Josh Lamon took the long road to Broadway and found himself along the way. (Photo: Courtesy Josh Lamon )
Broadway saved Josh Lamon’s life…twice.
Currently stealing scenes as Stefan, the quirky, snarky assistant to Megan Hilty’s diva Madeline Ashton in Death Becomes Her, Lamon radiates positivity as he looks back on his journey to the stage.
It began with a life-affirming love for “The Muppets” and a passion for taking in children’s theatre in San Diego. Fast forward to a 2009 Broadway debut in Hair, followed by memorable roles in “Groundhog Day” and “The Prom,” and Lamon has proven the unique talent he brings to the table.
He spoke with The New York Independent about his road to the hit adaptation of the film “Death Becomes Her,” and how the Great White Way came calling at moments when he most needed it.
The New York Independent: What is your earliest memory of yourself as a performer?
Josh Lamon: It really started with ‘The Muppets.’ They were my gateway drug to everything musical theatre. From a really young age my mom saw that. I grew up seeing quality shows at San Diego Junior Theatre. It was my favorite thing in the world. I always had a good ear for music. I would have the melodies from the shows memorized by the end and I would be singing constantly.
As soon as I was in first grade my mom found a tiny theatre doing a children’s Halloween play called Cover Your Eyes and Run! I got cast as a ghost. My mom has a VHS cassette of it. Then I wanted to pursue it as a kid, but my parents were very much against that. The San Diego Civic Light Opera was doing Gypsy starring Broadway legend Karen Morrow. I was cast as a newsboy/Tommy and his Terrific Trumpet. I think I only got cast because I could play trumpet and they needed that for the opening scene.
I was not very good at the trumpet! It was my first professional job. I thought I was the richest kid in the universe, and that I was going to buy Hawaii and live there forever. After that, I begged my mother to let me get an agent, and she said, ‘No. You’re a kid.’ I was only 10 years old and I said something like, ‘You’re ruining my career!’ It was the only thing I ever wanted to do. I was terrible in school. If it wasn’t theatre or choir related, I didn’t care.
NYI: How did college prepare you for a career on stage?
Lamon: My grades were so terrible that I didn’t think college was going to be an option. I went to University of the Arts, which was one of those schools at the time where anyone who could pay tuition could go. I stayed in school for a year and a half, but I was so desperate to audition and be a working actor. When I was 18, I got cast in the Philadelphia production of Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.
The school had a policy that you weren’t allowed to be a working actor, so when I got cast in a production of Candide and couldn’t do it because of that policy, it made me spiral a little bit. I took a leave of absence and never went back. I regret that now. I got a job at Starbucks, which was torture because it was across the street from my old school. I was serving all the professors who hated me, and a lot of the kids I went to school with looked down on me. I felt like a big failure.
The cast of Death Becomes Her: Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard, Josh Lamon and Christopher Sieber – (Photo by Matthew Murphy. Evan Zimmerman)
NYI: How did your story eventually take a turn for the better?
Lamon: I ended up seeing an ad in the newspaper for phone actors. Essentially, I became a female phone sex operator! While I was doing that I entered into a very abusive relationship. Luckily, I had a support group encouraging me to keep auditioning. The Media Theatre in Pennsylvania was doing Jekyll & Hyde with Andy Karl. I got a role in the ensemble and got my Equity card. When things got really bad at home, I had to leave everything behind and went to New York City.
NYI: You were working in New York for ten years before you were cast on Broadway. What was the most challenging part of trying to be a working actor in that time?
Lamon: At first it was kind of fun. I was living my Rent fantasy: I’m in New York, I’m an edgy actor, I’m poor. Isn’t that wonderful? As time went on, I was working three jobs at the same time: I was managing a coffee shop; I was working as a ticket concierge where I was buying rich people theatre tickets, and I did everything from babysitting to you name it.
I hit as many auditions as I could. The thing that really helped me find out who I was as an artist was the incredible composer Craig Carnelia. He was teaching weekly classes that were very intimate and therapeutic. I booked Wicked when I was taking his class. It was because he taught me about storytelling. Everybody in line at this open call was going in and belting their faces off in a very small room. I decided to sing quietly and tell the story. Next thing you know, I was Boq on the national tour.
NYI: How did landing your Broadway debut with Hair change your life?
Lamon: It changed everything. After nine months, my contract with Wicked was done. Wicked just likes to mix it up, but I didn’t realize that and it took it very personally. I was still booking regional theatre jobs, but I was very sad and sick of living out of a suitcase. It didn’t seem like it would happen. My agent at the time called me and said I had an appointment for the revival of Hair. I was like, “I’m not going in for that, that’s ridiculous. I’m chubby and I’m balding. All of the kids in that are the sexiest people on earth. I’m not going in.”
He said to just give it a shot. I did, and what do you know? I got a lot of callbacks. I did my best, but walked out and was convinced that Broadway wasn’t happening for me. I called my agent and left him a message saying I wanted to leave the business. The next morning, he called me while I was eating a pity breakfast of waffles from the local diner, and he said, “I know yesterday was hard and I know you don’t want to do this anymore, but I think you should keep doing it because they’re offering you the swing track in Hair!” All I can remember is shock and joy. This spark of everything I ever dreamed of was going to happen. That show changed my life and my career.
