Sherman : How did you end up becoming the lead in Grease ?
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Williams : I did Grease as an understudy for a while , and then I did a show with Ann Reinking and Marilu Henner called Over Here . We performed with the Andrews Sisters , and we did the show for six months . It was a wonderful experience . It was the first big Broadway musical that I starred in . It came to an end when the Andrews Sisters just didn ’ t want to perform anymore . At the end of the performance run , we did a final two weeks down at the Municipal Opera House in St . Louis , Missouri . After that , I was an out-of-work actor again . I did a play , I did a bunch of commercials , and then something happened . I got a call , and got invited to go on as Danny Zuko in Grease on Broadway . I went on twice , and I didn ’ t perform well . I was just stiff and I didn ’ t own the role . Tommy Smith ( who was the stage manager who directed all of the touring productions ) asked me if I wanted to take over the last two weeks of a summer tour of Grease . I accepted the offer , and then we had two weeks of rehearsals . Everyone was new to the show . We weren ’ t being told what to do by the old pros . We were all young , and we all wanted to be good . It was just a fun , crazy , wild production of Grease with great young energy . After several weeks of performances , two producers came down and saw it , then came backstage and told me that my performance was great . Three days later , I got a call asking if I wanted to take over the role of Danny Zuko as the lead in Grease on Broadway . That ended up being my job for the next three years . I also did my first few film roles during that time , and I started going to acting classes to further improve my skills .
Sherman : What were your biggest takeaways from the acting classes that you attended during the Grease era ?
Williams : I wanted to make sure that I was well-rounded as an actor . I read Death of a Salesman when I was 16 , and that had an incredible impact on my development as an actor . In college , I studied everything from Shakespeare to Albee and Chekhov . I knew that I had good basic acting skills , but I didn ’ t think that I knew as much about the craft of acting as I should have . One night , I ended up at a party , and a guy said to me , “ You know , my wife teaches a class . She ’ s a member of the Actor ’ s Studio . I think you might like it . You should go .” I went to one class and I fell in love with it . Christopher Reeve , Carol Kane , and Mickey Rourke were also in the class .
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