Jonathan Judge-Russo’s road has been anything but a straight line leading to Off-Broadway’s Music City, a musical about Nashville’s competitive music scene.
The first turn came when a rejected college audition led him to an unexpected opportunity with the Baltimore Shakespeare Company and a growing love for classical theatre.
More than a decade ago, that journey took another turn when playwright Peter Zinn saw Judge-Russo perform in a one-act play and reached out about a new musical he was developing.
Thus, a 12-year relationship with Music City began.
Now playing at St. Luke’s Theatre, the Drama Desk-nominated musical is set against follows songwriters pursuing success while balancing artistic integrity, commercial ambition, and their own search for fame, purpose, and belonging.
Judge-Russo spoke with The New York Independent as he reflected on the unlikely path that brought him to the musical.
He also talks about the personal connections he finds in its themes of determination and truthfulness, and the lessons he has learned along the way about creating work, embracing vulnerability and finding his own voice as an artist.
The New York Independent: Describe your earliest memory of yourself as a performer.
Judge-Russo: I was the class clown and a general pain in the ass to most of my teachers. I think I got it in my head that I could make people laugh at a pretty early age, which was likely a self-defense mechanism for feeling awkward and goofy as the chubby kid in school. I figured I might as well do something to make people laugh. I was also in a lot of choirs.
NYI: How did that lead to your first professional opportunity?
Judge-Russo: The first time I was on a professional stage was when my middle school chorus was asked to be a part of a show at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side called The Christmas Revels. It was an annual Christmas concert and it was really my first time singing on a big stage. Cut to my junior or senior year of college, I auditioned for a play on campus, and I didn’t get cast in it. I was kind of bummed about it. Then I saw on the call board at the school’s theater that the Baltimore Shakespeare Company was doing a production of Othello, which is my favorite Shakespeare play. I thought, ‘Screw it, let’s just go and audition for this thing.’ They cast me! It was a small ensemble role, but it gave me something to do.
NYI: How did Shakespeare inform your career moving forward?
Judge-Russo: I love Shakespeare. I love a classical text. I continued in Baltimore working on shows on and off campus for the next few years. I did productions of Midsummer, Comedy of Errors, and Troilus and Cressida, [the latter of which] I knew nothing about. I really got to have a good time playing the title role, especially for someone so young. It was a lot of fun. I’ve done a lot of Shakespeare since then.
NYI: You went from a career with Shakespeare to a very different theatrical experience with Music City. How did Music City come to you?
Judge-Russo: Music City came to me about twelve years ago. I was doing a collection of one-act plays, and Music City’s remarkable book writer, Peter Zinn, saw me in a one-act play. He is one of the most wonderful human beings I have ever met. He reached out to me and said, ‘Look. I am writing this musical, and all of a sudden this role that I have been writing…I am suddenly starting to write with you in mind. I would love for you to come in and read it if you would be amenable.’
Of course, I acquiesced and said that would be incredible. The first time I read it he said, ‘Can you sing?’ I said, ‘I have been in choirs and a cappella groups, but if you want a Broadway singer, I am not necessarily your guy. I can hold a tune, but I am not THAT guy.’ He put me through my paces a little bit, and I think the words just fit in my mouth the right way, which gave him a sense of who I was. I ended up with the role of Drew twelve years ago and I have played the role ever since. No one has touched it but me. I have been in every iteration of the show.
NYI: Music City is more than just a musical-it is an experience. How do you describe Music City to people who know nothing about it?
Judge-Russo: I think Music City at its core is about young people trying to make it in Nashville in the country music scene, and it’s about all of the obstacles they encounter in their journey to do that. It has contemporary country rock music written by JT Harding, and the vast majority of songs in the show are radio hits that have been recorded by incredible artists. It is effectively a jukebox musical where they’re cranking out all of these great songs every night. Ultimately, it’s a story about what you’re willing to sacrifice to get what you want. Humans certainly know a lot about that.
As an artist, I know a lot about that. The characters we encounter in the show face a lot of different choices along the way. What choices are you willing to make to get what you want? And when you think you’re about to get it, is the thing that you thought you wanted, what you wanted? Were the choices worth it? It’s aspirational and it’s really about integrity.
NYI: You said that you can relate to it. How have you experienced it yourself?
