Chicago Cabaret Professionals ( CCP ) will celebrate in a big way this October with an anniversary gala at Park West.
Performer Stephen Wallem will be the organization's national honoree. The Rockford, Illinois, native is known for playing the role of gay jack-of-all-trades Thor Lundgren on the Showtime feature Nurse Jackie. However, he also has extensive theater experience; he has won an After Dark Award for Man of La Mancha and racked up 2,500 performances of the Chicago hit Forever Plaid. Credits are massive including Scrooge, Into the Woods and Shrek the Musical. He produced and performed his own cabaret production, Off the Wallem, and the cleverly titled The Other Steven and Edie, with Nurse Jackie co-star Edie Falco.
Also being honored with CCP's Gold Coast Award at the Park West gala is local Denise McGowan Tracy who hosts a Monday Night Live at restaurant Petterino's each week with music supervisor Beckie Menzie.
The mighty Thor hammered out his history and captivating cabaret career on the phone before the benefit.
Windy City Times: Hey, Stephen. How nice to see you were born and raised in Rockford, Illinois.
Stephen Wallem: I was. I moved to Chicago to go to college at Columbia. I was there for two years, then I started getting work as an actor. I stayed in Chicago for 22 years.
WCT: Where did you go after that?
Stephen Wallem: I came to New York. I was ready for a new adventure anyway and it just happened to coincide with getting Nurse Jackie. I moved to New York in 2008.
WCT: Did you study acting and then try theater roles, or the other way around?
Stephen Wallem: I have been doing musical theater my entire life. I basically started when I was 8 years old. I did community theater in Rockford. I went to a performing-arts school there. When I moved to Chicago there were endless opportunities.
I did a little cabaret in Rockford but it wasn't until I went to my first open mic with Beckie Menzie at Gentry. I think I was 19 years old. I had seen her picture in the paper advertising this night and her face looked friendly to me. I knew nothing about her but quietly started going to the open mics downtown. I finally got up the nerve to stand up and sing. I've been doing it ever since!
WCT: So gay bars have made you what you are today...
Stephen Wallem: In more ways than one! [Laughs]
WCT: My friend Denise is being honored the same night so it's a small world after all.
Stephen Wallem: It has really gone full circle when they announced I was getting this honor. I am still blown away by it, knowing it got started with Beckie Menzie. We just had an event that I flew her in for. When I have a show in New York I fly Beckie Menzie in because there is nobody better. She has been my mentor since I was 19 as far as honing my cabaret skills. When she called me to tell me that I was getting this honor, it was a little tough not to burst into tears. She will be performing with me at the night of the gala.
WCT: Have been to the Monday Night Live show that she does with Denise McGowan Tracy at Petterino's?
Stephen Wallem: I [did] when I was still living in Chicago. They had just started it so I did go two or three times. They are terrific. The days of Gentry are gone but that is such a hot environment combining a restaurant with a nightclub feel at Petterino's.
WCT: How did you land the part on Nurse Jackie?
Stephen Wallem: My sister was co-creator of the show. For years she had been trying to get me to move to L.A. and work with her on something. I was never keen on L.A. It just wasn't my thing. Pursuing TV and film wasn't my focus at all. I'm a musical theater guy so New York and Chicago felt like the right places for me.
I was visiting her before the series started and I read the script she was working on. I asked her what she thought about me auditioning for a certain role. She set up the audition, and it was up to me after that.
WCT: So it was not given to you because of your sister?
Stephen Wallem: It was quite the opposite. I had to work a lot harder. She opened that first door and wound up making it all the way down to the final read for this character but didn't get it. They liked me so much at the network that the creative team wrote the role of Thor for me. I have been in every episode since the pilot. It worked out really well since the role was tailor-made for me.
WCT: Did you twist Edie's arm to do a cabaret show with you?
Stephen Wallem: No, that was an incredible surprise. I had done two cabarets in New York and we were into season three of Nurse Jackie.
Edie, by the way, is the most supportive friend and has come to every one of my shows in New York since we started on the show.
We were at a press event when out of the blue she turned to me and told me she was thinking about doing a cabaret show. She added, "Only if you will do it with me." After I picked my jaw up off of the floor and looked at my schedule, I course immediately said, "Yes!"
We wound up developing this show together. For the record, she has a fantastic voice. She had just not sung for years and not had an opportunity to. Her goal was to do a cabaret show purely for the joy of it. Press was not invited. It was not introducing the world to Edie singing. There was none of that.
She just wanted to get back to the world of singing. The fact I got to hold her hand and lead her through developing this show will forever be one of the most rewarding professional and personal experiences of my life.
WCT: Any plans to do a cabaret act again with Edie?
Stephen Wallem: She's very particular as to when she will do it again. I know she will at some point whether it is with me or somebody else. She's a terrific singer so I hope she does a musical someday, too.
WCT: Do you have a favorite all-time musical?
Stephen Wallem: It would have to be between Sunday in the Park with George and Sweeney Todd. I always look at which of the cast albums growing up that I have memorized and never get tired of hearing.
WCT: You were in Forever Plaid—forever.
Stephen Wallem: I was for 12 years of my life with eight different companies, including the national tour. I just had my 20th anniversary of the first time I did it. I was in the closing cast at The Royal George Theatre. I believe it was a six and half run there. That was an incredible experience.
You asked me what my favorite musical is and Forever Plaid is in a category of its own. I doubt I will ever do another show as long as I did that one. It will always have a special place in my heart plus at The Royal George is where I met my partner, Tony. He was coming into to replace me when I was leaving the show. We spoke for 20 minutes then didn't see each other for another 12 years. We reconnected on Facebook and have been together ever since.
I don't know if I would have met him if it hadn't been for Forever Plaid.
WCT: You have been together how long?
Stephen Wallem: Five and a half years now.
WCT: What songs will you perform at this gala?
Stephen Wallem: I have been looking at that. I hate to think I am old enough to do a career retrospective but I have been doing cabaret since I was 19 so I have a lot of material to choose from. I would like to do at least one original song. My writing partner, Danny Musha, have written a lot of songs together plus a musical we have been working on.
I have been talking to Beckie about it and I will try to do my best of retrospective and pretend I am not retiring. This feels like this Lifetime Achievement Award but I am not going anywhere soon!
"The Song's the Thing" benefit is on Sunday, Oct. 12, at Park West, 322 W. Armitage Ave.; doors open at 5:45 p.m. Swing over to chicagocabaret.org for ticket information or call 800-514-ETIX.
Visit stephenwallem.com .
