'Producers' star makes lasting impression with audiences
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Saturday, March 15, 2008
Elizabeth Pawlowski gets several big song-and-dance turns in "The Producers," the musical based on Mel Brooks' Oscar-winning movie.
Even though her character doesn't appear until an hour into "The Producers," Elizabeth Pawlowski is ready the minute the curtain goes up. Sitting backstage wearing her first costume, she watches every nuance of her costars' performances.
"If I don't, I feel disassociated," she explains. "It's hard to pop out of nowhere if don't know what the show is building to."
The surprise? Pawlowski's character, Ulla, is the musical's secret weapon -- a blonde bombshell who applies for a job as secretary to Bialystock and Bloom, perhaps the worst producers in Broadway history.
Determined to make a fortune by producing a dreadful musical (they raise more money than they need, hoping for a flop), they hire a clueless looker who won't turn them in to the authorities. Ulla, however, isn't as dumb as she seems.
In "If You've Got It, Flaunt It," she explains how she, too, plans to make her fortune. The show-stopping number, Pawlowski says, is a blast. "It tells you how she got to be Ulla."
Pawlowski's path? Talent, for one. Height, for another. At 5'10", she can tower over many leading men -- a real asset for "The Producers." "My height has been a problem once or twice but I've been lucky enough to work consistently," she says. "For this show, it was perfect."
Hired in 2006, Pawlowski had barely graduated from New York's Wagner College. Because she's a native New Yorker, she wanted to see what life on the road was like.
The discovery? "It's a whole 'nother world," she says. "It's really wonderful. But it kind of toughened me up a little bit. Being in New York and auditioning has its own difficulties, but traveling the country you learn what kind of endurance you have and how far you can push yourself."
With shows in different cities almost every night of the week, the work can be grueling. But "once you get out there, see the audience and they're with you, everything else doesn't matter."
Ulla gets laughs from mere looks and doesn't realize the effect she has on men. "She's just so free," Pawlowski says. "She knows she's beautiful but she doesn't grasp the concept."
Born in New York, Pawlowski had early hopes of being a professional singer.
"I did plays and stuff in school but it wasn't until I was 14 and I got to do Cinderella that I thought about theater." At Wagner, she majored in acting and got a chance to see the business from a less daunting view. "I'm blessed I grew up in New York. The big move -- from somewhere else to New York -- is what's so scary. If you already live there, making that move is not a factor."
Right out of college she worked in Indiana, then got the "Producers" call. "I had listened to the album and I knew some of the original movie but I hadn't seen the show," she says. "I knew certain iconic people had played specific roles (namely Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick) but we have to take that with a grain of salt and do the roles the way we need to do them."
Creating her own Ulla was key. Routinely, Pawlowski says, "we've been told we're just as good as the originals."
That could explain why the 25-year-old (who's actually a brunette) has stayed with the show for almost two years. "I knew I could grow as a character and I wouldn't get bored with her. At the end of the first run, I could justify why I'd stay with the show."
Now, she says, the time is right to take another leap. In April, she'll end her "Producers" run, "get new head shots and a resume and begin auditioning all over again."
Broadway, of course, is a goal but film and television aren't that arresting. "Going to California is very difficult," she says. "You have to pursue film or theater, you can't do both."
In New York, there's more to theater than Broadway. And she says, "with lots of theaters around the New York area, there's always an opportunity to act."
What: "The Producers"
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Orpheum Theatre
Tickets: Available at all Ticketmaster outlets.
Details: "The Producers," based on Mel Brooks' Oscar-winning movie, won more Tony Awards than any musical in Broadway history. It starred Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and was later turned into a film. The show recently closed on Broadway. But Brooks now has another adaptation in New York. This one? "Young Frankenstein."
When: 8 p.m. March 15
Where: Orpheum Theatre
Tickets: Available at all Ticketmaster locations
Details: The Mel Brooks musical is based on his Oscar-winning movie. The musical won 12 Tony Awards (the most in Broadway history) and became one of the toughest tickets in New York.
"If I don't, I feel disassociated," she explains. "It's hard to pop out of nowhere if don't know what the show is building to."
The surprise? Pawlowski's character, Ulla, is the musical's secret weapon -- a blonde bombshell who applies for a job as secretary to Bialystock and Bloom, perhaps the worst producers in Broadway history.
Determined to make a fortune by producing a dreadful musical (they raise more money than they need, hoping for a flop), they hire a clueless looker who won't turn them in to the authorities. Ulla, however, isn't as dumb as she seems.
In "If You've Got It, Flaunt It," she explains how she, too, plans to make her fortune. The show-stopping number, Pawlowski says, is a blast. "It tells you how she got to be Ulla."
Pawlowski's path? Talent, for one. Height, for another. At 5'10", she can tower over many leading men -- a real asset for "The Producers." "My height has been a problem once or twice but I've been lucky enough to work consistently," she says. "For this show, it was perfect."
Hired in 2006, Pawlowski had barely graduated from New York's Wagner College. Because she's a native New Yorker, she wanted to see what life on the road was like.
The discovery? "It's a whole 'nother world," she says. "It's really wonderful. But it kind of toughened me up a little bit. Being in New York and auditioning has its own difficulties, but traveling the country you learn what kind of endurance you have and how far you can push yourself."
With shows in different cities almost every night of the week, the work can be grueling. But "once you get out there, see the audience and they're with you, everything else doesn't matter."
Ulla gets laughs from mere looks and doesn't realize the effect she has on men. "She's just so free," Pawlowski says. "She knows she's beautiful but she doesn't grasp the concept."
Born in New York, Pawlowski had early hopes of being a professional singer.
"I did plays and stuff in school but it wasn't until I was 14 and I got to do Cinderella that I thought about theater." At Wagner, she majored in acting and got a chance to see the business from a less daunting view. "I'm blessed I grew up in New York. The big move -- from somewhere else to New York -- is what's so scary. If you already live there, making that move is not a factor."
Right out of college she worked in Indiana, then got the "Producers" call. "I had listened to the album and I knew some of the original movie but I hadn't seen the show," she says. "I knew certain iconic people had played specific roles (namely Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick) but we have to take that with a grain of salt and do the roles the way we need to do them."
Creating her own Ulla was key. Routinely, Pawlowski says, "we've been told we're just as good as the originals."
That could explain why the 25-year-old (who's actually a brunette) has stayed with the show for almost two years. "I knew I could grow as a character and I wouldn't get bored with her. At the end of the first run, I could justify why I'd stay with the show."
Now, she says, the time is right to take another leap. In April, she'll end her "Producers" run, "get new head shots and a resume and begin auditioning all over again."
Broadway, of course, is a goal but film and television aren't that arresting. "Going to California is very difficult," she says. "You have to pursue film or theater, you can't do both."
In New York, there's more to theater than Broadway. And she says, "with lots of theaters around the New York area, there's always an opportunity to act."
What: "The Producers"
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Orpheum Theatre
Tickets: Available at all Ticketmaster outlets.
Details: "The Producers," based on Mel Brooks' Oscar-winning movie, won more Tony Awards than any musical in Broadway history. It starred Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and was later turned into a film. The show recently closed on Broadway. But Brooks now has another adaptation in New York. This one? "Young Frankenstein."
When: 8 p.m. March 15
Where: Orpheum Theatre
Tickets: Available at all Ticketmaster locations
Details: The Mel Brooks musical is based on his Oscar-winning movie. The musical won 12 Tony Awards (the most in Broadway history) and became one of the toughest tickets in New York.
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