Four Inane Questions with Padgett Productions’ Nick Padgett
Photo Courtesy of Nick Padgett
Nick Padgett doesn’t just produce theatre; he conjures full-blown spectacles. The six-time Tony nominee and mastermind behind the metro’s Padgett Productions has spent two decades turning Kansas City into Broadway’s favorite outpost… and this autumn he’s upping the ante yet again.
Brace yourself, KC. The city’s most deliciously twisted fall tradition—The Rocky Horror Show LIVE! —is strutting into its new home at The Grand Theater inside Crown Center starting Oct. 3rd.
And because Nick loves his audiences almost as much as he loves a well-placed jazz hand, he tells us he’s sweetening the deal with reserved seating. (That means no more early-bird scrambles for the best view, people.) So, dust off those fishnets, grab your squad, and get ready to time warp… again.
We caught up with the theater titan during Rocky rehearsals to query him with our subpar questionnaire. As expected, he added a pelvic thrust at the end of each answer. Bless.
The Pitch: If money were no object, what Halloween costume would you have designed specifically for you?
Photo Courtesy of Nick Padgett
Nick Padgett: It would be the Red Death costume from Phantom of the Opera. It’s elaborate, over the top, and all the things I love.
Hell, if we are saying money is no object, then we would just do the full show, just so I could have that costume and get a show out of it. I like to think big!
You can have any celeb grab your phone and take a selfie with you. Who you choosin’?
Well, this is a tricky one because with what I do for a living, I’ve had the opportunity to meet or work with just about everyone I could have ever dreamed of. But I can tell you one selfie that stood out.
Do you remember when the LuMee phone case first came out? It became hot when it was discovered that the Kardashians used them for selfies to provide the perfect lighting. Well, I had just bought one and didn’t have any time to study up on the best angles, etc. And the first person I happened to meet with that damn LuMee case on my phone was Patti LuPone.
Well, she knew what it was, as she had seen them starting to pop just recently. However, neither of us had mastered the art of the LuMee selfie, so we were figuring it out together and were laughing so hard about it when we took the photo that we ended up taking what is probably the worst photo ever. (And, no, we will not be including it with this article.)
However, I will say that I have yet to meet (or work with) Meryl Streep, and I would love to! You hear that, Meryl? If you’re out there, let’s connect and take that selfie!
What’s the oddest phobia you’ve ever seen someone have?
Over the years that I have spent doing haunted attractions design and creative direction, I’ve had to study up on fears and phobias.
One that stands out as rather odd to me? I have seen people with a fear of cotton before. That would be a hard thing to avoid. I had to look up the name for that, and it is sidonglobophobia. You would be surprised at all the phobias there are, though.
In your humble opinion, what is the best Broadway musical in the history of Broadway musicals? And why?
Ohhhh, this one is hard. I always try to find the good in everything. However, I would say that Gypsy is the greatest Broadway musical ever written. It’s just perfection all around, from the downbeat to the final note in the show. The script is great and has characters that every musical theatre actor dreams of playing. It’s just big, bold, and memorable. It’s the type of show we think of when we think of Broadway.
There’s a reason it has been revived so many times on Broadway—people love it. It was always a dream show of mine—and I was fortunate enough to be on the producing team of the most recent Broadway revival of Gypsy that starred Audra McDonald. (P.S. She also gave one of the greatest Broadway performances of all time in that show.)
