Photo courtesy of Davi Schulman ’25
Broadway actress Stephanie J. Block made this year’s Fall Weekend extra special with her spectacularly breathtaking performance. Block came to campus on Saturday, Oct. 1 to participate in an afternoon conversation/Q&A for a small audience, moderated by Theater Professor Ginny Anderson. The main event was Block’s solo performance, titled “Believe: An Evening with Stephanie J. Block.” Block said that “Believe” is her current motto: “Believing in better, believing in each other, believing in the future.” She likes to describe her life as “brutiful,” a combination of the words “brutal” and “beautiful” coined by a friend, because as difficult as her job can be, she finds it extremely fulfilling to create art for others to experience together.
Stephanie J. Block made her Broadway debut in 2003 portraying Liza Minnelli in “The Boy From Oz.” Block has an extensive Broadway resume, starring as Elphaba in “Wicked,” Reno Sweeney in “Anything Goes,” Trina in “Falsettos,” and originating the role of Star in “The Cher Show.” As of the beginning of this month, Block is playing the Baker’s Wife in the revival of “Into the Woods” alongside her husband, Sebastian Arcelus, who plays the Baker. (Yes, Sebastian Arcelus is Dean of Student Life Victor Arcelus’s brother! Block said she is very familiar with the Connecticut College campus, having visited many times for family gatherings at Arcelus’s house.) Block has won multiple awards over the years, including the 2019 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in “The Cher Show.”
During the afternoon conversation, Block emphasized the importance of a liberal arts education for aspiring artists, because everyone needs to know “what is going on in the world” and have an understanding of how history influences art (and vice versa). Block also spoke about the podcast she started with her friend and fellow actress Marylee Fairbanks during the Covid-19 quarantine. It is called “Stages,” not just because they perform on literal stages, but because they discuss the different stages of life and milestones people experience in the context of a global pandemic. On their podcast, the two have interviewed famous actors such as Jason Alexander and writers like James Burrow (“Cheers” and “Friends”). Block expressed her belief that artists
do not have to sacrifice their humanity and dedication to their families to make a successful career. She thinks it is “not easy, but so fulfilling” to balance family time with performance.
Block reflected on performance highlights throughout her prolific career. She said that when she first looked at the “Falsettos” score by William Finn, she did not understand it. It was not until she had and spent time with her daughter that she saw the score in a new light and was able to relate to Trina’s motherly instinct. Block also spoke about the differences in the revival of “Into the Woods,” which premiered after Stephen Sondheim’s death in 2021. She described the first thirty seconds of the show, when all of the actors are just “people in costumes” standing on stage and looking at the audience in silence, until they “breathe in” their characters and begin telling the story. Her advice to Conn students who may perform in the college’s spring production of “Into the Woods” was to stay true to Sondheim’s very intentional writing and to work as a unit with their fellow cast members, conveying their close and interdependent connections to the audience.
Tickets to Block’s performance in the newly renovated Athey Center in Palmer Auditorium were open to the public, and the orchestra seats filled up quickly. Block opened her performance with a bang, singing a charismatic rendition of “Don’t Rain On My Parade” from “Funny Girl” and captivating the audience with her powerful belt. She held a conversation with the audience throughout the show, telling her story and introducing each song in context. Block sang hit songs from some of her most well-known shows, like “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked,” “I’m Breaking Down” from “Falsettos,” and “Believe” from “The Cher Show” (in her signature Cher voice). She also sang the song “Moments in the Woods” from “Into the Woods,” the show she missed to perform at Conn that night.
Block laughed about her starring role in the musical “The Pirate Queen,” which now appears on The New York Times’s list of the top ten Broadway musical flops. She admitted that everyone had high hopes for the show, as it was written by the lyricist of the hit musicals “Les Miserables” and “Miss Saigon.” Ultimately, the musical failed, and the production team lost a lot of money. Still, Block remarked that good songs can come out of bad musicals.
After singing her last planned song, Nancy LaMott’s “We Can Be Kind,” the audience gave a standing ovation so powerful that Block agreed to sing one more song: “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Sunset Boulevard.” Between her inspirational stories and incredible vocals, Block’s performance clearly moved the audience and made them “Believe” in the power of art.