NYI: ‘Death Becomes Her’ marks your sixth Broadway show. What is your first memory of the film?
Lamon: I saw “Death Becomes Her” at the drive-in with my friend. It was so fun. I remember the “I See Me” musical theater number. It’s kind of an iconic movie in the gay community. For years my friends and I had an ongoing joke because in the movie when Goldie Hawn is in the asylum, she said, ‘I would like to talk about Madeline Ashton.’ And all of the people around her go insane and start freaking out. They’re so sick of it. In our friend group, we’d always go, “I would like to talk about…” and do the whole bit. I had heard a rumor that they were making a musical out of it, but I didn’t think much of it.
Then Mary Mitchell Campbell, the music supervisor, said there was a reading happening and she wanted me to be in the ensemble. Then I did the next reading, and then the lab happened, and we all had to audition for it. I was so afraid that I wouldn’t get it because I wanted it so badly. I thought the show was so smart and funny. Jen [Simard] and Megan [Hilty] were iconic. To be reunited with Chris [Sieber] after The Prom, and Megan was my Glinda in Wicked…
I’m so lucky [director and choreographer] Chris Gattelli saw me and said, “That’s Stefan.” It’s just a dream come true. Coming out of the pandemic, there was a while where I thought I was never going to work again. I basically lived off of my savings. It came right in the nick of time. Broadway saved my life once again.
NYI: You steal the show as Stefan. Your delivery of your lines get some of the biggest laughs.
Lamon: He wasn’t in the movie! When we met the guy who wrote the film, the first thing he said to me was, ‘Why didn’t I think of Stefan?’
NYI: When considering the two sparring leads, are you more of a Madeline or a Helen?
Lamon: My dream is to play Helen. I know I would be a great Madeline, but Helen all the way. She is looney! The “Madeline” song that she sings in the mental hospital is one of my favorite parts of the show. Marco [Pennette’s] book for this is incredible. He gets to know you as a person, a performer, and a comedian. The next thing you know, he’s writing a joke specifically for you. I think this might be my favorite role that I’ve ever played. There’s so much of me in him. I just understand him. If you watch The Comeback, Stefan is like Mickey’s long-lost son, mixed with a sprinkle of David from Schitt’s Creek. I love him so much.
NYI: What do you think happens with Stefan after the show ends?
Lamon: I think he wrote a tell-all and moved to Hawaii. Maybe he opened a doggy daycare or a salon. He doesn’t work there, he just owns the place.
NYI: What have you learned about yourself through working on Stefan?
Lamon: When you’re an actor you can really doubt yourself. After the pandemic and Broadway not really existing for a while, it was really easy to doubt yourself. It’s especially easy when you’re in a massive production like this where you don’t want to let anybody down. I’ve learned to trust myself, and that I’m funny and I’m great at what I do. I shouldn’t feel ashamed or shy about that. It’s okay to be good at something, and I feel great about the work I’m doing in Death Becomes Her.
NYI: You also work on Shitzprobe, an ongoing series of fully improvised musicals. It looks like so much fun. You must use different muscles working on that show. What is it like?
Lamon: It’s so fun. Improv is the best. The cast is made up of the best improvisers and comedians in New York City, hands down. It just so happens that they can all sing their faces off, too. They’ve done everything, like getting a suggestion to do a Jason Robert Brown themed show, and they will do songs that literally sound as if they’re being taken out of a Jason Robert Brown musical. It’s so exciting to be on a team like that. Improv is very scary and intimidating until you realize that you’re not alone. There are six other people with you. We always say to each other, ‘I got your back,’ before we go out there. It’s also fun because we take a Broadway or film/TV personality and we make them the star of a fully improvised musical. Whatever idea they have is the best idea in the world. Audiences eat it up.
NYI: You have spoken about what it’s like to be an outsider among your peers. Can you touch on what advice you have for young performers who can relate?
Lamon: I’ve got a pingy voice, I’m fat, I’m thin-haired. I think if you’re like me and you’re weird, you’re a misfit, or you’re different than everybody else, that is your biggest weapon and your biggest tool. Nobody else is like you, so embrace it. Don’t try to be anybody else. Don’t try to be anything cookie cutter. That means you’re original.
NYI: You are incredibly unique and original. What is your dream role?
Lamon: What I really love doing is telling my own stories. I’m working on a show about when I lived in Philadelphia and I was a phone sex operator with collaborators Kevin Zak and Philip Taratula. I would be an incredible Rose in Gypsy. It’s never going to happen, but I would be great. I would also like to be Edna in Hairspray. I’ve never gotten to audition for that. Mary in Oh, Mary! is my ultimate dream role right now. I think that might be one of the funniest plays ever. But I am in my ultimate dream role right now as Stefan in Death Becomes Her!
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