
Thursday at the Round-
about Theatre.
Levi, who made his Broad-
way debut in 2013 in a small
summer show, now finds
himself among a Broadway
All-Star team: Laura Bena-
nti, Jane Krakowski, Gavin
Creel, Byron Jennings, Mi-
chael McGrath and Peter
Bartlett.
The 6-foot-4 Levi hopes he
doesn’t stand out for the
wrong reasons. “I don’t
want people walking away
going, ‘You know, for a
Hollywood guy, not bad.’
I would hope that people
walk away going, ‘I didn’t
even think about it.’”
Levi plays a clerk of a per-
fume store who exchanges
love letters with a pen pal
only to discover she works
alongside him. The story
has been adapted into the
films “The Shop Around the
Corner” with James Stew-
art and “You’ve Got Mail”
with Tom Hanks.
Levi, an actor with a self-ef- some lines — he rates the
facing manner, solid moral
compass, flawless comic
timing and leading-man
looks, is a worthy succes-
sor to Stewart and Hanks.
“They’re major influences,”
he said.
“I’ve always kind of found
myself fitting into the Every-
man role. As much as I’d
like to feel like I can com-
pete with the Brad Pitts of
the world, that’s like Adon-
is-y, leading-man stuff and
I’m just a little goofier than
that, I guess.”
Tony-nominated director
Scott Ellis said Levi belongs
alongside his veteran and
celebrated cast mates —
calling him a rare find — a
leading man who is also
funny.
“He brings a beautiful,
beautiful soulfulness, hu-
mor, truth to this role,” Ellis world has failed refugees
said. “He has stepped up
in a major way. No one is
going to be able to walk
away after seeing him and
not go, ‘That’s a guy who’s
not only a terrific actor but
that’s someone who can
carry a musical.’ And there
are not a lot of them out
there.”
As a kid, Levi loved to tell
jokes and do impressions.
He adored TV sitcoms,
computer games and ani-
mation. “I joke that half of
my acting influences are
cartoons,” he said.
Theater became an im-
portant outlet. “If you’re
a spazzy kid who likes to
crack wise and sing and
dance around like an idiot,
that’s your home,” he said.
In middle school, he did
a production of “Grease”
and later a regional pro-
duction of “Marvin’s
Room,” which got him no-
ticed by a retired manag-
er, who got him an agent.
He did the TV show “Less
Than Perfect” for four years.
Broadway came calling in
2007 with an offer to audi-
tion for the musical “Young
Frankenstein.”
He flew across the coun-
try and performed in front
of director Susan Stroman
and Mel Brooks. “I start
stomping my foot in time
to the music so they can’t
see me shaking,” he re-
called. Though he forgot
audition a C-plus — he got
the job. Then “Chuck” was
picked up and he had to
do that instead.
Broadway came again
after “Chuck” ended in
E- In this June 6, 2015, file photo, Zachary Levi participates in AOL’s BUILD Speaker Series to discuss
his company and website “The Nerd Machine” at AOL Studios in New York. Levi, is starring in a
revival of “She Loves Me,” considered by many to be the most charming musical ever written.
2012 — and Levi took it.
He starred opposite Krysta
Rodriguez in the charming
musical “First Date.” One
critic said he was a “strik-
ingly adept stage come-
dian.” Another praised his
“vitality and off-kilter hu-
mor.” At the stage door,
Levi brought out a stereo
and he and Rodriguez
Angelina Jolie, in Lebanon, says
BEIRUT (AP) — Angelina Jo-
lie, the Hollywood actress
and special envoy for the
U.N.’s refugee agency,
said Tuesday that the inter-
national community must
address the root causes of
the global refugee crisis.
“We cannot manage the
world through aid relief in
the place of diplomacy
and political solutions,” she
said under the pouring rain
at a press conference in
Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
Hundreds of thousands of
Syrians have sought ref-
uge in the Bekaa. Lebanon
hosts well over a million Syr-
ian refugees, who now ac-
count for nearly a fifth of its around 5 million having fled
population.
Jolie said she had hoped
to be in Syria helping vic-
tims return to their homes
on the fifth anniversary of
turned signing autographs
into a dance party.
For his latest foray, Levi took cal.
over when Josh Radnor of
“How I Met Your Mother”
had to back out of “She
Loves Me.” Levi, whose film
credits include “Thor: The
Dark World,” took the job
because of the cast, songs
and Ellis, even though he
the uprising against Presi-
dent Bashar Assad. She
said it’s “tragic and shame-
ful that we seem to be so
far from that point.” There
are now more people dis-
placed through conflict
around the globe than dur-
ing World War II, according
to the U.N. The war in Syria
between Assad’s govern-
ment, rebels and foreign
jihadis has drawn in world
powers and generated
what the U.N. says is the
largest humanitarian ca-
tastrophe in a generation.
Half of Syria’s prewar pop-
ulation of some 23 million
has been displaced, with
their homeland, mainly to
neighboring Lebanon, Jor-
dan, Turkey and Iraq.
The international relief or-
ganization OXFAM warned
Thursday 17 March 2016
Associated Press
insisted after his last time he
wouldn’t return in a musi-
“There are so many things I
still want to do,” he said. “I
feel like I’ve been really, re-
ally blessed that I’ve been
able to check off so many
boxes and maybe that will
be my legacy ... to do a
little bit of everything.”q
Tuesday that Lebanese
municipalities are running
out of space to bury de-
ceased refugees.
“We should never forget
that for all the focus on the
refugee situation in Europe
at this time, the greatest
pressure is still being felt in
the Middle East and North
Africa, as it has for each
of the last five years,” Jolie
said. After a tidal wave of
refugees poured into Eu-
rope last year, some coun-
tries began erecting politi-
cal and physical barriers to
migration, which have left
tens of thousands of refu-
gees stuck in squalid con-
ditions in the Balkans this
spring.
Jolie called on such coun-
tries to adhere to their inter-
national obligations to aid
refugees.q