Will Nunziata has a lot to talk about. He’s currently directing the off-Broadway production White Rose: The Musical, and is credited as a producer on the upcoming cast recording that will be released by Yellow Sound Label. Yet he’s also the co-writer and director of Figaro: An Original Musical, which just dropped its own cast album on Center Stage Records and is working toward a West End premiere later in 2024.
Working on not one but two shows is an impressive accomplishment, and I sat down with Will to discuss what brought him into the theatre community as well as what stands out to him about each production. Tickets for the remaining White Rose: The Musical performances are on sale here, while viewers can download the Figaro: An Original Musical album now on their favorite digital platform.
Brittany Frederick: What brought you into the theater world? Was there something specific that made it the right platform for your creativity?
Will Nunziata: For me, it was always musical theater. Ever since I was little, my parents had playing in my house all the great classic Broadway musicals. I remember my imagination being activated by all of the songs. And from there, I was blessed with a good singing voice, along with my twin brother Anthony and my younger sister Annie. We all started singing in the choirs and the school shows, but it definitely began from my parents and the music that they had infiltrating our home.
BF: Was directing the path you had intended to venture down creatively, or was that a pursuit that evolved as your career progressed?
WN: I think it was definitely an evolution. I was very fortunate to begin singing with my twin brother professionally from when we were nine years old and onward. We then had this beautiful career; we sang jingles as kids and then went off to Boston College, and then after graduation got to you know sing with a bunch of symphonies and at performing arts centers across the country and around the world. [It] eventually culminated in us co-headlining Carnegie Hall with the New York pops in the winter of 2016.
Not that I didn’t enjoy performing, but I had a beautiful experience assisting Lonny Price on the revival of 110 in the Shade, starring Audra McDonald. I had directed in college, and I’d always been interested in being at 30,000 feet when it came to theater. Every time I saw a show, while my parents and my friends wanted to [sit] in the orchestra, I always wanted to be in the mezzanine. I always wanted to see how the pieces on the chess board worked. It was Lonny [who] opened my eyes up to the possibility of what bringing a performing career to the table as a director looked like, because Lonnie had an incredible acting career. To watch him work with actors at the height of their talents and careers, it really activated something within me.
BF: Both White Rose: The Musical and Figaro: An Original Musical take place in the past; the former details a student resistance in Nazi Germany, and the latter happens in Italy during the 1800s. Is that idea of exploring other time periods particularly appealing to you, or is that just a happy coincidence?
WN: Figaro: An Original Musical is a show that I co-wrote, so I could set that whenever or wherever I wanted. I’ve always been obsessed with the mid- to late 1800s. I love the silhouette, literally and figuratively, of that time period. Also, there were so much unease in that time period—whether within this country or internationally—and obviously conflict always works well within any art form.
White Rose was just something that came to me and when I read this script, I was so flabbergasted that I didn’t know who this group was. Even sharing it at the time with loved ones, they didn’t [know] either that there was this group of German university students who spoke out against the lies and deceptions of Hitler. And it’s unfortunately timely. But this beautiful story written by Brian Belding, obviously based upon the real White Rose, with lyrics by Brian and music by Natalie Brice—that juxtaposition of this story from the 1940s with this pop-rock score represented a universal inner pulse of young people. That dichotomy really excited me about it, and I’m so blessed with this incredible cast. We’ve had such an amazing run, we recorded a world premiere recording, and I’m so blessed that the show came into my life when it did.
BF: Along those lines, what have you learned from each of these productions, especially since you had the added experience of being the co-writer on Figaro: An Original Musical? What do you take away in such a creatively busy period in your career?
WN: What I learned from the experience with White Rose is that difficult subject matter can still entertain and inspire. The response from audiences activated an album being produced, and now has activated interest to do the show overseas. You just never know who’s out there… The story of White Rose resonates with people from both sides of the aisle, and that’s what excited me most. Conversation, I feel, is missing in our world today. People, if they might disagree with someone or something, it’s usually yelling or shutting down. But [White Rose] has activated beautiful talkbacks.
Figaro: An Original Musical reminded me that I’m a writer. I found [co-writer and lyricist] Ashley [Jana] on Instagram; she’s a pop songwriter. I messaged her right at the beginning of the [COVID-19 shutdown in April 2020 and said, your pop songs are five-act plays. Have you ever thought about writing a musical? And she said, I can’t believe you’re asking me this, because that’s been my dream since I was a little girl. So over two years, we wrote over Zoom and Ashley wrote over 40 songs that we dwindled down to 27. We just released our world premiere recording and we’re going to be on the West End with the premiere production. So with Figaro: An Original Musical, I learned to get out of my own way. [To ignore] a lot of the noise I had about being both a writer and a director on a piece, and to just keep going.
BF: One of the interesting aspects of theatre is that it’s different in every region. Having worked on Broadway and off-Broadway, what are you excited about as you head to the West End for the first time? How different do you think it will be?
WN: There’s something about the West End—I think the history of their theaters and the ceremony, the theatricality of the shows that they do there. It will be my West End debut, but I’m developing other shows for London as well, and I’ve been able to meet some incredible people through through working on Figaro: An Original Musical. Just so kind and such beautiful collaborators, and I really can’t wait to continue to work in London.
I think that there’s a different economic structure in producing a show in London versus New York, whether it be off=Broadway or Broadway. I’m not saying one is better than the other. But it seems like the West End economic structure’s a lot more feasible, and you can get a bigger bang for your buck. I feel like a good show’s a good show. If a show’s good, it’s going to be applauded by audiences, both in London and in New York… With Figaro, it’s always been something that Ashley and I felt in our gut was something we wanted to go to London first with, only because it does have that [Andrew] Lloyd Webber sensibility to it.
BF: Both of these projects are personal to you in different ways. How are you going to define their success? Since their meaning for you goes beyond the financial gain.
WN: Success is about the experience for me. Success is the friendships forged. Success is being the director, but also constantly being the student. Success is speaking with the audience members who were touched, who felt something, who got to escape, who got to relate. For me, success with any show is having people feel connected to and with one another. That’s all we have in the theater. It’s a moment that comes and goes, but it’s one moment that can never be recreated.
Of course, you’re going to have producers who say it has to do with the money, or critics that say it has to be something that we reviewed well. No, if you’re the one in the trenches, it’s all about the moments that made you better in creating something that hopefully inspires and entertains. That’s all we can do.
BF: What excites you the most not just as a creator, but as a fan of theater?
WN: I love learning about new composers. I live right around the block from 54 Below or Green Room 42; I’m kind of equidistant between both. I love when I get to see a new composing team or new composer showcasing work. It’s one of my favorite things in the world. If you can’t get tickets to that show or you can’t go to that headlining concert, look at those 9:30 shows of those new composers, because that’s the future of Broadway. I have met some amazing collaborators through going to those concerts. That would be my biggest thing: supporting new work and supporting new composers and lyricists.
White Rose: The Musical is playing on New York’s Theatre Row through March 31, 2024; for tickets and more information, visit the website. The Figaro: An Original Musical cast album is available now on all digital platforms.
Article content is (c)2020-2024 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram.
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