INTERVIEW: Chris Lanceley is the comedy king of ‘Going Wrong’
Photo: Chris Lanceley stars as Robert, his third role, in The Play That Goes Wrong at New World Stages in New York City. Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by BBB with permission.
The Play That Goes Wrong, the hilarious sendup of Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries, is continuing its history-making run at New World Stages in Midtown Manhattan. This off-Broadway production followed the success of a Broadway run, and the West End production is still going strong in London. Going wrong never felt so right.
At the center of the off-Broadway show is Chris Lanceley, who is currently portraying the character of Robert. For those keeping score at home, this is Lanceley’s third role with the show, having previously appeared as Chris Bean and Jonathan. What a treat for theatergoers who have experienced this laugh-fest over the last few years: They had the chance to see Lanceley multiple times in multiple characters.
The play follows a theater company that is putting on a murder-mystery show, but the problem is that the actors forget their lines, cues are missed, the set is falling apart, the sound is off and calamity can be found at every turn. Oh, and it’s opening night for this “play” that goes wrong, which means the stakes are high.
“First off, I think the play itself is incredibly well-written,” Lanceley said in a recent phone interview. “I think it’s a fantastic piece of work. I think it’s genuinely funny. I think it speaks to something really interesting, of people having problems in front of them and overcoming them and making their way to the end despite all the things placed in their way, all the obstacles they have. I think it has become more relevant recently. I also think it’s pure joy from start to finish. I think we need that at the moment. I think that’s something people want. I think audiences post-pandemic, immediately after the pandemic when we first reopened, were just incredible. I think that speaks to it a lot as well. At least in New York, I think it’s the joy that we bring to the show, the cast as well. I think audiences bring a lot of joy and so do we. I think we just love what we do. We’re all a really tight-knit family that’s only grown over the five years we’ve been at New World Stages, and I hope that translates onto the stage.”
Currently joining Lanceley this holiday season are Adam Petherbridge as Max, Trevor Braun as Dennis, Julian Robertson as Trevor, Chris French as Jonathan, Matt Harrington as Chris Bean, Latrisha Talley as Annie and Maggie Weston as Sandra.
It’s rare — perhaps even unprecedented — for an actor to portray three characters in a single show’s run, but that’s Lanceley’s day to day at The Play That Goes Wrong. “I understudied the role [of Robert] about a year and a half ago,” he said. “I think I maybe did a week of performances back then, but this is the first time I’ve had a nice stretch to figure the role out and enjoy it and make it my own as well. … I try not to compare it to the other two, but with Chris, when things go wrong, the stress and the worry and the concern it’s through his whole body. A lot of the jokes happen to him and around him. With Robert, he’s so involved in everything. He brings that confidence to the stage; that’s what I like.”
Lanceley said the theatergoers are an extra character every night when they perform The Play That Goes Wrong. There is some audience participation, and by the nature of the comedy, with so many pratfalls and accidents, the chaos becomes unhinged. Laughs build and build and build, sometimes at different speeds and varying times.
“The whole point is that when things are going wrong it has to affect them, and the only way it affects them is if the audience responds to what is happening,” the actor said. “They don’t want people to be laughing at this murder mystery that they’re doing, so when the audience laughs, that causes the pain that drives them on to the next moment and drives them on to finding a solution and causes the stakes behind what is happening.”
Lanceley added: “Obviously each audience brings something different. Sometimes we might have a smaller house, a larger house. We might have an incredible laugher in the third row, and that drives us as well. It means something different to each and every character. Chris Bean is devastated by these people laughing in the audience, but Robert has this confidence that he can ax through all of these moments. I think that’s what I’m enjoying playing the most, kind of dismissing the anxiety of Chris Bean, and in its place is that confidence of Robert to find his way through these moments.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Play That Goes Wrong, featuring Chris Lanceley, continues at New World Stages in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
