 Broadway leading man Matt Cavenaugh, who is currently starring as Tony in the new production of West Side Story at the Palace Theater, has an unconventional problem: he’s just too darn hot.
“Whether I was a great actor or a terrible actor, no one said anything about any acting or singing. It was just, “That guy has a great six-pack,’” he says. “Now if they say I’m shit or I’m great, at least they’re talking about my acting. Before it wasn’t even a topic of conversation.”
Cavenaugh is talking about the memorable poster for his notoriously short-lived Broadway debut in 2003’s Urban Cowboy. In the ad, he’s seen riding a mechanical bull with his shirt open, exposing his defined (and quite lovely) upper body. Ever since then, he’s been trying to live down his pretty-boy image with great performances in Grey Gardens and A Catered Affair.
He even jokes about his propensity for roles where he’s obliged to go shirtless, at least for a bit of the show. “Before I go in and audition, I say, ‘You know my track record,’ and they say, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll work a way in to take off your shirt,’” he teases. Arthur Laurents, the 91-year-old gay director who wrote the book for West Side Story, added the requisite partial nudity in the new production. Cavenaugh recounts, “He said, ‘Matt, you have to do something I didn’t want you to do. You have to take your shirt off. You have to leave something behind so Anita knows you were in Maria’s bed.’ He came to it reluctantly…Arthur didn’t want things to be too gratuitous because he wants people to listen to my words.” |
