Misha Berson of The Seattle Times recently sat down to lunch at New York’s legendary Sardi’s Restaurant with two of The 5th Avenue’s brightest stars, Louis Hobson (pictured below left with Tari Kelly in The 5th's Cabaret) and Chad Kimball (pictured below right from Memphis at The 5th), both of whom are now appearing on Broadway. Here is her report from this week's Seattle Times.
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One is a boyish bachelor cutup, whose Seattle high-school drama teacher is still his biggest booster. The other was a heartthrob leading man on Seattle musical stages, primed for a big break. Now both are winning plaudits on Broadway: Puyallup native Louis Hobson, in the Tony-honored musical Next to Normal; and West Seattle's Chad Kimball, a likely 2010 Tony Award nominee for his dynamic star turn in the new tuner Memphis.
Before showtime one recent evening, at the fabled Times Square eatery Sardi's, Kimball and Hobson (both 33) reflected on how they became the latest Seattle talent exports to succeed on the Great White Way.
Hobson was the more circumspect no surprise, given he and talent-agent wife Noreen Hobson were awaiting the birth of their second child. (Last week, the Hobsons welcomed a son, Thomas.)
The amiable Kimball swears he's kind of a goofball, but a big talent, says award-winning Roosevelt High School drama teacher Ruben Van Kempen, with "an inner sparkle" and vigorous work ethic.
Hobson and Kimball, both blessed with strong acting and vocal chops, reached Broadway via different routes.
A Rogers High School and Pacific Lutheran University grad, Hobson stayed in Seattle through his 20s and won raves for his lead portrayals in such shows as Miss Saigon and West Side Story at The 5th Avenue Theatre and Village Theatre's Evita.
"I was artistically satisfied," he says, "but I came to New York to be challenged, and make more money to support my family."
When Hobson hit the Big Apple with his wife and young daughter, Gwen, two years ago, his thick and great contacts quickly won him an agent and Broadway auditions.
But his break came in Next to Normal an offbeat musical penned by Eastside native Brian Yorkey, for which Hobson did a reading at the Village back in 2002. In the Tony-honored show, a bearded Hobson doubles as two psychiatrists treating a woman afflicted with bipolar disease.
"I love the material, and couldn't ask for a better role in my life right now," Hobson declares. And if being a matinee idol isn't high among his priorities, there's already a "Louis Hobson Fans" Facebook page. (One fan wrote on it, "He can be my psychopharmacologist any day.")
Kimball hit Broadway earlier. In childhood, he reports, "I was a very shy kid." But he stood out in Roosevelt High shows and aced a role at Civic Light Opera in his teens.
Kimball's fine tenor voice got him into Boston Conservatory, and after completing his undergrad degree there he became another scuffling New York actor among many.
"He'd call me, discouraged about losing out on a role," recalls Van Kempen, "and I'd tell him, that's just the business, keep going."
Good advice: Kimball gradually racked up Broadway credits in such shows as Into the Woods and two big jukebox musicals: Imagine (as John Lennon) and Good Vibrations.
The latter were bombs. But Kimball, unscathed, hit his stride in Memphis, as a quirky 1960s Southern deejay who surmounts racial barriers to play black R&B music on a white radio station. When the show tried out at The 5th Avenue last year, Kimball's Seattle family, friends and mentor Van Kempen cheered him on.
Starring on Broadway, he admits, is a huge buzz. "The lights really are brighter. And it's magical the way audiences respond to you."
In the future, though, both actors hope also to work in TV and film. But Hobson declares, "If the right [dramatic] role came up, at Seattle Rep or Intiman, I'd like to go do it."
"I'd really love to work at the Rep," chimes in Kimball. "The shows I saw there as a kid had a profound effect on me. I'm always bragging about Seattle theater."