Judge-Russo: There are countless examples, too many to recall in a specific way. In my business, we face these types of questions all the time. What do I have to do to get where I have to go, and are those things worthwhile? Are they founded in integrity? Are they founded in my integrity? Are they aligned with my values? Where am I willing to sell out? Where does the art end and the practicality begin? Where does the obsession over body image and what I am putting out in the world play a role in what I am ultimately trying to do-just be an artist who has some semblance of choice, control, and agency.
NYI: Drew seems to wear his feelings on his sleeve, but he’s really complex. How have you found him to be similar to yourself?
Judge-Russo: I think he’s a complicated guy. He puts a lot of behaviors out in the world (like we all do) that are meant to cover vulnerabilities. When we meet him, he’s very much a loud, boisterous personality, something of a hype man. He’s very forward with his desire to appeal to a large room of people, and I think that type of behavior is probably masking something. In my case, I can certainly relate to masking something or trying to compensate for a certain amount of vulnerability. We all put on certain behaviors that we would like to present to the world, when in reality we are vulnerable creatures. But I am always trying to put my vulnerability front and center. When Drew lets that vulnerability out, it’s right there in your face. He expresses what he needs to express how and when he needs to express it. It is also what makes him uniquely him, and that’s what makes me me.
NYI: Music City has a very contemporary, country rock vibe. What is your relationship with country music?
Judge-Russo: I’ll be honest, when I got connected with the show more than a decade ago, I had no real connection with country music. I was actually a bit judgmental about it. However, I didn’t know much about it. I’ve gotten to know and build a relationship with not just JT as the writer, but also the deeper process of writing and listening to country music, and I have become a huge fan of it. It stands out for its storytelling. It is incredibly complex, particularly in its ability to connect people to parts of themselves through stories. It cuts you right to the core. There is a great hook to a lot of the music in our show. I am a little disappointed in my previous self, who shut the door on it for so long!
NYI: What dream role or project is still on your theatrical bucket list?
Judge-Russo: I’d love to play Hamlet at some point. I’m starting to get up there a bit, so sooner rather than later would be great! The role Michael in The Pillowman is another one I want to dive into. I hold Martin McDonagh up with any of the great playwrights. He is extraordinary.
NYI: You’re currently working on a project about Dr. Fauci and his work during the AIDS crisis. What can you tell us about that?
Judge-Russo: My film company, Noble Heart Films, is in development on a project that explores the work Dr. Fauci began in the ’80s working on the AIDS crisis. All of us have lived through the past few years of COVID and seen what that did to us physically and psychologically, and we forget that there was a Dr. Fauci before this.
I think we forget that his work during that crisis was so monumental that we would be looking at a wholly different disease and prognosis if not for him and his efforts today. We’re exploring his early work on that and how he interacted with people like Larry Kramer and Peter Staley. We’re also looking at the early response to his efforts and how he was effectively burned in effigy. He emerged from that having built strong relationships with both of those guys and effectively changed the world. That’s a project I look forward to.
NYI: What is the best piece of advice you ever received about a career in theatre?
Judge-Russo: The best piece of advice I have ever gotten in the realm of theatre was from my acting mentor Alan Langdon. His central tenet was: ‘Say what you mean, mean what you say, or shut the fu*k up.’ I carry that with me all the time as my driving principle. On a more practical level, both Alan Langdon and Philip Seymour Hoffman gave me another piece of advice: ‘Make your own work. Don’t wait for the world to come to you with opportunities; go create them yourself.’ I have taken that to heart.
NYI: What might surprise people about Music City?
Judge-Russo: People get this sense almost immediately, but we are truly an ensemble piece of theatre at Music City. I am in awe every day of our team: Stage management, audio, wardrobe, front of house, box office. We have assembled a team from the producers to the writers to our director, Eric Tucker, all the way through our cast. I just feel lucky to be at work every day surrounded by extraordinary professionals at the top of their game. Audiences can see it reflected on stage in these remarkable performers in multiple roles, playing multiple instruments. It’s inspiring to be up there with them doing it.
For tickets or more information about Music City, visit Home – Music City A New Musical.
Iris Wiener is an entertainment writer, editor, reporter and theatre critic based in New York. Her portfolio contains a diverse collection of work on all genres of entertainment. Her reporting has been featured in more than twenty publications, including Newsday, Playbill, TheaterMania, Encore Monthly, Weston Magazines, and Long Island Woman. She is a proud voting member of the Drama Desk and The Outer Critics Circle.