Drood looks like a lady

After singing in a host of Sondheim musicals, playing a gloriously eccentric society matron in Souvenir , and tearing into the iconic Mama Rose in Gypsy , what becomes a leading lady most? A little bit of cross-dressing in Speakeasy Stage's production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a rambunctious musical comedy based on Charles Dickens's last, and uncompleted, novel. It's a novel move for a diva, but Leigh Barrett is something better than a diva: A hardworking actress. It's surely her workmanlike approach to her craft, as well as her commanding stage presence, that has made her a mainstay of the Boston theater scene. Chatting over coffee before a rehearsal, Barrett was thoughtful and soft-spoken as she opened up about going from an ing?nue to an Edwin.

Q: How is rehearsal going?
A: We're in that place where, we think we know what we're doing now. Then we go into tech week and it all goes to hell.

Q: Do you expect to find a lot of new things in tech?
A: Once you get on the set and you get costume pieces and props, sometimes you find it isn't as you imagined and you have to adjust your thought process.

Q: You play a woman playing a man, so I imagine costume is a big concern for you. Do you have quick changes?
A: My first change from Alice into Drood is fairly quick. Thank God for Velcro. You know, when I was doing Passion for Speakeasy, there's a quick change that had to be done with Velcro, and you could hear that ripping noise, because it was a small space. And some reviewer complained about that. Come on.

Q: What do you think about critics? I guess you read the reviews?
A: [laughs] I would be a big fat liar if I said I didn't. Sometimes I agree with them if they're bad. And of course I love them when they're good. Sometimes I don't believe the good ones. I think, 'Dodged a bullet there!' I wonder what Joe Public really thinks. I mean, when I read a movie review, I still go see it and make up my own mind. Then there's the difference between a reviewer and a critic. I think criticism needs to be constructive.

Q: You don't think we have good critics to match our good theater community? Uh, I sound like I'm trying to lead you into saying something controversial!
A: What's on the record? [laughs] I think we have a broad range. It's a job that I could never do. It must be awfully hard to be objective.

Q: But I would think as an actress, you would have a lot of insight.
A: Well, I would have insight into what's going on in the back. I know that you had 13 days to learn that script, and all that music and choreography. I had a conversation with a reviewer once who was comparing a show to the Broadway production. And that couldn't be less fair. Not because of the caliber of talent, but because the Broadway show has a million dollar budget and months of rehearsal and previews. What do we get? A day. Most theater in Boston, you get one preview night.

Q: And four weeks of rehearsal, if you're lucky.
A: Two weeks. Two weeks of rehearsal is usual for regional professional theater, and two or three nights for tech. So by the time the press sees it, it's only been in front of an audience twice, and they may still be figuring out the set changes. Granted, as an audience member you've paid your money and you don't want to know any of that. But it might be nice for people to know what we're dealing with backstage to make this magic for you. Or about the night I got hit on the head with a 500-pound drop. Luckily it was moving very slowly! It had got stuck somehow and swung to the side, and I was exiting in the dark. I was fine, but...

Q: Is that the worst thing that's happened to you onstage?
A: I've fallen on stage. Usually when there's an audience talk back, and then they ask me if it was on purpose! The worst is really going up on lyrics. I was the swing on Secrets Every Traveler Should KnowSecrets Every Traveler Should Know. Swings get no rehearsal. And I went on and had a complete stroke in the middle of a song. I was so stuck that I couldn't even play it. And that was the first time Paul Daigneault ever saw me.

Q: And he said, that's what I want for Passion!
A: Luckily, that didn't stop him from casting me.

Q: I read an old interview in which you said you had a hard time starting out.
A: I would audition and audition and wouldn't get anything. I'm sure it was me. I wasn't in the right place. I don't know what turned it around. But it was Paul who saw me and took a chance that this person who'd never been given the opportunity could carry a show. So I've been paying my dues. And I still have to audition. It doesn't come easy. If I just got cast because I'm somebody's friend, I would hate that.

Q: You're afraid of getting cast for the wrong reasons? Are you sure you read the reviews?
A: [laughs] Knock wood. I'm always so grateful when people like my work, but I don't expect it. I just go out there and try to tell the story.

Q: You've played a lot of great parts. You played Mama Rose and Florence Foster Jenkins-
A: I could have done that forever.

Q: -and I think every Sondheim show.
A: Almost. I missed Company. I had a conflict when Speakeasy did that. But that will come around again.

Q: So what parts are still on your wish list?
A: If anyone is thinking of doing Light in the Piazza, I hope they think of me. It would be beautiful in the Wemberley Theater! I would love to do Grey Gardens. Drowsy Chaperone, Sunset Boulevard. I'd love to do Master Class. I am doing an actual play with no music for the first time.

Q: Steel Magnolias, right? This is really going to be your first non-musical?
A: Technically Souvenir was my first play, because it's "a play with music," but I sang my head off in it. I'm so excited to do my first straight play.

Q: Have you been waiting all this time, or is musical theater your true love?
A: I started out in opera, even though I wasn't sure that was what I wanted to do. But I sang in chorus in high school, even though I was really shy. Which seems hard to believe now. I remember my very first audition was for a high school play, and everybody had to sing in front of each other, and I refused. Then I called the director and asked if I could audition for just him. And I asked him not to look at me while I sang! Then in college I got cast in Little Shop and I got hooked.

Q: You were so shy, what drew you to theater?
A: I don't know. I just had to do it. I vividly remember auditioning for Turtle Lane Playhouse right out of college - I was a legit soprano and couldn't belt - and I remember psyching myself up and saying, 'Don't be afraid, take a chance, who cares if you look stupid.' And something opened up. And I've been looking stupid ever since!

Q: That's a wonderfully unpretentious idea of theater.
A: It really is about being willing to take a chance. To be vulnerable and willing to communicate something.

Q: You really feel that connection in a comedy. This is me trying to bring us round to Edwin Drood.
A: But I'm the straight man. Can I say that in the South End?

Q: Sometimes the straight man gets a lot of laughs.
A: I facilitate laughs, hopefully. I'm just glad I don't have to learn all those different endings.

Q: You don't feel like you're missing out on that challenge, when the audience chooses the ending?
A: No. [laughs] I don't like not knowing what's coming at me. The improv in the beginning is enough. That's going to be a lot of fun, I think we set up the British music hall atmosphere by interacting with the audience. The set up is that we're a troupe of actors who are putting on Edwin Drood for the first time. From what I've read about music halls, it's very exciting and bawdy.

Q: How else did you prepare for the part? Did you bind yourself and crash a drag king show?
A: No. I think playing a contemporary man would be harder. The clothing, and being upper class, lends itself to a certain style of movement and speech. I watched a lot of Victor/Victoria, which I love. But Paul still gives me notes like, 'Don't be so girly.'

Q: So are you a Dickens fan?
A: Well, I've done a million Christmas Carols. It amazes me how people keep taking that piece and finding new things. But maybe Drood will be the alternative this season. It's still Dickens! I think we mention Christmas once.

Q: What's your favorite part of the show?
A: Will McGarrahan and Michael Mendiola sing this wicked, wicked fast song. They are so good. And I'm so grateful I don't have to do it! And there are lots of little moments that people are finding. I love how Dale plays the Reverend.

Q: You're so humble. You're not saying your favorite thing to play.
A: I'm the title character but it's not the Leigh Barrett show. It's an ensemble. And what an ensemble!

The Mystery of Edwin Drood runs Nov. 16-Dec. 15 at Roberts Studio Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., South End. Tickets $46-$54. Info: 617.933.8600 or www.speakeasystage.com.